General Conference Viewing and Tanner's Improving Jumping Skills

My Zone Leader and I

 So this week was a good one. Unfortunately my companion picked up a cold, and then gave it to me. He got better fast, but I have had a cold all week. It isn’t debilitating, just a pain. No worries though.

This week was good with teaching. Juan Carlos should be baptized this Saturday without trouble. Knock on wood. He is good and is very prepared. Carolina`s fecha will definitely fall though. We are being patient, but it is just so slow. No worries there. We just need to press forward.

We didn`t have any crazy teaching experiences this week. Just the normal. We got cut a bit short with two prime days totally gone, but it was still good.

 We are making progress with a woman named and her 8 year old son. They were almost baptized almost 5 years ago but things happened. I think that this time they are more prepared. They just need a lot of love from the ward. We will see.

General Conference was really good. We were able to watch all five sessions in English. That was nice. It was excellent. President Boyd K Packer`s talk was just what I was thinking. It was one of my favorites.

Elder Holland was a favorite of mine, as usual. I don`t have my notes with me right now, but I got notes on all of them. Too bad the Elder from Africa was almost impossible to understand.

My hops are improving

All of the North American elders got together in our chapel and watched it in a small upstairs room. It was real good.

Mom is right, Easter is big here. It is called the Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Pretty much every one has off on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. Some days it was just dead in the streets. It was cool though. The Catholics have interesting traditions.

Nothing really else happened this week. Sorry the letter is so lame. I really do love you all. I am excited to live with all of you forever. There is no knowledge closer to my heart.

Encountering a Gigantic Moth and an Exchange Marathon

 Things are good here. This week was a long and hard one. Not exactly sure why. We had a lot of good lessons and took out some more fechas, but it was just long. I think the main reason why I was so tired was because I had two "intercambios" this week, or two interchanges. Both times I was outside my area. On Tuesday I went with Elder Castillo, one of my zone leaders to Cañaveral. Then on Thursday I went with Elder Porras to Bucarica. Both times I had to be on my A game, AND have to worry about what Elder Correa is doing in Diamante.

I don`t really know why, but the two days outside of the area just took a toll on me. It was fine though. Elder Porras, one of the Elders in my district, is doing good work with his junior companion. Sometimes there are problems between the two of them, but it is fine. One of the problems with Elders fresh out of the mission training center is that the new Elder doesn`t respect the senior companion. I will have to have some discussions in week five when I have the other intercambio with Elder Aguilar, the new elder. Overall I am just glad that I do not have to do intercambios with the sisters. The sisters are fine. Sisters do different work than the Elders. They just work in a different style. I can`t explain it, but it is just different. They have some areas where they need to improve, but then again so do I. Things are good in the district though.

 Our investigators are doing well. I am not sure if Carolina will be able to make her 11of April baptismal date. She is just still not very prepared. It is a tad bit frustrating, but we are doing fine with her. I just think she needs more time.

We also took out a new fecha for 18 of April with a man named Juan Carlos. He recently moved into the ward and was also recently married. He has been waiting for an answer to his prayers for a long time and now with us he feels like he has received his answer. The wife cried a ton during the lesson. It was nice. We will just need to foster him and get him ready for his fecha. I think that he will be a really good member.

 We are also on the verge of taking out some more fechas with 4 other people. Unfortunately, I will probably leave Diamante and not be able to see the fruits of our labor, but it will be good getting them ready. Some Elders plant, others cultivate, others harvest. All that is important is helping people make decisions to improve their lives and relationship with Christ. But then again, we will have to see what happens with transfers. They are three weeks away.

 We are working with an inactive family this transfer called the Velasquez family. They are really good people. The family literally loves us. They are really good with attending. We just need to finish the lessons. Should be good.

I do not have many good stories this week. We saw some baby kittens in a plastic bag waiting for the dump truck. That was sad.

One thing that I really like this week is that there is a great difference between sin and weakness. Often times we think that they are the same. In order to clear up sin, we need to use Christ`s atonement. In order to overcome weakness, we need to be humble and use Christ`s grace. In the Liahona it talks about this. Someone mentioned how as a missionary they lived the most righteous and the gospel to their best level during their time, but at the same time they also felt the most self-criticism and the most unworthiness. Sometimes I feel the same. Using both the atonement and the grace of Christ can help us to overcome our sins and our weaknesses.

Read Mathew 4, especially 18-20. For me, everyone is carrying their own net filled with fish, but our "fishes" are sins, weaknesses, traditions, regrets, etc. If we really want to follow Christ in the right way, we can`t bring these things. We can`t waste time. He requires that we leave it all behind and leave immediately. That is how we really need to follow Christ. We need to start immediately and never look back. As the scriptures say, "Remember Lot`s wife." These two scriptures are really good ones. I wish I had more time to write more eloquently.

Tanner's Favorite Lesson to Teach

Elder Brown and I

So where to begin. Carolina is doing fine. She is receptive to everything that we teach and does her best. Chelsey, she has literally almost nothing, so a DVD or cassette player is out of the question. Thanks though. She is doing fine. The ward does not have a ton of confidence in her though. She has been an investigator for a long time. We will have to change that.

My companion loves cats.

 A new couple moved into our ward this week that was recently married. The husband wants to be baptized very soon so we will have to see where that goes.

My face is so red.

Being a District Leader has been fine. This week will be jammed packed with "intercambios" as I will be with the Zone Leader´s tomorrow, then the Elders in my district on Thursday. We also have a multi zone conference this Friday. Word on the street is that we are gonna watch Meet the Mormons. We will have to see. Also, I will have to do my first baptismal interview this week. I am excited. We will have to see.

 I ate ants this week. Big ones. They come out at this time of the year and cover the streets. You get them, fry them, and eat them. Actually quite good. I have a really good video of them. Too bad I can´t send videos.

Someone this week asked me what lesson is my favorite to teach. Without a doubt, the Law of Chastity. I am not kidding or trying to be funny. It just is. This commandment comes off as awkward to so many people, but in reality it is so beautiful. It is such an integral part of the Plan of Salvation. To think that I can literally live with my family and my own posterity forever brings me so much joy. Families can be together forever. Chastity is so important, beautiful, and rewarding in this life.

An Earthquake and a P-day Hike

This week was pretty good. Being a District Leader is chill I guess. My district is good. Pretty much the entire zone is young. It is crazy. As a district leader I am in charge of 5 other missionaries. They report to me their daily activities and weekly numbers. I conduct weekly "district meetings" to help train and teach the elders and sisters in my district. It is a lot of calls. My district is good though. There have only been a few problems so far as my district is young and isn`t super sure on a few things. It is all good. I will keep you updated. I think the district likes me. I hope so. haha

Pday Hike

 This week was pretty good in terms of investigators. We scheduled a new baptismal date for a woman named Carolina. She is the wife of a less active who we have been working with for a while. Their family is by far the poorest I have met here in Colombia and it is truly humbling teaching in their "house." She cannot read, so her progression has been really, really slow; however, she is doing well. She asked me to do the baptism on April 11th, which was cool.  

 She then proceeded to tell me that she has named her unborn baby Tanner. I have no idea how she found out me name, my guess is that Elder Correa told her, but all in all I have a 5 month old unborn baby named after me. It was kind of strange at first and I didn`t exactly believe her. We will have to see how she progresses. Overall, this week I had a baby named after me...

Tanner and Elder Brown

We also got hit by an earthquake this week on Tuesday. It was a 6.6 and was felt all over Colombia, Venezuela and Panama. It was the strongest though here in Santander. It lasted, I think, about 30 seconds. I have never felt something like that. The ground literally shook, rolled, and moved. It was crazy. I think only a few people died in total, but there was a bit of damage too.

 Honestly, if it had lasted any longer or was any more powerful, I think that our mission would be converted into a service mission, not a proselyting mission. Bucaramanga would have been destroyed. We were all ok, but wow did the earth move. I have heard that out of the 5 missions here in Colombia, 3 were allowed to call home. Bogotà Norte was not one of the three. All is good.

Tanner's District

This week was good and pretty normal. Today for Preparation Day we took a 3 hour hike, literally, into the mountains to see waterfalls. It was a really cool view and we were high in the mountains. The waterfalls were so so, but the views were so great. The camera just can`t capture it all. One day we gotta return here. With the wife too.

The cutest picture Tanner believes he has even taken

Zone Conference - Elder Brown is on Tanner's shoulders. You can see his head.

Today we had transfers. We ended the 6 week cycle yesterday. Elder Correa and I are together for another transfer here in Diamante II. However, the districts got switched. I am now the District Leader for Dimante II, Bucarica II, and the sisters in Piedecuesta. It will be a good experience to serve. I hope that my district can really do some good here in Bucaramanga. We just need to continue working hard.

Zone Conference

This transfer 30 missionaries left to go home and only 21 came in. There have been a lot of crazy transfers. There are missionaries that literally finished their own training yesterday and are beginning training tomorrow. I will have a new Elder and a new Sister in my District. I will do my best to treat them really well. There are another 35 Elders leaving in the next 6 weeks. Our mission is very, very young. It is good though.

This week, or transfer in general, was really good for teaching. Overall, in the transfer, we taught 154 lessons. That is pretty high. I am not bragging, it is just that we were blessed to have the opportunity to teach a lot. Honestly I love teaching. The other parts of finding people are not my favorite, but once we are in the lesson I can just do my thing. It is so fun and so enjoyable.

Zone Conference 

Tanner is convinced that this is probably the cutest picture he has even taken.

Felipe is really good. He received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and arrived earlier to church than we did. He is so much different than his family. He is good.

Paula, the recent convert, is also really good. She will be a life time convert.

 Eugenia is struggling. Her mom passed away Tuesday. We did all that we could to help her out, but in situations like this, sometimes the best thing you can do is pray. She is good though. Just in a really hard time.

As to other progressing investigators, there is not much to mention. We have many investigators, but few are really putting in an effort. We will change that.

Bucaramanga

Chelsey asked about the teenager that was on house arrest. He was released, and instantly went back to his old ways. It was a real shame. We were actually walking in the street one day and we ran into him. He is always really nice to us. We then ran into him 2 hours later and he had just been in a knife fight. He had a stab wound in his butt cheek. He definitely needed to go to a doctor, but obviously he didn`t. He will be fine though. It isn`t his first stab wound. I love him, but he just makes such idiotic decisions.

We helped reactivate a less active member called Juan Carlos this transfer. He is really chill and wants to serve a mission. He too is really good. He attends church every week, pays tithing, and does everything he should. Really great guy.

Teaching is so great. I just want people to clearly understand the wonderful message that we have.

Felipe's Baptism!

The baptism and confirmation of Felipe both went really well. As you can see from the pictures, he asked me to perform the ordinance. It all went really smooth. The service was small but sweet. There were not problems and the spirit just felt right. He was very prepared for the moment, and I was glad that I had the opportunity to find him, teach him, and baptize him. It was really great. He will one day be an excellent missionary.

Tanner's breakfast after he get's a package from home

 Elder Correa performed the confirmation. That too went really well. I love fast and testimony meetings. I bore my testimony of ordinances and convents. I said how many people always tell us that churches don`t save people. That is true, the church doesn`t save, the bishop doesn`t save, the buildings don`t save, etc. However, the ordinances with the proper authority of God DO save. You can ask members, how do we obtain salivation? They will typically say obey the commandments, read, pray, attend church, primary answers.... The real way is, yes, those things, but the covenants that we make with our God are oh so very important. I love helping people realize that.

 Other than that the week was pretty normal for teaching, finding, and working. We currently do not have any other "fechas" or baptismal dates, but I am sure that that will change very soon. People are prepared, we just need to find and teach them.

I had an "intercambio" with Elder Quezada this week. It was good. He worked with me here in Diamante II. It went well and we did good work that day.  He is cool and plus, he served in Barbosa as well. It was nice to reminisce about the things that we both saw and did there. We continue to do the work here to the best of our abilities. We just need to find some more new investigators and get the ball rolling with others.

 Elder Thurston, my Zone Leader, goes home this week. He is really great, and I have really enjoyed being in the same district and zone as him. It will be a bummer to see him leave, but it will be all good. It is crazy to think that we are in week 6 of the transfer. What?

Thanks for everything family and friends. I pray for you all often.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. God did not choose a perfect man. He chose a boy with grand potential. I know that despite his flaws, his mistakes, and his wrongs, without him we wouldn`t have what we have today. God choose Joseph Smith to do his work.

Tithing and the Joy of Teaching

The sign says repentance

 Things are well here in Bucaramanga. My feet are well. I am not sick. Things are going well with investigators. Things are pretty good.

Felipe continues to progress well. His baptismal date is this Saturday at 5. It should be a good experience. His is doing really well and is progressing well. His parents continue to support him despite their non-interest in the church. He has asked when he can serve a mission, when can he receive the priesthood, etc. Things are good with him.

Eugenia was called to be in charge of the Liahona (church magazine) distribution. I might have mentioned this before, but Eugenia´s mom has terminal stomach cancer. She is in very bad shape. She is not the biggest fan of us, unfortunately, but she did ask for a blessing.  It was a nice experience. She is so yellow though. Her entire skin, eyes, everything is really yellow. I hope things improve for her.

 By the way, Paula, the recent convert, was called to be the second counselor of the young women’s organization. She was excited. She is very good.

 When we were teaching Felipe about tithing, going into it I was a bit nervous about how the mom would react as she always listens in. We had planned to cover something in lesson 5 if she was there or tithing if she wasn`t. She was there, but I felt that we should just teach tithing anyways. Turns out that it was a hit. She went off about how tithing is super important, a blessing, a commandment, how he should start paying it now, and how it has blessed her life. It was a "what is happening moment." It was cool and she definitely helped with the lesson. Cool thing that I followed the spirit.

My feet. They honestly aren't that bad.

 We had the Elder Godoy from the quorum of the Seventy visit the mission this week. He was in Cucuta Wed, Bucaramanga Thursday, and Bogotà Friday. All the missionaries attended. Some had to travel more than 10 hours to attend. It was really good though. The conference was well planned and really well done. We learned a lot in a good fun atmosphere. It was a good time. Cut out almost the entire day of teaching, but it was worth it.

Much to my chagrin, we have been waking up at 6:00, thirty minutes early, to go to the apartment complex in which Elder Brown and Elder Gonzales live so that Elder Correa can work out his bis and tris. It is not my favorite. I am totally fine with exercise, but when it cuts into my sleep time, it is not my favorite. Especially when he is only working out his arms. Cummon man! I do it to make him happy. It is all good.

 Things are also going well with Sandra and David. They did not attend church because baby Danny, my nickname, is sick. She too asked for a blessing.  It was a cool experience.  

We had a lot of investigators attend sacrament meeting. It was cool.