Mission Week 50, Arequipa Mission Office

This week has been relatively strange.

 

So here in South America People always greet other people with Besos which is a kiss on the cheek which we DO NOT DO  as missionaries. Neither my Companion or I can figure out why but for some reason I have almost been kissed on the cheek a handful of times however, Thanks to my extremely long arms I just extend out my hand and give them the good old cordially handshake and  I manage to keep them all at bay.

 

Right now it is not very cold or hot but there is a little bit of rain, this city is not built for rain and every time it rains the rivers rise and the streets become rivers and houses flood and rivers are filled with bricks that look like chocolate ice cubes floating down a chocolate river. It is not even that much rain... Yesterday the assistants helped evacuate an apartment complex that minutes later collapsed and went floating away. I have been doing well health wise in spite of walking drenched every now and then in the streets. I am using the umbrella and the Cabootles jacket. My old shoes got a whole in them but I found a brand new pair of shoes just sitting in the apartment that I have been putting to great use. they are called mission shoes and they are about the most durable things I have ever found. 

 

Tomorrow we have another baptism Hermano Raul! He is awesome. He has such a strong testimony of the church and book of Mormon he is ready to accept whatever it is the prophets tell him to do because he knows it is the only way he will be able to find true happiness in life. He has a super strong testimony and he is so ready!

 

 

Week 49, Arequipa Mission Office

This week has been great we have had tons of training and I have been able to get a small amount of work done thanks to the welcoming of the new missionaries and the leaving of old ones and the zone conferences and then the leadership conferences BUT Elder Holguin and I said that we would not let the number of extra things we had to do become a burden on our area and we would still try and get as many lessons in as we usually did. In the office the missionaries average 15-20 lessons a week. Right now we have 15 but we have the goal to make it to 21 because Sunday is a special day its the day we get to be missionaries!  We have a baptism next week and we had one last week. I cannot remember if I told you but the work is going great! I have being improving my teaching skill and My companion has been hinting that president has a leadership role in store for me. We have been finding tons of people and we have been teaching a ton too. Elder Holguin is going to leave the office this change and he is determined to leave it with more progressing investigators than any other area in the mission. Elder Holguin is one of the most amazing missionaries I have ever met and I am so glad I get to learn from his example.  sorry that is all for the week people are calling me from different places and Secretary work is taking over my life! LOVE YOU MOM. Be safe happy and keep being joyful!

 

When you talked about your training it reminded me of a training we had in the mission. At first I was not going to go because I am not a district leader, however president thought it necessary that all the district leaders and their companions come to the training. Elder Holguin is my companion and District leader while having the special assignment of Personal Secretary. I thought having the assignment of Elder Tanner would be a burden enough but president sure has seen a ton of potential in him and he is doing everything really well. During the Training president talked about what it meant to be a leader in the mission and how we as companions of district leaders needed to be prepared to take on the mantle and responsibility of our companions at any moment. The second part was a discussion led by the assistants. They asked for difficulties that the zone leaders had been having. It was fun to be there but the first part was a lot more applicable to my situation in the mission and I was able to give my opinion as a non leader missionary. After the conference I talked to my companion about how he thought our district was doing. He explained how we needed to keep improving and then told me that I needed to be prepared to be the new district leader because the new district leader will be my future companion or me. I am super excited for my future companion. I know he is going to be one of two missionaries because there are only two missionaries that are secretary material. Anyways I am a little worried about the change that is coming up but I do not dwell on it. Love you a lot dad. Thank you for always teaching me the things I would  need on my mission.

 

Mission Week 48, Arequipa Mission Office

This week was great! I was able to get a lot of studying done and the office work has been going smoothly. It has been a great learning experience. I have learned more than anything to say no. It has been so interesting to see how everything is important to the lord on a spiritual level. In doctrine and Covenants we read

D&C 29

34 Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.
Here we can see how the lord could view something like money as something spiritual. I know that god does not need money however he is worried about how we use our blessings that he has given us. If we have spending problems its probably because have some unbalance in our lives that is affecting our ability to feel the spirit. Its amazing to see how the lord works through each and everyone of us, however, if we are not ready and prepared to be instruments in the hands of god we will sit and watch as blessings fly by like clouds in the sky. We cannot be passive in our gospel lives and we must act on the invitations that we receive from the spirit of god! Well this week being valentines week I have focused my studies on the important topic of Love. Not the shallow feeling of attraction that we feel as we see a fairly attractive person of the opposite gender walk into the room, no, I am talking about Christlike love. The love that each and everyone of us should have for every single person that we pass. Firstly question, Do you love god? How do you show your love to god? 

John 14: 15
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John teaches us how we show our love to god in the most simplest way possible. Obedience. I love how we show respect and love to our heavenly father through our obedience. We always love to teach this lesson to people who have problems forgiving other people. Now if you truly love god you must show him through your obedience to ALL of his commandments. Just a chapter earlier john gives a new commandment from god,
John 13: 34
34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

To show our love to god we must show our love to others and not conditionally. We cannot say we love god and hate This person or that person.
John 4: 20,21
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

In this very special time we all must think of the way we can show our love to god. We must love others. Whether it be cleaning up trash along the road or helping a neighbor weed their garden, we are showing our love for God. If we choose to sit and listen to a friend in need of friendly advice we are doing exactly what our heavenly father would do if he was here. If we hope to show our love to God, we must let our actions speak for our words and we must come to realize that God loves all of us, so we must love too! I hope all of you have had a great week and enjoy this day of love! (The pure Christlike kind)

Mission Week 47, Arequipa Mission Office

This week has been insane with tons of extra workload I am doing great. We had Three goals for baptism and ALL OF THEM FELL!!! they moved away they got sick and went to their aunt marthas house. All of them just left But three of our other investigators started progressing so we should hopefully be able to end this month with three baptisms! Thier Names are

 

1. Raul: Super shy guy who has a mormon friend. He came to church one day and said That he loved the meeting and that he had a testimony of the church and wanted to get baptized we were left with faces like this 😐 (What...)
2. Beggy: A friend of Renson. He is a returned missionary who brought a friend (Beggy) To church. She Told us that she loved the meeting and that she had talked to renson a ton about our ideas and why we live the gospel so faithfuly. She told us that she wanted to listen to the gospel and learn more with the end of getting baptized, Needles to say, we were left with faces like this again 😐 (What...)
3. Marianne: Marianne has had HUGE struggles and she has had to overcome so many different difficulties in trying to become baptized. It has been amazing to see her story of how she has been able to overcome her problems. Yesterday she told us that she wanted to get baptized next week and that she was ready to do all that it took to get baptized. This time we were left with faces like this 😅

Anyways I know that this is super short but I have tons of Emergency Work to do. I will see if I can get on later but I doubt it.

Mission Week 46, Arequipa Mission Office

 

 

Guess what! Yesterday I was throwing up like CRAZY!!! I was super sick I could not even keep a little bit of Gatorade down. It was terrible! Then I got a blessing and cried because I could feel how much love my companion and my heavenly father has for me and slept the whole day. I woke up this morning and I am not eating anything solid but I feel Great! So about last week when I said that I was not going to go paint balling I went and Ezra told me that if his little sister was going to do it then I had to do it. In the end I played. My team won every single time except once. Webb asked me if I was going to join a branch of the Military what would I join because I was super good! Everyone immediately started shooting like crazy. I was super conservative with my ammo and was basically the supply guy because everyone was always running out but I always had more that I shared. I had a ton of fun! It was amazing. I will put the pictures in the one drive folder! How do you like the one drive folder! 

Transfers are hard for everyone. I especially do not like them. Elder Webb gets to travel because he is an assistant to the president he went to
Moquegua and said hi to Mamita Luz. She sent me a piece of cake and said para mi hijo flacito. (For my skinny son)

 

I really wanted to eat the cake last night but I decided against it. I will save it for tonight. I loved the Jerky that you guys sent in the mail. I was super good! Everyone else loved it too! I only have one bag left but I think I am going to open it up today.

I cannot believe how tall Maddy has gotten! She looks so grown up! I cannot believe it. She is finishing up her Sophomore year right. That is insane! She only has two years left! She is going to be so big by the time I get back! Can you believe it? I also hit my year mark three days ago! Now everything is downhill. Everyone says that the second year flies by! I cannot believe it. In less than a year from now I will be on a plane heading home. 

We had divisions with the zone leaders the other day and It was absolutely insane. We had four lessons which is a lot for us considering we only have four hours to teach. Two out of the three houses that we went to we gave blessings. One was a blessing of health for Hermana Anita, she was working all day and her Arthritis was giving her a really hard time. She is a radiological technician. She loves the gospel and is full of love for our savior. She is the only member in her family and she wants so badly for her family to come to accept the truth.  He has been talked to by so many missionaries and he never progresses. It makes me sad but I know now is just not his time. Hermana Anita’s daughter was in town so we took the time to teach her a lesson before giving her mom the blessing. 

 

Love Elder Tanner