Sticky Note

 September 2, 2015

Hello family!! I hope you had a great week!! I'm glad to know you had a good birthday mom! :) this week was good. Kinda slow but still awesome! We have been trying our very best!

WEDNESDAY
So the Temple last week was fabulous. I'm excited to go again next month! It's just so nice letting go of everything for a while and just feeling peace.

THURSDAY
We had such a good day! The best day of the week. We got to see Stephanie and teach her. She is doing so well. We talked about the plan of salvation and focused in on eternal families with her because she lost her 21 ish year old son this past year. She loved it. She is so awesome.
We also looked up a ton of less actives. On person we looked up was Richard. So we had went to his house a few weeks ago and left a sticky note on his door. Then we went back on Thursday and the note was still there but he was clearly home and the light was on in his apartment. So we went up, took the sticky note off and then knocked. Well he opened the door and then came outside and was like "oh your note is actually still on the door!" And turned around to grab it but we were like "uhh no actually we took it off" so That was awkward Haha and then he surprisingly exclaimed how did you find me!?" Well we ended up talking to him for like 15 minutes. He is super awesome and has just had a rough time. He is the oldest of 6 kids and all his siblings married RMs or they are RMs and they are all active but him and he's not married. So it's sad. We had a nice chat with him and he invited us back for dinner sometime so that was nice of him. We will have to bring someone so we could go inside his house but that's okay!
We also got to meet another less active for the first time who is so awesome and wants to serve a mission with her husband in the future so we got to have a nice long chat with her.
And to finish off the night we went to teach Sue Brady who I just love so much. We sat outside around her campfire and roasted marshmallows and had a nice lesson. It was so much fun. I love that family! They are the greatest. It was a perfect way to end our day. Except we got eaten alive out there.

FRIDAY
We went and helped a family pack up and move. We also did a whole lot of tracting and talked to a total of 2 people so that was good.
At night we went to the Wells home and Serah prayed for the first time in years!! It was the coolest thing. It was a simple prayer but it was so awesome to hear her pray, we have been trying to get her to pray for like ever. The spirit was so strong. It was truly incredible.

SATURDAY
We went to do a bunch of look ups and ended up meeting this woman named Teak. Teak is the fiancé to pj who we met a month or two ago. Well teak was so nice and open to our message, after talking to her for a while we gave her a Book of Mormon and we are headed back this next week! She was so grateful for our message. We are really excited for them to come to church and learn more. Hopefully they stay interested!

SUNDAY
It was such an awesome sabbath day! We had 15 people at church that we invited! Only two investigators but having less actives at church is just as grand! Our class was so full it was so awesome. Gosh it was a happy day.
After we had a delicious dinner with a fabulous family, we looked up Katherine again and this time her daughter Kimberly answered. Kimberley is in 9th grade and is so cute. We talked to her for a while and had a good lesson with her. She seems really interested and really wants us to teach her, I think the struggle will be getting her mom to allow it. We will have to wait and see and just pray that her moms heart will be softened!
So in the evening I started to think maybe I was getting chickenpox because I had all these bug bites all over. I figured it was because we had 3 lessons outside this past week and got a ton of bites. I knew it wasn't my bed because I had just sprayed it with bedbug spray and washed my sheets so I knew I was fine there. But I didn't know for sure because I've never had chickenpox so I don't know what to expect! Well I started getting a little fever at night so I got worried. But it's okay.

MONDAY
On the way down to the Chiropractor I called sister Macuilt from my Manhattan 1st Ward. She is doing SO good. I just love her, every time I talk to her on the phone she makes me so happy! She is just so solid and trying her very hardest. Hopefully she will be going through the temple before December so that I can go with her because I would absolutely love to see that. She was my very first lesson as a new missionary. Right when prayer ended at 6:00 that first night. I love being able to see that change in her.
So we were suppose to go on a Split Monday night but then sister standage and I cancelled it. We cancelled it because I still had little itchy bumps all over my body all day Monday and half of Sunday. They were on my back, legs, arms, stomach, neck, all over. Not a ton, but enough to be itchy and annoying. Now neither of us have had chickenpox and when we asked the other missionaries what it was like, they explained it all perfectly. We kept it on the DL though. But then it went away Tuesday morning. Anyway, it was so good that we cancelled it though. Everything that happened was just perfect that it was sister standage and I there to talk with them.

TUESDAY
One miracle was that we went to look up Kimberly (a potential investigator we have) and she wasn't home, however her neighbor, Wesley, came outside right at that moment. We had met Wesley 2 weeks ago and talked to him all about the Book of Mormon and gave him one. Well we never heard from him after that. At that moment, he walked outside seeking peace. He was having a really rough day and really rough family situations. Because we both met him already, he opened up to us all about his struggles and how he read the Book of Mormon for comfort and answers. He said he has loved reading it and he wants to come to church but that he works during church. Well it was such a miracle because he speaks Spanish too, so we were able to set him up with the Spanish elders so that he could go to church on Sunday's at the Spanish Ward until he gets work off. It was truly a miracle that we were guided there at that very moment. I love how the Lord works!
For Another example, we met with a less active who hurt her back and she expressed that it was hard because she couldn't clean her house. Well being the sister missionaries that we are, we were like "oh we will come over on Tuesday and clean for you!!" Yay, service is fun! Well it turned out that she needed us Tuesday evening and if we would have been on a split we wouldn't have been able to go. They live in a little tiny studio that probably has not been cleaned in..a long long time. It was so bad though. Like..yaa... I can't even explain it because I don't want to dwell on negative things. But it was much needed for them and for their health! We were happy we could help!

WEDNESDAY
Today we are having a zone activity at a member in the stakes house. It should be fun. Idk what Will be happening but I'll try and take some pics and send them next week!

Today as I read Alma 50:23 ans related it to myself, I was again filled with joy. I thought again about how the people of Nephi were so happy in 2 Nephi 5:27 because they were
1. keeping the commandments(10)
2. Reading their scriptures(12)
3. Working and laboring and(15&17)
4. Going to the temple(16)
And then I related that to myself. Yea there were times in my life where I was SO happy. For example when I went on trips with the family, or built bathrooms in Fiji for those who didn't even have running water, or when I won a tennis match that determined if our team went to finals. All of those times were good things, and I felt so overjoyed. However, as a missionary, 100% of the time dedicated to the Lord, I truly have never been happier. I love seeing and helping people change and come closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love feeling the spirit every single day as we testify of the truthfulness of is gospel. I love keeping he commandments, working as hard as I can, studying and sharing the Book of Mormon and going to the temple as well as helping others go to the temple. I love being a missionary!

Have a great week! I love you all! Xoxox

Love,
Sister Tanner <3