MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WEEK 33 MONDAY DECEMBER 28 2015

Mission Christmas devotional with my Sisters!

My homies from the MTC.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas! My Christmas was definitely different but one to always remember! This week was a really fun week.

Oops! may have opened all of our 12 days in 1 day:)

Christmas Eve:

We had our Ward Christmas party and that was really fun! We sang an Acapella song with the Young single adults and ate a lot of yummy food!! After the party we got home and heard a knock at the door.. There was a man standing there holding a box of Chicken!! ahhah the Elders had ordered us Chicken for a Christmas Present. It was so funny!!~ I cried because I was so happy! 

Ward Xmas party fun! 

Santa is a little ghetto:)

Chicken makes me cry:(

Christmas Day:
We got up and opened all our packages up from our families then made a Christmas breakfast! 

Breakfast with my roomies on Xmas day.

Opening Christmas gifts!!

Presents from my family!

Winter clothes and letters are the Best!!

Then the other Sisters went to go skype their family and we got ready to call Grandpa! My companion and I sat on the floor, role playing how this conversation would go. Then I finally got the courage to press the call button and the first time he didn't answer! Then I called again and he answered!!! ahhh I talked to my Korean Grandpa!! It was short and sweet. He told me that he talked to my mission president and he knows my birthday is in January so he is sending me a cake! hahah that was it! But it was really great to hear from him and say Hi!

I stressed way to much for a 1 minute phone call:(

Then later that day we went to a Christmas lunch at an investigators Cafe.

Cafe with the most beautiful food. They instagram:)

 After we went to our other investigators house to drop off our present for her cute 5 year old daughter. Then we got on the subway to go to Downtown Daejeon for a proselyting activity. While we were on the Subway we ran into the Elders and they told us to get off with them. We got off and we stopped at a Hospital. The entire zone was there. There is a 17 year old member in one of the wards apart of our stake and he had a tumor so he has been in the hospital. So we all went to sing him a carol and bring him a Christmas present. As we walked in the hospital room, I felt the spirit just fill the room. There were 20 disciples of Jesus Christ surrounding this hospital bed singing "Silent Night". This moment truly represented the true meaning of Christmas. After the hospital we went to Downtown Daejeon for a Caroling Proselyting activity. We stood at the front of a bridge/shopping complex and set down our backpacks, pulled out our Hymn books and started singing. There were masses of crowds just swarming us watching a bunch of foreigners singing Korean. They all thought it was the coolest thing. So as they were watching us we would go up to them and introduce our church! It was a really fun way to spend Christmas!! 

The beautiful Sister Choir

kids are my favorite!

We are Sisters for life!

The Day after Christmas:
SKYPE THE FAM!!!!! wahhhoooo!!! It was soooo fun to talk to the family!!! Really gives you the boost you need until you can skype them again. ahah. I love you all so much and hope you had the best Christmas!!

my view

Picture with my family on Christmas day.

This week is transfers and this will be my first transfer to a new area. I am leaving my Greenie area:( But I know that I need to trust in God's plan for me and the revelation that Our Mission President receives. It will all work out the way it is suppose to! Thank you for all your support and love. I couldnt do this without you!!! Talk to you next week!!! 

A baptism from our referral to the Elders.

Happy day!!

Best companion any girl could ask for!!

I will be forever grateful for this girl. She has given me more JOY these past 4 months.

I love you SISTER KIM and will miss being your companion!

사랑해요
Sister Tanner

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

WEEK 32- MONDAY DECEMBER 21 2015

The glamorous missionary life..... forgot our umbrellas:(

We walk and walk

The countryside

Korean art makes me smile.

I can't believe it is already Christmas! That came so fast!! I cant wait until I can see you guys!! its going to be the best but probably really sad too:( It's okay we can do this!!! Its only one Holiday right?! ha I'm sorry you all have to speak in Sacrament right after Christmas! But the ward is going to love it! What better family to have up there on the Christmas Sacrament meeting! Wish I could be there!~ Anyways this week was a good week! We don't have a lot of investigators right now and so it's been quite hard on us because we constantly are out trying to tract and proselyte. And because it is sooo cold here right now our bodies are too happy right now. But other than that we are doing great!! This Christmas Season just makes me so happy!! I was reading the December Liahona/Ensign and there was a story that I wanted to share. When I read it, I really felt the spirit testify to me. Its called "A GIFT OF LIFE AND LOVE"

"My Uncle Ed has always has had an infectious love of life. Unfortunately, he also had a deficient pair of kidneys. For several years, Ed had been suffering of Kidney failure. Each treatments were painful and frequent. Each treatment wiped him out until the next one. The doctor finally told Ed that if he didn't get a new kidney soon, his body wouldn't hold out much longer. Although only one kidney is necessary to sustain life, Ed didn't want to ask anyone to donate one of theirs due to the risk that inherently accompanies any surgery. But there was no choice. Several close friends and family members were tested to see if their kidneys were compatible. Only one perfect match was found: Ed's Sister, Dottie- my mother.
On December 7, many of Ed's friends and family joined in fasting and prayer in behalf of him and Dottie. The surgeons who performed the operation were twin brothers. Even more interesting, one of them had donated a kidney to the other. Ed and my mother were impressed to learn that with each surgery, these two doctors did all that they could and then bowed their heads and left the outcome in the Lord's hands.
On the day of the operation, one doctor removed one of my mother's kidneys. As he sewed her back up, his brother carefully secured the donated kidney inside Ed's abdomen.

The surgery was a success, but it remained to be seen if Ed's body would accept the new kidney. The antibodies in his immune system were suppressed to improve his chances, so Ed had to be isolated in intensive care to protect him from viruses. Even after he was released, he had to remain isolated from everyone except his immediate family. On Christmas Eve, however, Ed received special permission to attend my grandparents' annual Christmas Eve party.
Wearing a face mask, Ed walked in the door, headed straight for Dottie, and enveloped her in a tremendous hug. As they embraced each other, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Everyone could feel the love emanating from them. A sister had suffered in order to give her brother the gift of life. It was a gift of love, a gift of sacrifice, a gift he couldn't provide for himself.
As I watched them, with tears streaming down my face, it dawned on me: this could be what it will be like to meet the Savior face to face. He did something for us that we are unable to do for ourselves. Only He, being divine, was able to endure a sacrifice so great that the law of justice would be satisfied. And only He, being perfect, was worthy to atone for the sins of all mankind so that the law of mercy could be extended to all who accept Him as their Savior.
As I savored these insights, I recommitted myself to do all I could to show my appreciation for the Savior and His sacrifice. I would strive to live my life as a disciple so that someday I might be worthy to enter His presence, embrace Him, and personally thank Him for loving me enough to make such a sacrifice."

As I read this story it really made me think of the true meaning of Christmas and what I would be like to personally meet our Savior. I love this gospel and all that it promises us if we stay faithful! I hope we too follow this authors experience and to recommit ourselves to do all we can to show our appreciation for our Savior and His Sacrifice. To always strive to live like Him. I love you all and CANT WAIT TO SKYPE!!! I hope you all have an amazing Christ Centered Christmas and remember that you have lots of love over here in Korea!!
xoxox

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

사랑해요!!!
Love,
Sister Tanner

"GOODBYE" to the GREEN GLOVES.

WEEK 31- MONDAY DECEMBER 14 2015

Decorating the Elders is the next best thing to a Tree.

I make them laugh.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Haha... Its our Xmas Tree

Finally got my burrito fix.

Dos Mas

Oh how I love you!

Happy in Korea!

Happy kids. Miss my little Bro.

Quick experience I wanted to share before we got off. Earlier this week we had to travel to a different city for our District Meeting. So as we were leaving our house we got in the elevator with a cute little Grandma. She was saying how cold it was and rubbing her hands. We all got out of the elevator and said goodbye to her. Then all of a sudden I ran up to her grabbed my green gloves out of my pocket and handed them to her. I will never forget the look on her face as she held the gloves to her heart and said "thank you". She then grabbed by hands and shook them. I will also never forget the feeling I had after we walked away. My whole body felt like it was getting this warm hug. I know that was the spirit guiding me to think about someone else other than myself. This is an example our Savior, Jesus Christ. The most selfless being. Always remember to look for opportunities to serve others around you. Even the smallest act of kindness can go a LOOOONNNNNNNGGGGG way.

I didn't need the GRINCH gloves anyways;)

Love you!!! xoxoxo

Sister Tanner

THE GREEN GLOVES, BREAKING THE WORD OF WISDOM and GETTING MARRIED...

WEEK 30- MONDAY DECEMBER 7 2015

안녕하세요 ❤❤❤
I hope you all had a fun filled week!! My week was quite interesting.. hahah. From the title you might be wondering what I am talking about! Well let me tell ya...

So I bought these bright green gloves from like the dollar store here because my other gloves had a hole in the finger. I thought they were pretty cute so I bought them but then as I started wearing them I kind of feel like the GRINCH.. hahah a little self conscious of my green gloves. Then as we were on the streets yesterday, the Elders call us and say they can see us from the other side of the street because of Sister Tanner's Green Gloves hahah. As we were walking we were talking to this cute Grandpa and he recognized that I was foreign and so he tries to speak English to me.. He says.. "HELLOOO" and then I proceeded to speak English back to him, he yells back.. "HELLOO" It was the funniest. Then I look down at his hands and he has the same green gloves as me so we exchanged this look and High Fived each other!^^ No words needed we were already best friends. haha THANK YOU GREEN GLOVES.


Yesterday we visited an investigator that has met with missionaries for a while now. She always likes to use her cute tea set and give us cheesecake. So yesterday she was like " ahhh its the fast sunday isn't it, you can't have my tea ㅠㅠ" But we had broken our fast and she was so excited to give us some food. So we start talking and then she all of a sudden grabs the cup out of my hand and says "THATS BLACK TEA!! I FORGOT YOU CAN'T HAVE THE CAFFEINE!! OH NO NO NO I AM SO SORRY!" HAHAHAH the funny part was that we didn't even realize it was black tea, and when we did my companion looks at the tea again and takes another sip!!! hahah.... i looked at her and was like what are you doing?!??! hahah she was like ahhh Tanner 자매님, I now know why its part of the word of wisdom.. its addictive!! hahahhahahahah oh man what an experience that was!

As we were walking home from that visit we said Hi to a lady on the street outside of our apartment and she was like "oh who are you? are you students?" and we introduced ourselves and what we are doing here in korea. and then she asked where we were from.. etc. I told her I was from America then all of a sudden she grabs me, linking arms, she starts running with me... telling me I am going to be her DAUGHTER IN LAW!!!.... I look back as my companion is running after me trying to tell her that she can't take me with her. I SURE DO LOVE KOREA!!! 

the sweetest companion there ever was.

This week was quite the adventure! Everyday being a missionary is so precious. I try to cherish every moment while being here! This week was also quite stressful and I needed to learn somethings for myself. We had interviews with our mission President and we were suppose to role play a principle in korean to him. He told me that I have been here on my mission for 6 months now so lets see how you do with the language. I was so stressed out that all language just left my mind.. and he told me that I am Half Korean I have the extra pressure on me. That got me thinking... ehh... not thinking... STRESSING. But I soon learned that is not my purpose. I can't worry about if I am not learning that language fast enough.. I am on the Lord's time and if I am doing all I can, the Lord sees my efforts. We finally got the English General Conference talks so I have been reading over those lately and here are some words that really helped me through this week...

"God sent you here to prepare for a future greater than anything you can imagine. That future, a day at a time, comes alive when you do more than exist; it comes alive when you live your life to fill the measure of your creation. This invites the Lord into your life, and you begin to let His will become yours."

"Don't give up... Don't you quit. You keep walking. Keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead... It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come."

"Because you are His child. He knows who you can become. He knows your fears and your dreams. He relishes your potential. He waits for you to come to Him in prayer. Because you are His child, you not only need Him, but he also needs you."

"In the work of salvation, there is no room for comparison, criticism, or condemnation. It is not about age, experience, or public acclaim. This sacred work is about developing a broken heart, a contrite spirit, and a willingness to used our divine gifts and unique talents to do the Lord's work in His way. It is having the humility to fall on our knees and say, "O my Father... not as I will, but as thou will." (Matthew 26:39)

I love that last one. "The Lord will qualify those whom He calls." Being on a mission so many of my weakness have been brought to first plate.^^ But through our weaknesses I know that we can be made strong. Without failure or a little bump in the road we won't appreciate our progress or how far we came because of the hard times! I am so grateful for this gospel and the plain/simple but precious truths it brings! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY AND I LOVE THIS GOSPEL!


Love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! Much love from Korea!!!
xoxox


태너 자매 ❤