This week has been a little hectic, with Elder P leaving, and
Elder H coming in. He's a lot of fun, it's a little weird
serving with someone who has actually served elsewhere. I got your
package a couple days ago, Saturday I think. Thanks! I'm excited to
start opening them. So yeah, just the two of us. Kirtland was
awesome. How did you know we were going? I didn't even really. Some
members in the branch took us, H, T, and another sister up.
Sadly we got there after dark and weren't able to take the tour. We
did watch the Kirtland movie, and that's when it hit H and T
that they were right where the Prophet Joseph Smith lived. After the
movie they weren't as interested in the nativities anymore. They
still had fun though, and H was able to talk to the sister
missionaries about serving.
The branch Christmas party was this week, it was a lot of fun. We had
quite a few people show up who we haven't seen for a while. Each
auxiliary did a skit or sang. The young men pulled the young mens
president around in a wheelchair. He was dressed up as Santa and they
were all tied up like reindeer. Think Dad would do that? Maybe not.
So I am now serving with Elder H, he's from Sacramento,
California. He is my first companion to be taller than me. He's
great, we work together well, you would be proud of all the cleaning
we did today, we could easily fill a dumpster with the junk.
The work has been going well, we have been teaching a family of
Messianic Jews. It's really interesting because they have all the
roots, and I've learned a few words in Hebrew. He has a prayer
covering thing and cap, not the kind like most orthodox Jews. They
are very nice and we've been able to meet a few times.
It has finally cooled off a bit, it was 17 when when were headed to
church. Today was close to 50 though.
There are great things coming, we are trying to focus more now on
> building up the branch members themselves, that is where we are really
> struggling. Hopefully we will have some baptisms at the end of the
> month guess we'll see.
12/12/2011
12/09/2011
Post from mom
I came across this poem, made me cry, I tend to do that a lot lately when I think of Tanner. I am so proud of him. He's so happy and loving what he is doing, but I miss him still. I do feel the Christmas spirit more this year, unlike the poem. I think it's one of the blessings of having a missionary out. I am reminded often of the wonderful gift of the knowledge of the gospel and our Savior the missionaries help bring to others .
A Missionary Christmas (author unknown)
This year for Christmas
I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving.
The thrill just wasn’t there.
No pictures taken with Santa Claus.
My decorating has no flair.
His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties,
Two suits and socks…no fun.
I’ve bought him all white clothes because…
This year I’m giving Christ my son.
I’ve spent more time in the temple,
Felt strength come from his words.
I’ve reread November’s Ensign,
And my testimony stirred.
Our family prays more frequently.
My tears are quick to run.
Abraham seems closer because,
This year I’m giving Christ my son.
I wonder how those Lamanite mothers
Gave their sons to war,
Or how the pioneers chose Zion,
Their sacrifice was so much more.
My loss will be his presence.
I’ll miss his smile a ton.
For two years we will pray for him.
I’m giving Christ my son.
I stare at his face when he’s not looking.
I memorize his eyes, their shine.
He’s always hungered for the part of him
That makes his soul divine.
The stories and lessons he always heard.
His choice and mine are one.
I’ll put my faith in God’s hand.
This year, I’m giving him my son.
Past gifts have lost their glitter.
I think I finally understand.
Christ’s birth should be celebrated
By giving Him a hand.
It’s because I know Christ lived and reigns
That all his packing is done.
My gift has taken years to make.
This year…I’m giving Christ my son.
A Missionary Christmas (author unknown)
This year for Christmas
I skipped the sales after Thanksgiving.
The thrill just wasn’t there.
No pictures taken with Santa Claus.
My decorating has no flair.
His presents are shoes, shirts, and ties,
Two suits and socks…no fun.
I’ve bought him all white clothes because…
This year I’m giving Christ my son.
I’ve spent more time in the temple,
Felt strength come from his words.
I’ve reread November’s Ensign,
And my testimony stirred.
Our family prays more frequently.
My tears are quick to run.
Abraham seems closer because,
This year I’m giving Christ my son.
I wonder how those Lamanite mothers
Gave their sons to war,
Or how the pioneers chose Zion,
Their sacrifice was so much more.
My loss will be his presence.
I’ll miss his smile a ton.
For two years we will pray for him.
I’m giving Christ my son.
I stare at his face when he’s not looking.
I memorize his eyes, their shine.
He’s always hungered for the part of him
That makes his soul divine.
The stories and lessons he always heard.
His choice and mine are one.
I’ll put my faith in God’s hand.
This year, I’m giving him my son.
Past gifts have lost their glitter.
I think I finally understand.
Christ’s birth should be celebrated
By giving Him a hand.
It’s because I know Christ lived and reigns
That all his packing is done.
My gift has taken years to make.
This year…I’m giving Christ my son.
12/6/11
Hey Dad!
Unfortunately I've only got a quick minute today, transfers are
tomorrow, Elder P is leaving, and there were some things poorly
planned, namely this computer time. So I will try to cram as much in
here as I can.
I'm doing great, the work still moves on. I will see if I can't come
back, I will be in New Castle, glad to hear from you.
Love you and I will write soon.
Elder Tanner Newey
Unfortunately I've only got a quick minute today, transfers are
tomorrow, Elder P is leaving, and there were some things poorly
planned, namely this computer time. So I will try to cram as much in
here as I can.
I'm doing great, the work still moves on. I will see if I can't come
back, I will be in New Castle, glad to hear from you.
Love you and I will write soon.
Elder Tanner Newey
12/03/2011
11/14/11 oops, out of order
Oh man, where to start. J has been an interesting case. Last time
we taught him we were telling a bunch of the stories from the Book of
Mormon, trying to get him interested in it more. When we came to the
Tree of Life chapter, I pulled out a picture of Lehi's Dream. He saw
the tree and started freaking out. Apparently his mom was a Jehovah's
Witness and there are all sorts of messed up thoughts in his head, one
of them being that the tree is evil and to even think about it will
let the devil get you. He hasn't been real keen on meeting since
then, but we've been working on him. After that he went and tried to
do everything that he knew he wasn't supposed to. He got new tattoos
and harrasses T and H with cigarettes and coffee. He's
actually knelt down with us twice now though, and is actually friendly
and joking around these last couple days. Eventually he'll come
around again.
As far as T and H go, T got fed up and dumped all the
tobacco in the house down the sink. She was tired of it all and made
the rule that there would be no more smoking in the house. H has
been real good through this, giving her mom support, and even quitting
herself. When T broke down and bought a box of cigarettes last
week, H took them and hid them. T made it to church again on
Sunday, but H had a fever and wasn't able to make it. Pretty soon
I'll be able to visit Kirtland with them.
And... we have another great investigator, P . His wife and son are
members, and they've been married about a year or so. She was less
active, but wanted to get back in to church. So she invited us over
and we met with them yesterday. It was the perfect lesson, I don't
know that they get much better. Their home teacher was there with us,
building up and teaching at just the right time. We taught the
Message of the Restoration, as he wanted to know what the difference
is between our church and all the others. Elder P and I
testified the whole time and just built off each other. At times I
thought I could see tears in P's eyes. The Spirit filled the room,
and P committed to be baptized on December 10. When we asked what
he would ask God if he saw Him, he said he would ask how he could be a
better person, in Christ. Then he prayed, the most sincere prayer I
have heard. He prayed fervently, and paused for a minute at the end.
I started praying for him, and the story of Ammon and King Lamoni came
to mind. P was so happy afterwards he came and gave us a hug.
While we were walking out their home teacher turned to us and said
"that was awesome." Oh, it was. We were so excited. That is this
great work, that's why I love it so much. Seeing this change in
people, as they gain a hope in Christ. Purely amazing.
Other fun things this week: not nearly as much tracting as I thought,
keeping in control a fire, exchanges with Zone Leader Elder H , a
few more less actives at church (there was actually a whole side
full!)
Well, I better go get a haircut, I've waited way too long. Have a
great week, thank you for the letter, its great to hear how you are
all doing. The computers yelling at me, so I better go.
Love you lots! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Tanner Newey
we taught him we were telling a bunch of the stories from the Book of
Mormon, trying to get him interested in it more. When we came to the
Tree of Life chapter, I pulled out a picture of Lehi's Dream. He saw
the tree and started freaking out. Apparently his mom was a Jehovah's
Witness and there are all sorts of messed up thoughts in his head, one
of them being that the tree is evil and to even think about it will
let the devil get you. He hasn't been real keen on meeting since
then, but we've been working on him. After that he went and tried to
do everything that he knew he wasn't supposed to. He got new tattoos
and harrasses T and H with cigarettes and coffee. He's
actually knelt down with us twice now though, and is actually friendly
and joking around these last couple days. Eventually he'll come
around again.
As far as T and H go, T got fed up and dumped all the
tobacco in the house down the sink. She was tired of it all and made
the rule that there would be no more smoking in the house. H has
been real good through this, giving her mom support, and even quitting
herself. When T broke down and bought a box of cigarettes last
week, H took them and hid them. T made it to church again on
Sunday, but H had a fever and wasn't able to make it. Pretty soon
I'll be able to visit Kirtland with them.
And... we have another great investigator, P . His wife and son are
members, and they've been married about a year or so. She was less
active, but wanted to get back in to church. So she invited us over
and we met with them yesterday. It was the perfect lesson, I don't
know that they get much better. Their home teacher was there with us,
building up and teaching at just the right time. We taught the
Message of the Restoration, as he wanted to know what the difference
is between our church and all the others. Elder P and I
testified the whole time and just built off each other. At times I
thought I could see tears in P's eyes. The Spirit filled the room,
and P committed to be baptized on December 10. When we asked what
he would ask God if he saw Him, he said he would ask how he could be a
better person, in Christ. Then he prayed, the most sincere prayer I
have heard. He prayed fervently, and paused for a minute at the end.
I started praying for him, and the story of Ammon and King Lamoni came
to mind. P was so happy afterwards he came and gave us a hug.
While we were walking out their home teacher turned to us and said
"that was awesome." Oh, it was. We were so excited. That is this
great work, that's why I love it so much. Seeing this change in
people, as they gain a hope in Christ. Purely amazing.
Other fun things this week: not nearly as much tracting as I thought,
keeping in control a fire, exchanges with Zone Leader Elder H , a
few more less actives at church (there was actually a whole side
full!)
Well, I better go get a haircut, I've waited way too long. Have a
great week, thank you for the letter, its great to hear how you are
all doing. The computers yelling at me, so I better go.
Love you lots! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Elder Tanner Newey
11/28/11
Hey Mom!
First off, THANK YOU for the great package. Those granola bars lasted
two days. I was lucky to get any after my companions got a taste.
Just about all the food is gone. Elder P would like to know
what the granola recipe is, I've got him hooked. He wants to send it
to his mom so she can send him some. The ornaments are great, its so
weird to think it is that time of year already.
Sounds like you had a good Thanksgiving. It was definitely weird to
have it at somebody else's house. The weather has been nice here too,
although there has been quite a bit of rain. I don't think the branch
president here has candy either, I'll have to have a talk with him.
So what is this you and Dad are saying about Kirtland? I don't think
I've heard anything about heading there this week... I'll have to
check. That would be awesome though. I need to get H and T to
visit there soon, apparently there are over 100 nativity sets put
up at all the church sites. There wasn't nearly as much pie here as
I'm used to. I did get fed pretty good though. Two families fed us,
I was so full. There was a turkey bowl in the morning. So we got up
at five to travel up and meet the zone leaders, luckily it was fun and
the day was pretty nice. The field was a mud pit though.
So this week has been interesting. As I mentioned last week, I became
part of a triple up this week. Elder H joined us on Wednesday,
and it has just been crazy since. He has quite a bit more experience
than Elder P or I had, so he was able to help us straighten out
a few things. Plus we tracted a lot. We tracted close to ten hours
this week, quite a bit of it in the rain. Wednesday night Elder
P went with a member while Elder H and I hit up door after
door, all while it poured. The rain here is a little different than
in Twin. Luckily I found a coat and raincoat in the apartment, so I
was dry and warm. It was fun though, we came across all sorts of
people, and were able to hand out several copies of the Book of
Mormon.
T and H have been sick and out of town all week so we didn't
hear much from them. P is doing great as ever. He will be
baptized Dec 31 now, hopefully there won't be issues with the holiday.
Those are all the investigators we have left, so we spent some time
visiting less actives. There have been a few coming to church lately,
it has been so cool to see them show up.
While we were out tracting last week we met a guy who told us he was a
prophet, except that he had been called to be a minister instead. He
said he was willing to hear what we had to say and to have a good
Christian discussion, but any time we asked him to open the Book of
Mormon he would completely blow it off and start talking about the end
of the world again.
I was able to help build a ramp this week for some members in the
ward. It looks pretty good too. There was another member and his
friend working on it, so we were able to have some good discussions
with the friend about the church.
On Monday we went to help with the Habitat for Humanity around here,
but there was only one guy there. Of course religion came up and he
started mentioning how he had a bunch of questions. We were able to
answer quite a few of them and he was really excited about the
answers. We haven't been able to see him since, but we'll be able to
follow up on that this week.
So yeah, it's been fun, the work is moving forward. I love every minute of it.
I will talk to you next week,
Love ya!
Elder Tanner Newey
First off, THANK YOU for the great package. Those granola bars lasted
two days. I was lucky to get any after my companions got a taste.
Just about all the food is gone. Elder P would like to know
what the granola recipe is, I've got him hooked. He wants to send it
to his mom so she can send him some. The ornaments are great, its so
weird to think it is that time of year already.
Sounds like you had a good Thanksgiving. It was definitely weird to
have it at somebody else's house. The weather has been nice here too,
although there has been quite a bit of rain. I don't think the branch
president here has candy either, I'll have to have a talk with him.
So what is this you and Dad are saying about Kirtland? I don't think
I've heard anything about heading there this week... I'll have to
check. That would be awesome though. I need to get H and T to
visit there soon, apparently there are over 100 nativity sets put
up at all the church sites. There wasn't nearly as much pie here as
I'm used to. I did get fed pretty good though. Two families fed us,
I was so full. There was a turkey bowl in the morning. So we got up
at five to travel up and meet the zone leaders, luckily it was fun and
the day was pretty nice. The field was a mud pit though.
So this week has been interesting. As I mentioned last week, I became
part of a triple up this week. Elder H joined us on Wednesday,
and it has just been crazy since. He has quite a bit more experience
than Elder P or I had, so he was able to help us straighten out
a few things. Plus we tracted a lot. We tracted close to ten hours
this week, quite a bit of it in the rain. Wednesday night Elder
P went with a member while Elder H and I hit up door after
door, all while it poured. The rain here is a little different than
in Twin. Luckily I found a coat and raincoat in the apartment, so I
was dry and warm. It was fun though, we came across all sorts of
people, and were able to hand out several copies of the Book of
Mormon.
T and H have been sick and out of town all week so we didn't
hear much from them. P is doing great as ever. He will be
baptized Dec 31 now, hopefully there won't be issues with the holiday.
Those are all the investigators we have left, so we spent some time
visiting less actives. There have been a few coming to church lately,
it has been so cool to see them show up.
While we were out tracting last week we met a guy who told us he was a
prophet, except that he had been called to be a minister instead. He
said he was willing to hear what we had to say and to have a good
Christian discussion, but any time we asked him to open the Book of
Mormon he would completely blow it off and start talking about the end
of the world again.
I was able to help build a ramp this week for some members in the
ward. It looks pretty good too. There was another member and his
friend working on it, so we were able to have some good discussions
with the friend about the church.
On Monday we went to help with the Habitat for Humanity around here,
but there was only one guy there. Of course religion came up and he
started mentioning how he had a bunch of questions. We were able to
answer quite a few of them and he was really excited about the
answers. We haven't been able to see him since, but we'll be able to
follow up on that this week.
So yeah, it's been fun, the work is moving forward. I love every minute of it.
I will talk to you next week,
Love ya!
Elder Tanner Newey
11/13/2011
11/8/11
Hey!
Its weird to hear you are watching the 4 oldest of DeeAnna's kids,
that's all of them isn't it? For some reason I don't see Dad staying
up till 2 though, as much as he loves those kids.
I don't blame you for listening to Christmas music. Walmart was
playing it the other day. It's a nice break. I love MoTab, but I
think I can just about list the order of the songs on Elder P's
CD's without too much trouble.
As for me, it's been an interesting week. I did a lot of service.
There was a guy stalled out on the side of the road one night as we
were headed to an appointment, so we decided to stop and offer him a
push. The funny thing about Pennsylvania, its all hills, and of
course the closest gas station was up and on the opposite side of the
busiest street in New Castle. So we rolled up our sleeves and dug in
our toes. We were just about there when someone else pulled over and
offered some help. He had a gas can that someone else had given him
when he had stalled out. So the guy was able to fill it up and his
car worked. We were saved!
Also we helped some members and less actives put up a barn in their
yard. All the framing was up so we just put up the walls. Sometime
this week we will get to help put on the roof. Along with this I've
been able to help out at the Habitat for Humanity a couple times.
They keep us busy, and those houses can go up quick. It was a little
interesting though when a reverend came and read the blessing. That's
alright, because we had everybody sing "I am a Child of God" earlier
that morning.
Probably the biggest thing I've learned this week is the power of
commitments. We have been way too lenient with our investigators, and
they progress very slowly because we don't follow up well. That is
about to change. Especially because T and H are the only
investigators we are still meeting with. We are trying to get the
branch to take more responsibility. We shouldered a lot of it and it
didn't do them any good. So we are backing off, which means I might
have to actually start tracting this week. Somehow I've made it this
far and have been tracting more outside of my area on exchanges with
other missionaries than I have inside.
That's about it for me, I'm still working on finishing off your
package. I just got your letter so I will be able to read it tonight.
I love you so much, keep doing great!
Elder Tanner Newey
Its weird to hear you are watching the 4 oldest of DeeAnna's kids,
that's all of them isn't it? For some reason I don't see Dad staying
up till 2 though, as much as he loves those kids.
I don't blame you for listening to Christmas music. Walmart was
playing it the other day. It's a nice break. I love MoTab, but I
think I can just about list the order of the songs on Elder P's
CD's without too much trouble.
As for me, it's been an interesting week. I did a lot of service.
There was a guy stalled out on the side of the road one night as we
were headed to an appointment, so we decided to stop and offer him a
push. The funny thing about Pennsylvania, its all hills, and of
course the closest gas station was up and on the opposite side of the
busiest street in New Castle. So we rolled up our sleeves and dug in
our toes. We were just about there when someone else pulled over and
offered some help. He had a gas can that someone else had given him
when he had stalled out. So the guy was able to fill it up and his
car worked. We were saved!
Also we helped some members and less actives put up a barn in their
yard. All the framing was up so we just put up the walls. Sometime
this week we will get to help put on the roof. Along with this I've
been able to help out at the Habitat for Humanity a couple times.
They keep us busy, and those houses can go up quick. It was a little
interesting though when a reverend came and read the blessing. That's
alright, because we had everybody sing "I am a Child of God" earlier
that morning.
Probably the biggest thing I've learned this week is the power of
commitments. We have been way too lenient with our investigators, and
they progress very slowly because we don't follow up well. That is
about to change. Especially because T and H are the only
investigators we are still meeting with. We are trying to get the
branch to take more responsibility. We shouldered a lot of it and it
didn't do them any good. So we are backing off, which means I might
have to actually start tracting this week. Somehow I've made it this
far and have been tracting more outside of my area on exchanges with
other missionaries than I have inside.
That's about it for me, I'm still working on finishing off your
package. I just got your letter so I will be able to read it tonight.
I love you so much, keep doing great!
Elder Tanner Newey
11/04/2011
10/31/2011
Hey Dad!
>
> As far as my bike goes, its that $500 we had to pay, so I get to keep
> it. It's pretty nice, hopefully it will last a good long while. I
> still have the same companion, we get to work together for one more
> transfer. I guess I never explained it before, but there is a new
> program, where essentially I will be able to train at the end of this
> transfer. For 12 weeks each week is broken down with what we are
> supposed to study during companion study and what I am supposed to
> start doing, like leading lessons. My trainer went through the same
> program, so he has only been out three months longer than I have.
> It's a really great program, it helped me adapt a lot quicker.
>
> Sounds like you are all doing good and keeping busy. I'm glad Reid
> had a good birthday. That's really cool he was able to finish the
> Book of Mormon. He's farther than a lot of people are out here. He's
> going to have a lot of fun. Wow, so now you have a kid in all the
> quorums up to you. No wonder they made you young mens president, they
> need you to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not breaking
> into houses, haha.
>
> So I'm doing really well, there have been a lot of cool things going
> on. Yesterday President and Sister S came to the branch to
> teach the third hour. Everybody was pretty excited and Elder and I were running around like crazy. He offered to lead our branch council too. They showed the branch all the ways to use mormon.org,
> and all the cool new things to do. Now they allow everyone over the
> age of 14 to create a profile, which I highly encourage. There are a
> lot of people on there, even a few who are famous. I saw that Brandon
> Flowers even made one. Blake will know who he is. That's been one of
> the biggest things we've been pushing, and we hand out cards for the
> website like crazy. The website is just awesome. Another cool website
> he showed was youth.lds.org
>
> Along with mormon.org, the main point was Rescue, finding not just
> investigators, but even less actives who have wandered off. Some of
> the greatest missionary work comes because of less active work. We
> found our star investigator because of a less active member. He
> showed videos from Preach My Gospel (which you can also order, and I
> suggest that as well, they are amazing) and the video where President
> Hinckley talks about the three young men who helped the pioneers
> across the Sweetwater river. By the end everyone was ready to go and
> the Spirit was strong like crazy.
>
> After that was over he met with our investigator, T. She is the
> one found because of a less active. Its a cool story. It all started
> back about the first or second week I was here. One of the members
> took us to visit his niece, who is less active and was living with her
> three kids and boyfriend who is not a member. While we were meeting
> with them the less active said she wanted a temple marriage so we
> started teaching her boyfriend the lessons, and we thought he was
> golden. He was just soaking up everything we told him like a sponge.
> At one point he even asked us when he could be baptized. Then all
> sorts of crazy things happened and the boyfriend ends up getting
> kicked out of the house. Turns out the niece really isn't interested
> so we have since stopped visiting her, but the boyfriend wants us to
> keep teaching him. He was staying with some friends and they said it
> would be ok if we came over, and they wanted to know if they could
> listen in. By this point we are going crazy. Here we had J, the
> boyfriend, just ready for baptism, and he is handing us more potential
> investigators. So we get over there quick as we can. We start
> teaching J, but soon his friends end up dominating the conversation.
> T and H, the friends, had a lot of questions. H is
> T daughter, and they have been through a lot in their life.
> Because of this T told us she was agnostic, she believed in God
> but had too much anger built up against Him. After several very long
> appointments T realizes we do have a lot of answers, and even
> better, she is finding a lot of her own answers in the Book of Mormon.
> What's more crazy is she had a big answer, as she calls it her
> revelation, and has been anxious to be baptized and hear what we say
> since. She is so excited to learn. She introduces herself to the
> ward members as an investigator, she hand sewed a skirt together
> because she has nothing else, and she will not dress casual for
> church. We mistakenly told her she couldn't take of the sacrament
> yet, and it tore her apart to think she wasn't worthy of it yet and to
> pass it on. We teach her the Word of Wisdom and first she says no,
> because if she gives up both her coffee and cigarettes she is not
> going to be the favorite grandma. But then she comes to church, and
> tells us that that morning she threw it all away. Even though the
> other two in her house still smoke, she is pushing through to make her
> baptism happen. Then she meets President S. In their
> conversation she mentions how hard it is to come to sacrament and not
> partake. President tells her she can, and no sooner had he said that
> than she broke down, I could see the relief in her. We then stepped
> aside into a little room. Sister S gave Tracey a pack of gum
> to help the craving. President S gave her a blessing, and then
> told her how she can help H come around, and how T can be an
> example to her. I can just see the Atonement working in her life.
> She has had so much peace come. Because of this she sets it up all
> the time so that her kids will visit while we are over. We have met
> all four of them now, and they all have so many questions, but are so
> willing to sit and listen. The gospel makes sense to them.
>
> So that's our crazy day yesterday. By next week I should be able to
> tell you when she is getting baptized. I imagine it will be before
> November is through. The Lord has a great plan for her, and it is
> amazing to see His love for her each and every day with all the little
> miracles that work in her life.
>
> We are still being fed well. I haven't had to cook anything since
> I've been here, and usually I only have to eat leftovers for lunch.
> The members just need to know what to do now. The branch council has
> been shown what needs to happen, now we just need to apply it, and
> focus on the people. Great things are happening.
>
> Well, I hope you have a great Halloween and a fun week. We aren't
> allowed out today so we are spending the rest of the day at the stake
> center having a zone p-day and a district meeting after that. We have
> been given a lot of candy though. Oh, which reminds me, thanks for
> the package! I'm going to be able to eat well for a while now, the
> granola is already almost gone.
>
> Have fun in young mens, you are going to do great. Hope everything is
> still going well at work and Mom stays legal. I love you. By the
> way, all of the gospel analogies and stories over the years have
> stuck, so that helps out with the lessons. I'm still waiting to
> describe the apostasy as the basketball smashing the glass table, but
> it will happen. Thanks for everything!
>
> Love
>
> Elder Tanner Newey
>
>
> As far as my bike goes, its that $500 we had to pay, so I get to keep
> it. It's pretty nice, hopefully it will last a good long while. I
> still have the same companion, we get to work together for one more
> transfer. I guess I never explained it before, but there is a new
> program, where essentially I will be able to train at the end of this
> transfer. For 12 weeks each week is broken down with what we are
> supposed to study during companion study and what I am supposed to
> start doing, like leading lessons. My trainer went through the same
> program, so he has only been out three months longer than I have.
> It's a really great program, it helped me adapt a lot quicker.
>
> Sounds like you are all doing good and keeping busy. I'm glad Reid
> had a good birthday. That's really cool he was able to finish the
> Book of Mormon. He's farther than a lot of people are out here. He's
> going to have a lot of fun. Wow, so now you have a kid in all the
> quorums up to you. No wonder they made you young mens president, they
> need you to keep an eye on them and make sure they're not breaking
> into houses, haha.
>
> So I'm doing really well, there have been a lot of cool things going
> on. Yesterday President and Sister S came to the branch to
> teach the third hour. Everybody was pretty excited and Elder and I were running around like crazy. He offered to lead our branch council too. They showed the branch all the ways to use mormon.org,
> and all the cool new things to do. Now they allow everyone over the
> age of 14 to create a profile, which I highly encourage. There are a
> lot of people on there, even a few who are famous. I saw that Brandon
> Flowers even made one. Blake will know who he is. That's been one of
> the biggest things we've been pushing, and we hand out cards for the
> website like crazy. The website is just awesome. Another cool website
> he showed was youth.lds.org
>
> Along with mormon.org, the main point was Rescue, finding not just
> investigators, but even less actives who have wandered off. Some of
> the greatest missionary work comes because of less active work. We
> found our star investigator because of a less active member. He
> showed videos from Preach My Gospel (which you can also order, and I
> suggest that as well, they are amazing) and the video where President
> Hinckley talks about the three young men who helped the pioneers
> across the Sweetwater river. By the end everyone was ready to go and
> the Spirit was strong like crazy.
>
> After that was over he met with our investigator, T. She is the
> one found because of a less active. Its a cool story. It all started
> back about the first or second week I was here. One of the members
> took us to visit his niece, who is less active and was living with her
> three kids and boyfriend who is not a member. While we were meeting
> with them the less active said she wanted a temple marriage so we
> started teaching her boyfriend the lessons, and we thought he was
> golden. He was just soaking up everything we told him like a sponge.
> At one point he even asked us when he could be baptized. Then all
> sorts of crazy things happened and the boyfriend ends up getting
> kicked out of the house. Turns out the niece really isn't interested
> so we have since stopped visiting her, but the boyfriend wants us to
> keep teaching him. He was staying with some friends and they said it
> would be ok if we came over, and they wanted to know if they could
> listen in. By this point we are going crazy. Here we had J, the
> boyfriend, just ready for baptism, and he is handing us more potential
> investigators. So we get over there quick as we can. We start
> teaching J, but soon his friends end up dominating the conversation.
> T and H, the friends, had a lot of questions. H is
> T daughter, and they have been through a lot in their life.
> Because of this T told us she was agnostic, she believed in God
> but had too much anger built up against Him. After several very long
> appointments T realizes we do have a lot of answers, and even
> better, she is finding a lot of her own answers in the Book of Mormon.
> What's more crazy is she had a big answer, as she calls it her
> revelation, and has been anxious to be baptized and hear what we say
> since. She is so excited to learn. She introduces herself to the
> ward members as an investigator, she hand sewed a skirt together
> because she has nothing else, and she will not dress casual for
> church. We mistakenly told her she couldn't take of the sacrament
> yet, and it tore her apart to think she wasn't worthy of it yet and to
> pass it on. We teach her the Word of Wisdom and first she says no,
> because if she gives up both her coffee and cigarettes she is not
> going to be the favorite grandma. But then she comes to church, and
> tells us that that morning she threw it all away. Even though the
> other two in her house still smoke, she is pushing through to make her
> baptism happen. Then she meets President S. In their
> conversation she mentions how hard it is to come to sacrament and not
> partake. President tells her she can, and no sooner had he said that
> than she broke down, I could see the relief in her. We then stepped
> aside into a little room. Sister S gave Tracey a pack of gum
> to help the craving. President S gave her a blessing, and then
> told her how she can help H come around, and how T can be an
> example to her. I can just see the Atonement working in her life.
> She has had so much peace come. Because of this she sets it up all
> the time so that her kids will visit while we are over. We have met
> all four of them now, and they all have so many questions, but are so
> willing to sit and listen. The gospel makes sense to them.
>
> So that's our crazy day yesterday. By next week I should be able to
> tell you when she is getting baptized. I imagine it will be before
> November is through. The Lord has a great plan for her, and it is
> amazing to see His love for her each and every day with all the little
> miracles that work in her life.
>
> We are still being fed well. I haven't had to cook anything since
> I've been here, and usually I only have to eat leftovers for lunch.
> The members just need to know what to do now. The branch council has
> been shown what needs to happen, now we just need to apply it, and
> focus on the people. Great things are happening.
>
> Well, I hope you have a great Halloween and a fun week. We aren't
> allowed out today so we are spending the rest of the day at the stake
> center having a zone p-day and a district meeting after that. We have
> been given a lot of candy though. Oh, which reminds me, thanks for
> the package! I'm going to be able to eat well for a while now, the
> granola is already almost gone.
>
> Have fun in young mens, you are going to do great. Hope everything is
> still going well at work and Mom stays legal. I love you. By the
> way, all of the gospel analogies and stories over the years have
> stuck, so that helps out with the lessons. I'm still waiting to
> describe the apostasy as the basketball smashing the glass table, but
> it will happen. Thanks for everything!
>
> Love
>
> Elder Tanner Newey
>
10/24/11
So I'm doing great way over here, some cool things are happening. I spoke in church on Sunday about temples. The branch president asked me to prepare a twenty minute talk on Pres.
Monson's talk last April on Temples. So I worked on it Sunday morning
and felt pretty good about it. There are only three speakers usually,
so I didn't think there was much chance of me cutting anything, and I
was actually trying to think of some more stories. The youth speaker
ended up talking for over ten minutes though, and then by the time the
other sister was done there were five minutes left. They also were
given the exact same talk to work with, so I was relieved when I had
decided not to use the same stories in the article. All I really
ended up doing was bearing my testimony of temples, talking about my
Kirtland experience and how cool it was standing in the Twin Falls
temple with everybody. I let slip the story about me leading, so in
priesthood opening exercises I was volunteered again.
Ok, so I am in a car area. I have only been on my bike once, and that
was the other day. We do have a pretty big area to cover, but I'm
pretty sure we could use our bikes more. As far as the weather goes,
it's just like being home. Sunday was close to freezing but today is
up in the 60's. Not much wind yet though. So far everyone has been
pretty good to me and I haven't eaten anything weird or even bad.
I've had a lot of Italian sausage sandwiches, so I'm happy. It's bad,
they keep piling food on my plate. Actually its great, but somehow
I'm still hungry at night.
Therewas a deacon just ordained last week. We've been working with his
family and know him pretty well. He was a little late, and came
running up to me. He asked where to go and I pointed across the
chapel and he was off again. He plopped down on the chair with a huge
smile. President L sent one of his counselors to get him a tie,
but as soon as the counselor stepped out of the chapel the deacon
pulled a clip on out of his pocket, still beaming. It was cool to
watch as he passed, and he told his grandpa he knows he was doing ok
because I was making sure he was doing it right. I hope Reid has the
same excitement, it is a great thing that he gets to be a part of.
Love you all,
Elder Newey
Monson's talk last April on Temples. So I worked on it Sunday morning
and felt pretty good about it. There are only three speakers usually,
so I didn't think there was much chance of me cutting anything, and I
was actually trying to think of some more stories. The youth speaker
ended up talking for over ten minutes though, and then by the time the
other sister was done there were five minutes left. They also were
given the exact same talk to work with, so I was relieved when I had
decided not to use the same stories in the article. All I really
ended up doing was bearing my testimony of temples, talking about my
Kirtland experience and how cool it was standing in the Twin Falls
temple with everybody. I let slip the story about me leading, so in
priesthood opening exercises I was volunteered again.
Ok, so I am in a car area. I have only been on my bike once, and that
was the other day. We do have a pretty big area to cover, but I'm
pretty sure we could use our bikes more. As far as the weather goes,
it's just like being home. Sunday was close to freezing but today is
up in the 60's. Not much wind yet though. So far everyone has been
pretty good to me and I haven't eaten anything weird or even bad.
I've had a lot of Italian sausage sandwiches, so I'm happy. It's bad,
they keep piling food on my plate. Actually its great, but somehow
I'm still hungry at night.
Therewas a deacon just ordained last week. We've been working with his
family and know him pretty well. He was a little late, and came
running up to me. He asked where to go and I pointed across the
chapel and he was off again. He plopped down on the chair with a huge
smile. President L sent one of his counselors to get him a tie,
but as soon as the counselor stepped out of the chapel the deacon
pulled a clip on out of his pocket, still beaming. It was cool to
watch as he passed, and he told his grandpa he knows he was doing ok
because I was making sure he was doing it right. I hope Reid has the
same excitement, it is a great thing that he gets to be a part of.
Love you all,
Elder Newey
10/24/2011
10/17/11
I just had the chance to go back and read all the letters I need to respond to. Some of them are from over a month ago! Man, I can't believe I've been out that long, almost two months now.
So much has happened. Not just on my end either it sounds like. It's weird to see the difference of what's going on there since I've been home to now. It's reassuring. I'm glad to hear Rachel warmed up to you haha. Well, It's so good to hear all about you, it makes me laugh, and smile.
Since I am usually so short on time with my emails, I'll try to pack in as much stories and information as I can. You asked how Kirtland was and how my flight went. First off, my flight was good. The first one I was able to relax, read for most of it, look out the window, talk to the elders, eat some pretzels. Overall it wasn't too bad. I got a little warm inside from the descent, but not bad. Then we had to run. The terminal we were supposed to be at was as far away as possible, so we barely made it in time, and we really were running most of the way. There was one part of the airport with neon all over the walls like lightning, dimly lit with soft almost eerie music playing. But we made it to our plane, which was less than half the size of the other one. We were taking off from Detroit, so pretty much we went up and right back down over Lake Erie. That was really cool to see, although for the most part I was looking straight ahead and trying to get the nonexistant air to work. After about 20 minutes we landed in Cleveland. President took us to his house where we were given a lot of information and papers, of which I am still trying to sort out. Then he handed out the mail.
The next day was Kirtland. Let me tell ya, there is a lot about Kirtland I never knew. The first stop was the Kirtland temple. Still it stands, as it was nearly 200 years ago, beautiful and bright. We were able to take pictures of the outside, so I snapped a couple. I'll figure out a way to get them to you. Inside we met with a representative from the Community of Christ church who owns the temple, and C Anderson, the man general authorities turn to whenever they have a question about Kirtland. At first I thought that was kind of funny, but after that day, there is so much going on with Kirtland now. They showed us the Priesthood rooms, where the quorums were instructed. The pews and stand are still the same as they were back then. Very little restoration has needed to be done. From there we went upstairs even further, to the upper rooms of the temple where the ordinances were established and where both the Savior and the Father stood at least four different times. We read several of the revelations received there, and sadly I didn't write them down. We headed downstairs to the general assembly area, and like at the dedication (sec109) we sang the Spirit of God. Somehow I ended up leading the music. Standing in front of the pew where Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias and Elijah stood, I looked up and saw the two huge windows, as the sun poured in. It was amazing. One day we'll have to go and visit, mom. I want to take you all there. I've heard there will be a big conference around Christmas time where we go to Kirtland and sing and other great stuff. After that we headed over to the Newel K Whitney store. In the store, C Anderson told us about all the prophecies of Kirtland. He pointed out that Kirtland is one of the places to be built up before the second coming. The first promise was SLC, which has had and is having its time. Missouri and Jerusalem are to come. But Kirtland's time is now. The work here is making leaps and bounds. Most of the areas around Cleveland are baptizing weekly. New Castle, my area, is coming along, but I'll go more into that in a bit. After learning about all these prophecies that are now being fulfilled, we went into the School of the Prophets. As President told us of the revelations had in that room, read the stories of that room, he left us to commit ourselves.
I love it out here, this work is so exciting. Already I have seen a change in these people. The last couple days have seen my first baptismal commits. We have two investigators who decided to make this huge step. We are working with about six other families, some of them are pretty close. The members are starting to help us out more, coming out to teach with us and even visiting the investigators on their own. We are fed almost every night by less actives. So many of them have said they don't come to church because they didn't think anyone cared. We are teaching them about the blessings the temple brings. Temples are something that not many people understand around here. Only a handful of the active members have ever been, and most of those have only gone once. It is such a great thing to teach a family that has avoided church for 10 years, that they can be sealed to their wife/mom who has long since passed away. There is an investigator, one that has committed to baptism, whose brother is seeing the difference in her. He told us the first time we met him he didn't believe in God, or at least he didn't think he cared. But last night she told us, with tears in her eyes that her brother was asking questions and even said that he believed in Christ. And how much greater a blessing it was to tell her that as she is baptized, and as she lives her life, her brother will grow to have that same desire, as well as the rest of her family.
That is why I am out here. To declare repentance to the people, so that they might have joy, happiness and peace in this life and in the life to come.
So I guess that's it for now, I'm going to go make some more stories to tell you for next time. Tell Melissa thanks for the package, those cookies didn't last long at all.
Love,
Elder Newey
So much has happened. Not just on my end either it sounds like. It's weird to see the difference of what's going on there since I've been home to now. It's reassuring. I'm glad to hear Rachel warmed up to you haha. Well, It's so good to hear all about you, it makes me laugh, and smile.
Since I am usually so short on time with my emails, I'll try to pack in as much stories and information as I can. You asked how Kirtland was and how my flight went. First off, my flight was good. The first one I was able to relax, read for most of it, look out the window, talk to the elders, eat some pretzels. Overall it wasn't too bad. I got a little warm inside from the descent, but not bad. Then we had to run. The terminal we were supposed to be at was as far away as possible, so we barely made it in time, and we really were running most of the way. There was one part of the airport with neon all over the walls like lightning, dimly lit with soft almost eerie music playing. But we made it to our plane, which was less than half the size of the other one. We were taking off from Detroit, so pretty much we went up and right back down over Lake Erie. That was really cool to see, although for the most part I was looking straight ahead and trying to get the nonexistant air to work. After about 20 minutes we landed in Cleveland. President took us to his house where we were given a lot of information and papers, of which I am still trying to sort out. Then he handed out the mail.
The next day was Kirtland. Let me tell ya, there is a lot about Kirtland I never knew. The first stop was the Kirtland temple. Still it stands, as it was nearly 200 years ago, beautiful and bright. We were able to take pictures of the outside, so I snapped a couple. I'll figure out a way to get them to you. Inside we met with a representative from the Community of Christ church who owns the temple, and C Anderson, the man general authorities turn to whenever they have a question about Kirtland. At first I thought that was kind of funny, but after that day, there is so much going on with Kirtland now. They showed us the Priesthood rooms, where the quorums were instructed. The pews and stand are still the same as they were back then. Very little restoration has needed to be done. From there we went upstairs even further, to the upper rooms of the temple where the ordinances were established and where both the Savior and the Father stood at least four different times. We read several of the revelations received there, and sadly I didn't write them down. We headed downstairs to the general assembly area, and like at the dedication (sec109) we sang the Spirit of God. Somehow I ended up leading the music. Standing in front of the pew where Jesus Christ, Moses, Elias and Elijah stood, I looked up and saw the two huge windows, as the sun poured in. It was amazing. One day we'll have to go and visit, mom. I want to take you all there. I've heard there will be a big conference around Christmas time where we go to Kirtland and sing and other great stuff. After that we headed over to the Newel K Whitney store. In the store, C Anderson told us about all the prophecies of Kirtland. He pointed out that Kirtland is one of the places to be built up before the second coming. The first promise was SLC, which has had and is having its time. Missouri and Jerusalem are to come. But Kirtland's time is now. The work here is making leaps and bounds. Most of the areas around Cleveland are baptizing weekly. New Castle, my area, is coming along, but I'll go more into that in a bit. After learning about all these prophecies that are now being fulfilled, we went into the School of the Prophets. As President told us of the revelations had in that room, read the stories of that room, he left us to commit ourselves.
I love it out here, this work is so exciting. Already I have seen a change in these people. The last couple days have seen my first baptismal commits. We have two investigators who decided to make this huge step. We are working with about six other families, some of them are pretty close. The members are starting to help us out more, coming out to teach with us and even visiting the investigators on their own. We are fed almost every night by less actives. So many of them have said they don't come to church because they didn't think anyone cared. We are teaching them about the blessings the temple brings. Temples are something that not many people understand around here. Only a handful of the active members have ever been, and most of those have only gone once. It is such a great thing to teach a family that has avoided church for 10 years, that they can be sealed to their wife/mom who has long since passed away. There is an investigator, one that has committed to baptism, whose brother is seeing the difference in her. He told us the first time we met him he didn't believe in God, or at least he didn't think he cared. But last night she told us, with tears in her eyes that her brother was asking questions and even said that he believed in Christ. And how much greater a blessing it was to tell her that as she is baptized, and as she lives her life, her brother will grow to have that same desire, as well as the rest of her family.
That is why I am out here. To declare repentance to the people, so that they might have joy, happiness and peace in this life and in the life to come.
So I guess that's it for now, I'm going to go make some more stories to tell you for next time. Tell Melissa thanks for the package, those cookies didn't last long at all.
Love,
Elder Newey
10/17/11 #2
So I really did try to write you last week, but the computer shut off
before I could hit send. Instead I wrote you a nice long letter, so
you should get that sometime this week.
Here's last weeks letter, I'll go answer your questions in a minute.
Hey Mom! I only have a quick minute today, but I wanted to say I love You!
Sounds like you guys have had a house full, I don't see that too
often. There is one family we teach, they are mostly less active, but
they love the elders. They always feed us. The grandpas motto is
that if we leave hungry its not because there wasn't food, and let me
tell ya, they stick to that.
Tell Melissa thanks for the package, the cookies are all gone though.
It was really nice to get that note from her, and Taylor, and the
picture from Michael, that was neat.
The work is going good, the found around five new families to teach
this week, now we just need to figure out how to keep them all
interested and baptized. They are all great people. The branch is
really starting to come around too. We've done some work with the
Branch President, and have started getting a few more members to come
teach with us. We even have dinner appointments every night this
week, its great! There are great things happening here, the Spirit is
really working on this area. Including us, already I've learned so
much, and can see a lot more I have to learn. I love it though, every
minute of it.
I hope grandma does make it there, that would be good. I still need
to write them back. I think I tore off half their address though.
Thank you by the way for your letter, I should have a chance next week
to get back to you on that.
One cool story real quick before I'm kicked off. There is a family
that has been taught by missionaries for over a year now. A single
mother and her two little kids. Well the mom has a pretty hard time
with all the things she is trying to overcome, but really wants to
change. She came to church and her son was able to be part of the
primary program. He loved every minute of it. He didn't know what
the words were, but we still stood and grinned, and came in when he
could. Each time we would shake hands he would thumb wrestle. A week
or so ago this kid walks around his street with his Book of Mormon,
reading to kids and teaching what he knew of Christ. He even made a
name tag that said "Elder Brian" He decided it was too hard though
because nobody wanted to listen. We gave him a candy bar anyway.
We're excited because we get to start teaching him the lessons because
he turns 8 on Thanksgiving.
Love, Elder Tanner Newey
before I could hit send. Instead I wrote you a nice long letter, so
you should get that sometime this week.
Here's last weeks letter, I'll go answer your questions in a minute.
Hey Mom! I only have a quick minute today, but I wanted to say I love You!
Sounds like you guys have had a house full, I don't see that too
often. There is one family we teach, they are mostly less active, but
they love the elders. They always feed us. The grandpas motto is
that if we leave hungry its not because there wasn't food, and let me
tell ya, they stick to that.
Tell Melissa thanks for the package, the cookies are all gone though.
It was really nice to get that note from her, and Taylor, and the
picture from Michael, that was neat.
The work is going good, the found around five new families to teach
this week, now we just need to figure out how to keep them all
interested and baptized. They are all great people. The branch is
really starting to come around too. We've done some work with the
Branch President, and have started getting a few more members to come
teach with us. We even have dinner appointments every night this
week, its great! There are great things happening here, the Spirit is
really working on this area. Including us, already I've learned so
much, and can see a lot more I have to learn. I love it though, every
minute of it.
I hope grandma does make it there, that would be good. I still need
to write them back. I think I tore off half their address though.
Thank you by the way for your letter, I should have a chance next week
to get back to you on that.
One cool story real quick before I'm kicked off. There is a family
that has been taught by missionaries for over a year now. A single
mother and her two little kids. Well the mom has a pretty hard time
with all the things she is trying to overcome, but really wants to
change. She came to church and her son was able to be part of the
primary program. He loved every minute of it. He didn't know what
the words were, but we still stood and grinned, and came in when he
could. Each time we would shake hands he would thumb wrestle. A week
or so ago this kid walks around his street with his Book of Mormon,
reading to kids and teaching what he knew of Christ. He even made a
name tag that said "Elder Brian" He decided it was too hard though
because nobody wanted to listen. We gave him a candy bar anyway.
We're excited because we get to start teaching him the lessons because
he turns 8 on Thanksgiving.
Love, Elder Tanner Newey
10/17/11
Sorry I missed you guys last week, I tried but the computer didn't
want to cooperate.
So I'm doing great! We actually got two investigators to commit to
baptism this weekend. Great things are happening, we just have to
convince the members to keep the momentum going. There are a couple
more families we are teaching and they should commit here soon. Its
been a lot of fun, and I am loving every minute of it. Sadly the
library rarely has open computers, so I only have a minute, I have an
appointment in ten minutes. We are so busy, working with
investigators and less active members. Its great though.
Elder Newey
want to cooperate.
So I'm doing great! We actually got two investigators to commit to
baptism this weekend. Great things are happening, we just have to
convince the members to keep the momentum going. There are a couple
more families we are teaching and they should commit here soon. Its
been a lot of fun, and I am loving every minute of it. Sadly the
library rarely has open computers, so I only have a minute, I have an
appointment in ten minutes. We are so busy, working with
investigators and less active members. Its great though.
Elder Newey
10/10/2011
10/03/2011
Hey Dad!
I'm doing great! I have to admit though, it was a little different to be sitting in a little branch watching the little screen next to a guy with earrings for priesthood session. Its ok though because he will be baptized soon. Anyway, yeah I thought about you guys a lot too as I watched conference. Kinda weird, but every time they mentioned missionaries I knew you were all thinking of me. They were great sessions though, there were a lot of powerful talks.
I'm glad you got the pictures. That lady is great. She is from Mexico, and talks really fast. She is the Ward Mission Leaders mom and is very grandmotherly. She says she has to send pictures to all the mothers of their missionaries. She was pretty excited to hear back. and here I thought I wouldn't have to mow lawns any more for two years.
I realized after my last letter I haven't told you much about the stuff that really matters. So here goes. Since I've been here we have had around seven investigators who could be ready for baptism at any minute, if all goes right. Unfortunately not everything does, but that's ok. Right now there are three who are pretty solid. I mentioned earlier about the guy in earrings. We really have only taught one lesson, we've spent two other visits just answering questions though. He is living with a less active and she wants a temple marriage. During one visit he asked us how soon he can be baptized. I almost fell out of my chair. I didn't though because their six year old son was throwing books at me.
Then there is A. The mission office called early last week with a referral. She had been taught by the missionaries in Virginia and just moved into my area to attend college. He left off with saying, "they say she has been taught most of the lessons and is pretty much ready for baptism." We were pretty stoked. We called her up right away and set up an appointment for Saturday before conference. (Which by the way doesn't start till 12, which means priesthood session didn't get over till 10, do you know how late that is?!) So we stop in and just planned on asking her questions about where she is at and what she knows. As we talk, the conversation of course comes around to baptism. So I posed the question, and she agreed to be baptized. Now remember, this was the first time we had ever met her, so we were pretty excited, especially when she agreed to come to the session of conference right then.
These are two of the investigators, I'll try to start sharing more of these stories. It is truly amazing though, to see each and every day how the Lord has prepared these people, and how he has prepared me.
Thank you for teaching me how to work. I wish everyone had the same push you gave me to do better. That one thing helps out a lot. It is sad to see some of the missionaries who honestly don't know how to work hard, because they never had to. I am so grateful to know President won't have to worry about me because of what you have taught me.
Love,
Elder Tanner Newey
I'm doing great! I have to admit though, it was a little different to be sitting in a little branch watching the little screen next to a guy with earrings for priesthood session. Its ok though because he will be baptized soon. Anyway, yeah I thought about you guys a lot too as I watched conference. Kinda weird, but every time they mentioned missionaries I knew you were all thinking of me. They were great sessions though, there were a lot of powerful talks.
I'm glad you got the pictures. That lady is great. She is from Mexico, and talks really fast. She is the Ward Mission Leaders mom and is very grandmotherly. She says she has to send pictures to all the mothers of their missionaries. She was pretty excited to hear back. and here I thought I wouldn't have to mow lawns any more for two years.
I realized after my last letter I haven't told you much about the stuff that really matters. So here goes. Since I've been here we have had around seven investigators who could be ready for baptism at any minute, if all goes right. Unfortunately not everything does, but that's ok. Right now there are three who are pretty solid. I mentioned earlier about the guy in earrings. We really have only taught one lesson, we've spent two other visits just answering questions though. He is living with a less active and she wants a temple marriage. During one visit he asked us how soon he can be baptized. I almost fell out of my chair. I didn't though because their six year old son was throwing books at me.
Then there is A. The mission office called early last week with a referral. She had been taught by the missionaries in Virginia and just moved into my area to attend college. He left off with saying, "they say she has been taught most of the lessons and is pretty much ready for baptism." We were pretty stoked. We called her up right away and set up an appointment for Saturday before conference. (Which by the way doesn't start till 12, which means priesthood session didn't get over till 10, do you know how late that is?!) So we stop in and just planned on asking her questions about where she is at and what she knows. As we talk, the conversation of course comes around to baptism. So I posed the question, and she agreed to be baptized. Now remember, this was the first time we had ever met her, so we were pretty excited, especially when she agreed to come to the session of conference right then.
These are two of the investigators, I'll try to start sharing more of these stories. It is truly amazing though, to see each and every day how the Lord has prepared these people, and how he has prepared me.
Thank you for teaching me how to work. I wish everyone had the same push you gave me to do better. That one thing helps out a lot. It is sad to see some of the missionaries who honestly don't know how to work hard, because they never had to. I am so grateful to know President won't have to worry about me because of what you have taught me.
Love,
Elder Tanner Newey
10/02/2011
09/27/11
I got your letters the other day from you and Dad, that was nice. Unfortunately they are in PA and I'm in a library in Youngstown Ohio. That is also in answer to your question, we have to fight our way in to the computers here at the library.
I did know about the fireworks, apparently there is the nations biggest firework factory or most prominent or something, I was going to tell Jacob eventually. As far as food guys I have already eaten out more than ever before, but just when we have a lot of meetings. I'm working in a branch (it will be a ward soon!! hopefully) so we don't get fed a ton, but usually twice a week. There are about four boxes of ramen though in the apartment, haven't broken into it yet. I can't believe you didn't make dinner, no way I would have let you go that long.
Tell Rylee I loved her letter, and I will write back as soon as I can. That's great with Dad's calling, can't say I'm surprised though. Congratulations with the house, hopefully it works out. I'm glad you got to go with some people in the ward to the broadcast. We were trying to figure out how to get an investigator to it, but it never happened. Its so weird working with a little branch. We are trying to get more help and get more members to be part of the work. Its funny how sometimes it feels like pulling teeth. While at the same time there are those few we are worried of burning out with too many appointments.
Well, sadly it is time to go, sorry this is late, we had a big tri zone awesome day at the Johnson farm yesterday, so this got bumped a day. I will talk to you all again next week.
Love,
Elder Tanner Newey
9/19/2011
9/19/2011
Hey Dad!
Yeah, I was sad I didn't get to talk to you, and then I got a letter from everyone else that night except you. I guess you did email though haha. I don't even know where to start. I am serving in the New Castle area, which is actually the only area in my mission in Pennsylvania. Pretty much they sent me as far east as they could. There is a little branch that covers quite a large area, and most of the members are less actives. There is a lot of work to do, and I'm excited.
Now for your questions.
How is Ohio?
Elder P is from Lehi, Utah. It's a little funny, my "father" is from Lehi, while I'm from Nephi. Haha. ok, but yeah he is really cool. He has only been out for three months. He just finished this new 12 week program for new missionaries that makes you ready to train at the end. We have fun, he's a great guy. Someday I'll send pictures. There is even one of my "lineage" that goes back to my great grandpa.
Yeah, I was sad I didn't get to talk to you, and then I got a letter from everyone else that night except you. I guess you did email though haha. I don't even know where to start. I am serving in the New Castle area, which is actually the only area in my mission in Pennsylvania. Pretty much they sent me as far east as they could. There is a little branch that covers quite a large area, and most of the members are less actives. There is a lot of work to do, and I'm excited.
Now for your questions.
How is Ohio?
I haven't spent a lot of time in Ohio, there are a few people we meet with who do live in Ohio, but we have to drive an hour to get there.
Where did you end up at?
New Castle, a small little town on the west end of Pennsylvania. Kinda weird to think I'm serving in the same state as you.
How was Kirtland? Awesome, there is no other way to describe it. I was able to sit in the room where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ manifested themselves at least four recorded times. I took some pictures of the temple, and then the whole group got one in front of the Newell K. Whitney store. Next week I'll try to figure out how to send all the pictures I've taken. In the School of the Prophets President (who is a great man by the way) had us commit to the Lord what kind of missionary I will be.
How was Kirtland? Awesome, there is no other way to describe it. I was able to sit in the room where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ manifested themselves at least four recorded times. I took some pictures of the temple, and then the whole group got one in front of the Newell K. Whitney store. Next week I'll try to figure out how to send all the pictures I've taken. In the School of the Prophets President (who is a great man by the way) had us commit to the Lord what kind of missionary I will be.
How was your flight?
About how you described it to me. I actually had two flights. The first one was fine, I was even able to read a little bit. Then we started descending into Detroit, but I made it to ground ok, a little queasy but ok. Then we had to run the length of the airport to make our next flight. They were loading up as I got there. This plane was a lot smaller, I couldn't stand up straight. The A/C was out, so that was fun. The flight was only about half an hour though, the plane didn't even level out. Sadly I wasn't able to get a good look at the lake, but it was huge.
What did you end up doing with your huge bag?
I just had them check the one anyway. I could have put some in a cardboard box but decided it wasn't worth it. I had to pay 115, but thats not too bad, I barely fit under the mark to pay 150.
How is your companion and where is he from?
Elder P is from Lehi, Utah. It's a little funny, my "father" is from Lehi, while I'm from Nephi. Haha. ok, but yeah he is really cool. He has only been out for three months. He just finished this new 12 week program for new missionaries that makes you ready to train at the end. We have fun, he's a great guy. Someday I'll send pictures. There is even one of my "lineage" that goes back to my great grandpa.
How is your mission president?
President Sorenson is great. He is definitely taller than I expected. His heart is completely in the work, and he knows what he expects from his missionaries. He is strict but at the same time can be a lot of fun and has a great sense of humor.
How has your first week been?
The week has been great. Unfortunately I'm almost out of time so I can't write any stories, but I will next week. I haven't even had time to write them down at all. It's been fun and a challenge. I love it. We found a couple new investigators and visited lots of less actives. There is a great guy in the ward who helps out a lot. and Guess what his name is? Uncle Dale. ok i've only heard a few people call him that, and he really is related to most of the people here, but he's great, he's probably met with us every day so far and has brought over lots of food and always has a story to share.
Well I'm out of time. I love you so much. I wasn't able to write Mom back, so tell her I love her too. gotta go
Elder NEwey
Elder NEwey
9/13/2011
9/13/11
The phone rang this morning at about 6:40. We have been getting a lot of fax machine calls lately, even one at midnight last night, and debated answering it. Jacob did, IT WAS TANNER! We quickly abandoned scripture study this morning. He's doing great. Had a 7:30 am flight this morning to Cleveland. He had to wake up at 3 this morning. Ugh. Hopefully he can catch up some sleep soon. He sounded great, very happy, anxious to be out there. His whole district is going with him to Cleveland, so same companion till he gets there anyway. He has a GREAT big suitcase, thanks Rob, so had to pay $115 in overweight charges. Oh well, guess we will figure something else out for the way home. Very, very happy mommy today.
9/07/2011
Last week in MTC
Hello again! This is the last time I will be writing from the MTC. I got my travel papers last Thursday, and I take off EARLY Tuesday morning. I'm supposed to be at the travel office at 4:00. Everybody kept telling me that after the first Sunday the time flies by. They were right, I can't believe I have less than a week here. The best way to describe it is the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days. My time has been great though, I've really enjoyed my classes and especially teaching the "investigators." Each time I meet with one I can't wait to get out in the field and really get to know the people of Cleveland. Even in these role plays I can see the difference, and feel the excitement as the investigator starts to understand and feel the Spirit. Purely amazing. The Spirit is constantly present, and there have been so many things to strengthen my testimony, yet not one single, great event. Just from simple things like the talks in mission conference or testimony in sacrament.
So yeah, I've been learning lots. My teachers are really emphasizing teaching by the Spirit and getting to know the investigator. One of my teachers is a Brother Scott Ellsworth from Carey, Idaho. Small world huh? The progress here is amazing, not just in myself, but in my whole district. It's crazy what a few goals can do. The schedule keeps me pretty busy, usually I head to the classroom around 7:00 and don't return to the residence hall until 21:30 or so. The whole 5:30 running thing didn't last long, someone had to stay in the room, so I decided I could sleep in a little. We've been doing a lot of pull ups though at night before bed. Usually I spend gym playing soccer, which is a little harder in converse, especially when the grass is wet. It is so much fun though.
Thanks for the package, all the extra food has helped a lot! Oh, and my district thinks you need to send more cookies next time, haha. It was a great surprise, along with all the other letters. It's nice to have something at the end of the night to read. Elder Allen has the same schedule as me, so I see him everywhere, we even went through the same session at the temple this morning. I was glad to see him around.
Glad to hear you guys are getting settled. I guess the Lakewood house hasn't sold yet then? Man, barbeque sounds good. How is school so far for everyone? Are classes starting to go OK?
Well, I have to go, I love you guys!
Elder Newey
9/01/2011
8/31/11
Here's his letter as far as I could decipher...almost need a Urim and Thummim. Names are probably wrong, but my best guesses. Enjoy!
Hey!
So I don't know where to start, so much has happened, and it sounds like things are going well down there.
First off, I'm having a lot of fun. The hardest part is trying to remind my elders to tone it down a little. There are no major problems, at least everyone gets along great. I love those elders, they are so willing to learn and go out and serve.
As far as what I do, I mentioned in my email I spend a lot of time in the classroom between studying, learning, teaching and having meetings. I have two teachers right now, Brother Ang and Brother Ellsworth. The first day I didn't have a teacher show up, one was in Singapore visiting family and the other is doing study abroad in Jordan. So Brother Marlowe and Brother Stay covered for a few days. But now things are starting to get settled. My district jokes that we are the forgotten district. We showed up to take care of a service assignment and once again nobody was there. Eventually I found the brother who was supposed to be in charge so it worked out.
Just got done with starting my laundry, it's a mad house in there, hopefully everything turns out. I'm still getting used to the whole prep day thing, and making the most of this precious time. Today has definitely been good though, to just step back and get myself sorted out.
The schedule hasn't been too hard to get used to. It helps that we are all trying to follow it. I've been waking up at 5:30 to go running with some of the elders, and it actually wasn't too hard. And yet I still have a hard time falling asleep. It's ok though, I don't feel tired much. Gym is also a great time. I finally went and found soccer the other night. The problem was most of the elders there had been playing together for at least a month.They wore me out pretty quick. Usually I just play 4-square.
One cool thing that is new is these investigators. Apparently the church hires people, (members, nonmembers) real people, to come and let the missionaries practice. I've done this twice now. I show up to the building, find the room, knock on the door, and start talking. The investigators don't break character, if it is a character. I teach two ladies, one a nonmember one a less active. So far I think Elder Romrell and I have done a pretty good job of inviting the spirit.
On top of these investigators, each of my teachers has taken on the character of one of their own investigators. It's interesting, one of my teachers has been home three months, so there we sit at the opposite ends of the spectrum. It is such a good thing they put us through that first, I learned a lot.
What is amazing to me is how well the spirit works. The second day, Bro. Marlowe had us teach him. Now, we had talked very briefly, and he pretty much left it all up to us, he didn't break character until after the closing prayer. But we did it. I feel that had it been a real investigator, they would have understood. Purely amazing.
That's not all either. Every once in a while I meet with other elders in my zone and we role playwith each other. I have done a lot of teaching, which is good, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable.
Within my zone, there are several missionaries, who are using American Sign Language, which has been really cool to watch. For the devotional the other night, two of the sisters did a musical number, both signing while one sang. It was great. I've tried to pick up on some of the language, but it's crazy. My zone leaders are actually three elders who all use sign language.
Elder Nielsen took off yesterday. I was a little sad to see him go, but I'm glad he gets to finally enter the field. We were able to get a picture before he took off, I'll try to send it sometime. It was so nice to see him around all the time and ask him questions, and just plain bugging him.
Yeah, that's about all that's going on here. The work is definitely going forth. I really appreciate all the letters.
Elder Newey
.
Hey!
So I don't know where to start, so much has happened, and it sounds like things are going well down there.
First off, I'm having a lot of fun. The hardest part is trying to remind my elders to tone it down a little. There are no major problems, at least everyone gets along great. I love those elders, they are so willing to learn and go out and serve.
As far as what I do, I mentioned in my email I spend a lot of time in the classroom between studying, learning, teaching and having meetings. I have two teachers right now, Brother Ang and Brother Ellsworth. The first day I didn't have a teacher show up, one was in Singapore visiting family and the other is doing study abroad in Jordan. So Brother Marlowe and Brother Stay covered for a few days. But now things are starting to get settled. My district jokes that we are the forgotten district. We showed up to take care of a service assignment and once again nobody was there. Eventually I found the brother who was supposed to be in charge so it worked out.
Just got done with starting my laundry, it's a mad house in there, hopefully everything turns out. I'm still getting used to the whole prep day thing, and making the most of this precious time. Today has definitely been good though, to just step back and get myself sorted out.
The schedule hasn't been too hard to get used to. It helps that we are all trying to follow it. I've been waking up at 5:30 to go running with some of the elders, and it actually wasn't too hard. And yet I still have a hard time falling asleep. It's ok though, I don't feel tired much. Gym is also a great time. I finally went and found soccer the other night. The problem was most of the elders there had been playing together for at least a month.They wore me out pretty quick. Usually I just play 4-square.
One cool thing that is new is these investigators. Apparently the church hires people, (members, nonmembers) real people, to come and let the missionaries practice. I've done this twice now. I show up to the building, find the room, knock on the door, and start talking. The investigators don't break character, if it is a character. I teach two ladies, one a nonmember one a less active. So far I think Elder Romrell and I have done a pretty good job of inviting the spirit.
On top of these investigators, each of my teachers has taken on the character of one of their own investigators. It's interesting, one of my teachers has been home three months, so there we sit at the opposite ends of the spectrum. It is such a good thing they put us through that first, I learned a lot.
What is amazing to me is how well the spirit works. The second day, Bro. Marlowe had us teach him. Now, we had talked very briefly, and he pretty much left it all up to us, he didn't break character until after the closing prayer. But we did it. I feel that had it been a real investigator, they would have understood. Purely amazing.
That's not all either. Every once in a while I meet with other elders in my zone and we role playwith each other. I have done a lot of teaching, which is good, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable.
Within my zone, there are several missionaries, who are using American Sign Language, which has been really cool to watch. For the devotional the other night, two of the sisters did a musical number, both signing while one sang. It was great. I've tried to pick up on some of the language, but it's crazy. My zone leaders are actually three elders who all use sign language.
Elder Nielsen took off yesterday. I was a little sad to see him go, but I'm glad he gets to finally enter the field. We were able to get a picture before he took off, I'll try to send it sometime. It was so nice to see him around all the time and ask him questions, and just plain bugging him.
Yeah, that's about all that's going on here. The work is definitely going forth. I really appreciate all the letters.
Elder Newey
.
8/31/2011
The first e-mail!
I was so excited today when I opened my e-mail and there was a letter from Tanner. Wednesday must be his p-day. We drove to Spanish Fork today to send him a package. The UPS store has same day delivery to the MTC, so, of course we have to take advantage of this time. Here's his e-mail....
Hey guys!
How is everybody? I finished all the letters last night, and thank you guys so much, it was great to have that at the end of the day. Unfortunately they are all back in my room, so I will probably just write a hardcopy letter to you later today.
So I'll try to remember all I can here. After you dropped me off I almost felt like I was thrown into a tornado. I was going around in circles as I was directed all around campus and to my classroom. I spend about eight or so hours in that classroom, the bulk of it with a teacher. Everything has been an adventure so far, every day has something new. Exciting would be the best way to describe the whole thing so far.
I have a great district here, I love these elders, they have such a strong spirit. Especially my companion, Elder Romrell. He is a great guy, with an expansive knowledge of the scriptures. Where I can give a vague description and can find a few scriptures, he has them memorized word for word, as well as the reference.
Last night was the big MTC devotional. People have been saying all week how a member of the Quorum of the Twelve come about every six weeks, and it has been well over two months since one has visited. So everyone felt this was the week, and as we were singing in walked Elder Holland. His talk was powerful, especially as he bore his testimony of missionary work, and how much it meant to him.
Being district leader has been interesting, I am definitely learning a lot. Luckily the elders are great and don't need much help from me, they are all more than willing to be the best they can be. I've enjoyed it though because it gives me a focus.
So far I have started teaching four investigators, two are my teachers in the roles of one of their converts, the others are people the church has hired, and for all I know could very well be an actual investigator. After the first time with one of the church hires I felt such a relief, my companion and I had been able to bring the spirit in and the investigator enjoyed our company.
Well, I am almost out of time, I will send a better letter later today.
I know this church is true, and that I am doing the Lord's will. I love this work.
I love you guys,
Elder Newey
8/27/2011
FIRST LETTER!
We were so excited to get our first letter from Elder Newey today.
Hey everybody!
So I've survived day two and things are going well. I am alive and well and I know this is where I am needed. The spirit is so strong, it seems to fill the air. Maybe that is why it is so hot, haha. ok, so it's not bad, the food is good (don't worry mom, I'm eating more fruits and veggies than ever before), the teachers are great, and all the elders are very welcoming. So yeah, I'm having a lot of fun!
Lance, or I guess, Elder Nielsen found me last night. He is doing great, and it was good to get all caught up. Lots of cool stuff happening.
Elder Newey
ps I'm the new DL
Hey everybody!
So I've survived day two and things are going well. I am alive and well and I know this is where I am needed. The spirit is so strong, it seems to fill the air. Maybe that is why it is so hot, haha. ok, so it's not bad, the food is good (don't worry mom, I'm eating more fruits and veggies than ever before), the teachers are great, and all the elders are very welcoming. So yeah, I'm having a lot of fun!
Lance, or I guess, Elder Nielsen found me last night. He is doing great, and it was good to get all caught up. Lots of cool stuff happening.
Elder Newey
ps I'm the new DL
MTC
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