So this week was pretty great for being a Christmas away from home. We didn't get to do a whole lot of teaching because nobody wanted to listen to us with it being the holidays and all. We pretty much just tracted this week and went to members houses for meals. Most of the people that feed us around here are either newly weds or less active members. Except for on Boxing Day (Dec. 26th) we went to Brother Hancey's house, he's in the bishopric, and he has a brick oven in his back yard that he built and he made pizzas in it. Quite honestly some of the best pizza I've ever had. I hope he invites us over again so I can take pictures. I didn't know I would need my camera at a dinner appointment. So that was a pretty great dinner. Also on Boxing day we went to the Indian Ocean to look at it. I bought some sunglasses with the Christmas money Grandma gave you to put in my account. So thanks grandma. I took some pretty great pictures, I just wish I could have swam. But definitely a beautiful ocean. I grabbed some seashells I'll send home next time I send a package. I'll probably be able to go back before then and get a bottle of sand for you too.
I don't have a whole lot to say. Since it was a slow week and I talked to everybody on Christmas. I've very jealous of the snow. It's 40 degrees here today. We're dying. Oh! We played basetball this morning with 4 other missionaries and two members from around here, one named Jordan and one named Owen, not related to each other though so it was completely random. How weird is that? It was pretty fun though. Even though I got schooled pretty good. Maybe we'll start playing every week so I can get better. But maybe not for awhile since It's so hot here right now. If swimming ever become an approved P-day activity I would be SO HAPPY. Especially since I'm a 15 minute drive from the Ocean. That would be the best.
Hopefully this week picks back up and maybe we'll FINALLLLLY get a progressing investigator this week. We just keep finding new people and they just keep getting nowhere. Mostly because Africans don't know how to say no. They're so nice but when you ask them to do something they'll say yes even if they know they won't do that thing. But maybe that's how everyone is, I just don't know since I've only been around Africans in this area. We'll see. I hope everyone had a wonderfully white Christmas. I enjoyed my wonderfully ridiculously hot Christmas, and I enjoyed talking to everybody. It's so nice to hear about what's going on at home. Speaking of.. I forgot to ask you about football on the phone. Who's doing good in the NFL? Is it Bama and Texas in the National Championship? I love you all. And look forward to hearing from you all again. Wish I had more to say about this week. This coming week will be heaps busier though. We got Zone Stewardships on Tuesday and lots of appointments already scheduled for the rest of the week so it will be sweet.
Love,
Elder Tanner
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
PICTURES!!!
Follow this link to find the newest pictures of Clark posted on facebook!!
-Zach
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019265&id=1445310300&l=79ed85289c
-Zach
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019265&id=1445310300&l=79ed85289c
It's So Hot!
This week has been pretty great. But pretty dang hot too. On Saturday we rode our bikes about 10-15 kms and it was about 38 degrees. We were drenched in sweat by lunch time and decided we had better use the car for the rest of the day otherwise we my get a heat stroke or something ridiculous like that.
We don't really have any progressing investigators yet which is kind of a bummer. We've taught a few really good lessons but one lady called us up and cancelled our return appointment. So we'll probably swing by her house and see if she wants to reschedule or if she's just not interested anymore. The other lady is very firm in her beliefs which is very respectable but she was asking us heaps of questions and by the end of the lesson she seemed to be somewhat receptive of what we were saying. We're going back to her house this week too.
It's crazy the amount of Australians we've been teaching. Zero. I might as well have served my mission in Africa. Yesterday we went to 3 families houses after church, and all were African. It can be hard sometimes to understand what they are saying because it's not very often that you come by an African with really good english. But then again Australians don't have really good english either. I've decided that I'm not really interested in picking up the accent, just the slang. Australians talk uber fast too. Like when they give you their phone number it's 8 or 10 digits and they say it in about 3 or 4 syllables haha.
Did you know the stake I'm in is called Warwick Stake? Kinda funny. They don't pronounce the 2nd W though. This January for Stake Conference we're having an apostle, a member from the 70, as well as the presiding bishop come and speak to us. I'm assuming I'll get to hear them a couple of times which will be awesome. Listening to apostles is so great.
I hope you get my Christmas package sometime this week before I call. I'll be calling at either 5 or 6 pm your time by the way. I don't know if I told you that last week.
I got to open the Christmas package from home this week. I loved it. You can't buy Mike and Ike's or Hot Tamales here so I was hoping you'd send some of that. There's actually a ton of stuff from American you can't buy down here. For example, the only American cereal you can buy is Fruit Loops and they cost 9 dollars a box. Wow. The Calender is probably the best calender ever. It's hard not to just go through and read each day ahead of time because it's so funny.
About the mailing, it would probably be better if you mailed letters and then I could reply to them in email. Since the libraries only allow us to be on 1 hour a day I want to spend as much time writing as I can, which means less time reading.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and I'll talk to you soon!
Love you all!
-Elder Tanner
We don't really have any progressing investigators yet which is kind of a bummer. We've taught a few really good lessons but one lady called us up and cancelled our return appointment. So we'll probably swing by her house and see if she wants to reschedule or if she's just not interested anymore. The other lady is very firm in her beliefs which is very respectable but she was asking us heaps of questions and by the end of the lesson she seemed to be somewhat receptive of what we were saying. We're going back to her house this week too.
It's crazy the amount of Australians we've been teaching. Zero. I might as well have served my mission in Africa. Yesterday we went to 3 families houses after church, and all were African. It can be hard sometimes to understand what they are saying because it's not very often that you come by an African with really good english. But then again Australians don't have really good english either. I've decided that I'm not really interested in picking up the accent, just the slang. Australians talk uber fast too. Like when they give you their phone number it's 8 or 10 digits and they say it in about 3 or 4 syllables haha.
Did you know the stake I'm in is called Warwick Stake? Kinda funny. They don't pronounce the 2nd W though. This January for Stake Conference we're having an apostle, a member from the 70, as well as the presiding bishop come and speak to us. I'm assuming I'll get to hear them a couple of times which will be awesome. Listening to apostles is so great.
I hope you get my Christmas package sometime this week before I call. I'll be calling at either 5 or 6 pm your time by the way. I don't know if I told you that last week.
I got to open the Christmas package from home this week. I loved it. You can't buy Mike and Ike's or Hot Tamales here so I was hoping you'd send some of that. There's actually a ton of stuff from American you can't buy down here. For example, the only American cereal you can buy is Fruit Loops and they cost 9 dollars a box. Wow. The Calender is probably the best calender ever. It's hard not to just go through and read each day ahead of time because it's so funny.
About the mailing, it would probably be better if you mailed letters and then I could reply to them in email. Since the libraries only allow us to be on 1 hour a day I want to spend as much time writing as I can, which means less time reading.
I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and I'll talk to you soon!
Love you all!
-Elder Tanner
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Perth. Week 2
So this week was pretty stressful. My district leader turned out to be a really disobedient guy and he got sent home on Saturday. But all week he was affecting our work. I think monday-wednesday we got about 4 hours of work in. Mostly because Elder Glover was pretty close to him and he was trying to help him out but nothing really worked. Since Thursday though things have been going a lot better. Other than the fact that it was 40 degrees yesterday and we were on bikes all day. I'm so glad I have that camelback that's all I got to say.
But since the District leader went home, his companion got transferred to Dianella which is wear the mission office and temple are ( they're right next door ), and we got their car and their cell phone. Which is nice. But we also go their area. So as if were weren't new enough to our area.. we're now covering their area as well. So we'll definitely always have something to do or someone to go see. I like biking though even though we have car and even though its 40 degrees outside. I don't want to come back a fat missionary.
So I don't know if I ever told you my favorite scripture for my plaque or if you already got that made or whatever. But it's D&C 121:7-8. Good stuff right there.
I gave a talk in church yesterday. Both me and Elder Glover did. Mine was about charity and his was about obedience. So it was a pretty good sacrament meeting, besides the fact that there were probably about only 45 people there, and the organ player is.... not that great. Our bishop is 29 years old. He looks even younger than that too. It's weird.
I need to know how I'm related to N. Eldon Tanner, if I am. I've had so many people ask me that question it's ridiculous. I've never been asked that question before coming out here.
I'll be mailing a tiny christmas package home this week. nothing big, but I'll be sending it either today or wednesday. Oh and I'll either be calling on the 25th or 26th in the morning which would be the 24th or the 25th in the evening for you. And I'll be using a calling card. Which would work better for everyone?
We haven't got any progressing investigators yet. Still just lots of tracting and street contacting. we've had about 20 or 30 potential investigators but they stay potential. We've mostly just been talking to less actives or recent converts. We do have a couple of people that we have talked to that have let us come back. So we'll just have to see if they keep their commitments when we do go back. I think one of them actually might. But we'll see.
There is one awesome family in the ward that we have met so far. Their name is the Maines and they're a young couple just married 3 years ago. But they are going to let us come over to their house on christmas. They're really nice people.
Well that's about it for this week. I wish I had more time to send individual emails. I have about 15 minutes left if you want to send a quick reply.
Love,
Elder Tanner
But since the District leader went home, his companion got transferred to Dianella which is wear the mission office and temple are ( they're right next door ), and we got their car and their cell phone. Which is nice. But we also go their area. So as if were weren't new enough to our area.. we're now covering their area as well. So we'll definitely always have something to do or someone to go see. I like biking though even though we have car and even though its 40 degrees outside. I don't want to come back a fat missionary.
So I don't know if I ever told you my favorite scripture for my plaque or if you already got that made or whatever. But it's D&C 121:7-8. Good stuff right there.
I gave a talk in church yesterday. Both me and Elder Glover did. Mine was about charity and his was about obedience. So it was a pretty good sacrament meeting, besides the fact that there were probably about only 45 people there, and the organ player is.... not that great. Our bishop is 29 years old. He looks even younger than that too. It's weird.
I need to know how I'm related to N. Eldon Tanner, if I am. I've had so many people ask me that question it's ridiculous. I've never been asked that question before coming out here.
I'll be mailing a tiny christmas package home this week. nothing big, but I'll be sending it either today or wednesday. Oh and I'll either be calling on the 25th or 26th in the morning which would be the 24th or the 25th in the evening for you. And I'll be using a calling card. Which would work better for everyone?
We haven't got any progressing investigators yet. Still just lots of tracting and street contacting. we've had about 20 or 30 potential investigators but they stay potential. We've mostly just been talking to less actives or recent converts. We do have a couple of people that we have talked to that have let us come back. So we'll just have to see if they keep their commitments when we do go back. I think one of them actually might. But we'll see.
There is one awesome family in the ward that we have met so far. Their name is the Maines and they're a young couple just married 3 years ago. But they are going to let us come over to their house on christmas. They're really nice people.
Well that's about it for this week. I wish I had more time to send individual emails. I have about 15 minutes left if you want to send a quick reply.
Love,
Elder Tanner
Monday, December 7, 2009
First week in the field!
My first week here has been great. It has been UBER hot though. Like 35 degrees. And it's only going to get hotter. My companions name is Elder Glover and he's a really cool guy. He's been out for 8 months and he's 22. He too has a girlfriend back home, so we have a lot to relate to. We've only had 1 or 2 teaching opportunites this week since it was a short week but they went really well. When we first got here we had an appointment we had to rush off to straight away. We taught these guys named Andrew and Shem, turns out later that they were my district leaders and they were hazing me I guess. But it was really funny. I didn't find that out later till we had to walk over to their flat because we got locked out of ours. The other lesson we taught was to a less active guy who has been battling depression and stuff. He's actually a really cool guy, but kinda different if you know what I mean. That was a good lesson too and we're going back there on thursday.
The area that I'm in is called Girrawheen. They have really weird names down here. It's like a 10 minute drive from the mission home/temple and also a ten minute drive from the ocean, but neither are in my area. We have no car in my area, I don't know if I've mentioned that already, but yeah, it's hot. 35 degrees last saturday and it's only going to get hotter. But hey, at least I won't gain weight. I burn off every meal I eat everytime I get on that bike. So that's good.
We have two families that feed us each week. OH YEAH, my first meal at a members house... covered in mushrooms. Who would've guessed. One family we eat at each week is the Banukus. They're less active but they still feed us. They're from Romania so the food they've made for us is interesting. The Maines are the other family. They're young and from Austraila. We haven't actually eaten at their house yet but yesterday at church they said they would feed us often. And from what I hear they feed us well.
Speaking of the ward. It's small. And the members don't seem too excited about missionary work. They don't seem too excited about anything actually. Both lessons yesterday in church were just read word for word out of the manual. I could've taught better lessons than that. The ward mission leader doesn't even seem to keen on talking to us. Brother Rajah is his name. But hopefully we can start to get everyone motivated. Any ideas on how to do that?
Oh my address. It's going to be PO Box 185 Tuart Hill, WA 6939 for my whole mission, unless I say otherwise. They just don't want mail mailed directly to us for whatever reason. Maybe it will change when I get a new mission president in June. President Maurer is awesome though. It's pronounce More-uh. Anthing with an R on the end, the R isn't pronounce. I've learned a lot of lingo already. They say "how you going" instead of how you doing. And I haven't gotten to drive yet, but I've gotten used to looking right first when crossing the street instead of left.
I've got to cut this one short. It seems like I have so much to say.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Tanner
The area that I'm in is called Girrawheen. They have really weird names down here. It's like a 10 minute drive from the mission home/temple and also a ten minute drive from the ocean, but neither are in my area. We have no car in my area, I don't know if I've mentioned that already, but yeah, it's hot. 35 degrees last saturday and it's only going to get hotter. But hey, at least I won't gain weight. I burn off every meal I eat everytime I get on that bike. So that's good.
We have two families that feed us each week. OH YEAH, my first meal at a members house... covered in mushrooms. Who would've guessed. One family we eat at each week is the Banukus. They're less active but they still feed us. They're from Romania so the food they've made for us is interesting. The Maines are the other family. They're young and from Austraila. We haven't actually eaten at their house yet but yesterday at church they said they would feed us often. And from what I hear they feed us well.
Speaking of the ward. It's small. And the members don't seem too excited about missionary work. They don't seem too excited about anything actually. Both lessons yesterday in church were just read word for word out of the manual. I could've taught better lessons than that. The ward mission leader doesn't even seem to keen on talking to us. Brother Rajah is his name. But hopefully we can start to get everyone motivated. Any ideas on how to do that?
Oh my address. It's going to be PO Box 185 Tuart Hill, WA 6939 for my whole mission, unless I say otherwise. They just don't want mail mailed directly to us for whatever reason. Maybe it will change when I get a new mission president in June. President Maurer is awesome though. It's pronounce More-uh. Anthing with an R on the end, the R isn't pronounce. I've learned a lot of lingo already. They say "how you going" instead of how you doing. And I haven't gotten to drive yet, but I've gotten used to looking right first when crossing the street instead of left.
I've got to cut this one short. It seems like I have so much to say.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Tanner
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Half Way Around The World
Just sending a quick note that I made it to Australia safely. The plane ride was long and cramped, but I slept for about 9 out of the 15 hours. That was the long one anyways. We probably spent a total of 30 hours traveling. Went and got our bikes and driver's licenses when we got here, and then got to street contact some people. We got 12 referrals between the 9 of us. I find out who my trainer is and where I'm going tomorrow. Tonight I'm just sleeping in the AP's flat. And we just finished dinner at the Mission President's house who is an awesome President. Anyways, got to make it short. Just letting you all know that I arrived safely and am very very tired.
Love you all,
Elder Tanner
p.s. - Driving on the left side of the road is WEIRD.
p.p.s. - Still haven't seen any kangroos...
Love you all,
Elder Tanner
p.s. - Driving on the left side of the road is WEIRD.
p.p.s. - Still haven't seen any kangroos...
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