Hello Hello Hello!

Sounds like everything at home is going great! And Jace is back from his mission??? Man, that seemed like it went by way fast! I know he is probably the best missionary, I wish I could have heard his homecoming talk. Tell him hi for me! The deck also looks amazing! I got the pictures you sent me dad. It looks so awesome! You guys are the best!

This week has been another crazy one. This week we had the opportunity to help two investigators get married legally! They had lived with each other and scarcely any Thai people get officially married because it costs money, but they did it! Now they are eligible for baptism and other covenants. It was so awesome, although all they did was walk in to a cubical and sign some papers and pay some money. I didn't get dressed up in a tux or anything and there was no wedding cake, but it was awesome none the less. After that, we went and ate lunch with them and I had a feeling we were going to eat some weird food because we always do when we eat with them. And sure enough, I had pig intestine, squid and a huge dead giant fish. Some of it was appetizing, but most of it was just plane chewy and nasty haha. It was definitely a crazy experience. 

Also I haven't told you about my house yet, I don't think. We have no maids, which is a downer because I thought for sure we would like you had, dad. But I sleep on the top bunk bed and I have no pillow because I left it someplace and it's lost haha. Our shower is made for a short Thai person, and the head only comes up to my shoulders and spurts out only cold water haha. So needless to say I don't take very long showers. I think we are installing a water heater today so that's a blessing! My second Sunday was just as great as the first one. I LOVE THE MEMBERS! They are such great people. The building we meet in is a huge church. It's the biggest one in Thailand they say, so we are very blessed to have it. We ride our bikes everywhere now. And frankly I'm not surprised I haven't been hit by a car yet haha. They drive on the left side and have the steering wheels on the opposite side as we do in the US and they just force their way in traffic whenever possible. We teach defensive driving at home, I'm certain that they teach offensive or aggressive driving here:) And it's crazy because I often find myself riding my big in the middle of the street with on coming traffic passing in the opposite direction. It's crazy, I love it:)

There are also very sad things here in Thailand. I saw a man literally on his belly in the middle of the street crawling and pushing a money tin with his head. The man had no legs and was just pushing himself with his hands on the ground. It was the worst things ever. There are alot of mentally ill people here because they don't have any government institutions to take care of them and my heart aches for them. They are so misunderstood and friendless. We've tried teaching them about the gospel and the happiness that comes from it, but they are too far gone to understand. It's very sad.

I did have a great experience though this week. We went on splits and I went with a member to a older lady's house. I didn't understand anything they were talking about and all of the sudden she started crying. It makes me frustrated that I can't understand and say things that the Savior would say because I don't know Thai very well, but I found out that her baby daughter was sick and had big mosquito bites. She was very worried and so we gave the child a blessing and this woman's fears disappeared. The Savior's love knows no bounds. I love it to death. The priesthood power is amazing. We watch movies of super heroes and their powers, but in reality, we have the purest power there is, and it's so important we live worthy of it so that Jesus Christ can use us. I love it.

 

Anyways, this week has been great. I continue to learn so much about myself. I have learned that I am such a worrier. I worry about things way too much and I have figured out that Satan uses that against me. I have a long ways to go to become a great missionary, but thank goodness I have the best teacher in the universe, Our Savior. I know He can heal us from all unfairness and sorrow and guilt. It's so beautiful. I love you all!! Thanks for your prayers and please continue to pray for me:)

Love you lots, love you tons, love you forever,

Elder Tanner

Thailand!!

Hello All!:)

How are you guys doing??? It's good to hear from you! It's crazy!!! I'm in Thailand!!! I still really can't believe it myself, but I'm loving it here even though it's a huge change from America. I'll try uploading some pictures from my first week. I am currently serving in the Pakkret area in central Bangkok. It's so loud and dirty and big here, but I love it. The streets are the craziest parts too! People with motorcycles zig zag in and out of cars and there's not much rule to the way they drive but it all works really well. My flights over here were great! We went from SLC to LAX to Hong Kong to Thailand. I'll share a couple of amazing stories from those plane rides in a little bit. We landed in Bangkok around 12 pmand met the mission president. What a great man he is! And his wife is an absolute sweetheart. We signed documents and got our blood taken and got to roam around in the streets for alittle bit. For the night they put us up in this big hotel because we had transfer meetings the next day. 

DUring transfer meetings I was assigned a new companion. His name is Elder Jeff Watts from Illinois and he's been out about a year in country. He's a really cool guy. He knows the language so well! He's taught me alot of stuff so far and it's really overwhelming, but I love it here. Sometimes I get frustrated with not knowing the language very well but I know God is on my side and will help me. That's another thing, Heavenly Father is pretty much the only familiar thing I have here in Thailand. I see a billion new faces everyday and alot of Buddha statues and stuff, but I'm so glad I can turn to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ anytime for help and they'll hear me out and comfort me, It's amazing. 

We went to church yesterday and I met so many amazing members! It's my absolute favorite part of Thailand. The members are so friendly and loving. They love me even though I can't really speak to them and they try their english out on me as well. And everyone is so touchy feely here. It's definitely a culture shock, but I've learned it's a way to show friendship and so I'm embracing it haha. I'll give you an example. I was sitting in priesthood meeting and all of the sudden I felt two large hands on my shoulders. This older cute grandpa started giving me a shoulder, neck and head massage and it felt really good! and after he came up and gave me a big hug and said welcome to Thailand. The members are awesome here. They are so giving and we had three investigators who showed up to church, one was which we had never seen before. They all embraced them with open arms. It was amazing! This investigator had earings and he was male, he didn't have church clothes, and his hair was wacky, but everyone loved him the same and showed that he cared for him, and now he wants to meet with us every Wednesdays and Friday. That;s what Jesus would do. He doesn't care what people wear or how they look like, He loves them all the same. It brings such peace and joy to my heart to see this happen. We also had a baptism in our ward yesterday. It's awesome because after church the members go into the gym and have huge meals with everyone. and then after that we had this baptism of this young Thai woman. She was alittle nervous, but the Sisters in our ward helped her feel better and they sang a beautiful song fro mthe Children's Song Book which brought the Spirit so strongly. This Thai woman brought another friend (investigator) and after the baptism this friend told the sister she too wants to feel the same as Sister Mai (The person that was baptised). The work is going so great here! We have an older man in our ward who is recently baptized and was very sad for some reason, and when asked why he was sad, he said that he was sad because he wished he knew about the gospel sooner in his life. He's about 76 years old. When I heard this it broke my heart. This man really truely understand the gospel and how it blesses us,. I wish I could live like that. I take the gospel for granted so much, but here was a Thai man who was truely sad that hadn't had the gospel sooner in his life. I wish you guys could be here and see these sweet sweet people.

We also have a Brother who's name is Brother North who goes with us everywhere and helps teach lessons to investigators. I love him to death! He's 23 and has been a member for about 13 years now. He went to a lesson with us for some investigators and the lesson went great! And afterwards we went to eat some dinner on the street. Now this is where it gets interesting because I didn't know what I was going to eat until it was placed in front of me. I soon got my food and to my absolute suprise I saw 6 chicken feet floating on top of my soup! haha needless to say it was quite the experience. I tried one, but you really can't eat chicken feet very well. It's really interesting here, it;s not uncommon to see big raw chickens just sitting on stands or dead fish rotting on the sidewalks. It's kinda crazy but it's really cool. It's also not that uncommon to see shirtless men walking around or doors wide open when people are changing or anything like that. haha We stopped to eat at  the mall they have here and we went to talk to this lady to get some food and after, my companion said, "Elder... That wasn't a lady.." I looked closer at it's face and found that it was a man dressed in women's clothing! I here that's kinda commonplace here.

It has been quite the experience here haha. But I did want to share a quick story about God's mercy and love for all of us. Before I left to Thailand, in the MTC, I prayed that I could have an opportunity to share the gospel with someone who was in need of it badly and that had been prepared by God. And then as I was thinking I felt like I needed to study for someone who had recently lost a loved one, particularly a death of a small child. I didn't really know why, but I followed that thought and prepared for it. So I got on the plane from LAX to Hong Kong which is a 13 hour flight. The man that we sat next to was a mean and gruff looking man. I didn't know how I was going to be able to bring up the gospel. But then before we took off, the flight attendant came and switched him spots with a smaller Vietnamese man. We got talking and this man was Christian but believed Christians were all the same. We later continued to talk for about 6 or 7 hours of the plane ride and we shared the story about Joseph Smith and you could just see the light that entered him and he soon realized the truthfulness of the gospel. We asked him what he believed in and he would say things that were exactly what we believed, he just didn't know it. We taught him about families and that they can be together forever because he has a wife and kids. He accepted it. We gave him a book of mormon and he started reading it and told us that he just couldn't stop reading it! He also told us that we were different from most people. He could see a glow to us that he wanted, but to his sadness he felt he could never be like that and have that glow. We told him that Jesus Christ wants ALL men to come unto him and be clean and feel his love. His demenour changed drastically as he soon came to know Jesus Christ more fully. But here comes the best part of all. He soon opened up and told us about his 9 month old daughter that had died recently because her body rejected food and soon died. He said he didn't understand why that happened and asked us if we had any knowledge for us. Tears soon flooded my eyes because I knew then that what I studied in the MTC was exactly for this man! I shared in Moroni 8 about how little children are perfect in Christ and that he doesn't have to worry. He soon started to cry as well and told us that he couldn't even really eat meat when she died because he felt like he was eating her body and that it brought such anger and sickness to him, but this knowledge freed him from all sorrow and pain. The gospel of Jesus Christ is so beautiful. At the end of the flight he told us that he promised he would read the book of mormon and go find a Mormon church. He gave us his card and asked if he could buy all 22 of us lunch, but we didn't have time. He said he never shared anything like that to anybody, even his family. I know this man will benefit greatly from the gospel. I love this church more than anything. It is personal and individual. Jesus Christ atoned for us so that we didn't have to go through life alone. It was so beautiful.

I wish I could tell you more about my week but there's just not enough time. I love you all! Please continue to pray for our success! 

With so much love,

Elder Tanner   

Week 8!!

 

สวัสดีครับ!

 

I think my most favorite times of the week is when I get to read email. It's the best EVER! It sounds like BASEcamp was an amazing program. I can tell just through your words that the kids really understood alot more and didn't just read the scriptures but really pondered them and wanted to know more about them. They feasted upon the scriptures and the Spirit worked through the whole program. We had a MTC devotional with Elder Jay E. Jensen speaking about studying the book of mormon. If you see himnext Sunday, tell him he did an AMAZING job. My whole district has a renewed fire about the scriptures now and how to study them. BASEcamp sounds like a miniature MTC you've got going:) If you need a BASEcamp Thailand addition, I should be able to help;)

 

It's crazy how time flies! School is already about to start?? It feels like I should be getting ready to make the journey down to Orem everyday again. That's so awesome. Hayley, I hope you start this school year off great! Make goals first thing and subgoals that you can meet and then reward yourself. I have really come to find that goals are what gets things done. I also have seen your friend Elder Hyde I think it was, a couple times in the MTC. He gave an opening prayer last Sunday for our Mission Conference and before he said it, you could see his head in the background on the screen and he looked like he was about to throw up. I think he was alittle nervous for it haha. I would be too! Mom, thank you for sharing about Mark 2. You've inspired me to study that today! I think it will be a great thing, and I love what you said about how Christ works. I've seen it in my life here at the MTC. Where I think I understand the Atonement or a doctrine, and I feel comfortable with it, but then it grows uneasy again because I haven't learned my lesson of always trusting in our Savior. So with some practice I think I finally kinda understand that Christ just doesn't want to cleanse us from sin, he wants to CHANGE us completely. That's what this gospel is all about. Changing our lives competely. It's such a beautiful process.

 

Dad, I hope you liked my gift:) Sorry it's not much, but that's all I really could get here in Thai. And what you've said about following the Spirit always and seeing people how they really can become hit home to me. It's funny that you said that because that's what I've been thinking about these past couple of days. I read President Uchdorf's entitled "The Merciful Obtain Mercy". One of the greatest talks I've ever read! It talks about how all men are VIPs in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. The world sees us in terms of yesterday and today, but God sees us in terms of FOREVER. He sees us how we can become with His help. It has totally changed my perspective about the people I meet. I see new Elders and Sisters, even lunch ladies and tell myself that they are VIPs of Heavenly Father and that He loves them as much as he loves me, regardless of what they've done in their life. It's amazing. It goes right along with the Atonement. I love it soooooo much! How merciful God is to us, His children. I have made a goal, and whoever can join in with this as well, when I catch myself judging someone or immediately being biased by the way someone smells of smoke or their personality, to think of how the can become through the atonement of Jesus Christ. How God sees them and then maybe share with them the message of the gospel and let them feel of his love. I think our thoughts will be alot more pure and charitable if we think like God thinks:)

 

I recieved my travel plans! We leave this Monday (8/12/13) at 6 pm and travel for 2 days straight until we arrive in Bangkok at 10 am the 14th! We fly to LAX and then to Hong Kong as well. It's going to be so awesome! But so nerve wracking. I've been praying I'll be able to sit by someone who needs the gospel and who is being prepared by God. It's going to be an adventure, but I'm going to miss Elder Love and my district and teachers like crazzzzzzzy!

 

Also, I know this is really short notice, and if it's not possible, it's totally fine, but could you send 1 or 2 more Axe hair gel things for me? I think it's called "the spiked look" or something and it's a black and red case. And also an inexpensive messenger bag as well? They don't allow backpacks anymore, they want shoulder bags that go over one shoulder. I found one in the lost and found, but it's beat up pretty bad. I think packages only take 1 or 2 days to get to me here, but if you guys are way too busy, don't worry about it:) Send it only if you have spare time.

 

I had an awesome experience last night. I had the opportunity to administer a blessing of comfort on an elder. He approached me and my companion and asked for one and so we went outside at about 9:45 pm when it was dark and I had the blessing to be able to bless him. It was amazing! He was having fear of being sent home because of some medical issues that were being checked with him. But I know he is a GREAT elder and I know that through faith, anything is possible. The gospel is so true! THere's nothing scary or bad about it, it's amazing that people don't just flock to the baptismal font.

 

Thank you all so much for everything so far. I've almost been out 2 months and I've loved everyday of it here! Pray for me as I travel to Thailand. Pray for us for successes and to stay out of harms way, both physical and spiritual. I'll need all the help I can get from Heavenly Father. I love you all so much! The next email you'll recieve from me will be from Thailand!!!:)

 

Love ya much,

 

Elder Tanner