E.R. visit & singing video

From  Dec 9, 2017:

Hey Momo!!

Holy SMOKES this has been quite the week! Bwah! It was so exciting and crazy! 

So our friend Emmanuel approached us at church and said: “Hey me and my family want to be baptized in December. Can we do that?“ I was like: “... yes. Yes we do that here.“ :D woot! He’s awesome. I don’t think it’ll happen in December, but it’ll happen soon! That was a great surprise. 

See mom?  I do try to eat healthy, and I cook!

Besides that, we had the craziest exchange with the zone leaders, and it was so stressful! Me and my wonderful friend Elder Johnson had an exchange, and like everything went wrong! We went finding first, and that was cool! We talked to one guy who ended up meeting with them! We talked about how we need to stop talking about good things and just do them. We also talked about the meaning of Christmas and how it’s been degrading over time. His name was Benjamin. We eventually had to give him our number, and he promised he would call. (People say that a lot but never do it) and guess what? HE CALLED! Boom! After that everything went wrong. We went to our appointment, but there was so much traffic! We got there 40 minutes late and figured out he didn’t have anymore time. :( then we left to our next appointment and had to park in the city, which took forever, and then the Zone Leaders missed their appointment because we were late, and then we missed our next appointment. There’s nothing I hate more than missing appointments as a missionary. It was so bad. 

But then in the evening we met with our new investigator... his name is Freddy. He’s an older man from Africa who decided he wants to change his life. He asked us in the lesson: „so... what can you guys teach me, so that I can become like you?“ I was speechless! He’s just ready to take in the Gospel. Really cool. That was a great end to the day. 

On a lighter note, I’ve learned how to drive a stick shift. Our car got rear ended and we sent it in for repairs and they gave us a replacement car! But it’s manual... so that’s fun. I can drive it now! It just took me a couple times around the block to figure it out. It’s a big VW Transporter Van. 

We’ve started organizing transfers! I’m getting the hang of it now, but it’s so much work. We have to coordinate travel plans and tickets for every missionary in the mission. Guess what? Elder Ormsby is going to be a Zone Leader in Zürich! Wooot! I’m proud of my son. My MTC companion is also going to be my Zone leader now! Elder Scalese is coming to München. That’ll be so fun! 

And now for the grand finale. Don’t freak out, but I was taken to the emergency room today! 3 days ago I started having really bad back pain out of the blue. I was instructed to lie down the rest of the day and take some ibuprofen. I did. I woke up the next day and felt fine. I was still in pain, but I could do my job. Then the NEXT day (today)... holy smokes. I woke up and my back was on fire. I could barely move at all without excruciating pain in my lower back. I’ve never had pain like that before. It made me cry out if I moved the wrong way. I took a hint and called the mission doctor. He instructed me to eat breakfast and take ibuprofen, and see if it I proved after an hour. I couldn’t do anything by myself. Elder Valentine prepared my breakfast for me and I just laid there. It hurt to sit, stand, and lie down. I couldn’t walk without pain. I sat up to eat my breakfast and halfway through the pain just exploded. I cried out super loud and everyone rushed into the room. Needless to say, I took the pills and off we went to the emergency room. By the time we got there, the pills started kicking in a little bit. The doctor found that the muscles in my lower back were injured and inflamed. (Nothing to do with my scoliosis) he said it was from some kind of physical activity or sport that locked those muscles into place and pinched the nerves against my vertebrae. The muscles couldn’t relax themselves because of the nature of the injury. He said it’s not a bad case. He then gave me 3 shots in my back (ow) and instructed me to take it easy for a week, while taking ibuprofen and moving softly. So guess where I am?? I’m on the couch. I feel ok now. It’s still irritated, but the pain is nothing near where it was before. I feel good. :) so, crisis averted! But I’m getting ready for the two most boring days of my mission! (I can’t really do anything for 2 days.)

Laid up.  Have to rest my back.

Lets turn this into a spiritual thought. I’m so grateful that God has given it unto men in our natures to be inspired. All of our medical advances come because of this inspiration.  I’m grateful that he cares about us enough to let us experience that. :) in 1830 the patent office of the US was closed. The official records say: “Everything has been invented that could possibly be invented.“ that was in 1830. There has been more progress on this earth since the restoration of the church in 1830 than in all the time in the world before. Does God speak and inspire men today? Are the heavens open today? Yes. The patent office has been re-opened since, in case you were wondering. ;)

I also sang today after the hospital visit and a nap. We sang at the ward Christmas party. (Not for our ward) all the missionaries in München sang „Silent Night“ in German and I sang the first two lines solo. I love singing. I love seeing that something I can do can make people happy. Something i love to do. It’s also fun watching everyone pull out their cameras as soon as you start XD. It’s just a nice feeling. 

So that was my week. :) I feel great. I’m happy in the office and I feel like I’m making a big difference, no matter what I’m doing. That’s what it’s all about. The other people. If I’m impacting their lives for good, I’m happy. 

Im glad you guys had a good week! Finally got that tree up. :) can’t wait to see pictures! And I can’t wait for Christmas Skype!! Woot! My last Skype on my mission. *shudder* It’ll be nice to see you. I feel like more has changed in these months than any months before. 

Well I gotta go Mom. :) I love you so much. I feel your love and prayers every day. I feel a little more capable every day. That’s all I can ask for. 

-Elder Tanner Larson