April 27

So things here are still slow. We keep trying to find people and really have little to no investigators right now. So we keep going out to find people. It is a tough job. But we keep going. 

We have also been working with the members in the ward here to try and get them better, so maybe they can get their own friends to meet with us, but that is tough too. Really everything is kind of slow. 

But It's ok. We are praying a lot, and trying a lot. In the Lord's time He will bring those who are ready. We just have to be patient. And until then, keep trying through our own means. 

As for anything specific this week... umm.. we had a ward party. That was interesting. I might upload a video for you to see one of the things they did. 

And... that lady who was from Fiji and came over in a toolbox (i mentioned her a while ago) we visited her last night, because we were knocking her apartments and decided to knock her door to see how she is doing. And she did find the church. But still having some problems... but thats life. At least she is still staying positive and getting things done. 

Other than that. Like I said not many new things. 

love you!!!

April 20

OK, 

so this week was interesting. 

but first:

wow trent looks different. amazing what changes in 5 months. (btw can you believe it has been that long? some days seem that long and others seem like it was really a short time ago) 

As for our week:

Monday was raining. Elder R. got absolutely soaked by a car while we were on bike. That was not fun. it was also like the only cold night this week. But we got through it. :)

As for the other days...

Thursday was Zone Conference.  :) That was nice. Elder R. and I have been having some troubles lately with finding people and getting members to help, and the conference talked a lot about those areas and how we can improve. So some prayers were answered. 

Then we tried implementing some of the ideas and found two new investigators last night. It was kind of a surprise to them i think because when we first contacted them it was only the husband and he said to come back and talk with his wife, so we came back the next day and talked with her, saying that he said we could come back. But she wasnt available, so we tried again last night (waiting a few days because she was getting surgery on her hand) and found them both at home. But it was as if the husband thought we were there for the wife, and the wife thought we were there for the husband... so we sat down with them both and gave an intro to the book of mormon and asked if they would be interested in learning more (they were about to eat dinner so we were kind of in a rush) and they both agreed. so we set up a return appointment and the wife actually prayed at the end (which is not normal because normally the investigators find the idea of praying very foreign) so we now have a couple that we can teach! 

And besides that we are trying to get our ward back into a functional ward, so we have a goal to teach every member in our area the 1st lesson, The Restoration. And so far we havent gotten anyone taught that, but we have a couple appointments this next week for members. So that should be fun. And hopefully inspirational enough to get the members to do something productive. :)

And yeah... thats my week. Still trying to find people. Still trying to stay dry (its been easy this last week. Really sunny and warm) Still staying positive. :)

 

love and miss you!!!! 

-Tanner 

April 13

We are still kind of struggling with the area. Not many people want us to visit them. So we are deciding to start completely over. We are dropping everyone we have (except for maybe two people) and just going to start over with finding more legit people. We kind of lost G. (the guy on baptism date) so he is not on date anymore, and we are trying to find him to see what is happening, but for now... we dont know.

We also started teaching our next door neighbor. She has been taught before, and we dont know why they stopped, but we are starting again, and so far it is good.

So yeah, thats basically it. Not much to say... we dont have too many people.

But I have noticed that I am getting better overall at being a missionary. I have started to realize that I actually care about the people and the work. Before I didn't think too much of it, but now it is a daily thought. And a couple times now I have gotten upset because people just dont seem to care. And it gets frustrating when they stop caring. But then I think of the good people we find too, and I dont dwell on the frustrating parts. 

Ok, so to make this a little longer. We had an interesting experience the other night. We were knocking doors and found this hsipanic guy who acted as though he expected us to be there. And he told us that the other guy was taking a shower so we would have to come back to talk with him. (still dont know who lives there and who he was talking about) But we ended up asking if he was interested and he said yes. So we talked about the Book of Mormon a bit, and he asked us to read him a verse or two, so we read him a scripture and in the middle of the verse he gets on his knees and starts praying. and we finish the scripture and he tells us to read more as he prays. So we read one more verse and he gets up and starts thanking us. Then we prayed together and we tried to set up a new appointment but he said he didnt live there, and if God is willing He will send us to his house one day, but he wouldnt give us the address. So we shook hands and before walking away he asked if he could hug us, so we hugged and he thanked us again and we went on our way. 

Kind of weird, but definitely not complaining. At least he was nice. Just a little strange. And maybe we will find his house one day... :)

April 6

Hi again :)

Yes I made eggs benedict. We even dyed eggs (1st, heard you didn't!, and 2nd, it was Elder R's first time dying eggs!)

So that was fun. and the food was delicious of course! Elder R. liked it too, first time for eggs benedict too. 

 spanish is fine. i am not struggling. i am doing well. 

Baptism is set for the 25th, but might be moved. G. S. (the guy on date) is hard to catch. he works a lot (like everyone) and has been going through some stuff that takes a lot of time at hospital and court. (long story) so yeah, might get moved back, but still lots of hope and potential for him.

of course i watched conference. It was good.  the talks were good. when it turned to spanish speakers we ran out of the room to listen to the spanish tv, in another room. That way we could listen to it without the translation. But other than those we just listened in english. What did you think of Uchtdorf speaking german? lol

and the shoutouts to the WaTac! there was teh Pearsons guy who was the former president (a while ago), and in Nielsons talk he mentioned a family that has close ties to the WaTac. so two shoutouts in one session. Made everyone here get super excited. :)

Other than that. We had a slow week. Not much going on. it is always tough just starting off with someone new though. Hopefully this week is better. 

Elder R. is the oldest in a family of three. From Utah (of course). Dont know about food choices. He did say he likes Asian food...  likes Mike and Ikes and any snack food. :) Frosted Flakes, resses cup cereal for cereal choices..yeah, other than that not much about him either. 

and that is my week.

listen to this song when you can. "In the words of Satan" by some lds artist. it should sound jazzy and talk about how many distractions there are in life :) its fun

love and miss you!!!!!!

-Tanner