Christmas Spirit.

From Dec 2, 2017:

Hi Mom!

Really sorry about the late email. I’ll tell you all about the crazy Pday in a second. 

Happy December!! Everyone got so excited when it became December. :) there’s just a special spirit about it. I feel like everyone starts thinking more about Christ. People are more open to talk about it. It’s a special time of year. And I get to Skype you guys finally again! For the last time on my mission... crazy huh? I would love to hear one of their songs. 

Woooh! Christmas package! Is there anything in particular you guys would want? I’m thinking of sending a few hugs home. Whoops, I meant to write: "sending a few things home.“ but I’ll keep it there cause it’s true too. We’re collecting all the Christmas packages from the missionaries‘ families and getting them ready to go. :) President will take them to give to everyone at the Christmas conferences. 

The weather is great! We have snow finally! We’ve had it almost a whole week, and it hasn’t all melted yet. It’s so pretty. It definitely won’t be like the snow back home though. Speaking of which, the chickens are hilarious! Are they going to stay outside all winter? Are they ok in the cold? 

I know exactly what you mean with the motivation. That kind of thing seems to happen to me in the winter time. I’ve never slept in on my mission, but man it is much harder to get out of bed when it’s so dark. It’s so much easier to get up with sunlight pouring through the window. That goes for working out, too! But it’s the same for me. If I keep working out and moving, it’s a lot easier to do everything else. A wise missionary once said: if you do sports in the morning, you will be a better teacher, finder, studyer, and missionary. 

I do indeed hear from Jacob! I used to hear from him every week. Now it’s less, but he sounds like he’s doing great. He always has such funny stories to tell.

Well this week was quite the rush. I’m trying to learn everything so fast! Elder Wojciechowski is teaching me all the office stuff but it’s tough. He doesn’t really show me things, he just explains it really fast, and his method is more: read the manual and do it yourself. It makes sense, because I’m trying to learn and work while he also has stuff to do, so he can’t really spend all his time trying to help me out. It keeps things interesting! It’s fun. :) we have transfers coming up so we need to coordinate all of that, which is a huge project. 

We had 3 really cool events happen this week that I wanted to talk about. 

The first one was earlier in the week. We received a referral from the sisters to visit a man named Fernando, who referred himself online to receive a Dutch Book of Mormon. Me and Elder Wojciechowski went for it, and left with a prayer. The whole trip we felt super excited, and the spirit was really strong. We got to his door and said a prayer. As he opened the door we knew instantly that he was special. He opened it, saw us, and a huge grin spread across his face. He shook our hands and said: it is so great that you are here, please come in. We sat down and learned that he used to be an investigator, but had been lazy in his investigation, and the missionaries stopped their visits. He said he recently felt a sense of urgency to get to know God again. He found the Book of Mormon and referred himself online. (He didn’t actually speak Dutch, but he wanted to learn) he’s from Peru. He said he wants to stop being lazy, and come to church every week. It was so cool. We talked about church attendance and bore our testimonies. It was a really nice evening. We practically floated back to the car. It was the happiest I felt all week! 

We also met with a guy named Emmanuel. He’s from Africa, and has a young family. We had the opportunity to teach him the Restoration, something I love doing. It was one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve had, where the Restoration was discussed. As I gave testimony of Joseph Smith‘s calling as a prophet, I felt the spirit testify intensely of its truth. He looked up into my eyes and said: I know it’s true. 100%. I know. Now we’re planning his baptism. 

The third was the reason you didn’t get your email when you were supposed to... we got a call from President and he told us that there was an American woman who was in the final stages of cancer, and a blessing was requested for her from a friend. We called them and introduced ourselves, and they immediately asked for assistance. The couple had just moved to a new apartment and there was a lot that needed to be done. We showed up, and the husband greeted us. His name is Richard. He’s from New York, and he is one of the nicest, most sincere and hilarious people I’ve ever met. He reminded me of our family a bit, and he was so easy to talk to. We were all friends within 10 minutes. We helped him move a lot of heavy boxes and couches. It was so much fun! We had a great time, and we learned that he’s a chiropractor! He’s one of only 200 in Germany. And guess what? He gave us all free adjustments! It was so nice. As he was explaining all the amazing things Chiropractics can accomplish, my mind turned to his wife. She is so sweet, and being in their home was really special. I was thinking how hard it must be for him. Here he is, an able chiropractor. He can solve so many problems. He even fixed a blown disk with it! But he can do nothing for his wife... but he’s still so cheery. He told me the world just needed more gratitude. It was a really special visit, and I hope we see more of them soon. 

Well Mom, that’s about all I have time for! Sorry this was a little short. I love you and miss you! :) can’t wait to talk to you guys! Also, thanks for the little things you say at the end of your emails. Stuff like: be strong, be brave, be kind. I use those as a base for what I want to accomplish during the week. 

Also, everyone tells me I can reapply to BYU Provo without going to school first, so I’m going to give it another go and apply to Idaho at the same time.  Woot! 

You’re the best Mom in the world, and you and Dad are the best parents I could’ve ever asked for. I’ve been more than blessed in my life. I’ve been spoiled. Thank you for doing what you have for me. I love you! 

- Elder Tanner Larson