{I CaN't WaiT!}

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the emails...it sounds like all is going great! We had a sweet experience two days ago...we went to Cecilio´s house to talk about his baptism. We were going to tell him that we wouldn´t be able to baptize him because he would be moving soon. It was a pretty rough situation. So when we got there and started talking about it he let us know that if only he could get a new pair of shoes he could stay here for schooling. Sweet! Elder Chicas had a pair of shoes that he gave to him and we´re all set for this saturday! We were going to baptize him in the river but our branch president figured it would be better if we went to the chapel in Changuinola. I can´t wait! I´ve never baptized anyone before, let alone in Spanish haha i´ll need to practice...

Cecilio is so humble. He´s sixteen years old...doesn´t have a mother or father...and hardly any money. Yesterday on the way to church we asked him what he had for breakfast and he told us that there wasn´t food at his house right now. So after church we brought him over to our house for sandwiches. He´s so awesome!

The people here are so humble and so nice. There are definitely hard times and there are people who want nothing to do with us but there´s always people waiting to hear the gospel.

oh yeah my tooth...haha. It´s all good. We called the mission president to find a doctor who could take the stitches out and we managed to make our way to a local clinic. It went fine and it was free (so you know it´s good) but seriously all is well.

I´m loving it here. Still trying hard to be effective...there´s so much to do every day it´s a bit overwhelming at times. But you just have to keep working at it. There are so many good people here...wow.

Dad that´s good that everything got settled at work...yikes, eh? I hope this week goes better for ya haha. oh and apparently you know the father of one of the elders in my zone..his name is Doctor Mark Johnson..works at health south. His son Derek Johnson and I were in the same grade at Brighton...

Have a great week everyone!

Con mucho amor,
Elder Tanner

pps could you tell my grandparents that i´m allowed to email them as well...mission rules :)

{FoRgettiNG MySelF}

Hola a todos!

Panama still rocks my world! Every day somethin crazy happens here. This week was a little tough not gonna lie. I had a little wave of homesickness (but just because my family is awesome)...but we worked really hard to get through that. ¨there´s no substitute for work¨ -Ezra taft benson. My companion is awesome...he helps me through all the rough times.

I´m starting to understand stuff a lot better here. Which is sweet because i LOVE talking to people! Everyone rocks. The only problem is that the door is always open at every house...but no one is serious about changing. We have to find some 30 investigators to have one serious investigator. So that´s what we do! 30 lessons a week yo!

Marshman thanks for your email last week brother...that sounds like a sweet trip planned for the summer. A great experience for sure! Sounds like you´re having a great time at Albion (you´re not at brighton yet right? haha) with basketball and such.

And mom that´s awesome about Jesse comin´home...Tell him hey from his brother in Panama! (that´s me) I´m jealous that you got to eat out five times in three days. But you´ll be jealous to know that we´ve had this gnarley dead centipede thing chillin in our room and i´m going to eat it for breakfast tomorrow! Mmmmm.

We´ve had three baptisms set up for this month...but we´re not going to baptize two of them (leonardo and cecilio) because we´re thinking they´ll go inactive. They´re moving away soon so we´re thinking it´s best to let them continue learning. The other investigator that we´re really hoping get´s baptized is Nelson Serrano. He´s way incredible and his family is pretty solid in the church.

That´s pretty much it for this week...I could use your prayers for sure right now. I´m still lovin it and i´m really working on forgetting about myself here. I love the people! Oh man they´re so amazing!

Con mucho amor (claro),
Elder Tanner

{I LoVE You MoM}

Mom!
¡Feliz cumpliaños! Happy Birthday! That´s crazy that you´re turning 39! Again! I just wanted to let you know how much I love you and hope you have an incredible birthday...i will keep praying for you and the family every day. I know everything will be taken care of with all of you while i´m gone so i´m not worried. God provides.

I love you mom... thanks for everything. Thanks for all the good times. I´ll work hard here don´t worry. And yes i will use insect repellant. The bugs are vicious...and they really like the way I taste for some reason. Must be the Gringo blood. Te amo mamá...yo quiero que tu tengas un cumpliaños increíble! Don´t let anyone who speaks Spanish read that because it might be really bad spanish hahaha. All is well here!

Con amor,
Elder your son.

{MiraCLeS EveRY DaY}

Right on fam!

So yes i´m in the jungle. As for your questions:
1. My address is:


Misión Panamá Carrasquilla
A.P. 0834 Entrege General
Panamá, Panamá

2 and 3...don´t know right now but remind me next week

4. I have only a visa card...not the ATM. But they gave me an ATM card for taking out money when I got here (the mission gave me a card, it´s not the one we got) so i still don´t have the one that we got.

5. I´m headed to a dentist this week, possibly in Panama if there´s no one here or in David.

And i´m pretty sure it´s summer here...that is what i hear anyway. There´s not much rain (apparently gnarley downpours don´t count as a lot of rain). Our area is sweet though! Everyone is so nice...everyone calls each other hermano and hermana...all family. I love it! We´re teaching tons of lessons but having trouble with committments. Everyone wants to listen but it´s tough to help them see the importance of change. But it´s great here.

My companion is Elder Chicas...from El Salvador. He´s hard working, really is trying to learn english, and teaches me a ton every day. He´s been a convert for about three or four years now (he´s 26). His father committed suicide 5 years ago and his mom and brother are now in El Salvador. He´s a great comp. He´s an incredible teacher as well.

There are other missionaries nearby (six in our district) but for the next change they are bringing a zone to Empalme! That should be sweet!

It is definitely hard work hear. Lots of people try to tear down what you believe and a lot of people aren´t interested. But it´s always worth it.

I´ve had lots of incredible experiences here already. Miracles every day. We were lost a few days ago looking for a really promising investigator named Gregory...it was raining, we were late, so we prayed. Literally five seconds later, there he was standing outside in the rain waiting to hear the plan of salvation. It was amazing! And whenever I pray for the ability to testify of Joseph Smith, God gives me the gift of tongues. Every time!

Sorry I don´t have much time left..J-dub and marsh thanks for the emails...send me more :) i don´t have time to reply now but i will next week! Ps j dub that handlebar stash is gonna rock at the derby!

I can´t believe so many people are comin home from their missions already! Time really does fly it´s nuts! I´ve already been here two weeks...it´s so crazy! The spanish is coming very slowly. Still pretty frustrating at times but it´s all good...it will come.

We´re trying to find a family this week to teach...we´re praying hard and working hard. We´re gonna do it!

Thanks for everything I love you all a ton!

Con amor,
Elder Tanner

{ALriGHt LeT's Do ThiS}

Oooe!
A lot of times the panameños just make funny noises for greetings haha it´s way funny. My favorite greeting is ´buenas´ though. Kind of like buenas dias, tardes, etc.

Alright let´s do this. Landed in panamá and got to the mission presidents house at like 1130 at night and ate pizza. The next day we got up, went to the temple for pictures, had our interviews and got assigned comps. my interview went well...even though they forgot to teach me Spanish at the MTC. Presidente Madrigal is awesome. He told me about some of the problems here, like chasity, word of wisdom, and a few others.

My comp. wasn´t there when we were assigned because my area was so far away from Panama (once you´re in panama, panama=panama city), i´m completely accross the country. So we waited three hours to get bus tickets, took an eightish hour bus ride to David, and then got up the next day for a five or six hour ride through the jungle to Empalme. It´s the farthest area away from panama. Kinda nuts. Our house is sweet! Usually we have water and we have an awesome washing machine! But the water is so ridiculously cold! It´s good for waking up in the morning. And when we don´t have water we´ve got a bucket so it´s all good. Lots of lizards and even more mosquitos.

I had a great second day in Empalme...you should have seen me chop a coconut in half with a machete. It didn´t taste good but it was sweet! The food is good...but i´ve learned one thing here, never tell a panamanian that you can eat a lot. Because they will try to kill you with rice! Oh man, soooooooo much rice here! It´s nuts!

We had one of those ¨which way should we turn¨ moments the other day. And I was feelin left. So we went left and found Hermana Nohely. I´m hoping more than anything that she will be baptized she´s so amazing! Our first lesson with her was incredible. The spirit is so strong always during the first vision. And yesterday she said she would prepare to be baptized! But one of the problems here is that people are so casual about commitments. Everyone says they´ll come to church, be baptized, everything. But nobody wants to change. so we´re working really hard to help them.

Not gonna lie, it´s almost like everyone is speaking Spanish here, because i can´t understand it. They talk so fast! One moment someone will tell me I speak well, and then i´ll be proud of myself, and then the next person I talk to looks at me like I´m an idiot. Haha.

I love it here. The people have nothing, but they´re so happy. The kids are incredible! There´s this boy and girl here that I love so much...the boy´s name is Diego and the girl is María de los ángeles. Diego is seven and María is four (Libby she reminds me so much of you!) Their father is the branch president and they´re just an awesome fam!

I´m gonna try and attach a picture to this so hopefully it works. Nevermind it doesn´t work haha...but i can receive photos j dub sent me one. I´ll try to mail you some but i don´t know how well the mail works yet. We´ll see. I don´t know our address yet. In fact i´m not sure if we have one haha the dirrections around here are really tough.

Our church is sweet! We´ve got some really awesome members and we get fed a lot so we don´t have to buy that much food. They have gatoade here too which is sooooo good on the hot days. It hasn´t really rained during the day here but pretty much every night it does. I´ve really got nothing to complain about here i love it! It´s way hard and the language is frustrating, but i know it will come fast. I can already understand a lot thanks to the Gift of Tongues. But everything will work out here i´m not worried about it. Our goal is two baptisms this month...so we´re going to have to work really hard to get it. I hope Hermana Nohely will be! She has four amazing kids! Her family is amazing....i pray for her constantly

My tooth´s doin fine i think we´ll drive in to David or Panama to get the stitches out next week but we´ll see. Bueno, i think that´s all. Hasta luego fam!

Con amor,
Elder Tanner

ps the kids think my name is funny haha it´s awesome