Frog legs and escargot just for fun!

Hello again!

First of all, Happy birthday Shayla (6/15) And Jax (6/13)!! I'll be thinking of you on your birthdays :) I love you both! Have a fabulous day!! 

Alright So today I am going to the temple again because my companion is going to see Les Miserables today (our mission president allows us to see a Broadway show at the end of our missions) since she goes home soon. Lame that I can't go yet but cool for her! And I'm glad to be going to the temple :) So I'm on a split with some other sisters down here in Manhattan :) it's a party I must say. 

On Friday we will be getting Facebook back and it will be our last zone conference with president and sister Morgan! Afterwards we are having one last sisters conference as well so Friday will be a good day :) I'm excited. I think the zones that had zone conference yesterday already got FB but I'm not sure.

This week was good! We met a lot of awesome people Tracting, had some incredible lessons with less active members and new investigators, and had a lot of fun. 

THURSDAY 

Planned and got ready for alma activity. Looked up less actives super awesome.  Went out tracting and we accidentally tracted into someone's back door thinking it was the front door. They were so confused again. I don't know how we keep doing that! They lived on a corner so we went to the door closest to where we were Tracting but it turns out their front door was on the other side.

The houses are weird though. A lot of times Within each house there are like 3 or 4 houses. So when Tracting a lot of times we will try opening the door to see if there is stairs to more doors. Sometimes it's actually the front door and you just hope they don't see you or hear you opening their front door. The houses are just crazy. It's fun though 

FRIDAY 

We met some incredible less active families and they all agreed to coming to church next week so that's awesome. Their testimonies are so incredible. They just fell out of the habit of going to church and slowly things went down hill but they are on their way back up. It's awesome. 

We also had a Skype call to plan the Alma activity a bit more and finalize things and what not. It's so cool how we can do missionary work in this digital age. We used 7 iPads and a phone to plan an activity with other missionaries none of which served in the area where we set it up. So cool. 

For dinner we went to this super fancy restaurant to try frog legs. The meals there were 60 each and we spent 10 dollars each haha we got Frog legs and escargot just for fun. We were the only ones in the restaurant too. They hated us since we didn't get much. Oh well haha

SATURDAY

We woke up bright and early, 4am, left at 5am, and headed to the city for the Alma academy! We all met in Stamford and then we traveled together with the APs down to Manhattan. It was such a cool day! 

So the plan was for me and sister Groberg to work in a trio for the day but then last minute another girl showed up and she didn't have a companion and so I got to be with her. Her name is Aubree and she is so cute and so awesome! We had the most incredible companionship study that morning all about faith and I just saw myself in her so much. She is headed to BYU this fall and plans on putting her papers in in January as well because her birthday is in April so she wants to go after a year of school. Her testimony is incredible. When we did roll plays with the other missionaries everyone was blown away at how strong the spirit was when she testified. So after our breakfast, comp study and some trainings, roll plays and activities, we had lunch and then headed out to contact for like 3 hours. Let me tell you, afterwards all the youth were like "we are SO tired, how do you do this everyday!?! You guys are amazing" Haha it was cute. 

So the first contacting APF we did was focused on family history, we talked to some awesome people but it was pretty hard, as always. Lots of rejections of course, but those people that did stop and talk were awesome. we pretty much helped people to start doing their family history work since a lot of people are interested in that. 

The second APF was the Book of Mormon one that I did before and that one was so much fun. We talked to some really incredible people and were able to testify of the Book of Mormon a lot. Aubree was able to give out her first few copies of the Book of Mormon and explain what is is all about to them. One guy told us we should probably go get married instead, but it's fine haha. I think the youth were able to really see how missionary work is super hard and we get rejected way more than people listen, but it is so rewarding. The happiness that comes from sharing the gospel is just so incredible. Overall i think she had a really good time. I learned so much from Aubree in the few hours we were companions. I know she will be an incredible full time missionary as well. I absolutely love this gospel and I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that we can find comfort and peace from reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and the things we learn from it each day. 

It was really cool to see the youth who were fasting and praying about whether they should go on a mission or not, receive their answers to go at the activity as we took them out with us contacting and studied with them. Ya it was a really fun day. 

To end the day we went to stake conference which was SO amazing. The speakers were like general conference status. I want to get them printed to reread them all the time. Something cool was that Elder Gordon H. Smith of one of the quorums of the Seventy talked about how he has worked with so many mission presidents. He said they were all excellent but that he has never seen a better mission president than president and sister Morgan. And he said it so genuinely and you could tell he doesn't just say that to everyone. Seriously, everyone loves president and sister Morgan. They are just the best ever. I love em. 

SUNDAY

Sunday we had Stake conference again! It was super good again. I love stake conferences. They are incredible. I learned so much and received so much personal revelation as I listened. The Spirit really does speak to us as we attend church when we seek it out. 

That night Sister Groberg got to skype into a baptism of a kid that she taught in one of her past areas. There were like 6 or 7 missionaries skyping in since they were taught for so long but it was really cool to see. It made for a great Sunday. 

MONDAY

We had cleaning checks for our cars and one requirement was that it had to be washed within the last week. Well we washed the inside on pday but not the outside. So we went to the Car wash on the way and asked for just the outside cheapest one. They looked at us like we were crazy since it was raining. Right after the car wash, it started pouring rain so hard. But we could still say we washed it so we were happy! Haha 

After district meeting we headed to the Chiropractor down in the city! It was really fun. We were looking for a parking garage when we ended up getting forced onto a bridge..that went to queens.. Well queens is out of our mission so that was awkward. We drove over the bridge into queens and then got right back on it and drove back. That's twice now that I have left the mission! First to Jersey and now to queens. Oh well, it was an accident! 

Okay so the chiropractor was really fun. I've never had my neck adjusted before but it felt so nice. I didn't know you can pop or crack or whatever that much at once! So I went to Dr. Arbuckle who I actually knew from serving in the city. He was like "wait, I know you!" I worked a lot with his daughter when we went to activity days as well so it was fun. He is awesome too. He is super positive and fun and really nice. And he said that it's free for missionaries so that's good. 

Don't worry, when he asked me my pain, I said 8! And then my comp and I quoted some Brian reagan and told dr Arbuckle to watch it since he has never seen it and was really confused why we thought it was awesome to say 8. 

So ya he took some X-rays of my spine and found some stuff that needs some fixing and so I have to go down once a week to the city, it's sweet cuz I love the city and I love when he cracks everything in my body and X-rays my spine, but it's lame cuz it takes a lot of time to get there and back.

TUESDAY

We had a referral from the elders for this girl they found Tracting so we went and had a lesson with her. Her boyfriend came too and they both loved it. They met at their church but have only been attending for about a year and so they were really open to learning more. Turns out the girl knows all the Mormon kids and she wanted to ask one of the boys to prom haha she thinks he is so cute and sweet (he is kind of awkward) and she knew he probably wouldn't go to prom. But he ended up going on trek and so she didn't ask him haha but it was cool to see how big of an impact he made on her along with the other Mormon girls. Little do they know, the elders tracted into her and now we are teaching her! Her name is Cassie.

We also got a Media referral from church headquarters for a girl named Jessica who requested a bible so we looked her up. It turned out to be the most legit media referral I have ever received. We went to her house and a man answered so we asked for Jessica. Normally they said "nobody by that name lives here" but he didn't. He got Jessica and she came out and was like "oh wow! I didn't know I actually followed through with that. And I didn't know I would get a free book and new friends out of the deal! So we ended up giving her the bible, and threw in a Book of Mormon of course, and set up a time to meet with her again! She has never been religious but something on Instagram caught her eye right when she needed it most and so she decided she wants to learn about God and read the bible. She absolutely loved it. It was such a blessing and miracle and definitely a highlight to the day.

We also volunteered at a senior home place and one of the old lady's told me that when my companion goes home that I need to get a boy companion instead hahah I told her I'll work on it. It was awesome. 

We also had a big flash flood..again.. That seems to happen a lot here. I guess that's why it's so green. We went into a building for like a minute and it was sunny and then we came out and it was pouring like crazy. we ran to the car and we still were soaked. 

WEDNESDAY 

So like I said, today I get to go to the temple again which is AWESOME. I'm so glad we have a temple in our mission that we can go to so often. It is such a blessing! 

This morning I was thinking and studying about obedience because we all have to prepare a talk on obedience for zone conference. There is a quote I love that I don't think I shared with you yet.. but anyway it says "On the straight and narrow path there are no corners to be cut." I know that's so true. We can't choose what commandments we follow and what things we do or don't want to do and not expect consequences. We have to hold to the rod and do things Gods way if we want to return to him. We can't forget commandments altogether and expect it to "not matter" 

I know how important obedience is. It's always the cool thing to do. I know obedience brings true happiness. I've definitely seen that in my mission. We can always improve and be more obedient as well. As we strive to be obedient everyday, God blesses us and helps us to feel His love more abundantly. I love being a missionary, I love this work. I love you all! Have a great week! Xoxox 

Love, 

Sister Tanner <3