Sister Kiera Tanner: I got proposed to...

Hi again!

Thanks for the cute St. Patrick's day package! I got it this week but hey, it's never too late for some green right! :) and I also got a nice letter from gramps and grandma Jill with stamps! So thank you!

This week has been really good. Especially since Monday we have been going super extra hard and have had so many miracles. The Lord keeps placing people in our path for us to teach, it's been so incredible.

On Thursday We had an awesome lesson with sister McCreary about tithing and fasting! But the awesome part came right before we talked about tithing and fasting. We asked her how her Book of Mormon reading was going and she said it was going well. Then we had an opening prayer and after the prayer she said "The spirit told me to read 3 Nephi 27 today so I did!" Which was awesome because we had planned to talk to her about 3 Nephi 27:33 at the end of the lesson anyway. So after talking about the whole chapter and how Christs church is suppose to be called after Christs name, she told us that she has loved learning about this gospel. She said that she is at the point where she knows almost everything we taught her is true (her last thing is the Book of Mormon) and she is just deciding now whether she needs to join or not. We cleared up a few of her concerns as well and continued on with the discussion of 3 Ne 27 and the lesson. During that lesson I felt so strongly in my heart that she will be baptized soon and that as we give her time and let her come to know of the need she has to be baptized, she will act on it.

On Friday night we had out last lesson ever with sister King. Since she already Pleaded guilty she has to go sadly. We set some goals with her and her husband, had dinner together, and then had a good lesson. We then finished by singing a hymn together which really finished the lesson with such a great spirit. It was a good last lesson and brother King was really into it as well. We are planning on seeing him on Friday too even though she won't be there so hopefully he lets us!

Last week on Saturday during personal study I read 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 which says "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)." The footnote for confident is "of good courage and of a good cheer." so I thought about that and it reminded me of an experience I had the day before.

So Friday it was snowing all day and we decided we were still going to go Tracting with the elders for an APF because they already found the place to go and had it all prepared. So we set out to tract with faith that God would help us to work hard and put forth effort. After not really talking to anyone (the people that we did talk to told us that we would have better luck in the summer) we met this guy named Mark. He said he doesn't live at that house and that he was just visiting for a day. The conversation wasn't really going anywhere. We talked about prayer and the atonement but he didn't seem to be taking it in and he wasn't really answering our questions. So we decided to just go so we gave him a card with our number and a pamphlet to read. My first thought after I gave him the pamphlet was whether I should write the address of the church on it or not. for some reason I decided not to write it.

However, two hours later he called us and said he wanted to come to church and he needed the address..which never ever ever happens! We were so shocked and excited. That helped me to feel confident and of good cheer that even though God isn't physically next to me, he can manifest his power to me by guiding us to the people we need. We had faith that God would help us and bless us and because of that we were able to be filled with cheer and joy. I know that walking by faith and not by sight does help us to be full of courage and cheer. If I would have wrote the address on the back then he wouldn't of had to call us. Maybe he would have came to church, but we would have known already that he had the address so it wouldn't be as much of a surprise and therefore we wouldn't of had that moment of such great excitement and astonishment of Gods mindfulness of His children. God works in mysterious ways.

We even have a lesson with Mark today (who we will have to pass on to the elders) at 4 even though it's still pday because that's the only time he could meet with us and because we have been so busy this week that we don't have any other time. So hopefully that goes well!

On Saturday we got to go to the Templeee!! It was so awesome. We ended up leaving at 11:30 because the session time got pushed back and we didn't get home until 10... Oops. President fuller (branch president) was so good to us though. He made sure we all went out to eat in NY since we aren't allowed to go to Jersey (even though we still drove through NJ) and then he bought us dinner and didn't have us pay for gas or parking like everyone else. He's the best.

On Sunday we decided to call Megan again since we haven't heard from her in FOREVER. And she answered and acted like nothing happened and said we could come over Tuesday! So we did and it didn't turn out so well. Pretty much when we were driving there we saw a girl that kinda looked like her. So we turned around and went back to see if it really was. Well it was and it was on a busy road so we couldn't stop right there or anything. So we got to a safe place to talk with her and she was gone! So we went and tracted all around her apartment for a bit and then decided to go search for her again. Yes we tried to stalk her. Well just before we turned back into her parking lot, we saw her going to her house! So we hurried and parked and then went to her house. Welllll she didn't answer. We heard her inside and everything. Lame. But we won't give up on her. One day she will come back. Pretty much we spent like a half hour stalking her. Oh well.

Something else weird happened on Tuesday. I got proposed to! ....you always tell me not to come home engaged, so I said NO. Here is what happened..This guy came up like he was going to shake our hands and so I went to shake his hand and he grabbed my hand and was like "hey there, will you marry me?" And I was just like "uhh what? Huh? No..." And I pulled my hand back away from him and we started walking away and he was like "wait no, really! Do you have a boyfriend? Can I take you on a date?" Haha it was weird. We kinda just got out of there fast.

Tuesday night we went conference Tracting and this man yelled at us and told us we were blasphemy for thinking there could be a prophet on the earth today because God would not talk to people today. Ha it was funny. And then after that we met the guy who won the lotto recently over here. That was cool

Yesterday president Fuller told us that the church bought a bunch of land around here somewhere and that in the future they want to build a temple! That would be cool. Who knows if it's true or how many years that will be in, but one day when Monticello has its very own temple then it will be the place to be. Sweet though.

Last week during studies I was reading in PMG (Preach My Gospel) and I decided to do an activity that had me read Helaman 10:1-5. It talks about Nephi and how he was left alone after teaching the people. But then the Lord came and told him that he did good. Nephi was told that even though everyone left him, he kept the commandments and always tried his best. I was thinking about how to apply that to me and sometimes I really feel like that. Just as everyone "dropped" Nephi and left him alone, I feel that way sometimes. Like I do all I can to teach with power and by the spirit and to show them how much I love them and how much the Lord loves them, yet everyone has their agency and even when they know it's I right they don't always follow and so they "drop" us too. But I think the Lord would tell me I did good and I tried my best. It really hit home. My fear was that I would stay here in Monticello for the rest of my mission and watch each of my companions leave me as well! But I guess if this is where I'm needed the Lord will tell me I did well and tried my hardest and that's what matters!

We have to just work hard to please God. Even if we get left behind (like up here in Monticello) God will always be proud of us for our hard work and when we return home we won't regret it at all. So work hard, be diligent, and do Gods will and you won't regret a thing :)

I love you all so much! Have a good week! Don't forget to watch the women's conference and watch the new Easter video clip! And happy early birthday to my FAVORITE brother ever!! Have a fabulous birthday even though I won't be there to celebrate with you! You're the best! Xoxox

Love,

Sister Tanner <3