"What Faith Can Do"

This song reminded me of Sister Tanner. She has such steadfast faith in the Gospel and in her work as a Missionary.

Sister Tanner had a productive and positive week in Prairie du Chien. "The work is finally hastening, and she can see the fruits of her labors", as she puts it. Their week started on Tuesday, by visiting with one of the women whom they have been teaching. She is leaving, and also going through a hard time in her life. The Sisters have been such a positive influence on her life. She started crying when she realized that Sister Tanner would not still be in Prairie du Chien the next time she returns. Sister Tanner was so touched, and will miss her very much. After saying their goodbyes, the Sisters returned home to amazing news! A member of their branch, who is a wonderful Member Missionary had invited her friends over for dinner. She was able to talk with them, and they are ready and wanting to learn more about the Gospel. Sister Tanner and Sister Asper are ecstatic!

On Wednesday, Sister Tanner had Zone training. The meeting was on increasing their faith, and not loosing hope on finding people to teach. Sister Tanner said, "I had this DUH lightbulb moment, that I just have to be true to the faith that I have, and Heavenly Father will bless me after the trial of my faith." It's amazing what faith can do! Just like what the song says above. After the meetings, the Sisters were able to go on splits with one another. Sister Tanner was able to work in Madison with another Sister. That means a busy day full of appointments, because that city has so many people yearning to hear about the Gospel! She loves being in Madison! At one appointment, she met with a man who is investigating the Church. He is so prepared, and already planning his baptism! He told the Sisters that he wants to tell his children and grandchildren about the gospel, "because the whole world needs to know." Sister Tanner said, "That's exactly how we feel! That's exactly why we are here!" What an amazing moment for him to understand the importance of Missionary work. The Sisters also were able to visit and teach a Muslim family. It was fascinating for Sister Tanner to learn more about their beliefs as well, and how differently they view Jesus Christ than we do. She did not know much about it beforehand. After their meetings, they went to Church and taught a lesson for the Young Women's Mutual night! Sister Tanner loved working with the Young Women, and hopes to serve with them more one day. When their day was completed, they spent the night in Madison with the other Sister Missionaries. She loved all the Sisters, and loved working in the city that day!

View of Madison, Wisconsin

 

Thursday was a very special day, because Sister Tanner got to see Sister Newton, her first companion! The Sisters drove to the city of Oshkosh for the 6 week new Missionary/Missionary Trainers meeting. It was so exciting to be in the trainers meeting with Sister Newton, as not too many weeks ago Sister Newton was training her! They missed each other so much, and had a great time being able to spend the day together! They will definitely be best friends after their missions. After their amazing meeting, Sister Tanner and her companion celebrated Dad's Birthday by going to Chipotle for the first time there! They found one on their drive home! Yum! =)

 

 

Sister Tanner has been feeling prompted that she needs and wants to volunteer at Prairie Maison, which is nursing home near them. After praying about it, she feels like she really needs to be there. So on Friday, her and Sister Asper went and took a tour there! She was able to talk to the Activity Coordinator, and got the OK to do crafts, sing, and talk with the residents. She is so excited! They are planning on having Sister Asper play piano, while Sister Tanner sings. They are all religious there, so the Sisters are allowed to perform hymns! She has an amazing feeling about this, and feels as if opportunities to share the Gospel will come through this.

 

Saturday was spent at a going away party for one of their Branch members who is going into the Army! Afterwards, the Sisters worked on their weekly planning. They currently have a Zone Vision, which are the goals for their Zone. And a District Vision is in the works. So Sister Tanner thought it would be a great idea to create an Area Vision for more area specific goals. They prayerfully made one, and she is so happy about it. Some of the goals they created are high, but she knows they can be achieved. She also thinks it will be helpful for her companion in case she is ever transferred.

 

Sunday was the best day of her entire week! "Seriously amazing", she said. One of their inactive members surprised them and everyone else by attending church! Sister Tanner had prayed that morning before church that some of their less active members would have a desire to attend church, and one of them came! "The power of prayer is REAL", she said. So incredible! Then after Church, the Sisters went to one of the Branch member's homes for diner. It is the family whose friends want to learn about the Church. They were at the dinner too! Sister Tanner said it went amazing! The family is so prepared for the Gospel, and have been searching for a Church. The spirit was so strong during their lesson about the Restoration. They even read a little of the Book of Mormon with them. They committed them to read and pray about it. The member whose home this was at, was so essential in the lesson. She explained how the Gospel blesses her family, and how important that is. They seemed very family oriented which is exactly what the Gospel in centered around! The lesson was amazing, and the Sisters can't wait to meet with them later this week!

 

When the Sisters returned home, they had received a text message from a number they did not know. It ended up being a guy they had met and gave a Mormon.org card to. They give out these cards everyday all day with their number on the back. No one has ever called or texted them from that, until now! He is interested in learning about the Church, so they set up a meeting with him this week! Sister Tanner was so excited, she said she was jumping up and down in their apartment!

 

This week was so successful for Sister Tanner. Her faith in God's work is incredible. Even when times get rough, she just tries even harder. She knows that miracles can truly happen, and she just has to have faith that she can achieve her goals as a Missionary. And she will!  The song above has a wonderful message about faith, "When the world says you can't, I'll tell you that you can. I've seen dreams that move the mountains, hope that doesn't ever end, even when the sky is falling. And I've seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered. Broken hearts become brand new, that's what faith can do." Such a wonderful message of Faith! Here is Sister Tanner's testimony for this week.

 

 

 

"We are seeing the harvest of our hard work. People are prepared in this area. I kept just praying for Heavenly Father to help me keep faith that we will find them and some days, I wanted to say "never mind, no one is prepared in this area" but I KNOW there are and that the trial of my faith is over. The fruits are here and the work is moving forward. I am soooo very grateful for all your prayers. I feel them and I know that miracles happen. Heavenly Father's timing is everything and I am sooo excited to be able to teach these people and continue to do the Lord's work. I feel more and more everyday like I am forgetting about myself and truly doing the work Heavenly Father needs me to do. This work is incredible. I am so blessed to be apart of it. I love being a missionary. It's the best thing ever. I am so grateful for the strengthening and enabling power of the Atonement that helped me endure the trial and the feeling of discouragement I had last week. Heavenly Father knows what he's doing and he will lead us to the people that are prepared. I know that. I know that everything I teach is true. The gospel can change lives, it makes us HAPPY. I am soooo happy! I love it, I love it, I love it! Life is incredible! Keep working hard and inviting all your friends to learn more. You never know who the Lord is preparing. I love you all soooo very much. This gospel is the source of eternal and everlasting happiness and I hope you each are able to feel that in some way this week. We also received a training on the importance of reading the Book of Mormon everyday and we are encouraged to ask investigators, members and everyone to read the book of mormon for at least 10 minutes everyday. Soooo, guess what, I am committing each of you to do the same... Will each of you read the Book of Mormon for at least 10 minutes everyday? I know that if you do, you will feel the spirit more in your life and you will feel happier and be able to know what God's plan is for you right now. The book of mormon will change your life as you allow it to."