Week of exchanges

June 30, 2014

I have a problem. I live one day. And then another. And pretty soon I've lived a week, and all this stuff has happened, and then I sit down on Monday to write about it and it's all gone. So I apologize.

This week was the week of exchanges. Due to a scheduling mistake earlier, we had two this week. We've been trying a different way to exchange, where we exchange at lunchtime. Jury's still out on how we feel about it. But I quite enjoyed my time in Banning. Banning is a little less affluent than Yucaipa, so it was kind of like coming home (mission wise). Plus wonderful things happened. For example, we found six quarters on the ground, and three were state park quarters! I was so excited, but then I realized they were in front of a house, and here I knew was a test, because the Lord knows I started collecting state park quarters, and here were three, but they possibly belonged to the owner of that home. So we went up, knocked on the door, and asked the man if these were his quarters. Nope :) And he thanked us for our honesty. Score! So I got three guilt free state park quarters, and I gave the other three to Sister Swan to use for the car wash. Plus I had two awesome lessons with amazing investigators, got to eat dinner at an old people community club house, got an Oreo shake (remember - no fast food in my area), kissed (or got kissed by?) a parrot, AND that night we knocked on the door of a potential, and after striking up a conversation with her, I learned that she lived in College Park like me! College Park is where I lived in Atlanta. She even knew my apartment complex, because apparently her brother lives there! It was perfect :) Unfortunately that next morning Sister Swan threw up. Twice. Turns out so was the other sister with Sister Webb. Sister Webb and I actually texted each other at the same time saying our companions were sick. So we had to end that exchange a little early.

The next exchange I was working in our area, and it went a lot smoother than the last. It helps that we had a car this time, but I'm also becoming more confident. Highlights of that day included walking around in the sun and becoming dehydrated (waves of nauseousness = no bueno), and then becoming all better at a pizza party that night :) We were invited by the couple who we helped set up for their daughter's wedding, so I not only got to see the bobcat again, I got really good pizza. Lucky, lucky me. This exchange ended normally.

In other news, Sunday was awesome. First off, the son in the D family has been making us very happy with his experiences with the Spirit. He's started reading the Book of Mormon because "something just told him to" and this past Sunday he was alone with his grandparents, and again, because "something told him to" he took the initiative and looked up the nearest church building and then took his grandparents to church! And the husband was alone this weekend, but came to church by himself! I love the D family so much. We've had people praying for them, and for the son specifically, and they are working in big ways :) This Sunday was also wonderful because Sister Webb and I actually got to go to the patriotic fireside that evening. To our non-missionary peer folk around us it was clearly not the most engaging, but Sister Webb and I were eating it up. It was nice to just sit there...and enjoy.

One last fun snippet: this week Sister Webb and I also got to teach our favorite 94 year old recent convert C. Unfortunately signs of age are beginning to just now show, as he told us about five times (literally) that "well, I guess Jesus was the first prophet," and we had to keep telling him that Adam was actually the first prophet. We had a girl with us who leaves for her mission in August. Now isn't that just the thing to get you excited for missionary work ;)

Anyway, that was my week! It's crazy, but next week is already the last week of the transfer. Sis. Webb and I are hoping we get to stay together for another, but you never know.

Happy Independence Day! I certainly never expected to see this much red, white, and blue on my second 4th of July on the mission. But hey, I'm not complaining :)

Love you!

Sister Tanner