Baptism

September 15, 2014

I'll just start with the big news: momma and papa D are baptized. And confirmed. And papa D received the priesthood.

Oh the joy.

To make a long story short, Friday night Sister Magleby realized that some very important elements to make the baptism service run well were missing. Thus began a frantic, headache inducing mad dash to the finish line. Thanks to some very tender mercies of the Lord, by the time the D family walked in to the building, everything was in place, and we were calmly sitting in the font room watching the font fill. And the service went beautifully.

I got to see Sister Webb and Sister McConkie! They both made it and it was glorious. They were both bawling the entire time, and I don't know if it was because of the stress of setting it up, or because I'm just known as "the stoic one" but I didn't shed a tear. I did almost start when the mom bore her testimony. But other than that I was all smiles.

 In other news this week I got to clean the china cabinet of a part-member family in the ward. Never thought cleaning a cabinet could be so much fun. The little girls came home from school while we were cleaning, and were so excited to see us. They sang Frozen songs to us. Definitely need to see that movie when I come home - I've heard so much about it. They also told us the reasons why they love us coming over. They included "You're beautiful, and you make my heart feel good." Well if that just doesn't warm your heart. I believe another reason included "We don't have to do our homework." An important one.

I went on an exchange to Beaumont. Everything falling through + not really knowing what's going on = long day in Beaumont. I did have a baby sucking on my skirt at one point. And I got to eat a massive meal made by two adorable grandparents while sitting in a plush chair. All while discussing why it is we have to die. Good times.

Other stuff happened too I'm sure. In fact, I'm sure that an hour after logging off something will hit me and I'll be like "Man! I wish I had written about that." For example, here's a funny story from last week:

We decided to stop by the home of some former investigators. We pull up and the husband is outside in his garage. We walk up, introduce ourselves, and he goes "yes - you're probably looking for my wife and daughters. They're just there inside the door. In fact, let me go tell them you're here." So we walk up to the front doors and wait a little. We ring the doorbell. We knock. We wait. 6 minutes later we just decide that we got duped. Even better, their front door is basically two large one way mirrors, so they were probably watching us the entire time. Conclusion: not interested.

I think that shall conclude today's letter. I'll throw in some pictures and call it good.

Hope all is well. :)

Sister Tanner

Five plates, five miracles

September 8, 2014

This week was very unconventional, but awesome. You already know about Monday.

Tuesday we had district meeting, and then I got to email, and then some other great stuff happened. And then that night our investigator LG received a priesthood blessing. We asked if she wanted one because of everything she's been going through, and we kind of explained it. She said she would like one, and so we met at the home of some ward members, and they were able to give her one after we had a brief lesson on the priesthood. She described her feelings afterward as like "walking on a cloud." She really appreciated it. She still has not come to church though, so we are praying and working on getting her to attend church.

Wednesday was the day of the miracle cookies. We had promised a less active man some chocolate chip cookies, but had still not come through. So Wednesday we made cookies while we printed out some maps of the area so that we, and future missionaries, could figure their way around better. But going back to the cookies, we didn't have any brown sugar. So they became snickerdoodles. Turns out, snickerdoodles were the better choice.

Five plates, five miracles:

Plate #1: We deliver it to the less active man we promised them to. His mother answers the door, and we learn that he has had a small stroke and is in the hospital. We now know this information, and he will now receive cookies at this crucial moment. Sunday follow-up: he came to church after telling us two weeks ago he was never going to come back to church.

Plate #2: We decide to bring a plate to another less active family that stood us up for an appointment earlier. We catch her outside, and have a lovely conversation with her in which we learn she did not stand us up on purpose, and we set a return appointment. Also, snickerdoodles are her favorite.

Plate #3: We deliver a plate to our Ward Mission Leader and discover he has been sick since Saturday night. Snickerdoodles are also his favorite. He went back to work the next day.

Plate #4: We deliver a plate to the D family who we have not seen in a week and a half. I am freaking out, because I'm afraid they've been avoiding us. We discover they have not, they're just really busy (go figure). And yeah, they're seriously discussing baptism again, the husband is okay with Joseph Smith, and he listens to the Book of Mormon on CD in his truck.

Plate #5: We don't have a plan for this plate. We think, "Who could use this plate of cookies?" We decide on the E family, a less active/part LDS family. We arrive, and find the husband (less active member) outside. He says thank you, and that his daughter wants to go back to church, what time does our church start?

Five plates...five miracles.

That night we were also invited to judge the youth night cupcake war. They had a fruit cupcake, and then a "meal" cupcake. The chips and salsa cupcake was strangely good, the hot dog and ketchup one just had a hint of weird, but the BBQ sauce and baked bean one was just nasty. Good times.

Thursday was just crazy good. It was MLC (Mission Leader Council) that day, and so that meant I got to see Sister Webb. Not only that, but she came and picked me up :). So we're outside waiting for her, and it turns out that the mom in the D family happened to come by, and decided she was going to wait for her too. Well, she walks up to me, gives me a big hug, and tells me that she and her husband are going to get baptized the 13th! "Of this month?!" I ask. "Yeah! Next Saturday!" Oh my goodness. And then not a minute later Sister Webb pulls up in her big truck. It was just a glorious couple minutes. I had so much to tell Sister Webb. MLC was really great, and then I returned back to have a lesson with a less active woman we've been trying to see forever, and then to have a lesson that night with our investigator B who is progressing right along. Such a good day.

So yeah - we have a baptism this coming Saturday :D

Friday was hot, we weekly planned, and just a tad miserable.

Saturday was one of those eternal days where nothing is working and you just want it to end, or at least take a nap, but you can't. But it's over with.

Actually, Saturday morning was pretty great, because you know how we did service last Saturday for that family? Actually...let me back up.

So back in June Sister Webb and I helped set up for a wedding. Well, we still keep in touch occasionally with the couple whose daughter it was who got married. Two weeks ago Sister Magleby and I stopped by and were talking to the husband. Long story short, we ended up inviting ourselves over to rake his leaves the following Saturday. So last week we showed up on Saturday and raked his leaves, which I wrote about. Then this past Saturday we went back and helped the wife with some stuff for her class, as she teaches first grade. So that was good, and she fed us lunch.

they have a pet bobcat

Okay, so Sunday. Sunday was pretty great. We encouraged this family to reach out to their friends, and so they invited a bunch of friends to come see their baby get blessed on Sunday. They told us that they didn't think anyone would come. Boy were they wrong. Twelve people showed up. They were so excited. And that night we had a lesson with the D family where we worked out the details of their baptism. They're more of spur of the moment people (I guess their wedding was planned in one day), so this is a little out of their comfort zone. We're trying to make it as painless as possible. I'm still pinching myself that it's happening. And guess what? At the baptism I'll get to see not only Sister Webb, but also Sister McConkie. All icing on the cake :)

So that was my week. A pretty good one, all things considered. I have to start thinking about school though, so that's a little uncomfortable. Our mission president actually said that if you're about three months from going home, and don't start planning for the post mission life...then that's unwise. Crazy town.

Hope all is well out there! Love ya!

Sister Tanner

We helped her identify it as the Holy Ghost

September 2, 2014

It's been quite the week. Sister Magleby and I had the great pleasure of taking care of the Palmer pets most of this week. Including the chickens. And no, we did not break the key. Our last day we photo documented the whole process.

On Wednesday we had a girl from the 4th Ward come out with us during the day. She decided to decide whether or not she wants to serve a mission, so wanted to check it out a bit. We didn't have much exciting planned for when she was with us, so we walked some. Near the end of our time we went to deliver a prayer list and found the members out on their porch swing with their grandson who returned from his mission about 6 months ago. Well, this returned missionary ended up whipping out his phone and giving us 8 referrals. That's more referrals than I receive in a whole transfer sometimes. Crazy town. And THEN when we were about to leave, our companion for the morning went down. Well, almost. She suddenly got very light headed and almost fainted. I think it was a combination of heat, and locking her knees. She was highly embarrassed. And then we returned her to the real world to go to class.

Later that afternoon we had a lesson with our investigator LG, and she said three or four times that she got this "weird, but good" feeling when we would say something, or read from the scriptures. So of course we helped her identify it as the Holy Ghost. That same lesson she accepted to be baptized on the18th of October.

And then that evening I got ribs. They were delicious.

Thursday we had a lesson at a member's home with our investigator C, and it turns out that the cleaning lady was over, as well as the security guy. So the cleaning lady was about, and various alarms would go off as the guy would test them. And then as Sister Magleby was bearing her testimony the member's dog threw up. It was surprisingly a pretty good lesson.

Weekly Planning went way better this week than the one before. Booyah.

Friday I had another exchange to Banning. This one was much quieter. Possibly the most exciting thing was when I got to try Wendy's pretzel bun sandwich. Genius, that idea was.

Saturday was when we got to do our self-invited service. We just showed up and started raking leaves. I was a little nervous, but near the end the wife saw us and came out and thanked us. And we got a return service opportunity for next week, so... boom.

That night we were at a member's home for dinner, and there was a fly that kept bugging everyone. Quote of the night came from the 79 year old, recent open heart patient patriarch of the family: "After you leave, I am going to kill one of God's creations."

Sunday I was a zombie. I feel like more and more I'm faltering near the end of the week. We still worked, don't get me wrong. I was just...tired. But this work is too important to just give up.

Due to the library being closed for Labor Day, Diana did not send an email until Tuesday.

Monday we had kind of a cool experience. It's Monday night, and with the little bit of time left, we stopped by a less active family. Well, they weren't interested, but while we were talking to them, a former investigator walks by and says hello. So afterward, we go up to the former investigator who is talking to this guy Barbecuing (yes, he got a late start on the Labor Day BBQ). Well, the former investigator leaves after a bit, but we start talking to this guy. He's super friendly, and several things he says just set off little light bulbs in my head indicating that not only could he use the gospel (because we all could), but he might be receptive. So I really don't want to blow it. Well, he's going to talk to his wife, but we'll have to stay tuned. Moral of this story is, the Lord really does lead us to people. And I was reminded of how much I want people to want the gospel as much as I want them to want it.

Like the D family. They've been busy all week so we haven't seen them at all. I'm dying inside, because these people are my life, but then I have to remember that they have lives, and I'm not the center of theirs. It's just killer though.

So yeah, that was my week. Stay tuned for more :)

Love you all,

Sister Tanner

Same area New companion New responsibilities

August 25, 2014

Well hello.

This week was transfers week.

Same area. New companion. New responsibilities.

My new companion's name is....Sister Magleby. If you are familiar with Provo, and the Magleby's restaurant, then I will answer your question. It was her grandfather who founded Magleby's, but he no longer owns it - he sold it to a friend. She is from St. George Utah. And get this - this is only her second transfer. So, technically, I'm a trainer. But the hard part is done and she's awesome. But really - she's a great missionary and I really appreciate that.

So the responsibilities are amplified a little bit with training, and leading an area, and trying to keep up the incredible momentum that is here. I have little moments of panic now and then, but it's all good. I just have to get used to it. I'm excited though, because the Yucaipa First Ward is awesome :)

In other news I'm driving all over the place now (designated driver status) and it's back to being natural.

B gave us his coffee maker! We had a lesson on the Word of Wisdom a week ago Friday, and he promised to trade his coffee maker for a picture of Christ that Sunday. Then Saturday we went to check on him and he said he couldn't quit coffee right now. Well...Tuesday night we went over so Sister Webb could say goodbye, and he not only told her how much she has meant to him (helping him change his life and all), but then he asked if he could pray and offered the sweetest prayer thanking Heavenly Father for sending her, and THEN he said "hold on, I have something for you" and then disappeared and reappeared with his coffee maker! Sister Webb was in tears when we got back in the car. I don't know if I've talked about B much, but he is an investigator we have been working with a lot. He is this guy who grew up with a life completely different than a gospel centered life. As we've met with him, it's been neat to watch the change. He's just happier. And he's slowly gaining a testimony of each principle as he lives it. So while right now he may have headaches, he enjoys the self-control, the better feeling, and the confidence that comes from living the Word of Wisdom (which includes no coffee). He's one we've had to work a lot on, but the progress is slowly coming.

Mother suggested that if I don't have much to say, say something I've learned on the mission. Here's one: there are no easy fixes in missionary work. Makes sense though, as this is real people's lives, and the fact that we're dealing in matters of salvation and eternal life. 

Other things happened this week. Ants invaded our pantry. They only went for Sister Webb's food. Just as previously, they only went for Sister Webb's clothes when they invaded our closet. Now that she's gone they slowly disappeared. That or the ant traps.

I weekly planned basically on my own (new companion and all). It was a brain melter.

One day we had dinner set up with this family, and we tried to call to remind them but they wouldn't pick up. We show up, and it turns out they are about to leave for a trip or something. They felt bad though, so despite our protestations we walked away with a whole pre-cooked chicken, an entire thing of rolls, and an entire bottle of orange juice. We felt like we robbed them. But it was rather tasty.

And Saturday was the ward luau. Definitely a highlight of the mission. It was thrown together kind of last minute, but turned into a smashing success. They estimated over 200 people came including over 30 non-members and less active members. It was in the backyard of our bishop's house. His backyard is awesome. The food was great, everyone was talking with everyone, and there was a Hawaiian dancers show.

Probably the best though, was the fact that our investigator LG came! She is the one whose life has just been crazy. We haven't been able to meet in a while, have barely heard from her, but she wanted to come to the luau and she came! And she loved it! She still hasn't come to church yet, but baby steps - right? The Hawaiian dancer show was awesome, and at one point I was the "official" photographer as the real "official" photographer had to take care of her baby. A couple of ward members also caught me swaying my hips to the music. Oops. But if you ever saw me at a dance, you know that took self-control. This is why missionaries stay away from music. It was also fun because I knew practically every one there. I realized I know this ward probably better than I know my home ward, especially since I hear it has changed so much. These people are family now.

Fun tidbit: I'm not sure how I'm going to talk to people anymore, as I realized that most of my conversations start with following-up on something someone was doing missionary related. I apologize ahead of time.

And last but certainly not least: a chicken update. All the chicken's wings have now been clipped, so they no longer escape their enclosure. This was done after I took the picture of them all siting on their enclosure fence. In case you didn't know (as I didn't), clipping a chicken's wings means you cut their wing feather's short. It doesn't hurt them, as it's like cutting their nails, and you can't even really notice the difference until they flap their wings. I no longer get chicken stress.

Love you all! Stay safe :)

Sister Tanner

With all the news of Lugansk, Ukraine being without electricity and water and the fighting going on there, I asked Diana if she had news of any of the people she knew there. She said that the men whom she taught and were baptized, M and D, had relocated to L'viv, Ukraine. They were university students and the university in L'viv is taught in the Ukrainian language. They are hoping to find somewhere where the Russian language is used to continue their studies. You may remember last winter some photos of the missionaries touring a soccer stadium in Donetsk. On Saturday, that stadium was damaged by shelling. Last week shelling also started in Petrovsky, the section of Donetsk where Diana had served.

Rattlesnake does not taste like chicken

August 18, 2014

Dear people reading this,

Today Sister Webb and I officially learned we shall be parting ways. She is being flung out into the desert. To Yucca Valley. I told her to find the Beast of Yucca Flats for me, but she had no idea who I was talking about. Unless you know the movie, you too shall be confused.

I'm staying here in the Yucaipa First Ward. I'm excited, but also slightly terrified to "take the lead" here. Ha. But it will be okay.

Umm...so...

This week Sister Webb and I got to role play in front of the entire zone. You can bet we role played our role play.

That same zone meeting we also ate rattle snake. Two elders killed a rattlesnake in a member's yard, and the member skinned and gutted and cooked it for them. It was rather chewy and tasteless (so not like chicken). I have pictures.

We had some more chicken drama this week. Last Monday we came home from email to find a dead, mutilated chicken on our front porch. Like, the bloody neck was on our welcome mat. I thought about taking a picture but chose not to. We had to walk right past it several times. Roxy is now in obedience school, as that was probably the third chicken she has killed. Despite the fence the chickens keep getting out (at their own peril), and so we have to shoo them back in occasionally.

I have become an avid chicken watcher. They are fascinating.

We went on two exchanges this week, with less than 24 hours between them. I had to go out to one because I was still not cleared to drive, but I got cleared the day of the second. Which means I can now drive. Yes... after 14 months of never touching a steering wheel I drove. I felt like I was fifteen all over again as I sat behind the wheel for the first time; everything felt awkward. But it didn't take long to fade. And I didn't crash! I didn't even terrify my exchange companion. A miracle.

The D family was not baptized this week. We're still trying to reschedule.

Actually, at about the time we would have been at the baptism, we were in the hills of Yucaipa picking up trash and avoiding rattlers and black widows. I realized we must be the daintiest trash picker-uppers ever with our skirts and gloves, picking up trash one piece at a time. But hey, the hills are looking cleaner.

I kind of feel bad for my new companion already, as this ward LOVED Sister Webb. It helps that she and Sister McConkie were the first sisters the First Ward had had in a looong time. Did you know that we are one of the few wards that only has one set of missionaries? Most wards here have a set of Elders and a set of Sisters. That is crazy to me.

Okay, I keep trying to extend this letter, but I don't have much else. Haha, sorry.

Love you!

Sister Tanner

I used Russian in California

August 11, 2014

When I think back on this week, you could say it kind of hit me in the gut.

Monday night we received a call. Long story short, the D family is no longer to be baptized on the 16th of August. They still want to meet, but they don't all have a testimony of the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith yet. Turns out, not all of them have been reading, so we told them to do so if they truly want an answer to their prayers.

Wednesday I went on an exchange to Palm Springs. I don't see the appeal of Palm Springs. I will say it is completely different from Yucaipa. At one point we were meeting with this older member lady, and when she learned I spoke Russian she suddenly said hello and asked me how I was doing (in Russian). It threw me off at first, but my instincts kicked in to respond. So there - I've used Russian since coming to California now.

Thursday I spent all morning and afternoon at Missionary Leadership Council, learning to be a better missionary leader. Then we got home, and Sister Webb got super sick so I had to reschedule our lessons. And spend the rest of the day doing bookwork.

Friday we weekly planned. Then at lunch break I got another phone call. And that is when I learned Buddy passed away. (Our 15 year old dog.) Yeah that hurt. But I can say I'm grateful I learned then, and not today. So I had till the end of lunch to fix myself up, and then we had an appointment right then. But the appointment resulted in a new investigator, breaking the dry spell. So silver linings. That night as we left for another appointment we opened the door to find Roxy, the Palmer's puppy, practically eating one of their chickens. She was just ripping out feathers like it was a toy, and blood was everywhere. We got her off, the chicken ran into the hen house, I locked her in for safety, and reported the incident to the Palmers. Roxy got in trouble, and...

Saturday a new fence was built around the chickens. In case you are wondering, the victim chicken is alive, if not a little featherless on the rear end. Roxy is officially in the "terrible twos" and a complete fiend. My love for her is strained.

Saturday morning I got to do some more service sorting donated shoes for a charity drive. A lot of stinky, wet (from the rain storms) shoes. Sister Webb got shoe juice on her skirt. Gross. Then later that day I got kind of sick, along the same lines as Sister Webb's sickness, ie. pretty woozy and weak. I did not have it as bad as Sister Webb, thankfully, so I was able to go to a baptism with the mom and daughter of the D family. Then they took us out to dinner :)

Okay - funny story. So not this past fast and testimony meeting but the one before, Sister Webb bore her testimony. Then a couple of weeks later, it did not seem that the last speaker would make it, so the bishop asked if I would bare my testimony. Well, the speaker showed up and I avoided it. Then the next week Sister Webb was supposed to give the opening prayer, but then we got the program and it said I was to. Sister Webb offered to do it anyway, but I said no, I would do it. As soon as I said that (before the service started) the bishop walks over and is like, "So the high council speaker did not bring a speaker with him, so since I see Sister Tanner is saying the prayer, would you, Sister Webb, mind baring your testimony?" Ha. Well, the next week Sister Webb said the opening prayer (see - they switched the order of the prayer giving on us). And THEN this past Sunday we're going along in the service, and it comes to the last speaker, and it turns out he's not there. And so the bishop gets up, and asks if Sister Tanner would come up and bear her testimony (I have no idea how to spell bear in this case). It was my Jonah moment. Not even any time to think about what to say. Hopefully it came out understandable. Of course I had to then be followed by two young men who just got back from their missions.

Those RMs were a little weird, may I just say. I hope by the fact that I could recognize that, means I won't be quite as weird. I did learn though, that I was pretty stiff when I first came from Ukraine. As people would comment on the two RMs, they would be like, "yeah - you've changed a lot since you got here Sister Tanner." So sorry family, you missed my culture shock.

By the way, this letter took a long time because this man next to me kept talking to me about all kinds of things that I wasn't quite following, and I think he kept throwing out Bible verses to see if I knew what he was talking about. I have to admit I was a little distracted, but he was pleasant enough. And then he says "and you know what the scriptures say about who my brother is, who my sister and mother is..." and I'm like "well, we're all children of God." And he's like "NO. That is not what the Bible says. You don't know your scriptures." And then he stood up and left. So sorry mom, but that is why this letter took so long. All the missionaries around me writing home to their families had a good inward chuckle about that one.

Yep. That was my week. Hope you all are having a great end to your summer! All the schools around here are starting up again this week if not the next. Craziness.

Love you!

Sister Tanner

Feeling much better

August 4, 2014

So you know that lovely illustration of Sister Webb and I? This week has been way better.

All thanks to President Van Cott.

So not to freak you out or anything, but these past weeks have been rough mentally, physically, and everything - ly for Sister Webb and I. Woke up feeling the same on Tuesday, and we both decided we should stop ignoring our feelings to contact our mission president. So we shot off a text to President just letting him know how we were feeling. A little bit later we got a text asking if we could be at his office at 4:30. So then we start freaking out. Comes time to walk into his office, and he says "So...two overachievers have stressed themselves out." yeah. It actually turned out to be a really good (and long) meeting, where he just shared a bunch of scriptures with us, and actually kind of validated some of our feelings. He didn't even address my issues a lot, namely because I didn't really know what my issues were, but I walked out of there feeling so much better. Both of us did. So as much as it hurt our pride - we never wanted to be those sisters - we're glad we did it. Turns out, I need to take more breaks and eat ice cream. Should have known.

Afterwards we got to have dinner with two foreign exchange students from China and one from Germany who are staying with some members in the ward. The girls from China were pretty excited to hear I had been to Bejing. After dinner we shared the Restoration, and one of the girls from China filmed it apparently. Spreading the gospel in China? Sweet.

Wednesday, Sister Webb got to experience life in the desert on an exchange. 114 degrees. This week is my week, as I'll go out to Palm Springs. Exciting. So the day of that exchange happened to be the birthday of the sister I was with. We went and got her birthday donuts, and then throughout the day we ended up getting both birthday ice cream, and birthday cake as well. Not a bad birthday.

And then I went on an exchange to Banning. Forget Atlanta. Forget Ukraine. My craziest day on the mission may have been in Banning, California.

Let me begin with pulling off the freeway to a dirt road and pulling up to a tattered little trailer. We begin teaching this investigator they have. At one point a naked man walks by. Yes - it took me this long to see my first naked man on the mission. Definitely thought that would have happened in Atlanta or Ukraine. Then this investigator goes "Shoot. The man who threatened to kill me just walked up. I guess I'll have to leave today." I thought we were all going to die right then and there. I was strangely calm. Turns out he was walking up to his own house, which happens to be across the street. You see, people like to make meth around that area, and she calls the cops, hence the death threats. Then, at the end of the lesson, we talk about baptism, and then she's all "I've already been baptized! I've been baptized Mormon!" So if we can find the records, the Banning sisters' investigator just became a less active. Then on the drive home a torrential rain storm hits and we begin hydroplaning on the freeway. This is the beginning of two days of blessed but definitely out of the norm rain for the Redlands area.

Later on that exchange we also meet the renter of a less active, who was very not interested but managed to talk to us for 30 minutes straight before we got a word in. I watched a slug cross the entirety of her front porch during that exchange. Did you know that her brother-in-law invented the mobile home? Some more craziness happened, and then literally 10 minutes before we were going to exchange we heard a car crash. Witnessed the end of it, really. The sister I'm on an exchange with runs over, along with the member we were with, and before you know it, we're right there. No one was really hurt, thankfully, but we did console a lady who was involved before all the cops and ambulances and fire trucks showed up. What a way to end the exchange! So that was Banning. It was nice to return to quiet little Yucaipa.

Sunday was quiet, if not good. We met with the D family, and the mom and dad are moving forward with their baptism on the 16th of August. It's exciting!

Well, I think that's it for this week. Love ya!

Sister Tanner