Mission Week 55, Arequipa Mission Office

Well This Easter weekend has been amazing! We have had 25 Lessons in just five days and thats insane because we only have three hours to teach daily and we have had so many things to do outside of the office... It has been insanely busy! At times I feel like the world is just spinning and spinning so i just spin with it. This could be my last change in the office... I have no idea what I want to do before I leave. I just want to keep working... We have a Baptism today! Her name is Begy! She is super determine and super converted. She is one of the people who showed up to church and said Baptize me! I am going to give a small talk on baptism. This week is Elder Holguins last week in the office. Elder Acosta is going to be the new personal secretary. I will know if I am going or staying in a few weeks. I hope President drops another hint so I can know whether I will be staying or going. Who knows what will happen. One thing that the mission has taught me is to trust god with my life. I do not know what the future holds but I am not afraid either. I am ready to do what the lord needs me to do. "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves" -William Shakespeare

 

When we have confidence in god and believe that he will guide us that is faith. Martin Luther King Jr. compared life to a staircase and faith is taking the first step even though we cannot see the full staircase. I know that this staircase is going up because it is not easy. It will never be easy. We will continue our journey doing our best to fallow the footsteps of Christ and even when we fall he will be there to help us back up. I know these things are true and I love them. They bring peace to my soul.

 

Love you mom!

Mission Week 54, Arequipa Peru Mission Office

We have another baptism this week. Begy came back from Camaná and said that she wanted to get baptized as soon as possible. She had basically disappeared off the face of the earth but she came back and had read the book of Mormon and could not wait to get baptized.

We have tons of investigators and they are all of different ages. Young people are faster to change however older people are almost always more converted and dedicated. Its amazing to see how the ward makes such a difference.

The other day we had an amazing time talking to Elder Montoya. He is part of the area presidency. He was very focused on the greatest commandment and the second greatest commandment. He told us that having love for god is the most important but loving our neighbor like yourself is the second. He talked a lot about serving our companions and that the mission is like the college of life. He said that the mission is Marriage Preparation 505 in college terms. He was an extremely happy person and you could feel the charity that he feels for everyone he meets when he talked. It was amazing He told us you share you testimony with the people of Arequipa because you love them. and then he burned all of us and he said how many of you share your testimony with your companion on a daily basis. Then he made everyone share their testimonies.

 

Missionary work is in the ward. like that one email i sent to you we must be ready to find prep and invite. It is NOT a missionaries work to knock on doors all day. Our president has made it very clear that he does not want us knocking doors for more than an hour. He says that we must always have the spirit with us and knocking doors is the equivalent of going duck hunting blindfolded. The most effective way to have a real conversion with an investigator is through the members!

 

 

Mission Week 53, Arequipa Mission Office

Today is definitely a gift! I have been learning so much it has been an amazing experience. I have had amazing experiences teaching this week! I cannot believe it! This week All the office missionaries (The Four secretaries and the assistants) Have been looking forward to a baptism filled weekend! Today there will be three baptisms in the Umacollo ward building. Hermana Alicia has been a part of a Mormon family since birth but when she was about the age to become baptized her family stopped attending church and she forgot all about it. She grew up and when she became overburdened with difficulties she asked her mom for help. Her mom asked her if she remembered the primary and the primary songs of the church that they went to a long time ago, Alicia did not. She then invited her daughter to come back to church as her mother had done. Her mom lives in Spain. Alicia has progressed a lot even though it has not been easy with the problems she has been having however she has found a great strength in Christ. She says it has to be true because I always leave the lessons we have smiling and I just cannot stop smiling.

It is going to be a good P-day.

Love Shaw

Mission Week 52, Arequipa Mission Office

I have been getting a lot better at doing my job in the office and I have a lot more confidence in myself. Yesterday and this morning we went on divisions with the zone leaders. Everything is going really well! I was able to learn a lot of things from Elder Malloy. He is from a converted family. His Mom has been a member but her grandparents were the first members in her family and his dad is a convert. He is the first ever missionary in his family. We have a lot of similarities. Neither of us have a TON of doctrinal knowledge which is considered to be the most important thing by most Latinos, but we both have super strong testimonies. I do not know where it says this exactly but I do know that it says it somewhere that we can be given the gift of simple belief. We do not need to know everything, every fact, every detail, every doctrine, but we can be given just as strong if not stronger testimony through the confirmation of god. We both are more spiritual teachers. I have spent my whole mission with Latino Companions who are master teachers in terms of basic doctrine. I Love them!! They all have so much more knowledge than I do they all have more profound doctrine than I do and they all know the scriptures and wield them like a sword in lessons! I have never been able to keep up with them in terms of Teaching Lots of deep doctrine in lessons but he helped me to understand that we do not need deep doctrine for recent converts. It was as if a HUGE weight that had been weighing me down for my entire mission just flew out of my hands. I knew in that moment that I was not failing in the lords eyes. I felt a lot better about the lessons that I had been teaching and my own progress. Being with very doctrinal companions has helped me to become a better doctrinal teacher and to use the scriptures more. I have learned so much from all of them and if I keep having doctrinal companions its because I need to learn more. I know that I am suppose to be here and I can testify of the truthfulness of the gospel and the fulfilling feeling we receive through studies of the book of Mormon, Prayer, and Church Assistance.

 

Love Elder Tanner

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)