Mission Week 99, Farewell, Arequipa Peru!! "No Matter Where I am, I'll take you with me!"

"Know that whenever you feel alone, I always keep you in my heart! No Matter where I am, I'll take you with Me!!"  Elder Tanner

Mission Week 98, Umacollo Peru; "Plant good habits in the mission and cultivate them at home."

The mission no longer has weekly indicator of lessons they only count the following Baptisms confirmations, New investigators baptismal dates and church assistance.

This week has been great. I have noticed that with the new indicators we can really focus on our goal as missionaries. Before sometimes I stressed over the goals for lessons in a day. Sometimes as a missionary I found myself teaching ineffective lessons just to complete the goal. I understand that Lessons are still a key part of the progress of the investigators and we will always teach lessons but now we are not focused on teaching lessons for the simple fact that we teach lessons. I was talking with Elder Mendoza about it this week. We talked about how one of the companionship's in our zone had always had so many lessons every single week back to back there numbers were huge, However for the last few months none of their many investigators who have baptismal dates had NOT entered into the covenant of baptism. We could teach more than 30 or 40 lessons in a week and I am sure we would be feeling great and loving the opportunity to teach HOWEVER if none of our goals for the month become baptized, Were those 40 or 50 Lessons very effective? No. With the new indicators we are really focusing on finding people and with the spirit getting them to the faunt. I love the new indicators and we have found that they help us to focus on those who are willing to progress and not teach those who are only ready to Listen.

This week we had a lot of fun teaching more people and focusing on the spirit. We have been looking for the people who are willing to progress. It was amazing to see how focusing more on the needs of people and the spirit helped all of them keep their commitment to go to church.

The gospel is true and I love it. I will not stop sharing it. I loved what the mission council talked about in terms of applying the mission after returning home. Plant good habits in the mission and cultivate them at home. That is definately my plan!

ALSO!!!! We had an investigator named Benancio go to church for the second time and the ward mission was talking about Priesthood and how a worthy holder must pay tithing. Our investigator went to the bishop and told him that he needed to teach him how to pay tithing and HE PAID TITHING!!! He is an investigator and he is paying tithing! I could not believe it. An amazing sunday.

Elder Tanner

Mission Week 96 & 97, Umacollo Peru; "Do we have a Dog?" "Last Transfer"!!

1/17/2017

MOM!!! :D Love you so much I got changed back to arequipa. Was on a long bus ride and did not have any time to write. I will get you more details and photos next week. I am in the UMACOLLO stake with Elder Mendoza! He is from Bolivia! We are going to have lots of fun we are zone leaders of two Large stakes. The office is in the zone! I am really close to umacollo! Love you tons mom!!!! QUESTION: ¿Do we have a DOG?😲

1/23/2017

So this week has been a little bit to take on. For the first few days I felt like I was underwater. The stress and the anxiety got me so worked up I could not understand what was being said in the lessons and my Spanish stopped working. Elder Mendoza is a great missionary but there are a few character traits that make him a very unique companion. He is a very timid and shy. I have been working on gaining his confidence and helping him to get to know a little bit more about being a zone leader. He lacks a lot of basic social skills that many of my other companions have had.  He is an only child and he and his mom are the only converts in their family. He is fairly relaxed with the missionaries and hard on the investigators. I went through a few panic attacks but I think I can help Elder Mendoza with the zone.
The biggest difficulty and frustration that I have had with the zone is not knowing anything. It has been a large part that gets my spirits down because I would like to do exactly what I did in Tacna with Elder Velasquez or Elder Cleverly but its not the same. I love the missionaries in Tacna. I am new and I have yet to develop a relationship with the Elders Here but that just means I will have to try that much harder with the time I have. I also still do not know how to treat the Elders in the office thats an enigma but we will present you the idea when we go to visit you for interviews!

Mission Week 95, Tacna Peru "Opportunities to serve and love"

 Monday Jan 9, 2017

We cannot compare ourselves to others. The mission is not a competition. When we start to compete against others in our mission we put a limit to the blessings that we want to receive from God. A long distance runner always competes against himself comparing old and new times looking for ways to improve his performance.  If a Long distance runner stops focusing on his goals and focus himself on others he might sacrifice his own progress and become satisfied with being faster than another runner when in reality he could not only beat the other runner but many more.
I loved the message about comparing resulting in Pride or discouragement.  In talk of President Leguia he shared about a parent correcting a child and said that God corrects us.  He has two sons, one who he saw was loosing his way; with tears in his eyes he expressed his love for his wayward child but still longed for him to come back to the gospel.  God does not want to discourage us.  He loves us and will correct us but does not want to discourage us.  I have seen many runners who become satisfied with less than their full potential because they compare themselves with other runners.  Many times we as missionaries see baptisms or leadership positions as a form of recognition.  They are wrong.  It gives us opportunities to serve and love.

-Elder Tanner

Mission Week 93 & 94; Tacna Peru "The Lord has a plan"

12/26

Something that I recognized this week was that we have one purpose on the mission. Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel. Elder Sorias conversion story was definitely a huge example to me of someone who fulfilled his missionary purpose and a mom dedicated to the lord. Elder Sorias brother passed away on the mission. When a ward member broke the news to his mom she screamed out of agony and fell to her knees and prayed. She must have prayed more than an hour when she stood up and said "I know and trust in the lord. If it was his will to take my son let it be. I have four more children that need to send on a mission as well." I was blown away by the faith and trust in god that this woman had. The first thing that she does after hearing about her sons death is testify of the will of god and promise to send her other children. Neither she herself or any of her other children at that time were members. After the news of their sons death the family soria quickly converted to the church and made a long and hard journey to become sealed in the temple. Even though their son passed away on his mission he fulfilled his purpose as a missionary for his own family. I know that the Lord has a plan and he will never waste our efforts on the mission and we will always receive the rewards of our efforts, we may not see them but the blessings come and they last forever.

1/02/2017

Hey mom here are the baptisms and funny photos. If you look at me and my companion in the street its called colon street!!!}

Mission Week 92, Tacna Peru; "PEACE".

This week was fairly interesting. I was sick for a part of it but I got over it fast. It was actually the Christmas dinner that made me sick and after that I ate Ricotto Relleno which would usually make my stomach worse but my companion told me to do it with the faith that it would make me better. I just kept on telling myself that it would make me better and with a positive mentality I got better while eating a pretty heavy dish.
This sunday I gave a talk on the message from the first presidency from this month. I enjoyed preparing myself for the talk I used a few scriptures from John. The explanation of peace is amazing and how Jesus gives us a peace that no one else can. How a firm confidince in his plan and in obeying the commandments can bring us more peace that a full wallet and a full stomach. That is just one of the fruits of the spirit. I have decided to look and develop everysingle one of these fruits of the spirit found in galations 5 this week. I hope that I can gain a stronger testimony of each and everyone of them.
Our investigators keep on progressing. We are excited to see them take thier leaps of faith in these days. Last week we all had very spiritual experiences and we were able to feel such a strong spirit and this week we really focused on committing them to act according to their feelings. We will see the results this week and I wait for them zealously.

I have a two months left in the mission. I have many plans and goals that I will accomplish in that time, Moreover I would like your opinion on the goals I have set and I would like you to help me set more. Here are some of the goals that I have planned,

1. Learn to testify in Ayamara or Quechua

​ (native language here in south america)​

and use it to help convert someone who does not speak spanish.

2. Have a healthy Diet and gain 5 Kilos.

3. Raise church attendance in the ward I am in by 20.

4. Read the Book of Mormon in the two weeks I have left while contemplating the way I have used it in the mission and how I can better that usage int he time I have left.

5. Serve my companion daily.

6. Be more spiritual in my letters that I write home. Help my family feel converted through the things I write.


Elder Tanner

Mission Week 90 & 91, Tacna Peru "One SOL"

 12/12

Another good week. It was hard to get in doors for lessons but with a some phone calls and text messages we got enough investigators to go to church. There are a few of those investigators that we want to teach and they tell us, no I just want to go to church. A little frustrating but no one ever said that the investigators would come easily. I hope that we through fasting and prayer the lord can soften their hearts or we can find the "KEY" that will get us in the door and the spirit in their hearts.

I miss being with Elder Velasquez. He is an excellent missionary. We are still living together. Its a little strange. Everyday with Elder Velasquez was a Day where you got home and you felt absolutely drained. So many spiritual experiences and surprises at every turn. Elder Cleverly is a fantastic Elder too. I do not know him quite as well but we have a much more compatible way of teaching and I can feel the spirit so strong its like it is shooting out of our fingers like it says in Preach my gospel. The weight of the zone is not the same. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to learn. It was amazing to see how the lord can fix everything and we only play a small part. He is everything. He can do everything. Sometimes all we have to do is be present and he will do the rest. Sometimes we he lets us fail so we can learn.

This was an experience from last week that I wanted to share.

Fast and testimony meeting the Bishops councilor started by talking about the example of a sister in the ward who was going to go to the temple. She had so little but she always saved enough to go to the temple. This sister was an older woman who sold juice in a market she said that she did not make much money in fact it was practically nothing. That all that was left after she had bought food and necessary items was a sol. ONE SOL. She would take that sol from everyday and put it in a jar that was saved for the temple. Every year she would go to the bishop and say bishop here it is and she would always have enough to go to the temple including a little extra that would go to help others. A few testimonies later that same woman stood up and gave the most simple and sincere testimony. She said,"the temple is a good place. It is Beautiful and I like it. I like it and the lord likes it to. He is happy that I am there. That is why he gives me extra so I can go". I could not stop thinking about the humility and example of faith in that woman. She saves 33 cents daily so she can go to the temple. What more can we give? I am making goals of more things that I want to give during the mission and after the mission. 

12/5

Whew I had a few things that I wanted to write you but today was the hard day. Changes.... I am staying in my area but I will have a new companion Elder Velasquez is going to another ward in the stake but they are splitting the zone. I have half of the zone in the larger of the three stakes. It will be a lot easier to manage. Elder Cleverly is my companion. He should be getting here soon. I am feeling really wiped out. Yesterday we readied a room and that was not the funnest. We were painting for over an hour. I loved the Christmas devotional. I should have a few minutes more to write

Today was changes. We had to send over half the zone. Imagine trying to get over fifteen missionaries on three different buses in two different terminals.... I was fairly agitated and I yelled at a member. He wanted to call me and give me a hard time and I was just not taking it while trying to make sure elders did not lose their buses. During changes I cannot describe how much less stressful the sisters are. They are mature, they get to the terminal on time. they do not complain. they dont give me problems. I would love to thank and urge all sisters to go on a mission. They have such a strong presence int eh mission.

Mission Week 89, Tacna Peru "Prudent and Simple"

We had a baptismal date for this Saturday but the investigator, Raquel, did not feel to good about choosing between god and her family. It was a really hard moment it was the first time that Elder Velasquez and I had ever gotten back to the room and just thrown ourselves in bed without changing brushing our teeth. It was a pretty hard moment but we bounced back even stronger. With the determination that God is preparing people for us and we need to find them.

 This week was good. I feel like there are many things to do in Tacna and with the determination that Elder Velasquez and I have we will keep on doing it. I feel like some of the Elders feel comfortable being outside of Arequipa, we have taken the initiative to see how there studies are going and take time to talk with them one on one. It has been a great opportunity to solve problems have companionship inventories and show the Elders that we are more than just a digital audio recording device. This week I read a scripture that I love and until this day I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

Mateo 10:
16 He aquí, yo os envío como a ovejas en medio de lobos; sed, pues, prudentes como serpientes y sencillos como palomas.

The lord sends us like sheep between wolves. I have seen the importance of Permanecen Juntos SIEMPRE. What is one sheep all by itself going to do between a lot of wolves. I cannot imagine it getting very far. The lord promises us protection and success when we are obedient. We must be prudent and simple. Many times, as missionaries, we try to complicate the gospel and we are blinded by confidence. We believe that we can trust in ourselves more than the spirit but the gospel is simple.

Mission Week 88, Tacna Peru; "trying to bathe a cat"

Today we had an excelent companionship study where we talked about how we could improve our teaching methods and use of time. We concluded with us needing to be more focused on those who were prepared by god to recieve us. Many Missionaries in Tacna believe that we must prepare and teach our investigators and help them to find their testimony, however, Preach my Gospel teaches us to FIND, TEACH, INVITE. That is all we can do. Preach my gospel does NOT say that we must force the spirit into someones life by teaching them OVER and OVER and OVER AGAIN. We must be effecient Missionaries and the lord will to the preparing we just need to do the Finding the Teaching and the Inviting. This last week we found Three people ready to baptize. THEY WERE PREPARED BY THE LORD and all we had to do was find them. I know that The Gospel Changes lives but if we continue to  teach people who are not prepared it would be like trying to bathe a cat. You might be able to do it, but the likelyhood of that happening is a lot better when we work with the will of God. The gospel is like a river. We need to help every that wants to go with it. Some people might be already trying to go with the flow of the gospel but they are tangeled in reeds of doubt. Others are actively marching upstring. We must help those who let us help. 

Elder Tanner

Mission Week 87, Tacna Peru {Chased by an addict; font overfloweth; needle in a hay stack.}

This week has been much smoother than the last. The last week had me at the end of my patience but I now know that god listens and answers prayers not in our own time but in his time. He knows our weaknesses and our strengths and he is going to push us to our breaking point and then give us all that we need. This week we had a few notable things happen.

1. I was shouted at and chased by a drug addict from Brazil. He was yelling a lot of different words and the best part was that it was in Portuguese and I did not understand anything.

2. We had lessons set up with a family that we really want to help but they rejected us three times.

3. We had meetings with two of the stakes and because of the holiday no stake is having it at the same time.

5. after the church meeting on Sunday we had a crazy guy who is also famous come to the church. He started yelling and saying that these are my brothers from the one and only true church. People say that he is crazy but that he is also extremely intelligent!

4. We prepped the baptismal font for a baptism. Usually the fonts take around three hours to fill and when they do they have a run off pipe that keeps them from overflowing. Little did we know that the font in the arias araguez building fills faster than the run off pipe lets water out. We started filling and thought that it would at least take a few hours to fill and we left to go make a payment. When we cam back to the church we found water in the entire floor of the church. It somehow had managed to make it into the entire sacrament room and cultural hall but avoided the classrooms. We were extremely lucky to have caught it before it made it into the basement. We spent the fallowing two hours cleaning up all the water. During which we did not have any idea how to turn on the fans which would speed up the clean up. I said a quick prayer asking God to send me the knowledge to figure out how to turn on the fans or to send me someone who knew how to turn them on. About a half an hour into the clean up our relief society president rung the bell in the front door and asked about a certain activity that was going to take place in the church. We had no idea of the activity but we asked her how to turn on the fans in the sacrament building and she explained us the way to turn them on.

5. NEW INVESTIGATORS: this week has been an amazing week to find new investigators and we have received MANY references. I am not saying that all of them are golden investigators that are ready to be baptized in fact until Sunday night I was super happy to have the new investigators but I told my companion that all of them are going to be a lot of work. I was telling him that we have lots of new investigators and lots of work to do but I did not see much desire to learn more, However, Shortly after saying that we had a little kid run up to us and say ELDERES!!! we contacted the family. They are not members they have been going to church and they want to hear more. That was a tiny mercy of God. He was letting me know that he is going to make us look for the needle in the haystack. We are going to find a LOT of hay but that is what it is going to take to find the needle!

I am just grateful for the opportunity to be in the mission for this opportunity to serve my heavenly father and my siblings.

Mission Week 85 & 86, Tacna Peru: "I know that God lives and He loves each and everyone of us. It is the first truth of the gospel."

HEY MOM! (10/24)

Wow Stressful week full of amazing experiences. This week I was able to get through my last week alone without having another companion. President was telling me the whole change that I was going to train in the upcoming change while being a zone leader. I was on top of everything trying to prepare the rooms and getting all the things I needed, writing contracts and going to get things legalized. I almost jumped on a bus to go get a document from a really small town a few hours away. super stressful week. I was called rude by three different people who almost did not make it to their bus because I was pushing them out. INSANE WEEK!!! but its over my new companion is another Argentinian. His name is Elder Velasquez every has great comments for him

(10/31)

 This week was a good tough week. The work was a little slow. We found a lot of new people and were rejected a lot too. We had a fun time teaching a fairly stubborn family. I hope that the lord will answer there prayers and soften their hearts. When we got back there were lots of missionaries who needed things done, people waiting for us to remove the furniture out of their house. Today I became overwhelmed and was thrown into a down warding spiral of doubt, frustration, and feeling inept. I get to the point where I do not know what to do. Do I do the things that the missionaries need, or do I do something that would help me unstress. I cannot sit still knowing that other missionaries are not well because they do not have money and need reimbursements. Is there a moment where I just say I cant do it anymore and stop answering the phone calls. Maybe I am just overthinking everything. I feel bad because today it is taking a toll on my companion to see me in such an oblivious state. I feel bad but at times I do not know how to react and rather than getting angry its just easier to literally let everything go mentally.

What is it that you do when you cannot feel like you can complete all the things you have to do?

Some of the sacrifices that I want to make for this week in November are...

1. Smile all the time. I guess you could take this as maintaining a positive state of mind even when passing through difficulties.

My companion and I went to one of the ward activities and as we walked into the activity we could both feel the spirit slowly dwindling away. After sitting through the most uncomfortable 45 minutes of my mission we left the activity. As we silently walked up the road from the church I talked with my companion. I asked him if he could feel the spirit in the activity and he told me that he did not feel it at all. It was a strange feeling of emptiness that I have yet been able to shake. I worry a lot about the Esperanza Ward. La Florida is doing great we have been finding new investigators asking for references and receiving new work. This upcoming month will be a fruitful month.

I hope that I can shake this feeling of doubt and inability.

Elder Tanner

After Five minutes of sitting and almost crying in a public internet cafe president gave me a call. He just gave me a pep talk and helped boost my mood. God answers our prayers!

I love you. I want you to know that in the hardest times of my mission and the hardest times of my life I have always depended on the testimony of you and Dad. I know that the promise of alma is true. In alma 37:16-17 we learn the importance of being obedient. If we are obedient nothing in hell or on earth can take away the blessings of the lord. I know that this is true not because I have participated it first hand but I have seen the blessings that my parents have received. In the mission I have seen Elders go home because they doubt. I know that God lives and He loves each and everyone of us. It is the first truth of the gospel. There is no way that out of two hundred letters to president he read mine out of chance and new that he had to call me. I Know god has a divine path for each and everyone of us. Sometimes we need to do hard things with him to be able to help others. I love you Mom. Thank you for your testimony always!

Elder Tanner

Mission Week 84, Tacna Peru: "Dedication, Devotion, Allegiance."

"Gopher Everett?"

Gray Hair or just dust?

This week was a good week. The zone had success. We Ended this week with 6 confirmations and 7 rescues. We still have room to improve. The Tacna district seems to be having a few bumps in the road. Elder Barrientos is trying to do all he got here this week in an emergency change and he will go home this week too. The Missionaries in the Alameda District are having lots of success. This week we will do divisions with Elder Senden and we will have a good day contacting with lots of spanish practice. 

Compromiso. While pondering you letter I thought about the things that I needed to do to become a more committed missionary. While looking for synonyms to commitment I found the fallowing word. Dedication, devotion, allegiance, loyalty, faithfulness and fidelity. What mission president would not want missionaries with these actualities? I feel like I would shout with joy if our investigators were a little more dedicated to their scripture study. What would any missionary do to have liders devoted to The Mission Work. I know many missionaries that long to have a more loyal companion. I feel like there are so many ways we can improve our commitment to the mission. 

 I feel like before the mission we were all spiritually unformed. We all we starting our lives and starting to understand our purpose in life but we there was something that was missing.  A lot of times when a person needs to get in shape physically they go on a diet and they stop eating and drinking things that are not bad, but at this time they are not absolutely necessary. The mission is a diet of our lives. For two years our heavenly father is ready to shape us spiritual. The commitment to this spiritual diet will effect the results for the rest of our lives. I will be putting goals down and looking for new opportunities to become a more committed missionary. Thank you president.

Mission Week 83, Tacna Peru; "find the means to keep going on"

Mom it has been a very very challenging week. We had correlations with all three stakes. Later President came down for interviews and a stake conference. While president was here Every stake leader wanted to talk to him... It was a lot of correlating but in the end it all worked out. President went back to Arequipa Sunday. He told me that this trip was the smoothest trip he has had and he felt like he had accomplished a lot because I had scheduled him things to do for almost every hour he was here. I am not going to lie that it used up a lot of my concentration and Sunday I was paying the consequences but the lord always comes through and when we should be absolutely dead because we have nothing left to give it comes out of somewhere.

Elmer Is awesome. He is from tacna and He is a rather serious person who takes a lot of time reflecting and meditating what he will say and do. It is a refreshing change from before. This week I was trying to do the informs for all three stakes which would usually take Elder Behotas and I three hours. I was talking while Elmer got board and organize EVERY THING IN THE ROOM. That being said the room was left in a horrendous condition when Elder Behotas Left I will send you a photo and I will send you a photo now. He has been a huge blessing, However yesterday was to much for me the ward has not been pleased with the absence that the interviews. I did not know what to do being as president had given us the assignment also to work in another ward. I was ready to lose my mind. Elmer said that he noticed that I always took the responsibility upon myself and he did not know how he could help because he has never done any of these things. He encouraged me to pray and look for support from my heavenly father because if I am here in these whirlwind of tasks and preoccupations. I did exactly that and somewhere I was able to find the means to keep on going.

Mission Week 82, Tacna Peru

Guess what We had Emergency Changes. I am staying in Tacna. I will be sending my companion to Ilo He will meet up with president and the other assistant and he is the new assistant. It was time. Being a zone Leader is not the easiest thing to do. He was sure tired of being in charge of the zone. Supposedly the load of being assistant is not as demanding. As of right now president says that the mission lacks leaders and He is sending me a temporal because he does not have other zone leaders. This is the first time that I have seen a Zone leader with someone who was not another zone leader. It seems to me a very interesting concept. Divisions will be extremely hard as my companion is not quite yet a missionary. I also have to talk to three stakes and I am just one Zone leader... I am a little bit stressed but If thats what the lord wanted, its what I can do. 

General conference was great and yes I did see Abby. It was fun to see a familiar face. I liked the Saturday afternoon session and the morning session. There were a lot of talks about the lessons we teach as missionaries and in the afternoon there was a ton of Missionary talks. I think that my favorite talk was the talk about how we as saints can be joyful through whatever circumstances.The talk reminded me of the time we had the problem where the pipes were clogged and the basement bathroom was flooded.. I remember that when me and maddy started we were a little bit upset and we did not want to be cleaning any such thing😫. Then shortly after getting to work for a little bit we were able to have a great time just by looking at the chore differently. Pretty soon we were not dreading it but the fact that we were cleaning up something so gross made us laugh and smile😝.  It does not matter what we are doing or what circumstances we are in we can always be joyful through what ever difficulty we are passing.

Tell Benson and Kaitlyn that I said Hi. I miss them a ton!

Mission Week 81, Tacna Peru

Hey Mom and Dad,

This week has gotten better,  I have been able to really hit the pavement and give it my all. This week We had an emergency change, Elder Pintado was sent to the office so he could recover from the back problems that he was having. His replacement was Elder Hinostroza. President was not to excited to be sending Elder Jones a new trainer because he had only had a week but he determined that the best thing to do was send me for a week help Elder Jones get his feet wet and then send Him his new trainer. I was in Ciudad Nueva this week Training Elder Jones. Knowing that it was an area that had been struggling for baptisms for some time now I new that I had to start from the beginning. I talked to the bishop and arranged for a meeting with him the ward secretary and the first counselor. I found out that relations with the ward mission leader were not great so I arrange for a meeting with him and told him that we just wanted to get to work and needed to know where to start. We found ourselves having lessons with less actives contacting looking for directions and we were moving a ton in the area. I got to know a lot of the area and many of its members. It was amazing how at the end of the week I did not want to go. The Bishop told me that he was going to call president and tell him that I had to stay. It was a fantastic week and during that week my companion organized the baptism for Sister Evelyn. She was so happy to be baptized. She has come a long way and has truly repented for the past and she is excited to make good choices in the future. She asked that I baptize her and that Elder Behotas could confirm her. It was an amazing experience and Elder Jones and I were able to take a few investigators to the baptism and they want to be baptized in the fallowing weeks.

Mission Week 78 & 79, Tacna Peru

Elder Tanner did not write an email for Week 78.  Week 79 we were able to hear multiple voice recordings how his week went and a song they sang.  He is interested in extending his mission; learning tons; lots of new missionaries coming into Tacna this week.....is keep super busy.

Mission Week 80, Tacna PERU

Prayer really does work,

Hey mom! This week has been difficult but a great growing experience. 

This week was very hard. We spent most of our time visiting leaders and we had a hard time having visits with investigators. We did happen to challenge someone to baptism but that is based on the grounds that I baptize him on Christmas day.
Are there chances that I could stay here until Christmas?
We found two less actives this week. They are a hoot. We joked around with them talking about their mission experiences. Both are returned missionaries. We do not have a lot of experienced teaching Inactive married Returned missionaries but I am determined to help them get back to church.

Mission Week 76 & 77, Tacna Peru

This week... Oh my gosh. I have  never had such a stressful week ever. This week we almost lost one of the missionaries who we really need here. He is only eighteen and he is very stressed. He has had some health problems and the mission nurse did not help him a ton. The doctors here are super un organized and literally just told him to buy a hard bed and told him to leave. I was upset because I saw a missionary so stressed and confused that he just wanted to throw in the towel. Seeing him being stressed I went to the bank and took out around sixty dollars in soles and I told him we are going to go to the clinic and have them look at you know and they will tell us exactly what we need to do. I did it without asking for permission and I knew that the mission was not going to pay for it because they had already sent him to the clinic. I in that moment felt like I needed to have him seen. He went to the clinic had a few tests done and for the first time I saw him relax and the stress left. The mission will not be able to reimburse me but I knew it was worth it. If that is what it takes to help this missionary end his mission strong I will do it.

This week we have been able to work a little bit in the area but not a ton. A lot of the investigator did not make it to church however Evelyn DID GO!!! She is the suprise blessing of the week. She is making lots of changes in her life but is also the most determined. I was so happy to see her yesterday in the church. we had a lesson with her and she is not giving up she will take her time in picking a date but she is not going to give up.

Mission Week 75, Tacna Peru

The savior said to his apostles Follow me so many times in the scriptures. This week we had a special surprise visit from president Johnson he told us that he would like to take a little bit of time to talk to all the missionaries in the zone. After we all had gone to a church close to the entrance of tacna president started to share with us a large talk that was accompanied by lots of scriptures about humility and The Savior. I knew all along what he was going to tell us, I had felt it from the very beginning. The purpose of the talk was to prepare us for something that he had to tell us, Every time he talked about something related to this little announcement he started to cry. I could see the tears welling up in his eyes. It was extremely obvious how much this would cost him to say. After finishing an excellent talk and helping all of us feel the spirit and love he has for us he told us that many of us would probably be waiting with much anticipation for a special visit from an apostle. Elder Renlund would be coming to visit the mission but We, The missionaries from the Tacna Zone, would not be traveling to visit him. All of the missionaries had been given permission to travel the less than three hours to get to Arequipa, However Tacna is seven hours outside of Arequipa and we would not be traveling to meet the apostle. I knew that all the missionaries here would be extremely disappointing. President Johnson and Sister Johnson Cried and told us how much they had been fighting for us how much they wanted us to be there. I felt a heart wrenching pain as I watched many of the Sister missionaries in the Zone break down in tears. I recognized that this would be one of the only chances to see an apostle for many, if not all the missionaries who were from south america, and that they probably would never receive this opportunity again. President Ended by making promises to each and every one of us. Sometimes the bitter cup cannot be passed and we must accept the will of the lord. I know that President Johnson has been called of God. I know that this church is true and that Miracles exist. I love you all very much. Keep working!

Mission Week 74, Tacna Peru

Wow this week has been a amazing crash course of new things to do and to learn while doing them. We have had presentation with the stakes and lots of new oppourtunities to teach. The lessons that we have had this week have been few but the lord makes up for the lack of time! This week we have been able to find new investigators and challenge people to be baptized. It has been an amazing experience to see how the lord prepares people to meet the missionaries.

I have been adjusting to the climate in tacna it has been a little bit of a change but I finally feel like I am getting used to it. Its a lot more humid than arequipa and I like that a lot about it. I hope that I get to stay here for a long time.

This week we have had meetings with the stake president of Arias Araguez. We had a presentation with the sumo sacerdote who was in charge of la obra misional. It was a little bit difficult because the members who were assisting had been misinformed about the meeting and were told it was not going to be about the missionary work. It was a great presentation but the mood of those listening really made it difficult for us and Hermano Cornejo.

This week we have not been able to have a ton of lessons however the lessons that we have had were extremely beneficial. This week we were able to find new investigators and challenge people to baptism and three of them accepted. We have found that when we are dedicating all our time to the lord he is going to help us with the things that we need.

Some of my responsibilities are; Zone conferences. divisions with more than thirty missionaries. Training those thirty missionaries, Making sure that they have success. Meetings with stake presidents from three different stakes all of which have very different ideas and very different plans for the missionary work.  Making sure all of the rooms pensions and emergency supplies of the missionary are good.

They (Stakes) are all super close we can take a ten minute taxi to get to each one.

 

 

Got to go mom Love you!