{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

{RighT On}

Hey fam!

Sounds like you`ve had a good week. Stomach illness...an awesome dance recital. and eric fogg is home?! que loco! I´ve been doing really well here. We had some incredible experiences this last week. First of all we were teaching the gallardo family...we finished teaching them and started looking around in their neighbors houses. We met an old guy chillin on his porch named simòn. He wasn`t all that interested. But i heard someone playing the guitar in the house...and of course i asked to talk with them. I young guy came out with his wife...newlyweds! golden. Thomàs and caty. We taught them about prophets and the book of mormon. Afterwards thomàs asked us if we sing hymns in our church and he pulled out a little brown hymn book. Elder Chevez said he felt the need to take out his hymn book and show it to them. The guy started reading through the pages and suddenly stopped on one of the pages. He started sight reading and humming the tune in his head. Turns out it was `Mas cerca dios a tì` just my favorite hymn...nearer my god to thee.

His wife suggested that we sing it and thomàs went in to grab his guitar. It was the most incredible thing i`ve ever heard! Turns out Caty is way into singing (she competed against a mormon choir in panama) it was seriously one of the greatest moments of my mission. Wow God leads us to people. We are now working with them on gaining a testimony of the book of mormon. They are so awesome!

That was just one of the many awesome things that happened this week. But, i need to take a second and tell pops happy birthday!!! dad you`re gonna be old! 50 no? that`s more than twice my age! Haha just kiddin. Thanks dad for all you`ve given me. Keep writing about your class every week i`m learning a lot. I love you dad. You really are an example to me and i`ve looked back on the examples of my parents in the tough times and it keeps me going.

And grandpa henrie! Happy birthday to you as well! I honestly am grateful to have such great priesthood holders who have taught me so much in my life.

Right on...one more experience. So we have been getting up at five still sundays to bring people to church. Unfortunately this sunday everything fell through! Nobody came that we were planning. But in my last interview with president madrigal he told me NEVER to show up alone to church...even if it meant inviting someone on the street. So we started searching...we found a family near the familia gallardo. We asked them to come to church with us a the mom, Dora, was stoked! We really saw a lot of blessings this week.

Pray for me and our investigators and panama! Por favor! We are working with another guy named Arnulfo...we`re gonna visit him tonight. Libby...i love you sis...i`m glad to hear your performace was awesome! Marsh...dude. i love you. J dub and jessi i hope all is well. mom, dad, james, love you all.

Love,

Elder Tanner

Mom!

Wow...busy week eh? here as well. I love you mom. Thanks for the emails. I think about you a lot and always talk about our family. Ps everyone still thinks you`re my sister when i show them the photo of our family. and they think grammy is my mom. when i say everyone i mean EVERYONE! haha love ya mom!

Love

Elder Tanner

grammy!

thanks a ton for the news! everything is awesome in santiago! I love my companion and i`m loving training. The mission is incredible and we see miracles daily. Happy belated birthday i love you a ton! Keep up the emails por favor!

Mucho love,

Elder Tanner

{I LOve yoU daD}

Dad!

Dang it...feliz dìa de los padres!!! My bad for not congratulating you last week for being a fahter. I love you dad...you have helped me a ton in my mission. Right now training is a really scary and overwhelming assignment. I don`t feel adequate but if the Lord thinks i can do it i`m set. I feel so lucky to have you as a father. Every time I read the scriptures i notice how much the prophets of the Book of Mormon were affected by the examples that their fathers had given them...it`s hard to write english right now...and i always think of the example that i have grown up with. A faithful priesthood holder in the church who takes out time from work and life to be with his family. I feel so lucky to have a father who is worthy to go to the temple. I am grateful that we have an eternal family. I think only one of my companions has had his parents sealed in the temple. The others have had difficulties with their fathers and haven`t all had the same example as me.

I hope...and I pray that you are staying strong. I love the example you give me every week of a love of the scriptures and the words of the prophets. or profets. My knew comp is awesome dad. I feel like this change is already over! And Eric Fogg is coming home? Huh? That`s crazy! Tell him hey from Panama!

I love you dad!

Love,

Elder Tanner

Mom!

Hey hey!

That`s horrible news about the Thomas family. I hate hearing things like that. We need to always recognize in those moments that we`re not alone. That God is closest to us in these moments. Send them my love and know that i will be praying for them.

No worries about the emails...things are pretty crazy with the schedule here. Things are going nuts here for real. I cannot tell you how much faith my new companion has.. His name is Elder Chevez from Managua, Nicaragua. He`s so rad! We`ve already had some really good experiences here finding and teaching people. From the time that he showed up he`s been contacting like an animal. He loves working! We fasted last Satdurday night and sunday morning so that we would show up to church with an investigator. And what do you know...God blessed us with a family. There an awesome family...extremely humble...los Gallardo. Oh man! The kids...Saul, Daica, Moisès, and Alanis are so rad! There`s no dad in the family but the mom`s name is Leovijilda. Even with several months of Spanish that name is a little tough to say. There sweet though. We`re taking them to a member`s house to eat tonight. Pray for them!

And the husband of an hermana in our branch came to a father`s day activity yesterday! He`s awesome...his name is Arnulfo. We`re going to pass by his house tomorrow night to teach him. Last saturday he said in front of the branch that he could see himself being a member soon. How sweet! I`ve already seen...in only a few days...the blessings of obedience and hard work! I love it! And santiago is awesome!

Time to write dad...no worries i`m sending you and marsh a letter!

Love you mom,

Elder Tanner

{A LeTTer FroM PresiDenT MadriGaL}

PANAMA PANAMA CITY MISSION

March 10, 2010

Elder Tanner Rich Henrie

Dear Elder Henrie:

Thank you for accepting the calling to serve as a new missionary Trainer in the Panama Panama City Mission. This calling has been extended to you after careful consideration and prayer. It is a calling from the Lord, and it will require your very best efforts. You have been called to serve in this capacity because of your good example, your obedience, your diligence, and because of the potential that the Lord sees in you. As you seek guidance from the Lord and work diligently, you will be blessed with the ability to help your companion develop the attributes and skills necessary to become a successful missionary and representative of Jesus Christ.

The position of new missionary Trainer is one of the most important leadership positions in the mission. You have been selected to train a future senior companion and possibly a mission leader. You will need to thoroughly understand and teach the purpose of a missionary, which is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

This mission leadership position requires that you always set a good example, always keeping the commandments of the Church and following the rules of the mission. You will need to be familiar with the guidelines found in the Mission Manual and in Preach My Gospel. As a Trainer it is imperative that you teach correct principles to your new companion, including strict adherence to the daily mission schedule, including individual and companionship study time and planning time. If your new companion needs to learn the Spanish language, you should spend at least one hour per day (from 10:00 to 11:00 am) helping him to develop language skills. Help your companion to gradually increase his participation in teaching the lessons, according to his abilities.

Be patient and understanding with your new companion. Remember when you began your mission and how much there was to learn. Help your companion exercise his faith in calling upon the Lord for guidance and strength in becoming the type of missionary that the Lord expects.

Thank you for your desire to serve the Lord with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength. Thank you for accepting this calling to serve in the mission. The Lord will strengthen you and direct your efforts as you prayerfully carry out this assignment (Joshua 1:1-9; Proverbs 3:5-6). I stand ready to help you in any way I can.

Mannel Madrigal Romero

Presidente de Mision Panama

Carrasquilla, Entrega General 0834, Panamá, República de Panamá – Tel. (507) 213-3180