{PanaMeñoS are sO Rad!}

Familia!

Whats up eh? I`m in Chorrera now! Barrio Centro! It`s definitely different being in a ward. It`s like...missionary work right off the bat. Our members are sweet! And one cool thing is that Elder Poli just left this area...he`s a zone leader now! So i`ll be taking care off his converts while i`m here. My comp is Elder Bravo from Nicaragua. The first thing Elder Dangerfield told me when I told him Elder Bravo was my comp...haha `help him out`. It`ll be ok though. I told him straight up that we`re going to be obedient and work. But yeah he`s kind of struggling hardcore. I miss Elder Chevez. What an awesome elder! And I miss Santiago A TON!! But, like Bocas, I feel good about what we did there

I`m district leader here in Chorrera. It should be a good opportunity to serve. I`m kind of intimitated. But i think it should go well. We had a sweet experience with our neighbor. I talked to him like the first night i got here (wednesday) and the next morning he came over to our house telling us he wanted to commit suicide the night before. We taught him the plan of salvation and talked about how much God loves him and the gift that we have of living here in the earth. It was really cool. And he came to church yesterday!

Another experience. We were street contacting (my comp and i are both new to the area and we`re starting from scratch haha) and we found the familia Alonzo! Sweet fam...Elder Poli and his comp had already taught them in the past and they are pretty much ready to be baptized! Hahaha we just have to work on getting them to assist to church.

That`s really crazy about the health problems going on in the ward. Really sad but the miracles always come in times of trials. I read a talk from the conference Liahona about patience and Elder Utchdorf says that we don`t just need to endure...we need to endure well. What an awesome quote. I know it`s true. Patience is not just waiting. It`s action, and perseverancia. Don`t know that word in english.

I think God keeps giving me disobedient companions because he wants me to learn to love them haha. But i`ve got a good attitude about this change. I`ve been hearing a lot of `i don`t want to work, i want to go home and sleep, i want water, it`s hot, there is nobody here` but i know we`re gonna have success here.

We`ve already got potential. Well family i love you all! Keep me in your prayers! JP is a junior??!!! Que va hombre...i hope everything is awesome in utah town, but i know it`s not as awesome as panama! The church is true!

Elder Henrie

ps yes i`ll be writing on mondays now haha

mother!

Hola! What`s up? I`m really stoked about my new area. I miss Santiago a lot but the relief society president made me promise that i would return...and i shook hands on it. Just so you know.. That means i have to go back to Santiago someday. Yep. And you have to meet the people there. Mom, panameños are so rad! They are way funny and happy.

Quick experience from yesterday. My comp wanted water so i told him we`d have to find someone to teach so we could ask them for water. Finally we found a positive guy. Turns out his wife hates mormons and kicked us out...wow haha super intense. But he did give us water! hhaha. and then we kept going until we hit the LAST house on the street....we talked to the guy who was outside with his kid, Josè and his son Alan. What an awesome guy! He had lots of questions and knew a little bit about the church. We gave him a Book of Mormon...now we just need to baptize him! Hahaha he`s from Costa Rica and is really interesting.

Oh and we met a guy from Pennsylvania...wow tough crowd. I love my new area! Pray for my comp!

Chao ¡cuìdate!

Elder Henrie

{I fEeL ComPleTe}

Whoa!

I´ve got a lot to write here. Elder Johnson`s first name is Derek...

Send this to matt jackson...

Matt...te quiero. Espero que sigues trabajando duro hombre. No dejes de orar y ayunar. El señor realmente nos da pruebas en la misiòn para que crezcamos. i love you matt. I know what it`s like to have a rough companion. But it all pays off in the end. I learned to respect and love the tougher companions and I`m really grateful that i had those super long changes with them. I`ll be praying for you. We`re in a great work! it all pays off. Be a good missionary! And don`t worry about the language and the teaching...it all comes with work.

Ok...this week was incredible. Saturday...we went to help a members mom with the gnarley grass in front of her house (i`m still suffering from the bug bites on my nalgas) and then we had such an incredible fireside. We started the fireside in the court outside the church building. The theme was `be like little children` we started by reading from the Book of Mormon about Christ`s coming to the Americas. And then we read in chapter 17 of third nephi when he blessed the children and cried. Afterwards we gave everyone a moment to write on a piece of paper what they were going to change to become more like little children...and what they were going to leave behind. Afterwards...everyone stood up, said what they wrote, and burned it in the fire. (it wasn`t raining because the whole branch fasted so that it would be an awesome activity) Then we had a moment of silence and played some really soft hymns. Everyone started crying. Afterwards they all bore testimony about how they had felt. It really was one of the best moments in my mission!

Tomàs and Cathy Salinas almost didn`t come for lack of money but i called them and told them the Lord would bless them if they came. They came and Cathy told me afterward they she felt incredible and the experience helped her with a lot of questions and doubts. Then she and Tomàs sang a song to finish the activity....SWEET!

The next day was fast and testimony meeting. Everyone talked about the activity. I bore my testimony and really felt like I have a family here. Teonila Rodriguez (one of our converts) bore her testimony about the first time she met with us and how she came to know about the Restoration. Tomàs blessed the sacrament. Cathy is talking about and excited to go to the temple. And Arnulfo Flores is solid! I feel complete. I feel like i`ve done everything i can in Santiago.

One of the members had a dream that i told her i had to leave. She told me not to in her dream, but said that i told her that there were people waiting for me in another area. I can`t wait to meet them! God works miracles for missionaries. I think i`m slowly beginning to understand why we do missionary work. I`m starting to get it. We`re here to save people.

It was hard saying goodbye. Teonlia and her daughter who will be baptized soon were crying and told us that there will always be a family in Santiago who remembers us. It was tough saying goodbye to the members. Really, I love these people. I love them. I know i`m going to have a lot more difficult moments on the mission, but it`s awesome.

Elder Chevez and i don`t want to split up. He`s been a good comp. I`ve been super strict with him and he`s had a rough two changes but i`m really glad he`s enjoyed it so much. He cried when i told him i have changes. He`s an awesome missionary and I know he`ll keep working hard in Santiago.

I`m happy. I really am. I feel completely satisfied with what we`ve done here. I know I wasn`t close to being a perfect person and much less a perfect missionary but i`m loving it. I know that God is watching over his work. I know that we have angels protecting us. Because there are some places in Santiago that aren`t safe. But God has warned us several times. He`s carried us out of bad areas and let us to good, humble people who were ready...

I love Santiago. I don`t want to leave but at the same time I`m ready for more. The mission goes by fast. Really fast. My ward mission leader talked to the president last week to see if i could stay here...but he told him that i`m heading out. And the President told me as well that i`ll be having changes. Pray for Elder Chevez and his future companion. His dad has been struggling.

I love you all! The church is true! hahaha keep going!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Tanner

ps tell the brewster`s i love them and I put Steve`s name in the temple. I`ll be praying for them. Oh and the temple was sweet! As usual. You should go to the temple! hahaha love you!

{I aM wiTh You in THe spIRit}

uh huh!

Wow...really rough news about Bishop Brewster. I`ll be praying for him and his family a lot. that`s super hard to hear. It`s a good thing we have the gospel to get us through trials like this and that we know that the trials make us stronger. I hope their family is doing well. Tell them I love them.

i loved the pictures of lib starting school haha hilarious. I can`t imagine her causing a riot with all her little friends. I still find it hard to believe that she`s in school already!

We had a good week this week. We`re going to the temple on Thursday because our zone met the goal we set for baptisms! Sweet! I`ll be in there with Elder Johnson...my friend from high school. Dang man. I`m really excited! We had a lot of success this past week. Lots of good lessons and good experiences. We taught our branch presidents son who just got separated from his wife and kids. He`s really suffering a lot and he wants to be with his family. It`s hard to see...and he carries a photo of his family around with him everywhere and sleeps with it by his bedside. It hurts really bad because he keeps saying he knows they will be together. We talked to him about the peace that we can find in the Book of Mormon and submitting ourselves to God`s will and forgetting about what we want. But we saw him yesterday and he seems a lot better.

We also taught a lady named Omaida who just lost her husband to cancer...she was a reference from another contact. It was a really good lesson. she just kept talking about the peace that she wanted to find in this life. The plan of salvation really does offer us this peace.

We`ve also had some more problems with our leadership...our investigator family...los pardo..had a bad experience with our branch mission leader. kind of not good. But we`re working through it. The wife...Miriam, is starting to doubt the book of mormon. But we went there last night with a member and had a good talk about it. She seemed committed to read it and pray.

That`s really all for this week. Changes are comin up...don`t know if i`m going or staying but I really love the branch of Santiago!

I was reading in the bible the other day and read a scripture that made me think about you all...dice, `Although I be absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.` Col. 2, verse 5. That`s how i feel about you all...keep being awesome!

Mucho love,

Elder Henrie

Mom!

Hey mom! Thanks for the email! I hope all is well. really excited for the temple this Thursday! I`ll be thinking about you all while I am there. I still remember perfectly my first time entering the temple...what an incredible experience.

Thanks for praying for me..it keeps me going. I`ve been super tired lately because i don`t sleep much...panamanian dogs haha. But i`m doing really well. Still working and trying to be a good missionary, like libby told me to be when we talked on mother`s day haha. Love you mom! Thanks for everything!

Elder your son

ps the pictures I sent are 1. a rotten egg that was SUPER rotten. It tasted alright though. and 2. a frog faking dead after I THOUGHT I killed it with an umbrella. Chuso.

{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/