{i`ll Go wHeRe i`M SuPPoSed to Go}

Yo yo!

Hey so the last package I got had a yo yo and a camelbak in it. Don`t know if that´s the most recent one but it definitely made the world a better place. Marsh man! Almost a hole in one eh?! Sweet! But you still have broken a window like me...hahaha. Sounds like summer is pretty sweet there in Utah town. I hope you`re all ready for cold weather...haha not me though!

Yesterday Thomas and Cathy and Arnulfo had another baptismal interview. Everything is set! We have changes this wednesday...which would be rough for me because i would miss the baptisms...hence i`m writing y`all right now. After their interview they had a lot of questions about eternal marriage...sweet! I can see them going through the temple in a year to be sealed. And Arnulfo is just awesome. We can see that there have been tooooooons of trials since we set the date of their baptisms. It`s always like that. Satan tries his hardest. The lastest problem is that there`s some huge fiesta here in Santiago on saturday. that means a lot of drunk people and problems with the transportation. Sweet. No worries though. While they`re having their worldly moment outside we`ll be having an awesome baptismal service! hahaha take that adversary.

I really don`t want to leave santiago this week! That would be so hard! We`ve found a couple more families that are really positive to work with...and i really don`t want to miss the baptism. But i`ll go where i`m supposed to go haha.

I just finished the book Our Search for Happiness. It`s really interesting. I love how Elder Ballard explains the doctrines of the church really powerfully without trying to offend anyone (ya know...I always try to offend people...haha no) and he gives a really strong testimony of the Restoration. I really liked the book.

This week went really well. We had a really great day yesterday at church. I was just praying that everything would go well in the interviews. and everything`s good. I`m pretty stressed still about this saturday...but sometimes you gotta just relax and enjoy the moment...because it goes by SUPER fast

I love you all! Take care!

Elder Tan

{We`Ve woRKEd our buTTs ofF}

Fam!

I`m still in Santiago. I`m loving it!! We`ve had a rough couple of weeks with the baptisms falling through...but we`re planning on it all going down the 31 of July. Four baptisms! It`s pretty sweet because everyone talks bad about the zone i`m in...but Elder Chevez came in and we`ve worked our butts off...like J Dub..haha. And we`re definitely seeing the fruits of our labors . So marsh man...that makes Cecilio, Ceferino, Emiliano, and Erick, plus the four that i will hopefully be able to see soon! I love the mission. word. Tell the jackson family that i loved the birthday package and lots of gracias! And also thank the kinghorn`s and the burg`s for the packages...they keep me going in the mission for real!

Yesterday we went to a place called la yeguada...it`s gnarley i`ll attach some pics. It`s super beautiful...the highest point in our area supposedly. We took Tomàs and Kathy Salinas with us...the investigators that are going to be baptized this month. It was soooo fun!! There`s a sweet lake up there so we all went swimming and then went to Costa Rica again...haha just kidding mom! But there was a really cool waterfall and some sweet pine trees that reminded me of Utah. Why the heck are there pine trees in Panama?

Dad...thanks for the summary of the Old Testament...now i never have to read it! Haha. It`s pretty sweet that we have the book of mormon to clarify the bible. If it werent so...wow. Lots of apostasy. I talked to a guy on the bus this morning who was convinced that Martin Luther was a thief. But when you testify about the Book of Mormon...they are always at least a little more interested. It`s a pretty dang powerful book!

And I hope J dub is doing well...sounds like the surgery passed well enough and he`s still alive. Quick story...on saturday we were teaching a lesson to a guy named Luis Barba. He started contending about Joseph Smith and the Sabbath Day (He had the bible MEMORIZED man) and we just stopped him...testified...and left. It was a really good experience for me. We left without any bad feelings and he felt the spirit come into the lesson. I am amazed at the effect that the spirit has on people. Always teach with love i guess would be the moral of the story.

Love you all fam!

Elder Tanner

{tHeRe`s stiLL a lOt to bE doNe hERe}

Yeah yeah!

Biking in the Redwoods?! Dang man i`m jealous! But it`s all good because yesterday I scored in futbol...yep that`s right...i rock at futbol now. For those of you americans that don`t know what futbol is...it`s soccer. And it`s awesome.

Sounds like the wedding went well. That`s a bummer i wasn`t there to show J Dub how to dance...but we`ll save that for another day. This week has been nuts! We`re having some problems with our branch presidency here in the branch. Presidente Ward is coming up this weekend again to make some changes.

But this week has been sweet.. Arnulfo has stopped drinking coffee in preparation for his baptism..and no longer drinks alcohol...Teolnila is sooooo ready... and Tomas and Cathy are just awesome. He let me jam on his guitar the last time we went over. And one of the Elders in our zone just left for san blas and he couldn`t take his guitar with him...my bad. Free guitar. Hahaha.

We have been having a really good time in Santiago. Some of the members talked to Presidente Ward when he came on Sunday and i think he`s going to leave me and Elder Chevez here for another change!! Word! Because there`s still a lot to be done here!

Dad...don`t let marsh out drive you. That`s my job. Marsh...dont out drive dad. Lib...keep up the courage with the swimming. haha i`m proud. I love you family! Pray for panama!

Mucho love,

Elder Tanner

{ThE sPiRiT wAs very PoWerfuL}

Yo!

California eh? sweet! I just met Presidente Ward and his wife. They are so awesome! I`m really excited to start seeing the plans that they have received for the mission. It`s so interesting to see the power of someone who really is called of God.

This week has been incredible! We showed up to church with a lot of investigators and definitely are winning the confidence of the members. Presidente ward is coming to Santiago on Saturday and one of the sisters in my branch said she would tell him to keep me here!! haha. The husband of that hermana, hermana luz, is going to be baptized this month! ANd a lady named Teonila. But we kind of want to see if it`s possible to work with the family of Teonila to see if we can help them as well. We really are starting to see all of the hard work pay off here. I love it! Santiago really is a different place. And it has nothing to do with us...the Lord really is changing it. And Elder Chevez has soooo much faith...it`s nuts. We`re really working to complete the goals we`ve set.

We are also teaching a family right now that is called the familia salinas. Tomàs and Cathy. They are progressing really well...Such a cool couple. Tomàs always busts out his guitar to play for us every time we go over there. And his wife sings so incredibly. We`re hoping they will be able to progress towards baptism soon.

It was so awesome to see the hermana teolnila tell us that she knows the book of mormon is true. She is starting to make friends in the church and she always wants more of the book of mormon to read. She`s so rad! And Arnulfo Flores startled us when he said that he really needed to get baptized this time...he`s met with the missionaries a lot before...but he`s set now.

I can`t even tell you how fast this change has gone by. It`s been the fastest change of my mission so far! And i hit nine months this month! That`s basically a year! Yikes! I`m doing really well here, though.

We got some rough news today during the zone conference. One of the Elders in our zone...Elder Villagra...lost his father today. I`m not sure how he died but Elder Villagra found out during zone conference. It hurt a lot to see what he is going through...and knowing that the months ahead could be really long for him makes me feel horrible. But Presidente Ward talked about it in the zone conference and it was super strong. The spirit was very powerful.

Bueno pues...que les vaya bien! I love you all mucho!

Elder Tanner