Week 2 in MTC

Sawadii Krap all:)

 

It sounds like everything is awesome on the home front. I love hearing from you guys. Dad I am so excited for your programs to finally have come and to hear what went well and different things. It sounded absolutely amazing and I know that if you were in the making of it, it had to have been OUTSTANDING:) And you still made it to your Sunday meetings even though you were tired. I have an absolutely amazing father.

 

Mom, it sounds like you and Hayley had an eventful weekend too! Haha I love hearing about all the different things that you guys do while Drew and Dad are out. It's awesome that you all got the opportunity to watch the broadcast. It was sooooo great. We always have such great devotionals here. Thanks Mom for the prayers and support. I need them.

 

This week has been a busy one for sure. They feed us breakfast, lunch, and dinner and then we go and sit in a classroom for 9+ hours and study Thai and the gospel which I love. It's hard sometimes to stay focused but I have a really good companion who keeps me on the straight and narrow. We finished teaching our "Progressing Investigator" named Pii Tam and set a goal to have him baptised. So on our final lesson in Thai with him, we invited him to be baptized and he said yes!:) And of course it all is mostly fake when we teach him because in reality he is one of our language teachers pretending to be a investigator but the spirit was strong there. Me and my companion even opened with the hymn "I Need Thee Every Hour" and we sang it accapella to him which I never thought I would do in my life. And at first our minds blanked on how the hymn even started, but then we started singing in front of him and it brought the spirit.

 

We are now assigned two different investigators name Cay Cay who is 18 years old and Pii Saamaad who is married and has an addiction to smoking and drinking. We have been studying up on the Word of Wisdom and how to say different things in Thai. Wish us luck and pray for us as we teach, we need all the help from above we can get to pull this off. I really am enjoying the MTC now. The Lord has blessed me to feel much better than last week. It still is sometimes hard, and I get homesick and things, but I remember why I'm here and who I'm working for because the benefits of working for our Heavenly Father are out of this world:) We also feel blessed because there was a virus going around making all the elders in my building sick to their stomachs and throwing up. There was one night that I woke up to hearing elders in the bathroom puking. It was horrible, but through prayer and faith we never got that virus thankfully. I also have been taking more pictures so I'll try sending Hayley some more to put up. Me and my companion have also found different ways to have fun. One of which being, on Wednesday nights when new elders come in to the MTC, at lunch and dinner times we ask them if they have gotten their dates yet for the MTC dance the next Saturday night. Hahaha we are hoping to get a couple elders :o)

 

I honestly feel so blessed for this opportunity to serve the Lord. I miss you all like the Dickens though! and I pray for you nightly. I have been reading in 1st Nephi and learning about his immense faith in the Lord. I want to be just like that. Not even questioning inspirations or anything when it comes and even when I don't feel Heavenly Father close. It's a work in progress:) Please continue to pray for me and our district! We need your prayers:) Love you all so much! Phom rag khun! (I love you in Thai)

 

With so much love,

 

Elder T

Our first e-mail from the MTC!

Hello Fam!!!

I am currently sitting in the laundry room typing this up while doing my own wash... I know it's crazy, me doing laundry! haha It's weird but awesome being able to take care of myself:) What a week it has been! The food here is incredible! It reminds me totally of Chuck-a-rama and I get a bowl of cereal every meal. My companion Elder Love is a saint. His name is exactly how he is. I can tell he really loves the gospel. I sent some pictures to Hayley that she can maybe put on my blog thing if she wants:) and since it was father's day last Sunday, I would like to say how grateful I am for you, dad.

The days at the MTC can be pretty taxing physically and mentally as well. There have been times where I feel the adversary working against me very hard, but I always remember that I am loved both by my father in heaven and my earthly father. I have been thinking alot about you lately, dad, and I keep asking myself how I was blessed with such a great father. You have set such a great example for me since day 1 and I am so grateful for it. I have people in my district who have never known their dad, or aren't on the best relationships with their dad and I feel for them. I love you with all my heart and I hope the best for the BASEcamp. I'm praying for you daily and will continue to do so:)

I got a new nickname here haha. My distrcit calls me Chief or Elder Chief because I got called as our District Leader on Thursday or Friday. At first I was kinda intimidated by the responsibilities but it has been such a blessing in my life. I had the opportunity to interview all of the Senior Companions in our District and identify their needs and hear about their lives and stuff. Such an amazing experience and I've never felt Christ's love for each of them as much as I did when I got to sit and listen to them in private. It was amazing. In our district we have 8 Elders and 4 Sisters. I am so grateful for the Sisters in our district because of their ability to turn immature missionaries like me and focus them on the work. They are so awesome. 

It is insane how the Gift of Tongues work here also. By the second and third day, our district was able to say a full prayer in Thai and ask for blessings and be grateful for things as well. We have also had the opportunity to teach an investigator 4 times in full Thai. The lessons were 10-15 min. each and we never used a single English word. I wish I could say it was my own smarts that helped me, but it is definitely not me. The Spirit has helped me retain so much of the Thai language and we are actually starting to learn how to read the script as well. We have along way to go, so please pray for my district.

I have Preparation Day's on Wednesdays so I'll be able to write home then. I also get to go to the temples on Wednesdays at 7:30-9:30ish AM which was a huge blessing today. I really can feel our Savior's love there.

The pictures I sent are of some of the Elders in my district as well as my companion who I think looks exactly like Luigi off of Mario and Luigi. My other roomate/Elders are Elder Weaver and Elder Christensen who are so funny all the time. The pool on the ground in our building is when our bathroom basically exploded and there was nasty chunky stuff everywhere and my district was basically the first responders as we waited for the clean-up crew arrived. I have never smelled something as nasty as that day haha. 

The time is getting short here, but I love you all! I hope this gets put up on the blog for my friends to see also because I miss them as well! Thank you for all your prayers and support. Keep them coming because they are much needed. God bless you all!:)

Love,

Elder Tanner

My First Post:) 6/10/13

Dear Elder Tanner,

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
You are assigned to labor in the Thailand Bangkok Mission. It is anticipated that you will serve for a
period of 24 months.

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, June 12th, 2013. You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Thai language. Your assignment may be modified according to the needs of the mission president.

I received that on March 26th, 2013 and here it is June 10th, 2013, two days before I go into the MTC. Where has the time gone? I feel honored and ready to go and serve the Lord, but also scared out of my mind for the unknown and the fear of the culture and the language. But I will go in faith and hope for the best, because I know that Heavenly Father will take good care of me:) If those reading this want to know my address at the MTC and in Thailand here it is:

For letters and packages in the MTC: 

Elder Jameson Russell Tanner 

AUG14 THAI-BAN

2009 N. 900 E. Unit 134

Provo UT 84602

For letters and packages in Thailand:

Elder Jameson Russell Tanner
Thailand Bangkok Mission
1645/6 New Phetchburi Road
Makkasan, Ratchathewi
Bangkok 10400
Thailand

My email is: jameson.tanner@myldsmail.net