THANKFUL : Week 15

Alright so this email might be a little longer than the others because a lot of stuff happened this week.

I went to Bahia Blanca from monday to friday for visa stuff. All the visa stuff went good and no there's problems there. The Bus ride to Bahia is 8 hours from Mar del Plata. I was fine because bahia is the last stop for the bus so i couldnt miss it haha. On the way there i took a red eye that left at 11:30pm and so i just slept the whole time. On the way back we left at 1pm so i slept a little and read a bunch of talks. (i re-read the 4th missionary which was super good. If you are going on a mission i highly recommend) While in bahia we got to explore a little bit too which was really fun.

I got put with a peruvian comp who came the same time as me. And the house we stayed at only had latinos as well. So it was spanish 24/7 (My head hurt so bad) It improved my spanish though so that's good. Me and my comp killed it in bahia. We just contacted for the other elders area. We got 15 new investigators for them and 3 baptism dates in one week! Im bummed we didn't get to teach them more and baptize them but it's all good.

Thanksgiving… Food wise, thanksgiving SUCKED. For those of you who know me, know i love to eat. It's kinda what i'm known for really. And all i had to eat was a big bowl of rice, and some oreos. (oreos are the best though so i guess i can't complain). Latinos don't know what thanksgiving is. Meanwhile, back in mar del plata the elders in my house were having a huge thanksgiving feast, with turkey, (it was chicken cuz they don't have turkey here) mashed potatoes, corn, salad, chori, and a bunch of pies they made. I was so bummed when i saw all the pics. Buuut they saved me 3 slices of pie so i was happy (super good pie). I love pie.

Saturday I got back to work in my area, and we contacted a really awesome family of 3. It was a reference from the hermanas down here. They are so ready for baptism already. The parents just need to get married (it's a huge problem down here). They basically said they know there is only one true church, and when we showed up they had already read the first 10 chapters of the Book of Mormon and they loved it. So we taught lesson one and the spirit was SOOOO Strong. We set baptism dates for the parents (the daughter wasn't home. Shes 10). Their date is in 2 months because they need to get married. And it's harder to get married here than the US because the bishop can't just do it. And they have no money. We got the relief society to bring them food because they were starving.

So even though thanksgiving wasn't the best, i still had an amazing week! I was able top make a big list of EVERYTHING i'm grateful for in my journal and when thought about it, there was a lot of stuff. I'm so thankful to be a missionary and have the gospel in my life. It's such a blessing to be able to share it with everyone! And I'm thankful for my awesome family, friends, and ward who love me, support me, and taught me how to live the gospel. But most of all im thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason i'm out here. I owe EVERYTHING to him. Because Even though i always fall short, hes always there to pick me up. I hope you all had a good thanksgiving! Love you!

• Elder Tanner