I'm in Argentina! Week 7

Landed in Argentina safe  09/27/17

Hey fam! so im just writing to let you guys know i am okay and safe! Its been a crazy couple of days. we flew from buenos aires to bahia blanca. we had dinner and slept here. we didnt sleep in the presidents house we slept with the other elders. the apartment was nasty haha. no toilet paper. we are getting our new trainers and going to our new areas today. ill tell you about it on monday! So far the empenadas are way more dank than back home. my mission president is way cool too and he told me elder bragg said he has to give me a big hug for him haha. love you all! Bye!! 

Monday 10/02/17

Hey fam! I only have an hour to write and upload pics so im rushing. Im in downtown mar del plata rn cuz its district p day. i love being able to see the beach and stuff. Im gonna send some pics. Love you all!! especially you mom and dad 

I'm in the Arg!!!! I can't believe i am finally here! This week has been absolutely insane. We left the MTC on monday morning at 8:50 and got to Buenos Aires at 10:00 on tuesday. It was a 4 hour flight to atlanta and a 10 or 11 hour flight to argentina. Then we took a 20 min bus ride to a different airport and took another hour flight to bahia blanca.  It was super sad to leave my district from the MTC :(  In Bahia blanca we were greeted by our mission president and his wife and the APs. We stayed the night in Bahia with the ZLs. The food here is so good but ALL carbs. Empanadas and Pizza and Milanesa and fresh bread from bakeries. So dank… im gonna get fat here i already decided.

Wednesday we found out where our new areas are and our new companions. I'M IN MAR DEL PLATA!!! I was so stoked when i heard that. However i'm not in Rico Mar del plata (centro) im in Mar del plata south. My companions name is Elder Hayes (gringo) but down here it is pronounced ah-shes because the y sound is a shhh sound and you don't pronounce the H´s. He's been teaching me a lot of spanish (only talks to me in spanish) and he is an obedient elder so that's good. He makes me talk to people and buy my own stuff and things like that without helping me. He has 14 months in the mission. We have the biggest ward in the whole mission. Like 150 people i believe. Its very poor here as well. Mostly dirt roads and stuff. I love it!

Me and Elder Hayes opened up a new area because they split it and we are both new to the area. And it was gen conference so we couldn't talk to everyone. So we are completely blind and don't know what to do then go contact all day. It's so fun tho. I love clapping doors (you clap outside of people's houses instead of knocking).

We live with 2 other elders. Elder caballero from paraguay and Elder Lumsden from Brea CA. Elder Lumsden said his dad said to keep an eye out for me but i don't remember him haha. They are both super cool.

Conference helped me so much!! It gave me so much motivation to forget myself and serve and answered a bunch of other questions i had. I loved ALL the talks in the morning saturday session especially Elder Uchtdorf! We all have to remember we aren't alone. And God has great work for me (even if i don't know spanish) i just have to trust him.

I love it out here. I keep looking up when we walk and think “I'm in freaking argentina this is legit” haha I could keep writing for days about this week but President only gives us an hour to write. I love you all! Don't worry about me i'm all good!

PS Let me know if you guys know an Elder Brian from Laguna or Elder Lumsden from Brea

Week 6 MTC

Week 6 MTC

So I was sick all week (coughing non stop) and it was really annoying. I didn't feel sick really, I just had a bad cough. So I received a blessing from my companion on Sunday to help me heal before the field. Blessings totally work by the way because i'm fine now after having a non stop cough for like 3 weeks straight. (I also went to the doctor and got a bunch of prescriptions)

Throughout the week we had in field training where they teach you more about what the actually mission field is like. We practiced contacting to people at bus stops and things like that. It got me and everyone else super excited for the actual mission field. It was weird though because we had to teach in English and i'm used to teaching in Spanish now. We were so excited that we went and got a couple copies of the Book of Mormon to take with us on the plane to hand out. I also saw cousin Izzie this week but only she had a camera at the time :( so hopefully she sends it to me haha

Tuesday Elder Quentin L Cook came and spoke! Once again, the feeling you get when an Apostle of the Lord walks in a room and everyone stands up is indescribable. The spirit hits you so strong. He talked a lot about love and the 4 loves a missionary needs to develop. Love for your companion, love for the people, love for your mission president, and love for the Savior! He then went on to give THE MOST powerful testimony of our savior that I have ever heard. There is no doubt in my mind that Christ lives, and guides our church. I was then able to give a blessing when we got back to the residence halls to Elder McLellan because he's been sick, and he's been struggling with spanish. The spirit was already super strong from Elder Cook so the words just flowed out of my mouth when I gave him the blessing.

My companion Elder Stott, and another elder, Elder Wood both got temporary assignments to Arizona Tempe because they messed up their Visa papers (They just got re-fingerprinted on Wednesday). They were super bummed at first but we all just told them that it was for a reason and there are people in Tempe waiting for them! (both of them are going to Bahia Blanca btw)  I gave my companion Elder Stott a blessing of comfort so I hope that helped him a little bit.

HOWEVER, I guess the Lord needed them in Argentina after all because somehow their Visas came (even though they were not expected to come). When the Visa office told us we got so excited and when we told our class everyone was cheering and hugging (except the sisters). We are all super close now and we didn't want to leave them behind. It was awesome. I know that the Lord does hear and answer prayers!

This is my last email from the MTC :( I have met so many awesome people, and heard so many amazing testimonies. My testimony has also grown so much here. You can ALWAYS feel the spirit here and it's amazing. I know that this is HIS church. It’s awesome to just look at everyone and think that we are all going to serve the Lord for the next few years. Even though i have absolutely loved it here at the MTC, I am so ready to get into the actual mission field and teach the people of Argentina. The Lord has already been breaking me down and humbling me and i know there's more of that to come. My Spanish has gotten a lot better i feel like but it's still super difficult. I love this church, I love the MTC, and I love being a missionary! It’s definitely very hard but at the same time it's so worth it.

- Elder Tanner

Week 5 MTC

Week 5 MTC

Hola Familia y Amigos! This was another awesome week here at the MTC. I've been a little sick but it's just a cough so it's all good. Everyone gets sick here haha. This was our last week of TRC investigators and it was actually really sad to say goodbye and sop teaching them. We had our investigator Ernesto the whole time we have been here. We taught him 8 or so lessons and committed him to baptism and everything. Even though Ernesto was probably a member (we still aren't sure), the spirit was definitely there during our lessons and you could see he had a change a heart.

Most of the days this week were the same old same old MTC stuff so I'll just write about my favorite days.

Sunday was my first sunday as Zone Leader so i had to wake up earlier than everyone and go to meetings with the branch presidency and District Leaders. They were fun though and it kinda felt like SYC (stake youth committee) again. We had a devotional that night by Chad Lewis (former BYU and NFL player) and it was SOOOO good. He's such cool guy and gave an awesome talk about we NEED to have love for everyone including our companions and our mission presidents (and all his rules). My favorite part was when he said “remember who you are.” That hit me hard because my Mom would tell me that EVERY day before school and I never always listened or really let it sink in. But right now i need to remember who i am because i'm a missionary for the Lord. I can't waste time because it's not my time to waste. So i've really been trying to work on diligence all week and study as hard as I can.

Tuesday we had another Devotional. We FOR SURE thought it was gonna be Elder Holland and were a little disappointed when it said the speakers were Elder & Sister Kearon. HOWEVER, he gave probably the best talk I have heard since being here so it's all good. Plus Elder Holland is coming next week so it's fine haha (they don't tell us btw). Sister Kearon expressed how important it is to remember how sacred “in the name of Jesus Christ” is when we are praying. We tend, i know i do, to rush it or slurr it at times. So this week i have really trying to show respect for my savior and say those words with real intent when i pray. Elder Kearon Talked about 3 things i really liked. He said “remember your primary songs” they contain amazing principles and teach so simply. That's what we need to be able to do as missionaries. The second was “pray like you mean it” At night and in the mornings especially, just tell everything to your heavenly father. Everything you are thankful for and everything you are struggling with.  HE IS THERE! The last thing was to “work hard and stop worrying so much” if we are working hard the lord will bless us. Plain and simple.

Wednesday there was another set of newbies were added to our zone so we got to do another orientation for them. Almost all the missionaries are going to the Long Beach Mission which HB is in the boundaries of. So i told them to say hi to my fam and friends when they get there.

We did Skype TRCs this week too where we taught a lesson on skype to some members. It was really hard to hear but still pretty cool. Other than that the week was pretty normal. Hard but amazing. Side note, i came across Mosiah 23:10-11 during personal study. I read it like 20 times this week hah. If yall have time i recommend reading it :)

Love you all so much! I have a strong testimony of this church and of being a missionary. I know there is no better place i can be right now.

- Elder Tanner

So close yet so far away from the BYU-Wisconsin game

Week 4 in the MTC : Familiar faces at the Temple

Week 4 MTC

Hey guys this week was awesome! All the “old” guys left including our Zone Leaders. So now my group is the Oldest at the MTC. They were all really cool and funny so they will be missed :(

Me and my Comp became the new Zone Leaders! We got a new phone and a sweet binder full of really cool papers. The Phone can call 911 and the front desk so we are stoked!! And we get to wake up early for meetings on sundays Hahah. jk being a Zone Leader is awesome. We are really learning how to love everyone more and we are developing better friendships with them. We had 32 new missionaries come in our zone on wednesday so we did a little orientation for them. We told them about what the MTC rules, schedule, food, classes etc are like. We got some really cool new missionaries too so i'm stoked!

Elder Oaks came and spoke on Tuesday for the devotional. When we walked in the room and everyone stood up the spirit completely filled me. He is an Apostle of God. Plain and Simple. He talked about how we need to Change (by not being lazy and working harder). Achieve (by setting tough goals for ourselves and reaching them) and Become (By becoming FULLY converted to the gospel and having a testimony of everything you teach). He also talked about the importance of us, and our investigators reading the Book of Mormon because we can draw nearer to God through the reading and praying about the Book of Mormon than anything else.

On Wednesday we had an “english fast” where we didn't speak ANY english for 24 hours. It was so hard but so helpful. Ur just brain switches into spanish so even when it was over i would automatically talk in spanish sometimes. We have 2 more this week so i'm excited for those.

We have beeing really well with our our TRC investigator Ernesto this week. We talked a lot about faith and reading the book of mormon (like elder oaks said to do) and how he can know for himself if he just reads and prays. We got him to commit to baptism! We really aren't sure if he's a member but we think he is. He just a really good actor i guess.

I had the opportunity to give a blessing of comfort to a new elder in my district. He was struggling a lot with homesickness and he's SUPER stressed about spanish. It was a very spiritual experience for me and the Words were just flowing. The spirit was really strong so I hope it helped him.

Tengo un testimonio que la iglesia de Jesucristo es verdadero. Yo se que el libro de mormon es verdadero también. Yo se que jesucristo es el salvador y morio para nuestro pecados. Yo se que tengo un amoroso Padre Celestial. Estoy gracias por mi familia y amigos. Estoy grasias por mi llamamiento misional. En el nombre de Jesucristo Amen.

- Elder Tanner

ran into some familiar faces at the temple this morning

Elder Oaks-The Spirit around him was too bright.

view of the stadium from the new MTC building

Where we have devotionals 

Week 3 MTC

Week 3 MTC

How is it already P Day again…. The weeks are going by so fast here

Sunday We had church and a fireside at night. Me and my Comp taught the priesthood lesson (in english) about teaching with the Holy Ghost. The fireside was awesome! It was all about losing yourself and going to work. We can always get back up when we are knocked down. No matter what we have done in this life, we are never out of reach of God’s love.

Monday we taught our first TRC. (investigator that isn’t just our teacher). Mind you that it’s all in spanish and we can't use notes. Our investigators name is Ernesto and he is Chilean.

(meaning he talks muy rapido). We are about 85 percent sure he's not a member because: 1. we overheard the TRC managers saying all the Spanish speaking TRCs were real investigators

2. One of our lessons we had 2 Sister members come and even they said they weren't sure if he was a member or not haha.

3. He genuinely seems like he has no idea about anything related to our church.

So the Pressure was on for these lessons. But me and my companion KILLED it. We taught the restoration and the spirit was super strong.

Tuesday we had more classes and then another Devotional at night. Bishop Waddell from the Presiding Bishopric came and spoke. It was about the Book of Mormon and the importance of us reading it. He showed the clip of Pres Monson's last talk on the Book of Mormon and it was POWERFUL. My personal studies of the Book of Mormon have been so amazing this week. If we don't study the Book of Mormon with a pure intent, we will never gain a testimony of it. It is my goal here at the MTC to strengthen my testimony of the Book of Mormon even more so i can bear an undeniable testimony to the people of Argentina. I want them to feel the truthfulness and love in my voice.

Wednesday & Thursday we had Ernesto (TRC Investigator) again. Wednesday was rough because we taught the Plan of Salvation. This lesson is hard to teach sometimes in English so imagine how it went for us haha. He Talks SOOOO fast its insane. I had to say “Puede repetir por favor” like 5 times. He loves it though because he really loves his family back home and wants to be with them forever. Even though our spanish wasn't perfect, the spirit was still strong and i think we knew what we were saying. He's super nice too so that helps. We have him next week as well so we are excited to dive deeper into the gospel!

Friday classes and studies were so helpful! I felt like i learned so much. My spanish is improving day by day but it's still not good by any means. I have been studying a different characteristic of Christ every day and today's was Charity. Charity is by far my most favorite attribute, and probably the one i need to work on the most. Without charity we are nothing… I know that if we all just have charity, the other attributes will come along with it. I love this church and i love the MTC. The Spirit is amazing here and i'm learning so much!

Passdowns started last night. Passdowns are memorable items that have been passed down through several generations of elders here. We usually only do it on the sunday night before the oldest elders leave but we have 42 elders leaving this week so we are splitting it up into 3 nights. I got 4 passdowns so far and we still have 2 nights to go (im like setting a record for most passdowns).  Me and my comp got the silly putty pass down for being the funniest companionship, i got a nerf gun because i'm a sharpshooter on the basketball court, and a ref whistle (because i am very competitive and i enforce the rules haha) and a russian bible (because apparently i look the most russian out of anyone). With all the passdowns you sign your name and give them away when you are about to leave.

Love, Elder Tanner

pic of me and my comp at the temple and MTC paintings and quotes

Week 2 in the MTC

Week 2 MTC

This week has gone by SOOOO fast. It’s weird that it is already P Day because i feel like we just had P Day. Everyone said that after the first sunday is over time flies and they are right. If it wasn't for my the elders in my district and my zone though it might be a different story as far as time passing. Everyone is just hilarious. I bout die laughing every night. The spanish i coming!!! I can understand about 60 or 70 percent of what's being said which probably sounds bad. But i can have conversations with people too now (only stuff about church though and my conjugations aren't the best). During the day, we challenged ourselves to only talk in spanish to each other. Even during all our meals and stuff. And then after classes when we are getting ready for bed we chill and rest our brains from all the spanish.

My comp needed to go to the doctor for some random chest pains he has been having. The MTC doctor said we needed to walk to the BYU Student Health Center to get some tests done. So we go to leave the MTC and walk there (it's close but it was still amazing to leave for a second haha). I got to spend half a day in the waiting room. (HGTV may or may not have been on while i was waiting.)

Sunday was awesome because as i said, our district/zone/branch are the best. We are all a family. We had sacrament meeting and 2-3 random people get called up to give talks (so everyone has to be prepared). It luckily wasn't me and i'm really hoping my luck continues. After sacrament and classes we had a devotional where kenneth cope came and sang and gave a talk. If you haven't heard him he's super good. He sung an amazing song about us being in heaven watching Jesus atone for our sins. After the devotional is “movie” night (aka a talk by an apostle or meet the mormons 2). You can pick whatever “movie” you want to go to. Since it was our first time they didn't let us pick, and i'm glad they didn't. We watched Character of Christ by Elder Bednar and it was AMAZING. Definitely one of the best talks i've ever heard. It was all about how the mission isn't about us. We need to turn our thoughts and hearts away from ourselves and towards the characteristics of christ. We need to have charity for everyone. I've really been striving to have charity for everyone this week (not always easy) and i've been soooo much happier.

Monday, Wednesday, thursday, and Friday. Was the usual routine of food, class, food, studies, food, more class. It was rough with the spanish but sometimes the rough days help you the most. I have been getting so much better with spanish. Im noticing it a lot which gets me excited. I've learned to love studying because i get so stoked when i say stuff right haha. We taught lessons the whole week to our “investigator” (who later turned out to be one of our new teachers) Tuesday was devotional night. We had Elder Clayton from the 1st quorum of the 70 come speak and it was really good! He talked about how even if we don't have a testimony of everything right now, as long as we have a solid foundation of Jesus Christ being our savior, and God being our Loving Heavenly Father, that's all we need right now. The rest will come if we have faith. Use Moroni 10:3-5 for more than just the Book of Mormon. Pray and ask about any doubts you may have! If you have faith your answers will come.

I know most of you aren't, but don't stress about me here. Yeah i miss you guys sometimes, but i know why i'm here, i love being a missionary, and i love the MTC.

• Love Elder Tanner

First Night in the MTC!!

August 19, 2017

Wow… I'm actually a missionary… This is real life... But I couldn't be more excited!  The MTC is absolutely AMAZING!! Being a missionary is super surreal right now but I have been learning and feeling the spirit so much here! Not gonna lie it was tough to say goodbye to fam and friends but once I checked in I have been way too busy to even miss home that much haha (no offense everyone) We set a record for most missionaries coming in on one day. Over 760 missionaries reported on August 16th with me.

My companion is cool and really mellow too so that’s good. My district is the best!! We are all going to argentina but only 4 to Bahia Blanca. The second we walked into class he started speaking spanish haha but we love our teacher and the other Spanish Missionaries said he’s their favorite. He’s from Bolivia so he talks to pretty fast but hopefully that helps in the long run. The classes are awesome and even though Espanol isn't coming very fast right now, it's still coming... and that's all that matters. There are like 3 or 4 people in my district that can probably test out of Spanish right now but they didn't want to.  They are like fluent already. At first it was hard because i was comparing my spanish to theirs, but they have been teaching us and helping us a lot so its been nice to have them. I can say a prayer in spanish now though! I love that everyone in my district wants to be obedient. We are even kinda appalled by the other missionaries sometimes because they aren't always being obedient haha (The cool Kids here are the obedient ones) 

 I taught my first lesson in spanish yesterday! It was tough and i definitely relied on the spirit. Even though I didn't always understand what was being said, the spirit was still present teaching. (Our investigator even started crying during it). Being a missionary is awesome. I have a strong testimony of this gospel and i'm so thankful to be a representative of my savior Jesucristo.

Yesterday I also had the chance to help with the MTC tours. We took a bus to the Lavell Edwards Stadium parking lot and collected tickets and gave wristbands to everyone. It was nice to get out and talk to people. And I saw Romney! (my cousin) So that was really nice to see a familiar face.

I love this gospel and I love being able to learn how to share it with others. I have felt the spirit stronger than ever here.  The MTC is hard at times, but i'm glad it is because it has only helped me gain a better relationship with my Father in Heaven. Adios Amigos!

Elder Tanner