{He LOves Us! And I LoVe Him...}

Right on!

Ok first off...Marshall`s going to high school! And jeez he`s way tall! That`s not good. It`s gonna be a pretty big blow if i get home and he`s taller than me...but than again i`m still taller than J Dub. J dub i couldn`t see the photos in the email but i imagined some awesome food and crafts hahaha.

Sounds like you all had an awesome time in Sun Valley...i like how you almost got busted by the cops for driving haha..i am really glad we don`t have cars as missionaries in panama or i`m pretty sure i`d be in trouble!

This week has been really incredible! We are getting ready for a few baptisms this upcoming month...the familia Pardo, and Lilibeth Rodriguez. And we are also getting a temple excursion planned for the recent converts. Cathy and Tomàs are really awesome! And we had a family home evening last night with Arnulfo Flores...he`s so rad! And Teonila Rodriguez gets stronger every week as she comes to church and participates.

The familia Pardo is doing really good...the father, Felipe has given up alcohol. Probably one of the best experiences this last week was a lesson that we had in their home. Felipe started to thank us for the humble way that we`ve brought the Gospel into their lives. His wife, Miriam, thanked us in front of him for the change that he has made because of the Gospel. We think he used to hit his wife and he did like to drink before...but it`s been a huge blessing to see the power of the Gospel in their family.

Lilibeth also thanked us for the way that we teach. We`ve been a little worried about her lately and we were a little hard on her last sunday because she didn`t come to church. We talked a lot about the seriousness of the baptismal covenant and that she can`t be baptized if she isn`t going to be faithful. We told her to look up to the example of her mom, Teonila. And after reading some of the Book of Mormon with her...it turned out to be a really powerful lesson.

Well fam...that`s all for now. I love you all and i truly am grateful for your prayers and support. I know that not every missionary has that. I testify to you all in the name of our Savior that Thomas S. Monson guides us by revelation. I know that he is a prophet of God. I know...I really do know...that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. God has answered my prayers many times regarding that. I know that James is doing well...that`s what I got out of the temple. I know James is good. I love you all. Keep praying for me and pray for Panama! Gracias! Les amo!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Tanner

Mom!

Thanks for the letter and the awesome photo! Marsh looks like me eh? Except i`m more guapo! haha.

I hope you`re doing well mom.. I pray for you a lot. And I really do feel your prayers. I can`t tell you how many times the words i`ve heard you say in my life have come into my mind as we are working here. It really does keep me going. I`m doing my best mom. I`m not perfect but I love it!

Thank you. Really mom...thank you a lot!

ps good job with your use of spanish in the letter...i`m impressed!

Note: For our Primary program, the leaders asked the missionaries to write a letter telling why they chose to go on a mission, and to share their testimony of Christ. The theme of the program is, "The Mission of the Church is to Invite all to Come Unto Christ" This is Tanner's letter:

Heres for the letter...

Hola Utah! I am here in Panama because i have a testimony of this Gospel. I have prayed many times to confirm that testimony. I decided to serve a mission in a big part because of the examples of the priesthood holders in my family. I know that i`ve been called by God, through His prophet, to teach the Gospel and invite His children to come unto Christ and be saved.

I know Christ lives. I know He suffered more than we are able to comprehend...and He did it for my family. He did it because He knew that I needed it. I know that He was resurrected and in this way defeated physical death. I know that we can overcome spirititual death if we are willing to keep the covenants that we make with Him in the waters of baptism and in His temple.

I have seen God`s love in my people here in the mission...members and non members. I know that His hand really is guiding this work and that we have the power of God, the priesthood, to build His kingdom here on the earth preparing for the second coming. I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that this is His church and that He loves us! And I love Him...

For all of the young men that are preparing to serve missions...and the young women that want to...don`t miss this opportunity. It`s the hardest and the best thing i`ve ever done. ¡Sè que Dios les va a mostrar milagros! ¡Les quiero mucho!

Elder Henrie

{To be Able to tEAch hiM about the resURreCTion}

Familia!

Wow what an intense week! The trip to the temple was insane...i mean, satan didnt want us to go haha. But we made it and had an incredible session. Its really neat listening in Spanish...really different. When we got to Panama City we went to immigrations for my companion. We ended up waiting for three hours for the other missionaries to get there...oh and on the way there one of my shoes died. Literally...it died. Anyway, after immigrations we went to the temple...as we were walking up to the temple my other shoe died...these were shoes that a member loaned me while he took my real shoes to get fixed. So i`m walking up to the temple with shoes that don`t have a bottom...and it starts raining. And then the temple worker tried to scan my recommend and it wasn`t working! Hahaha oh man. He entered the number in manually and it worked luckily. The session was incredible. The greatest peace i`ve felt in all my mission! It was soooo amazing! After the session i saw Elder Poli there...he was doing batisms for the dead...really cool to see him. afterwards we were trying to get to the terminal and it was raining and we were about to miss the bus when a member stopped in a taxi and took us to the terminal...and then we missed the bus in the terminal haha...got home at like one o clock from Panama...jeez. But it was a really great day!

And this week we had zone conference in Chorrera...hence the email on Friday...but i`ll writing this coming Tuesday as well. oh and yes i bought a camera...and shoes...haha thanks a ton for that. Sorry for spending your money ;)

guess what...Elder Johnson from my high school is in my zone!!! Hes so awesome and such a good missionary! He just got here from the islands of San Blas...i`m kind of jealous haha wouldn`t mind going there. He`s a super good missionary and i`m really excited to finally be in the same zone as him!

Sounds like Sun Valley is a blast...think about me while your all biking haha. No worries...i`d rather be here preaching the Gospel. We had a really cool finding experience this week. We were contacting a neighborhood looking for familes and we saw this kid in a wheelchair outside with his family. The kid`s name is Guillermo Medina...he was assalted four months ago by gangsters here in Santiago and left for dead. He was in a coma for 27 days and finally came out. He has a huge dent in his cranium where they knocked him out...it`s really hard to see. Hes 21...used to be a bigtime futbol player and only had two months left until he graduated from the university...it was such a blessing to be able to teach him about the resurrection and that we will someday have a perfect body...really awesome experience. We`re going to visit him tonight.

Another incredible experience...the Salinas family (our recent converts) are having some serious economic problems. So we talked to our ward mission leader and he had us use the offerings of the fast to pay for their food. We also told a member in our branch about it and he gave us a months supply of rice for them. and for a family of investigators that is also struggling...the Pardo family. It was amazing! After going shopping with them on monday we got home and said a prayer of thanks for what we had seen...it was such a powerful experience.

Were working with the pardo family on the word of wisdom (the husband, Felipe, drinks) so that they can be baptized in september. I don`t think ill be here to see it but i would be really happy if they were baptized!

Well fam...that`s all for this week. August is coming to an end...life is good...i love being a missionary! The church is true...i`m really studying the book of mormon right now and i`ve been praying to know that it`s true to strengthen the testimony that i have...and every time i do it i receive an answer in one way or another. I love you all!

Mucho love,

Elder Tanner

{I LovE the FaMiliEs thaT we aRe TeacHinG}

Hey hey hey!

Right on sorry about not being clear about the baptisms...there were four people who were baptized. Tomas and Cathy Salinas (a young married couple that have a little baby girl named Kristamy), Arnulfo Flores (the husband of a member, hes awesome! he`s about 45), and a lady named Teonila Rodriguez. The 21 of this month the daughter of Teonila is going to get baptized!! She really liked the baptism and is basically already a member haha. Teonila payed her tithing on sunday! And Arnulfo loves studying! And the Salinas have already started a choir in the branch!! how sweet are these converts!

We are going to the temple on thursday for baptizing the salinas family...that`s the goal of the mission...baptize a family and you get to go to the temple! We want them to prepare to be sealed in the future...sweet! Dad i also read that article in the Liahona (we don`t get the Ensign) it was really powerful...that quote you wrote was my favorite part.

Things are sweet here...I love the families that we are teaching.. We have three really positive ones. Two of them are references from members. I just wrote a letter to mom explaining them so you can get the details soon. bottom line is that the familia pardo is gnarley and i really hope they can progress.

so i lost all the pictures that were on the card but my companion had most of them on his camera. So that was good. I don`t know when i`ll be able to get a new camera...can i use the credit card to buy a new one? It won`t get stolen this time haha

thanks for your support...and your prayers. Time is still going by super fast here in panama. Since i had my last interview with presidente ward things have been going great. We had a good turnout at church last week...66 people came and it was a great reunion. They put me to speak on the spot because the speakers didn`t show up..so i talked about the story of Abinadi and how his testimony started an awesome chain of missionary work. (abinadi is nuts huh?)

les amo mucho y siempre oro por ustedes. Espero que estèn bien de salud y felices. ¡Cuìdense mucho!

Con mucho cariño,

Elder Tanner

Mom!

Hey mom! How`s everything going? I hope you had a good week! I`m still here...alive in Santiago. haha it`s been tough but one of the best experiences ever. I love being here...the people are great. It`s defintiely been a growing experience. I remember in one of the zone conferences that we had one of the elders said that his best changes on his mission were the hardest ones. It`s true. Having a hard companion or a hard area makes things much harder and much more rewarding. I feel like i`ll be able to leave santiago content with everything we`ve done here. I know i wasn`t perfect but we`ve been working and i`ve really enjoyed it...the ups and downs. I miss you mom...i think about you and pray for you a lot. i know god`s looking out for my family and that i`ve got nothing to worry about! I`m staying focused and having success. I love you!

Much love,

Elder Tanner

{I KnoW GoD LiveS}

Fam!

Just would like to start by telling you that i love you all! The baptisms were sweet! I baptized Tomas...haha three times...he is kinda big so it was hard...guess i need to do my exercises better in the mornings haha. The service was really spiritual.. I stayed in Santiago!!! YES! It`s a super hard and super sweet area. I love it...i love the families...the food...the people...everything.. It`s way hard but we`re doing it!

Marsh man happy birthday!!! That`s sweet that you`re fifteen! Too bad you`re not in panama because the fifteenth birthday is kind of a huge thing here. It`s like the sweet sixteen for all yall americans. We had a great lesson with this guy named Raul last week. Our appointment fell so we started looking for someone...nobody. But we knocked one last door and the guy comes out. Didn`t seem to positive at first but he started to listen. When we got to the Book of Mormon he was really interested (because it`s true and all) and we had an awesome discussion about it. We usually don`t leave a Book of Mormon on the first visit but we felt like we should so we left him one. We`re going back this wednesday!

The baptism. Wow. It really was incredible. Santiago has been struggling for a while but i think the members truly believe that now is the time for Santiago. Me and Elder Chevez get to go to the temple for the family that we baptized! It`s been seven months! I miss the temple so much and i`m super excited. I think we`re going next thursday! Panama baby!

I love you all. The church is true. Dad i really liked that quote from Gordon B Hinckley about how God chooses His prophet. It`s true without a doubt. This church, this mission, and this life make me happy. I know God lives. I know he watches over you all because i`m praying for it. I know the book of mormon is the word of God and that it was written for us. Read it! I`m reading it right now marking every time it makes a reference to Christ...that book is reeeeeeed! Go to the temple it`s sweet!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Tanner

ps my camara got stolen from the house...sorry. The house isn`t very secure we`re trying to move out if we don`t get security for the windows...and the toilet doesn`t work haha. But no worries we stay safe. Just dont expect lots of photos any time soon...

Grammy!

Just wanted to send you a quick hello! How is everything going! We`re having lots of success in good old santiago. I hope they keep me here for a couple more changes...I pray for you a lot! `Don`t forget about me in your prayers! Thanks grammy...love you! Cuìdate abuelita!

Elder Tanner

UPDATE: The wife of Tanner's mission president just emailed me this link to a blog she has started to post photos of the elders: http://panamamission2010-2013.blogspot.com/