Tanner's Mission Experiences

Hello friends!! So this week was better than last which is always a good thing. haha One trick I have learned on the mission and have done for the last two weeks is avoiding cold showers. ha! No apartment has a water heater, but they all have a stove. So I boil water in a pan on the stove, pour it into a bucket, then fill the rest of the bucket up with cold water to make the water just warm and not boiling hot and then that's what I use for my "shower". I get a cup and just fill the cup up with water from the bucket and poor it on myself, so it's more like a bath/shower, but its warm!  My companion even started doing that now.  I had to figure out something because cold showers just wasn't working for me!  Okay so this week was interesting. I wouldn't say we ever had a bad day but almost everyday in the morning when we planned we thought it would be different.  All of our investigators are dropping off so as we plan it looks like we will have li...

Hey everyone!!  So this week was well... it had its ups and downs, I guess you could   say. It   started off alright but then all our investigators just started losing interest. My companion and I decided we should just set aside an entire day and just try finding. Well that went somewhat well, we found like 7 or so people, and so we planned to see all those people a couple days later.   Sooo its  Friday  now and we are going to go see all these people, but nothing really works out and its about  4pm.  We were physically, emotionally, and definitely spiritually spent so we decided to go visit a member and just rest for a bit. This member is loaded! Like I'm not kidding, she is loaded and she always buys us bread and soda whenever we come by. So we ate our stuff, rested and entertained her kids for a little, and then we decided to just head back to the chapel, and try to call members and just teach members for the rest ...

His trainer; Elder Johnson His mission president and wife: President & Sister Cosgrave The new arrivals (President Cosgrave sent these pictures today!) Hey everyone!! Well I'm in Kumasi and it's awesome!! The roads are very scary. IDK if there are traffic laws but if there are, then they are not enforced, at all.  It's a free for all. Everything is very cheap here and the food isn't awful. My companion is great!  His name is Elder Johnson and yes he is American. I am his last companion so he sent in a special request to have a white one. I don't have much time left so I will keep this very brief.  I learned that as you study and read the Book of Mormon every day the spirit can help recall scriptures at very important times in your life when you need it most. For me on a mission that is when I am teaching. Heavenly Father is aware of all his children and loves us so much! Never give up, and the church is true!  If you need more inf...

hey mom!!! I have arrived in Kumasi, and am safe and healthy. We had a chance to go out and teach for some time. I will be getting my trainer tomorrow! All is well. I have to go but they had us just email our families and let them know we are okay:) Someone posted this picture on the family Kumasi Facebook page.  This is the last group of new missionaries for President and Sister Cosgrave (flanking the missionaries).  A new mission president will begin in July.

hey mom Sorry I told you I couldn't email until  next Monday . It turns out they let us email today because we leave to the field tomorrow. However my p day is Monday from now on! Yesterday was very spiritual. I was able to fast and bear my testimony. Then we watched a devotional performance thing to celebrate blacks getting the priesthood. I'm not going to lie, it seemed very strange to me. They were in the general conference room, but they were dancing around and singing/ dancing, and clapping to the beat like southern baptists. They were even yelling out like AMEN and PRAISE THE LORD, and just stuff like that. They sang some church songs and to me it felt like reverence and respect to the song was taken out. It felt like they were singing to praise and emphasize their own voice and skill instead of the message and spirit of the song itself. But mybe its just a culture thing. I'm sure its alright because President Nelson was there soo I guess its okay. We later hea...

Being up at trek without technology, I somehow lost this letter and all these pictures.  In the process of trying to update Tanner's mission blog, I found them! Dear friends! I will start with something I learned from my studies this week. In second Nephi it talks about the wickedness of the people and how they are hypocrites and just evil, doing all manner of wickedness. However at the end of the verse it says the Lord's "anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still"( 2nd Nephi  19:17 ). It later goes on to say his hand is stretched out still again later in that chapter and even once more in the next. I have learned that when the Lord repeats himself he is serious. So my message is this, no matter how far you think you have fallen from the Saviors sight and grasp, if you reach your arm out in faith towards the Atonement, I testify that you will find Christ is patiently waiting, hoping, and praying you wi...

Hello again Just to let you know I think once I'm out in the field my emails will be very short. They give us a little more time in the MTC but as soon as I'm out in the field, I have no idea how I will respond to everyone. Anways, how is everything?! Everyone doing well?  I have not gotten sick yet but I did notice a few bites on my arm this morning. I sure hope those malaria pills work!!! I can't wait to get that camera thing, I took a great picture with little kids. One of them really wanted to touch my hair haha. I can't remember if I said anything about my companion but if I did I will tell you again. We are the only ones in our district who get along. The only problem is he is having a hard time learning and teaching doctrine. He often teaches false doctrine to our practice investigators. But he is trying, and we are good friends. I also have to keep my eye on this kid because I swear he is a ninja! If I take my eye off him for a second he finds ...