Letter #76 . . . "It's Worth It!"

Familia and Everybody! 

Tanner's friends are starting to come home!

Miss you guys. It's crazy seeing all the bros get home off their missions! They're all looking good! Tell em' I love them all so much. Claire's getting huge, Spence is getting huge! Craziness. It's blowing my mind seeing these dudes come out this week that just barely graduated last month. Britt, your time is creeping up! Keep on reading the Book of Mormon, and praying to know if it's true. I promise that is the best preparation you could do. Just know the mission is the greatest thing ever!
Last week was Elder Staheli and Katoa's last P-Day! We went down and walked around the Kansas City Royals and KC Chiefs Stadiums. They are right next to each other! They both left this week. I'm gonna miss those dudes. Staheli's parents came and picked him up. I got to meet and talk to both of them for a while!

Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs Stadium on p-day!

Goodness gracious, I didn't know it was possible to sweat so much. I've been soaking wet all week. We've been doing service outside almost every day this week. It's fun! I love it. But I'm not going to miss the humidity much haha. Barbie is doing awesome. She is so happy these days. Besides the fact that her husband is dragging her down not supporting her coming to church or anything related to it, she is still pushing through and relying on her testimony. Barbie gave us a present this week! She wrote us the nicest letter, and gave us a nice money clip with a watch on it. On the back it says, "It's worth it. - B" Which is what we would tell her when she'd ask how we got the courage to come out here and drop everything for two years.

New comp, Elder Fallon!

I got a new companion this week! His name is Elder Fallon. He's from Lathrop California and he's a cool guy! We're getting along just dandy and I've loved serving with him. I borrowed an awesome book from some members. It's called, "Personal Writings of Joseph Smith". It's so cool. It's literally just a book compiled with all of his journal entries and letters that have been preserved. Reading his journals gives you a better understanding and perspective of who he was and what he was like. Reading it makes the Book of Mormon seem that much more incredible, seeing that he truly could "barely write a well worded letter." He's just a normal dude chosen to carry out an amazing mission. His grammar and spelling in his personal journal are really not great.

My testimony and peace I feel has been very much strengthened these past few days. My BOM reading and prayers have been a lot more sincere. With that effort, I've seen an increase in peace, in power to resist temptation, etc. Church this week was especially awesome. I've found on my mission, that you really get out of it what you put into it. A lot of times at church my mind wanders to other things and I don't feel much peace throughout the day. But this last week I focused the whole time on listening to the Spirit. I was pondering my questions throughout the day, and felt such a peaceful assurance knowing that God loves me, and knows me. I'm so grateful for the gospel.

Love Tan

Tanner's friends coming home!

P-day adventures in Kansas City

Last p-day with Elder Staheli

Cool quote!