He caught me by surprise...

Hey!!

How are you all doing? Thanks for all the love and support!

This past week was pretty different than the rest. I wasn't going to share this but it is awesome and shows that this isn't all sunshine and smiles. So To be completely honest, On Saturday and Sunday we had really rough days. Then Sunday night the ZLs (zone leaders) called us "to see how we were doing" and the STLs (Sister Training Leaders)and our DL(district leader) and It really hasn't been all that great but we were fine. But the weekend was rough and Sister Quackenbush and I
were not working together too well. It's really hard because one thing she struggles with is pride and so it's been hard for me to find the balance of letting her make the decisions for everything like she is supposed to because she is new and not fueling her fire of pride. (President told me that I really need to work on that with her ). And little things kept happening that she was opposed to and would not do, but we were asked  from our leaders to do them, so it was a little frustrating. (Like role plays and such). So Sunday night I just prayed and prayed and prayed so hard just to love her more and that we would be able to work together to get new investigators and what not. So then we had a mini comp inventory and each said one thing we could each work on and when I told her about following our leaders she got so mad and made
excuses. then we went to bed. So I just prayed again and was practically in tears with how hard and frustrating it was. Because when there is contention, the Spirit leaves. And when the Spirit isn't present, we are commanded that we cannot teach. And I really wanted to teach and have a good week so that we could be really focused on the work. But then the next morning she apologized for getting mad and making excuses and we had the best day ever. We taught tons of lessons and planted tons of seeds and got good info about less actives and found some good potential investigators and Ya it was just amazing! God blessed us so much. And At night we made a delicious meal together and now it's all good! :)
I know God answered my prayers. I know he sent everyone to check up on us and pray for us because we needed it at that time. I know he helped us to work together and get work done like we wanted to do. I really feel like that trial had to happen so that we could get through it and work together in the best way. So I am thankful I was able to turn to the Lord for help and He was able to answer my prayer.

On a brighter note, I got another letter from the HB stake presidency (Ya my name is still spelled wrong but oh well!) and it was about thanksgiving so that came a little late haha..I also got a letter from the Eynons that had Christmas messages from the ward and it was stamped for December 20th so it must have gotten lost in the mail or something, Im not sure, but that was nice to get! :)

We taught sister McCreary this past week and it went really well, on Wednesday we talked about the Word of Wisdom and she gladly accepted that. She told us she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet and she believes that prophets can receive revelation from God. But she was still confused. So we had a whole lesson pretty much talking about her concerns and what not and the Hsiehs were there which was so helpful because they are converts themselves. The Spirit was SO strong in that
lesson it was amazing!

On Saturday we took Elder and Sister Hsieh to a lesson with us and then took them to look up some lesson actives and potential investigators. At one point we weren't sure the number on the house and since I was driving I asked sister Quackenbush to run and look at it really quick but she wouldn't do it so I said okay fine I will, so
I just parked the car and got out and walked over to look at the address on the door. Elder Hsieh came with me too. Before you know it, Elder Hsieh and I were knocking on the door and tracting together while sister Hsieh and sister Quackenbush watched us from the car. We were still in sight and sound...just not both at the door. Oops, haha but it was fun.

I'm starting to get sick so I have been taking vitamins and medicine and resting today for pday and what not. Because we all know what happens when I get sick. I'm just praying it's not bronchitis or pneumonia or anything again. But I have been taking vitamin c everyday so I am disappointed that didn't help me.

Anyway, So last week on Friday we went down to Scarsdale for the new missionary meeting and it was so good! I loved hearing from president Morgan and the APs and relearning what they taught me in the past as well as learning new things. I was able to understand so much more of it so I could definitely see how far I have come already. One thing president Morgan talked about was goals and gratitude. He mentioned sister Bolton and how she set a goal to teach 50 lessons and then taught 48 or something and I just kinda shook my head to myself because I have heard that story just about 60 times and he always tells us numbers don't matter. And then He talked about how effort is emotional and work is physical. After making the point that when we put forth all our effort, works, faith, and desires, then we need to
be grateful for the results. For example if we pray for 4 new investigators and we get 2 then we need to spend zero time being upset about the two we didn't get and just be thankful and happy for the 2 we got. Then he caught me by surprise and called on me and asked me to stand up. He then said "Sister Tanner, I know you have had experience with setting high goals, tell us about it." And I was a little taken back at first and then I remembered that one time in my weekly email to him a few months ago I told him about our goal of teaching 50 lessons a week (to put that into perspective, this past transfer president told us the average number of lessons a week is 9). So I just talked about how when we set high goals and give it our all then
we learn how much we can actually do and how hard we can work and it helps set the tone for the rest of our goals for every other week and even though numbers don't matter at all, it helps to motivate me to work as hard as I possibly can ..stuff like that. I just answered the question pretty much. And then he asked me to share what our goal was and what we actually taught. So I told everyone that it was 50 and we
taught 30 something lessons. And then president was like "and you told me what you thought about that. Tell everyone" so I just talked about how I really like setting high goals because it pushes us to do better and how I was thankful we were able to teach over 30 and how it has changed my mindset on how many lesson we can teach when we have faith but the numbers didn't matter because nowhere in PMG (Preach my Gospel) does it mention any numbers. They are just there for motivation....then finally I was able to sit down and sink into my chair in slight embarrassment haha

But then I started thinking about that. What a great lesson. I learned once again how president Morgan knows each of us. From that, I learned that he really reads and remembers each email we send him. He loves us individually and knows our needs and concerns and strengths and weaknesses and I love that. I am so grateful for him because it has taught me more about my savior. If a mission president has 250+ missionaries and remembers each one, then imagine our Heavenly Father's love for each of us. Although He has so many children, I have no doubt in my mind that He knows each of us personally individually. He wants us to be happy and he is mindful of us. He remembers our prayers and he answers our prayers. He is thankful for our good works and our efforts. I am so grateful for a
Heavenly Father that loves me :)

I love you all so much. Keep up the good missionary work! I love love loveee hearing about your missionary experiences! Have a good week!
Xoxo

Love,
Sister Tanner <3

This is Sariah Mulholland.  She is six and we are best friends.  I love her!

Mulholland girls danced for us!

It all starts with that seed of desire

Hey family!

This week felt like a month. It just seems like it was forever ago when we had transfers. But that's how the first week always is for me. It'll pick up again. We have had a good week and have been able to teach some good lessons. Our investigator (Corrina) opened up to us so much this past week. She is well on her way to baptism. She just has to quit smoking and she will be golden. We had a really good lesson with her about setting goals for this new year and we showed her the mormon message "New Years: look not behind thee." She loved it so it was super awesome.

On January 10th the new mission presidents were announced but I don't know If you saw that or not. so last week at transfers president Morgan told us all about them so that it wouldn't be new news to us. So Our new mission president will be David L smith and his wife is Rebecca Smith. They are Coming at the End of June of 2015. They have 3 children ages 15, 12 and 11. They are from Keller Texas which is North of Fort Worth Texas. He is a Bishop right now. And Ya, he is going to be awesome I'm sure. It'll be sad to see the Morgan's go but awesome to be able to have a different president and see how things change and what not.

Last week the weather was in the negatives way too much! I have been so cold! I think the wind chill has been in the negative teens like all week. We literally run to the car each time and look ups are NOT fun at all. And tracting...don't even get me started on Tracting in this weather. Way too cold for that haha but I am still alive so it's okay! Every time we go tracting my toes freeze. I can honestly say I am so glad I'm not in Russia!

On Wednesday (on the way home from transfers) we lost the Hsiehs on the freeway hahaha they were following us and then they started going super fast and so we were following them and then they got off the freeway randomly for some reason. Turns out that they thought they were suppose to follow the elders and not us so they were looking for them and then they thought they followed the elders off the freeway but it wasn't them. So we called them and called them and finally they answered and they met us at a gas station off of one of the exits and we had them follow us the rest of the way haha it was greatt.

Alright so sister Quackenbush is 20 and from Vegas. She went to BYU for 2.5 years. She is the first to serve in her family. Her older brother didn't go and neither did her parents. It doesn't sound like they are too active in church, but they were happy for her. She is a really good missionary though. She is really prepared and already knows all the lessons. She wants to work hard and so that's wonderful. I'm excited. It's been fun getting to know her.

We went to Scarsdale last week for sister Quackenbush's new missionary interview. We are going this week to Scarsdale for the new missionary meeting. And we will go to Scarsdale next week for a sisters conference, car rides for days... It's fun though! I love seeing president and sister Morgan. They are awesome!

This week has been good. I have been studying faith a lot this week. We can always work on strengthening our faith in Jesus Christ. In the bible dictionary it talks about how faith comes by righteousness and is a gift that "must be cultured and sought after until it grows from a tiny seed to a great tree." I love that. Faith is so important in everyday life. We need to continue exercising our faith so that it can become a big tree one day. But it all starts with that seed of desire. That desire to repent or change. To become better And do better. As we show our faith and act upon the desires we have, miracles come. In the bible dictionary I love how it says "Miracles do not produce faith, but strong faith is developed by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, faith comes by righteousness, although miracles often confirm one’s faith." I know that this gospel is true. I know that sometimes things may seem too difficult or impossible. However, we have to take a leap of faith and act upon righteous desires and as we do that Heavenly Father will see our willingness and devotion to Him and in return He will Bless us in ways we may not even imagine.

I love you all. Be good and Have a good week! :)

Love,
Sister Tanner <3

Me and my new companion Sister Quackenbush

Happy Noggins!!!

It's quite a big responsibility...

Hello!

So this week was good! We really didn't get to do much. We did a whole lot of driving and we were grounded on Saturday. We now have a good amount of snow. It's been super cold this week and it's getting colder. On Tuesday we drove to the city because the sister we are in a trio with had to go to the doctor there. But bishop Nixon is that doctor so I got to see bishop Nixon! It was so awesome. But the best part about that is that I drove in the crazy busy city and we didn't die!! It was awesome!

Anyway, to the good stuff. I am training sister Quackenbush. Yep that's right. She has the coolest name ever. I haven't actually met her yet. We are waiting at transfers for them to all come.

Sister McCreary (our investigating neighbor) is doing so well. We went over to teach her on Friday and she asked if we had another pamphlet and we said no and she just about cried. So next time we will bring her another pamphlet. She totally loves the Book of Mormon. She hasn't admitted it yet but she says it seems true and it makes sense. we cleared up her beliefs about prophets and told her about President Monson and general conference. She asked what president monson talked about and so we gave her a quick version of his talk and she loved it. She came to church on Sunday as well so that was good.

Like I said, We spent most of this past week driving and saying bye to people for Sister Ballou so it was a really busy week, just not much to say. Sister Ballou has been pretty sad. It was funny cuz when we said bye to people she would cry and they would say "most people are excited to leave this area! You are different!" Haha..she is going to Harlem so that's cool!

I'm excited to be able to learn from sister Quackenbush and to help her as she begins her mission here. We went to a train the trainers meeting (which I saw sister smith and sister brown at because they had a different meeting there after and that was soo good to see them. They ran and hugged me for like a good 3 minutes. It was awesome. I love them.) Anyway, the meeting was really intense. It made me really overwhelmed but president said if we didn't feel overwhelmed then we weren't listening so that's good. He talked to us about how a missionaries trainer sets the tone for the rest of that missionaries life. Intense right? But it's so true. How the mission starts sets that expectation for the rest of the mission and the mission is the MTC for our lives. It's quite a big responsibility when you look at it like that. But like I said, I'm excited. I'm ready to learn a lot and have a good time!

How are your New Years resolutions coming? Work hard on them! Tape them on your mirror or something and read them everyday! Each day is a new day. It's the start of a new year. Forgive and forget. Move on. Work a little harder. Be a little better. and watch the Mormon message
"New Years: look not behind thee" or something like that! It's really good!

I love you all so much! Have a good week! Xoxo

Love,
Sister Tanner <3

My District before todays transfer

....I'm Pregnant!

Hey family!!

It was so good to talk to you on Christmas!! Definitely the highlight of Christmas!! Sorry time is short! But You all looked so good in the I <3 NY shirts! Best Christmas ever! I hope you had a good rest of your Christmas Day :) can you send me the pictures you took?

Thanks again for all the Christmas gifts and cards! I really feel the love from everyone. Thank you!

So Christmas Eve was awesome. We went to the Cardonas house with the Elders (investigators that are super active and getting baptized in June when divorce papers [from previous marriage] go through). They gave us all a Christmas present! It was fun being with them. They are an awesome family and have been coming to church every week for about a year and a half now.

Then at 10:45pm sister McCreary rang our doorbell (we put our mattresses in the family room and slept by the lights of the Christmas tree that night) and so we got up and answered and she gave us each a present too! Super unexpected. I love her.

The rest of my Christmas Day was so good! So as I said when we skyped, we woke up and opened presents and then got ready for the day, finished the 1000 piece nativity puzzle and went and skyped our beautiful families. Then We drove the Hsiehs (senior couple) up to then van valkenburgs and spent a few hours there. We had dinner and shared a Christmas story. Then we came home and wrote in our journals and read some Christmas stories from the new era and ensigns and then went to bed, it was good! It was a really relaxed Christmas and I loved it.

Alright, so I think it would be good for you to know that I am pregnant... Yep my baby will arrive on Wednesday. (Missionary term: expecting to train a brand new missionary) She is from Las Vegas. So I'll be training her, therefore I could probably be in this area for a while. That's okay though. I have had a feeling I would be training this cycle for quite some time now. Two weeks ago I started praying for the missionaries that were going into the MTC that would be coming here. I try to do that because I know how nervous they can be but I forgot about it and then all of the sudden I just kept praying for them. And then two days ago I took out my posterity scarf that I got from my trainer (Ya missionaries are weird!) and wrote my name on it so I can be prepared to pass it down. So I guess I really knew it was gonna happen. Follow up training sister Ballou has really got me prepared for it though. Friday we will drive to Scarsdale again because I have a train the trainers meeting. And then on Monday we drive to Middletown to get our car serviced for the regular check up thing. And then down to Ossining for transfers on Wednesday next week. Looks like a week of driving!

Today for pday we have to drive down to Scarsdale to drop off sister Matthews because the group going home leaves tomorrow and they spend the night at the mission home tonight. Since school starts next week they had to leave before transfers. But transfers are on Wednesday. However, since sister Matthews is leaving, her companion sister smith (a different one than my last apartment) is going to be trio-ing with us until Wednesday! I'm excited, she is really fun. She came out the transfer right after me and sister Orme follow up trained her.

We got to teach sister McCreary again yesterday. She is progressing so that is good but she will take longer than missionaries dream of.. Haha but that's okay! We will be patient with her and go a the pace she is ready for so that we don't overwhelm her. Whether she gets baptized when I'm here or not, it doesn't matter. She will get
baptized :) she has been reading the Book of Mormon and she said that it makes sense that Christ came to the Americas because he just disappeared for a while in the bible and so it fits in perfectly. She said she thinks the Book of Mormon can be true. Soon she will know it is true. She loves to pray so she is going to keep praying about it.

Another investigator we have been teaching for a little while is a woman named Corrina. Our lesson last week she told us she has every intention to get baptized, she just wants to make sure she can fully commit when she does. She comes to church every other week (she has work on the other days) and she knows it's all true. She just struggles financially and feels she wants to be more prepared. We will keep working with her and we will be patient. But she is awesome. She always brings friends to church too.

So we are still training the Hsiehs haha it's fun, they are hilarious. They asked sister Ballou and me to teach them English since the elders teach me and sister Ballou Spanish. So last week we had our first English lesson right after they fed us and the elders lunch. Elder hsieh wanted us to teach him pronunciation. When we got to L we all decided to sing deck the halls. So us 6 missionaries gathered around and we sang it so that they could practice the "fa la la la la, la la la la". We put the Christmas Story movie into action. It was real life and so funny haha I wish I would have recorded it for you. Then At the end of the lesson he asked us what some slang words are that we use and some phrases that are commonly used. So we taught them about 20 words (mostly easy ones..like sweet, sketchy, dude, etc) and then as we were getting ready to leave we were like "oh Ya, sometimes we say 'aww man!'" And then we explained what it means and how we say it and then elder Hsieh looked at us super confused and said (in the thickest accent ever) "aww man, the struggle is real!" Haha it was sooo funny. We all died laughing.

On Friday I called Sasha and Natasha and Sister Macuilt! It was soo fun! I love them. When I called sister Macuilt first all I said was "hi sister Macuilt!" And she was like "sister Tanner!! How are you sister!?" I love how she knows my voice :) haha Bishop Nixon bought sasha and Natasha Christmas gifts and they were really happy about that. (So was I especially since Sasha was afraid of the bishop at first but now she knows he is super nice). Natasha(the 10 yr old) is so cute. She was telling me about how after Christmas they always have a cousin day and they go shopping and go to Starbucks and everyone normally gets something with coffee but she is "all about that hot chocolate and whipped cream life now" haha I love her. They are doing
great. I'm glad we have permission to call recent converts :)

This past week I have really felt the love of my Savior so strongly. I have been overwhelmed with the love and joy especially this past week. At first I thought it was all because of the many prayers offered from family and friends back home as well as in this branch(which is part of it). However, as i was reflecting back on my week on Sunday, I remembered what I had been praying for at the beginning of the week
and that was to feel what my investigators will feel when they read the Book of Mormon. Since it didn't come right away, I thought my answer was "you already know it's true, you don't need another witness." Now I understand. The Book of Mormon does bring joy and hope and guidance. I was filled with joy and love because it is a true book. I know I got that answer because God loves me. I feel Christ's
love from others as I see Him touch their hearts and serve others. I have felt the love of our investigators and members especially during this Christmas season. I am so thankful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary at this time. I loved finishing the Book of Mormon just before Christmas because it made this Christmas the best one yet. If you haven't read the Book of Mormon all way through (ever in your
life or recently) then you really should do that. Nothing bad can happen. It's worth the shot. Make time for it and Just give it a chance. It's an amazing book. I love it and I know it's true.

I love you all so much! Thanks for the prayers and love! Happy New Year! Have a good week :)

Love,
Sister Tanner <3

HAPPY NEW YEAR!