12/12/2011

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.

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.

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

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

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