Pointing People Toward The Temple

Sister Tanner's Mission is flying by too fast! When you are doing the Lord's work, you lose track of time! "I can't believe the month is almost over already. Time won't slow down at all", Sister Tanner said. 

Sister Tanner had a fun day on Monday! The Senior couple who works in the Mission Office was moving back to Las Vegas. The Missionaries all held a going away party for them! "Love them", Sister Tanner said. "The office won't be the same without them". They will definitely be missed! The remainder of the day was spent playing sports and having Family Home Evening with a wonderful family from the ward! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Sisters

Tuesday was a hard day for Sister Tanner and her companion. Most days are amazing, but Missionaries are human too. Sometimes they experience hard days as well. It is through these hard times, that they grow as people and as Missionaries. Sister Tanner knew that a heartfelt prayer would bring peace to their hearts and the spirit to their souls. "Me and Sister King went to the bathroom and lost it! I realized that it's times like these that we need our companions. We stood in the bathroom and cried and hugged. Then we got down on our knees (yes we are still in the bathroom) and said the most heartfelt prayer ever because we needed to be able to move on. Heavenly Father helped us. He strengthened us to be able to pull ourselves together and go back. I know this sounds like we were being babies, but it was a really hard day and we were really struggling and just like always, Heavenly Father was right there helping us through it", Sister Tanner said. She is such a great example of how prayer can comfort us, and lift our spirits when we need it most. After the Sisters heartfelt prayer, they got back to work hard! They were able to contact and visit a lot of people! Oh, how amazing  the power of prayer is! Sister Tanner said that the harder they worked, the less they cared about the troubles from earlier. They ended their day with dinner and a lesson with the woman who is being baptized! Another Sister from the ward came as well! It was a wonderful night!

Sister Tanner taught a lot of lessons on Wednesday! Her favorite was with an investigator, and a family from the ward. The family has recently been reactivated after over 20 years. It is amazing that they are inviting the missionaries over to share the gospel with one of their friends. Sister Tanner loved being in their home and feeling the strong spirit they have! "If absolutely nothing comes of that investigator, it was all worth it to hear the family, whom after 20 years of being inactive, bear their testimonies of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. It strengthened my testimony to know that it's possible and that everything happens in the Lord's time. They are awesome and have such powerful testimonies", Sister Tanner said. What an incredible story! It is amazing at how much this sweet family has progressed in the gospel. They are now missionaries themselves! Sister Tanner ended her day by having dinner with a family from the ward. The husband, who is less active, committed to read the Book of Mormon every single day! Sister Tanner is so excited for him!

Thursday was a very productive day of planning, and contacting people. A sweet Sister from the ward was kind enough to drive them around. It is much easier to get work done when they don't have to wait around for each bus! Sister Tanner is so grateful for those who take the time out of their busy lives to help them in so many ways! After a successful day, Sister Tanner received a call from the man they have been teaching at the library. He had been praying to find out for himself if the Church is true, and he received his answer! He knows the Church is true! "He said he was praying and then someone turned up the heat", Sister Tanner said. She couldn't be more happy for him! She is so grateful for mormon.org pass out cards, and even more grateful that he contacted them! 

"We had a good day of contacting referrals and finding new investigators", Sister Tanner said of her day on Friday. Finding new investigators is always exciting! The Sisters got lucky and tracted what seemed like "the nicest street in America"! Sister Tanner said that every person they talked to was so kind and sweet to them. Kindness is contagious! The Sisters ended their day with a wonderful meal from a sweet Sister in their ward.

On Saturday, Sister Tanner taught a bunch of lessons! It was yet another productive day! Sister Tanner and Sister King also prepared talks for Church, as they were asked to be back up speakers. Later that day, the Sisters had to go into a not so great part of town. They saw some scary things go on in front of them as they rode the bus. "Gotta love Milwaukee", Sister Tanner said! Luckily, the Sisters made it through the scary bus ride and had a wonderful night!

Sunday was a wonderful Sabbath! The lessons and talks were all about the Atonement and Missionary work! It was a very spiritual Sacrament meeting! After Church, Sister Tanner taught a lesson to the woman who is being baptized soon. She taught her all about tithing and fasting. "She loves it", Sister Tanner said. She can't wait to one day go to the temple! "It makes me so happy to see how far she's come and how much she has to look forward to! I can't wait to come back when she gets married in the temple. This is what Missionary work is all about! Pointing people toward the temple", Sister Tanner said. There really is nothing more important than going to the temple. That should always be our ultimate goal. The temples bring families together forever. Sister Tanner will forever bring blessings into generations and generations! Families can be together forever because of her and because she is bringing the gospel into their lives. That is Missionary work. That is what it is all about. How incredible! Sister Tanner is such an amazing Missionary! "I love my life", she says. "Everyday is such a blessing!"

Sister Tanner's Favorite Scripture of The Week:

Alma 31:31-35

31. O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.

32. O Lord, wilt thou comfort my soul, and give unto me success, and also my fellow laborers who are with me- yea, Ammon, and Aaron, and Omner, and also Amulek and Zeezrom, and also my two sons- yea, even all these wilt thou comfort, O Lord. Yea, wilt thou comfort their souls in Christ.

33. Wilt thou grant unto them that they may have strength, that they may bear their afflictions which shall come upon them because of the iniquities of this people.

34. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ.

35. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee.

Photos from last week when Sister Tanner visited the frozen over Michigan Lake. Gorgeous!

"She Said Yes"

What an unforgettable week Sister Tanner has had! "This has been probably the best week of my mission", she said. "Miracles and exciting things are happening." The wonderful woman whom Sister Tanner has been teaching, has chosen to be baptized next month! Sister Tanner is so excited and happy for this amazing decision she has made! Also, the sweet family that Sister Tanner was teaching when she left Prairie du Chien, is also being baptized on the very same day! Miracles truly are happening! Lives are changing, and families are being strengthened by accepting the gospel. This is what missionary work is all about, and Sister Tanner could not be more thrilled to be a part of it. 

Monday was a fun day spent at the Milwaukee Zoo! Sister Tanner loved being able to see all the fun animals! Afterwards, the Sisters had a lesson with one of their investigators. They went over faith, repentance, and baptism with her. Then Sister Tanner invited her to be baptized. "SHE SAID YES", Sister Tanner said. "She's so excited!" We could not be happier for Sister Tanner and this wonderful woman who has graciously accepted the gospel into her life. What a miraculous day! As the Sisters headed home after their exciting evening, they were delivered beautiful flowers from a sweet Sister who works in the Mission Office. It was the perfect ending to the best day!

Sister Tanner and Sister King worked with the Elders for a bit on Tuesday. On their way home, the Elders took them by Michigan Lake to see how it was completely frozen over! Sister Tanner said it was so pretty! Later that night, the Sisters had dinner with a recently reactivated family. They have started coming back to church after 20 years of being inactive. It truly is amazing to see the progression they have made in their life, and as a family. Sister Tanner just loves them! "They are amazing and the most fun people ever! We had a blast with them", she said. 

Unfortunately, Sister Tanner got really sick on Wednesday! She decided to go to the Mission home and ask for a blessing. "We had way too much to do and no time to be sick", Sister Tanner said. "I LOVE Priesthood blessings. In the blessing, I remember him saying that I would get a good night sleep tonight. What a blessing, because Tuesday night I didn't sleep at all! So grateful that Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need." We are so grateful for the power of the priesthood and the blessings that it brings to all of our lives! After her blessing, Sister Tanner and Sister King stuck around to see all the new missionaries as they arrived for the new transfer! Sister Tanner got to meet Sister Osmond. She is the niece of Donny and Marie Osmond, and is now serving in the same mission! "She's so sweet and gorgeous", Sister Tanner said. "So between her and Elder Erying and Sister Packer that are related to apostles, we practically have a mission of celebrities." 

Sister Osmond on the right.

After leaving the Mission home, Sister Tanner was able to push aside her sickness and work. "We went out and worked hard. There is no way I would have been able to do it without a blessing. We got a lot done and contacted a lot of people we have been trying to contact for weeks", Sister Tanner said. A mini miracle even happened! A couple that the Sisters had been trying to contact for weeks, seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth. It was near impossible to get ahold of them, and they had almost given up. However, they didn't. They dropped by and left a copy of "Restoration" on DVD for them. About an hour later, they received a text message from the wife who thanked them and asked them to come over on Saturday. "Such a blessing", Sister Tanner said!

Thursday was a great day of teaching for Sister Tanner. She was able to teach one of the inactive men she has been visiting with. She taught him about the importance of sacrament and attending church. "He loved learning more about his baptism covenant and he feels like he finally understands it", Sister Tanner said. The lesson went very well! After their lesson, the Sisters did a lot of contacting and weekly planning. They ended their day with a wonderful dinner and lesson with the woman who is being baptized! Sister Tanner just loves her so much, and always enjoys the time they share together. "She made us steak! So delicious! We taught her the Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong. She loves it", Sister Tanner said!

Friday was an amazing day! Sister Tanner had her interview with the Mission President. It went so well! "He asked me what changes I've seen in myself on my mission and my goals for the rest of my mission. President is Amazing. So grateful to have President Cutler as my President. He truly cares about us and the people we are working with", Sister Tanner said. She returned home to lots of mail from friends and family! She thanks everyone who takes time out of their busy lives to write her sweet cards! It means so much to her! That night, she was able to attend the Polish Community Center's Friday Fish Fry! It was a blast! She was able to meet with the community directors and talk to them about family history. She wanted them to know that their community can use the church library for family history research! How wonderful!

President and Sister Clark with their daughter.

Sister Tanner with the President's family.

Sister Tanner met an amazing man from Africa while riding the bus on Saturday. She taught him about the entire Restoration of the Church! How amazing! Sister Tanner also had a lesson with one of her investigators at the library. They invited him to attend a baptism with them that night. He came! "It was great! He loved it and felt the spirit", Sister Tanner said. That night, Sister Tanner finally got to meet with the couple whom they delivered the DVD to! It was wonderful for the Sisters to catch up with them. "He wants to take it a lot more serious this time and really study the Book of Mormon for himself"', Sister Tanner said of the husband. "They want to be baptized but want to gain a witness first." How amazing and exciting for this couple! I'm sure Heavenly Father is looking down with gratitude that Sister Tanner did not give up on this sweet couple. You can never give up. The Sisters ended their night with a fun game of marshmallow wars with a bunch of families in the ward! "I LOVE our ward", Sister Tanner said!

"Sunday was so good", Sister Tanner said. "The best 3 hour block of my life! I was just so spiritually fed! I love Church!" After the wonderful meetings, the Sisters had dinner with a bunch of friends from the ward. The woman who is being baptized was there as well! Sister Tanner was able to teach her the gospel of Jesus Christ in more depth. "She's amazing", Sister Tanner said of her. "She is so excited for her baptism. She was already starting to plan the logistics and wanted to make invitations and everything. She's amazing and I love her so much. I feel so lucky to be a part of her conversion and that Heavenly Father has trusted me with his precious daughter. It's amazing." It truly is amazing. What a wonderful Missionary Sister Tanner is. She is blessing so many lives, and changing them for the better. Even a family that she taught 6 months ago in Prairie du Chien, has now accepted the gospel into their lives. Share the gospel with everyone you meet, because you never know who is ready to hear it. Even if they are not ready at that moment, it could spark something in their hearts years later. We are all missionaries, every day, every hour, and in every place. Sister Tanner is the most amazing example of this! We are so proud of her.

Sister Tanner's Testimony

"This week has been so great! The gospel is so true and this work is the greatest blessing and brings more happiness than anything! I told President during interviews that the more I lose myself in the work, the happier I am. I truly am here to do Heavenly Father's work and be an instrument in his hands to help others achieve Eternal life. I love it! I love you all so much and miss you every day. You are in my prayers and thoughts. Read the Book of Mormon, be and example and share the gospel with everyone you meet! I love you!"

-Sister Karlie Marie Tanner

Staying in "STALLIS"

Sister Tanner had yet another amazing week! "What a fantastic week it has been", she said. "Truly a week of miracles and blessings, and now sunshine". 

The Sisters decided to forgo their usual sports activities on Monday for some much needed girl time. They enjoyed a wonderful lunch, and a fun trip to Target! They spent their down time baking cookies for families in the ward. Sister Tanner loves bringing treats to the members! That night, the Sisters had dinner with a family in the ward. They were able to teach them a lesson, which went very well! "We've been sharing the story of Abinadi with a lot of our members and they loved it, and had an "ah-ha" moment that they need to get out in the community to meet new friends they can share the gospel with. I think this is a huge problem for most members of the Church. Lots of members only hangout with and spend their time with other members, but we need to get out in the world and in our communities so that we can help them come into the gospel. We can live in the world, but not of the world", Sister Tanner said. She encourages everyone to be missionaries in their every day life, and to befriend everyone they meet!

Girl Day P-day

Companions and Best Friends

Tuesday was Training for the South Milwaukee Zone. They recently split the South Milwaukee Zone into 2, because it was so big! So now the Zone is quite smaller. "Our zone is pretty small now", Sister Tanner said. "But it's great because we feel like a family. I love all the Elders and Sisters in my Zone. There are some really great Missionaries out here! I have so much to learn from them". The training was amazing, and Sister Tanner received revelation about one of her investigators and was inspired for her area! After the training, the entire Zone went out for lunch together, since one of the Elders goes home this Wednesday! 

After the Sisters returned from their training, they had a lesson at the library with a man they had met months ago! Sister Tanner had met him while teaching someone else, and gave him a mormon.org card. Now months later, he called! He wanted to know the Church times for Sunday, and so the Sisters invited him to meet with them! "He has a strong desire to change his life around and follow Christ", Sister Tanner said. How amazing!

"Wednesday was the best day ever", Sister Tanner exclaimed! Her and Sister King both felt very prompted to go to 80th street to tract. As they were tracting, nothing seemed to be coming from it. They started to feel a bit confused and discouraged. Then out of nowhere, two girls came walking outside to their cars, so the Sisters went to go talk to them! One of the girls seemed so excited to see them. She said, "OMG I've been wanting to learn about you guys"! The Sisters were able to talk to the girls for awhile, and right after they left they even received a text from one of the girls! She said, "Still in shock I met you girls"! How amazing that Sister Tanner and Sister King could have such a positive impact on these young girls! Their light and spirit is contagious! "I know the Lord led us to 80th street to meet her. We are excited to start teaching her this week", Sister Tanner said. What a miracle! After their day of tracting, the Sisters had dinner and a lesson with one of their investigators! Sister Tanner has been so excited for this night, and it couldn't have gone any more perfect! "She is so cute! She made us the best dinner ever, and we had fun getting to know her. She has so many experiences the past couple months of getting her prayers answered, she knows all of them have led her to Church. She's the most prepared person I've ever met and probably ever will meet. We taught the Restoration and she kept asking questions that would literally be the next thing we were leading into. We asked her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon so she could know for herself that it's true", Sister Tanner said. She is so excited for her, and knows she will be baptized soon! She is so prepared and ready to accept the gospel into her life!

Thursday was a busy day filled with lots of appointments! Sister Tanner had a wonderful lesson with one of the less active members she has been working with! "It was a miracle", Sister Tanner said. "He's totally getting closer and closer to coming back to Church after 30 years". How amazing! The Sisters ended their day with a wonderful dinner with a fun family! They loved hearing all about the husband's mission he served in New York! He had a lot of fun stories to tell!

Sister Tanner attended a 12 week training meeting for her companion, Sister King. President Cutler's training was amazing! "You could really tell that his whole focus is to help us become converted ourselves, so that we can not only be effective missionaries, but go home after our missions to be effective members of the Church", Sister Tanner said. What a remarkable way to look at Missionary work. It's not just for 18 months or 2 years, but for a lifetime. The skills you learn on your Mission will help you to be a forever missionary! Sister Tanner was so proud of her companion, Sister King. She has become such an amazing missionary in such a short time. "The meeting made me realize how lucky I am to be companions with Sister King. We did a bunch of role-plays with other Sisters, and Sister King already knows what she's doing. I felt so proud! I wanted to scream, 'That's my companion'! I love her", Sister Tanner said. What a dynamic duo these Sister Missionaries are! They enjoyed telling all their crazy "bus stories" to the other Sisters who drive cars. "I already have a ton of 'mission stories' that I will tell the rest of my life", Sister Tanner said. We cannot wait to hear them all! That night at dinner, Sister Tanner and Sister King taught a fun lesson about Lehi's dream to about 10 little kids! She had so much fun, and the kids all loved it!

The transfer text was sent out on Saturday! Sister Tanner will be staying in West Allis along with Sister King! "STALLIS", Sister Tanner exclaimed! That is the Sister's nickname for the city that they have come to love so much! Sister Tanner is so happy, and excited for all the great things that will happen during this transfer! After hearing the great news, the Sisters had another lesson with their investigator from the library. Sister Tanner taught him about the Restoration. It went amazing! He is already praying about when he wants to be baptized! Later in the day they met a man at a gas station. Sister Tanner knows that she was supposed to talk with him! It ended up that he has cancer, and is currently going through chemotherapy. Sister Tanner knew his spirits were low, so she shared a short but sweet message with him. They ended by all praying together. He told them thank you, and how much he needed that! The spirit definitely led them to this man! "We decided that gas station contacting is GREAT", Sister Tanner said! 

 Matching PJs

"Sunday was great like always", Sister Tanner said. Their investigator whom they have been teaching at the library came to church! Sister Tanner was so excited to have him there! All of the talks in church were about missionary work! Sister Tanner loved the following quotes from the talks she heard.
"Sharing the gospel is not about mastering the facts, it's about mastering discipleship." 
"Missionary work is not something we do, it's what and who we are."

Sister Tanner had an amazing week! It is so incredible to hear about the lives she is changing, by bringing them into the gospel. She truly is shining through Christ's light! We all feel the blessings in our lives from her service. What an example she is to every single one of us!

Sister Tanner's Testimony

"I love every minute of this work. The Lord is blessing us tremendously for our hard work and mighty prayers. Miracles are real. I am so grateful for my mission and for the person I've become and will become because of it. I've been thinking a lot lately how much I've changed in the past year because of my decision to serve and everything I've learned while I've been here in Wisconsin. That is what the gospel is about, CHANGE. I've always been one to hate change, because it's a hard thing but it's the most rewarding when we change for the better. Every day as a missionary, we are trying to help people change for the better as they embrace the gospel and in turn, I've seen the biggest change in myself. I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father leading me here and allowing me to have the experiences and learn the things I have to bring about this big change. I love you all so much! I am so grateful for your never-ending support and love and prayers for me!"

-Sister Karlie Marie Tanner

Fun Photos from January and February

Sister Hancock

Birthday gifts from a sweet family!

Prank gift

FHE handouts

Weekly planning

Marshmallow wars!

District meeting

Saying goodbye to a sweet friend

CUSTARD!

Fun family

Funeral at a cathedral