{ I´M fuLL BloOD PaNaMEño}

Hey all!

Yeah dad Almirante was sweet! This week was really incredible too. I´ll try my best to get all the questions answered here...

Our branch is pretty close to our house...in El Empalme...but there are a few members in Silencio. Finca means farm. The banana farms here are nuts! They go on for miles. Almost all the men in El Empalme work in the banana farms. Or taxis. But the taxistas don´t have much work. It´s tough right now for them. I think the river is just called Rio de Changuinola or somethin like that.

Cecilio did make it to the temple! I think their work sixty people in our district that entered in. And one hermana in our rama went in to take out her endowments for the first time! Cecilio loved it!

We have zone conferences every change. For that, i´m in David right now...we had a five hour bus ride this morning, conference tomorrow, and than head back tomorrow night. Don´t really do a lot of splits with other missionaries still but maybe when i´m in a larger district. Our district covers a pretty broad area but there aren´t that many active members.

The milks weird here but i´m liking it. The cereals normal, frosted flakes...mmmmm.

Alright. Mom are you sure that wasn´t you and libby in that photo you sent? haha how sweet was that?! I hope all is well mom. Don´t worry too much about sending stuff for my birthday...i don´t think it will get here until around christmas. Hahaha no but i think it would take about a month to get a package here. But i can´t think of anything i need. (unless you want to send deodorant so i don´t have to buy it...it´s like three bucks! is it that much in the states?)

Yeah i´m full blood panameño now...i love it here. The food rocks!

Quick story...last saturday we had a baptismal date fall through. Apparently Adayana was living with someone and we were unaware haha oops. And than we headed back to the apartment to hang out there for the night (in the bathroom haha) sunday was good . i love being able to tell people that we are representatives of Jesus Christ and testify in his name. It´s powerful stuff.

Love you all no time left! Have a good week!

To Libby:

Hola!
Hey Lib! Thanks for the email! Yeah valentines was great here! We worked especially hard that day ;) that´s sweet that you got a new zhou zhou pet...i´m really jealous. I´m going to try to send you something for your birthday so i hope it gets to you in time! Love you lib!

{I HaVe BeeN BleSSed}

Word up!

This week was sweet! We had changes...elder chicas got sent to San Miguelito by Panama. I was pretty bummed that he left but he´s doing well i hear. My new comp is Elder Poli...from Missouri. Get this...Ricki Gallagher served in his ward when he was on his mission! Small world eh? He´s really cool though...his parents are from Samoa. He´s a really obedient missionary so we´re going to have the Spirit with us which is really the most important thing.

While I was waiting for Elder Poli to get here...i went to Almirante with elder stoddard. That area is reeeeeeally poor. The people there literally have nothing. It was a great experience to go down there for a couple of days and teach with him. One morning with him we decided we were going to focus on contacting people asking them if they knew why they were here on this earth and what there purpose is...after contacting ALL day...the very last contact that we did....this kid said that he had been wondering why he was here and what his purpose was. Haha incredible!

We were going to have a baptism two days ago with a lady named Adayana but we didn´t feel like she was ready so were putting it off a bit. I think about her constantly. She has two kids and the gospel would be incredible in her life. The problem is that she´s really shy and doesn´t have any friends in our branch...but we´re working on it.

Cecilio came out to work with us yesterday! It was sweet! I think it was really good for him and he is pumped about missionary work now. He´s going to the temple this week to do baptisms for the dead! I can´t tell you how happy I am! I think that will help him stay faithful. One of the ways that people can really stay faithful is tithing...but seeing as how Cecilio doesn´t make any money and is searching for work...i think the temple will be just as helpful.

Yesterday at church was a little rough. The assistance was really bad (only 27 showed up) but were praying a lot and trying to work with the members to help people get back to church.

Oh and I forgot to tell you about this guy named Chalo. He´s about 50 years old and we got him to quit smoking! It´s sweet...he still has some other problems and isn´t really progressing much, but we´re probably going to keep going with him and see what happens. We ran into a guy that lives at Chalo´s house yesterday and it was one of the sadder moments on the mission. He was really drunk and stopped us to talk with us. He started crying and just kept saying help me, help me, I want to change. It´s so hard to see things like that. Drinking is a huge problem here...satan´s working just as hard as we are.

This week is the Carnaval...a big party of some sort...so we have to be in the house a little early the next couple nights. I´m kind of bummed because we had some sweet family home evenings set up but...it´s all good.

It was a good week! And yes dad...i didn´t even know it was valentine´s day until i got to church haha.

Day to day activities eh? Bueno, we usually eat cereal and or oranges for breakfast (one of our investigators gives us oranges like you wouldn´t believe) and study for the normal amount of time. We eat with members every day for lunch and dinner...that´s how empalme is i guess. It´s awesome. And basically, it´s rice, rice and more rice, and sometimes some chicken. I can punish any amount of rice that you put before me it´s incredible. We do a lot of teaching here...sometimes up to 10 lessons a day. We teach a lot in the park by our house i really like that. We´re trying to find things to do that are more creative that can help investigators. So ask j dub if he´s got ideas...i know he does.

I love you all a lot. Every day I can even tell you how much I realize I have been blessed in my life. Our family is so incredible. Be grateful. Keep praying together every night! that´s what we try to get less active families to do every day...pray together. And keep having family home evening...go to the temple as much as you can because you´ve got one right next to you :)

Dad it´s been cool hearing about you´re Gospel Doctrine class. It´s so hard to study everything I want to here...because we only get one hour of personal study in the morning....and it´s focused on investigators. But i´m learning a lot from it. One hour for sure is way too short haha.

Stay strong fam! I love you all and pray for you nightly. And Elder Poli prays for you as well. I hope all is well. The times still flyin here. I´m basically done with my mission haha that´s what it feels like sometimes. It scares me how fast some weeks go. Muuuucho amor!

Os amo, (is that correct, no sé)
Elder Tanner

ps how sweet is that that there´s a sister tan in your ward?! Did you tell her that you have a son named Elder Tan?

Hola mamá!

Just wanted to tell you I love you! I´ve got three minutes and i wanted to let you know that i´ve been thinking about those times in the morning before I left to work when we´d have chats about the gospel. It strengthened my testimony a lot. I hope that everything is well and that you are happy. I´ll keep praying for ya!

Te amo mucho,
Elder Your Son

{I'M NoT PerFeCt But I'm TryiNG}

Hey family!

This week has been pretty nuts. But i´ll start with the questions dad no worries:

1. My health and my tooth are fine. I´m using my filter for water and it´s all good here.
2. I haven´t heard anything about malaria or prevention we just use repellent
3. Sweet about the ATM card...i don´t really spend that much money on stuff here but yeah i think you can just send it to the mission home.
4. My address is the following, the mails pretty slow though haha:

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

5. nope i´m not getting transferred this week. I´m still in empalme but elder chicas left...so i have to wait until thursday until my next comp gets here. In the meantime i´m with Elder Stoddard, another Gringo. ha he´s way cool.
6. No i don´t need anything i´m on a mission :) just that you all keep praying as a family and having family home evenings!
7. Of course i´ll write every week! It´s my favorite thirty minutes of the week!

Right now i´m pretty nervous about getting a new companion...i´ll have to take him around the area until he´s used to it...but we´ll see what happens...and i´m pretty sure i can´t be a senior comp yet because of the spanish issue...i can pretty much get around with spanish though it´s all good.

Guess what?! On the way home from church yesterday we were talking to cecilio about serving a mission...and i asked him if he would like that. He said ´¡muchísimo!´ haha (a lot). He´s read up to page 55 in the BOM! Now we just gotta help him pay tithing..which is tough because he hardly has work and food. But yesterday he was ready on time for the first time...with a shirt and tie! Sweet!

There´s this other joven here named javier...he´s awesome. 21 years old and he wants to change his life. I love the teenagers here! We´re really focusing on families and priesthood here. I´m lovin it.

I think about you all the time fam...the homesickness is gone but i just want you all to know that i love you. I feel blessed to have the family that i have...there really aren´t any families like ours here in empalme. Only a few. It´s so hard! But yeah give thanks for our family and the things that we have every day. There are plenty of things that are hard here but all i have to do is go to someone elses house and i feel like we get treated like kings here. Some people have nothing!

Another great experience we had was giving another blessing to a little girl named wendy...she´s less than one year old and we´re teaching her father...virigilio. Not sure if he´s going to progress but wow it was great.

Oh ps i had to go to panama this week for migrations. 12 hours there...three hours to get a photo taken...and 12 hours back haha that was fun. But don´t worry i had lots of time to teach on the bus.

I love you all so much. I´m working here dont worry...i´m not perfect but i´m trying. I love it. I absolutely love it here! It´s so hard but it´s the best thing i´ve ever done in my life. Its constantly a battle here every day. My testimony has grown more than i would have ever imagined or thought possible. I love it. Thanks for all! Until next week!

Con amor,
Elder Tanner

Hey mom!

Just wanted to shoot you a quick hello! Everythings good here...thanks for the email! I love you a lot! Stay strong as a family! You´re all incredible...the mission is great and it just keeps getting better.

I got the brothers around the world thing but without a lot of time to read it all but it was sweet! Gotta go!

Te amo,
Elder Tanner

{All iS WeLL}

Hey all!
This week was incredible! The baptism went really well and now some of Cecilio´s family members are talking about coming to church! He was so happy and content after being baptized! Wow what an experience. I also had some sweet experiences with the priesthood this week...we blessed a little girl name Paola who had a really bad fever and we also blessed one of the missionaries in our district...it´s amazing what can happen through faith. And one of our investigators...Adayana Dixon...came to church yesterday with her two kids and she said she´s coming next week! She´s got a baptismal date set for the 13 of February so we´ll see what happens.

Our area is so sweet...we have about 45 to 50 people that come to church every week (i think there´s roughly 200 inactive members in our branch) and the weather is actually not bad here at all. Especially this past week it´s been way nice.

Mom that´s awesome that you were in newport...did you see the elders from my MTC district? haha. And marsh thats great about your games i´m glad they went well! Sounds like everything´s going well with the fam!

Today we went on a three hour trek through the jungle to see the beach. It took us an hour and a half to get there...we sat there, took pictures, and left. Haha it was way fun though...there were quite a few monkeys hanging out in the trees on the way there. Probably the craziest day on the mission so far haha.

I can´t believe this change is almost up! It flew by...i think i´ll be getting transfered because there is another elder who´s coming to Empalme this next change...we´ll see though. I don´t really want to leave this area to be honest but whatever happens happens. We´re going to do everything we can this week to have success...i´m way excited! All is well haha.

Much love,
Elder Tanner

{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.