Mission Week 68, Ferroviarios Peru

Hey Mom,

 

This week was HARD! And fun! We had great numbers this week but We were not able to meet with the investigators that I wanted to meet with. We found two new people to teach. They are two friends from Bolivia who traveled to Arequipa on promise of work and in the end there was no job. They are stuck here and are just trying to make it along living in a room about the size of my old walk in closet... They have a game of uno and spend most of their free time playing that game. We have focused on them this whole week. They feel alone and need friends. I have also been improving my teaching skills because My companion does not have a strong background in the church. He usually shares his testimony and gives some advice which is perfect because he has a very strong testimony. He has had so many life experiences and he can usualy relate to the problems the members have and he brings so much experience to the table. Its amazing to see how the lord can take anyone and turn them into a grand instrument of change. I know that the lord did the same thing with me. He changed me. In my mission I cannot believe the things he has allowed me to see and the experiences he has allowed me to pass. I cannot explain with words the feelings and emotions one feels while watching someone come to realize that the gospel is true and they can be forgiven for the past. I know that The Gospel is true that this is the key to find peace in life. Sharing this has brought me so much joy and fulfillment I can not stop smiling! 

Mission Week 67, Ferroviarios Peru

I am On And I have some news! It was changes today and we doubted that there would be a change because There was absolutely no reason that there should be a change. I had only been with my Companion Elder Soria for a month and a half. I was in the office so I asked president why he changed us and gave me a suprising answer. He told me that the first thing he did when he looked at the changes board was ask himself who needed to train. The first person that came to his mind was me and he said that i needed to train. After that the first person he put up as training was me. After that when he found out that my companion whom i was going to train went home He was going to leave me with elder Soria but he thought that If anyone needed to have the only temporal missionary that there would be in the whole mission for this change it was me. I will admit my response to my change was bitter and I was not happy with it at all. I was not ready to recieve a new companion and I did not sleep the night that I was told my change because I was stewing for all 8 hours.

 

After going to church and listening to a class on Sacrifice, I was able to take in all the things that were happening and SUCK IT UP!!! as dad would say. It was definately a suck it up moment. The name of of my companion is Hermano Paredes. He is going to have a lot of fun. I am excited for the new oppourtunities that await and I hope that I am up to the tasks the president sees fit for me. I also will miss president Zobrist. I have to say that he has put quite the dent in my life. He has caused a lot of stress and a lot of joy. I have  learned a lot from his leadership and I admire his ability to inspire.

 

I love you mom!

Mission Week 65, Ferroviarios

 

 

This monday I woke up at three o clock in the morning with my companion so we could get on a bus headed to Chivay. Chivay is a city with a population of less then 5000 people. It was a long trip riding up to chivay. I slept most of the way. It was freezing the whole drive and all I had was my light jacket and a small fanny pack. Everyone said that I was going to freeze. I was sure that they would all be roasting when the sun finally came out. We were all freezing in the buss when we ate Breakfast we were all huddled together Eating our bread and butter with a little bit of jam! We got back into the Minivan.  We started our way back up the road we made a few stops along the way. Eveyone still was freezing and then a few minutes before we get to Colca BOOM! The sunh came out and Eveyone started to warm up. I was nice a toasty in my light jacket! While at Colca the Condors started to appear out of no where! They were gliding around looking for thermals. The Andean Condor can grow to have up to a ten foot wingspan. They are giant birds. It was amazing to see more than ten of the giant plane like birds gliding around a giant canyon. Colca is one of the deepest canyons in the world. It is twice as deep as the grand canyon. It has tons of amazing views and there are lots of little trinkets that you can buy! After that we went back down into chivay. We walked through the markets and looked at things that the people were selling. We found a lady who was selling the best ice cream I have ever eaten in all my time in the mission. She was an old investigator from Elder Malloy. After that we got to go to an all you can eat buffet! It was amazing to see so much food. It was not the best quality but all of us were so hungry we ate three or four plates. after that we got back in the car and started the long trek back to Arequipa on the way a few people started to become affected by the altitude and they found themselves with giant headaches and they started to puke. that was my trip to chivay.

 

 

Its hard in our area we are not having a lot of success. We have two investigators who are progressing one of them told us that her father who is a recent convert is a terrible abusive man and that she did not want anything to do with us ever again. It was hard and then the other Investigator Eliang said that her mom had told her that she could not get baptized until she talked to us which is reasonable.

We are focusing on working with the members to have more success we have lots of plans to help the ward become more missionary work pro active.

Mission Week 64, Ferroviarios

Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy. 

 

We are here in this life to do what makes us happy. That is our purpose and the lord has given us the path. The gospel or the Good News, Is that path. We spend all of our time testifying of the teachings of the prophets and the lessons we learn in the scriptures and I have never been happier. Its never easy but it is always possible! I have seen lives change, I have seen relationships and families saved, I have seen hope come into the eyes of the people who live here in peru. I have seen my life change. I am not the same Shaw Tanner that left on the mission a very long time ago. The lord has shaped me in so many ways. I declare that anyone who leaves themselves to be molded by the grand artist of everything they will find that their life and actions take a meaningful shape and they can find purpose in life. I cannot explain all the changes I have seen but I know that as we help other people change their lives we find ourselves changing as well. My invitation to you all is to find the things that make you truly happy and do it. I promise you that the gospel will be one of those ways to find happiness.

 

Con Animos

 

Elder Tanner

Mission Week 63, Ferroviarios Peru

Everyone here has the goal to fatten me up! THere is food in every lesson that we have with the members. Food without fail. The members are very accepting and everyone here wants the missionaries to be happy. The ward definately helps the missionaries feel at home.

Yesterday was fast sunday and I wanted goldfish and jerky so bad!!!

YESSSSS!!!!! BABY BARTCHI IS A LITTLE GIRL!!!!! YESSSS!!!!! I WILL SPOIL HER SO MUCH!!!! I am going to buy alpaca booties for the package!!!!

Mission Week 62, Ferroviarios Peru

New area new companion new assignment. 

 

 

This change was extremely hard. I found myself on my knees or on the verge of tears for days. It has been the hardest days and changes in my life. I was so overwhelmed and lost it was utter despair, HOWEVER, It passed. If you had talked to me on Wednesday I would have told you that I was going to go home because the mission was just something that I could no longer do. HOWEVER!!! I CAN DO IT!!! I loved the quote that you sent me and it is so true. I am going to write that on the wall. My companion when I first met him I thought he was extremely relaxed! I could not believe how casual he was with the members. He is from Iquitos like Elder Perez he is probably about 5 feet tall and he weighs 90 pounds. I want to call him JUB JUB (The little bear guy from star wars). My camera card reader broke so I will give my photos to elder Sharp so he can put them on my OneDrive. The members here are so alive and jovial. They are always telling jokes and teasing and having a laugh its amazing. The beginning of this week I thought I might die but now the only thing that is going to kill me is all of the laughing I do. We had a baptism and It was an amazing experience. Mercedes was baptized! She is a sixty five year old lady who loves the gospel and is super shy and nervous but loves her heavenly father. Our ward mission leader is my new best friend. I have never gotten along with someone so well. He also serves as the Young Mens president in the stake. He is an amazing leader. I love this gospel so much mom and I have such a fault of gratitude for the simple blessings. Every day this week has gotten brighter and brighter. I am not saying that everything is perfect but Everything is good! I love you so much and I am going to work as hard as I can so I can come back to my room at night Look at the photo of my family and tell you guys that I tried my hardest today. 

Love Shaw

 

 

 

Elder Soria, 

He has nothing in the eyes of the world but in the eyes of the lord he is a giant. He spends almost all of his personal money for the month on sending cards to his family in Iquitos. He came to the mission with a few shirts one pair of pants and a suit coat with a dirty old pair of shoes. I would assume that the support in terms of money that he gets from his family is nothing.We are going to head to the office to get the photos and other things to elder sharp! Love you MOM!!!

Mission Week 61, Ferroviarios Peru

I am still in Arequipa. I literally just moved a tiny bit to get into my new area!

 

Well I am here in a new area with Elder Soria. Our room is super tiny! We do have hot water in the shower and that was a huge relief. Our pension is amazing! About the alergy thing. It was not just a little skin rash I did have intoxication. That night after we talked to you I went home and took a warm shower but I found that about half of my body was covered in HUGE hives. It was terrible. I was not very happy. I thought I might be fine after a warm shower but then I felt and tightening in my throat and I had a hard time swallowing. We ran to the emergency room and They gave me and IV and I was being pumped full of medicine to stop the alergic reaction or whatever it was that was happening. After that they gave me some medicine to help me and I am going to have to go back to get my blood analyzed in a few days. I am doing great I just cannot eat anything super sketchy.

Papito our taxi guy who was a doctor took care of me and I was with Elder Acosta. We had a fun time though and took pictures... I did not get any pictures of the hives but I do have some in the hospital bed. Sunday we were all so tired during church we had an early morning and a late night... But everything is all good now! Do not worry to much It was not that bad! I was Just really uncomfortable for a few minutes, I am just really excited to get to know a new area, my new companion and the new challenges that the mission can present but i am super excited to get back to the work.

 but as Joseph B Wirthlin said, "Come what may and love it" !!!