Personal Revelation

"It's been an amazing week full of miracles", Sister Tanner said. The sun is out in West Allis, and she is able to forgo her boots for the first time in 6 months! Not only has the sun been bright and shiny this week, but the spirit has as well! So many miracles are happening all around Sister Tanner. "The lord is truly blessing us so much", she said.

Monday was such a fun day for Sister Tanner! She was able to teach the Sister who is preparing for baptism. The lesson was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. Sister Tanner is so excited for her, and knows she is so ready for the gospel! After their lesson, the Sisters went rollerskating with her! "Tons of fun", Sister Tanner said of their day!

Sister Tanner and Sister King attended their District meeting on Tuesday. This week their meeting was focused on following the spirit."Lots of personal revelation was received as my District leader taught me", Sister Tanner said. "It's crazy how much following the spirit can help us know what other's concerns or needs are. We don't know, but Heavenly Father knows and he can give us what to say to help them." If we are prayerful and have the spirit with us always, we too can receive personal revelation in our daily lives. 

After the district meeting, Sister Tanner was able to teach one of her investigators. She went over all the questions for baptism with her. "She's so ready", Sister Tanner said. So exciting! Then the Sisters went with her to the Church for Recipe Group. It was a fun way for her to meet more women in the ward! After their fun evening at the church, the Sisters returned home to meet up with the Sister Missionaries from Kenosha, WI. Kenosha is a beautiful city on the southern border of Wisconsin, touching Illinois.The Sisters came up to West Allis to go on exchanges with Sister Tanner and Sister King. That night, Sister Tanner left to go to Kenosha with one of the Sisters.

Sister Tanner had a wonderful time serving in Kenosha on Wednesday. It was a full day of teaching and visiting with less active members and recent converts. Although Sister Tanner has never been assigned to serve in that area, she is starting to get to know people there. She has had the privilege to go there on a few exchanges, and feels as though the people now know her there! While in Kenosha, she had the opportunity to volunteer at a food pantry. It was a very rewarding experience! She had a wonderful dinner of corned beef with an amazing family there! Corned beef is huge thing in Wisconsin, so she was excited to try it! Being in Kenosha for the day, was a great experience. Sister Tanner learned a lot!

On Thursday, Sister Tanner had an amazing lesson with a less active member. "He's making progress", she said. "We taught him how he needs to apply the teachings of The Book of Mormon." Sister Tanner has been trying so hard to help this man progress in the gospel! After their lesson, Sister Tanner and Sister King worked on their weekly planning. Sister Tanner loves staying organized on her mission by making a new planner for each month. Here is a picture of her new April 2014 planner.

For dinner that night, the Sisters were able to go with one of their investigators and ward members to a fun pizza place called "Organ Piper Pizza". "This guy sits and plays the organ the whole time and you can request sons and he will play anything", Sister Tanner said. "He played a bunch of Disney! We were freaking out! It ended up being such a fun night!" 

"Friday was the best day ever", Sister Tanner said. That morning, Sister Tanner had a lesson with the woman who is being baptized. She had it planned out perfectly, but when she got there she taught something completely different. "The spirit is amazing", she said. "It always tells us what they need to hear". Sister Tanner was led by the spirit to teach an entire lesson on daily prayer and scripture study. She hadn't come prepared for that, but taught the lesson with ease. It was exactly what the investigator needed to hear, and she told them that afterward. "I love the feeling of the spirit working through you like that", Sister Tanner said. What a powerful example of personal revelation! 

After the wonderful spirit led lesson, the Sisters continued to have a productive day. They had so much success contacting people. Sister Tanner met an amazing girl who told her, "I'd love to learn more about this!" "Those words came out of her mouth! It was awesome", Sister Tanner exclaimed! After more lessons throughout the day, the Sisters ran to their bus stop. They made their bus in perfect time! "Seriously miracles! Everything worked out on Friday because we had a super effective planning on Thursday. We had lots of things we wanted to do and didn't think we would have time to accomplish everything. Because we took the time to work out the kinks and ask members to give us rides places, everything worked out perfect, and we contacted every single person we planned to. MIRACLES!!! Effective planning = Effective day", Sister Tanner said. Planning effectively is vital in missionary work. Sister Tanner has grasped this so well! What an amazing day!

"Saturday was awesome", Sister Tanner said. The Sisters were at the church from 9 am to 9 pm. They got there early to help set up. Their Stake put on a big Workshop for Women's Conference. "It was amazing! We got to pick 3 workshops out of the 6 they had. We picked, 1) Finding Faith Through the Atonement, 2) Divine Qualities as Daughters in His Kingdom, and 3) Personal Revelation Through Scripture Study. All had amazing teachers and I learned so much", Sister Tanner said. After the workshops, the Stake put on a huge dinner for everyone! Then of course was the Women's Conference Broadcast. What an amazing conference that was! Sister Tanner just loved it! "I love that they are bridging the gap between primary and young womens and Relief Society. We are all daughters of God. My favorite part of the Broadcast was the video about the temple and how no matter what point in our lives we are, we are always looking toward the temple. I love it", Sister Tanner said.  (This video is featured at the beginning of this blog post.) Saturday was a wonderful day for Sister Tanner and all the women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. We are so lucky to have the knowledge that we are daughters of God. Sister Tanner's hope is that everyone can have that knowledge. 

Something happened on Sunday that touched Sister Tanner so much. One of the less active members that she has been teaching, came to church for the first time in over 20 years! "He loved it and really enjoyed it", Sister Tanner said. In addition to him, 2 of their investigators also attended Church! "Miracles", she said. The miracles didn't stop there either. After church, Sister Tanner was able to meet with the young girl she met earlier in the week. Not only did she get to talk to her, she was able to meet her entire family! "They are all so receptive to the message of the Restoration and they are the sweetest people ever. SO excited we found a whole family to teach", Sister Tanner said. She definitely met this young girl for a reason! After leaving their home, Sister Tanner realized she had forgotten her bus pass! Right then and there, a sweet Sister in their ward drove by. It was perfect timing! She stopped and saved the day! She was so grateful because she made it to her next lesson in time. Her and Sister King taught the women who is being baptized again. It is amazing how receptive and eager she is to learn more about the gospel! The Sisters taught her about following the Prophet. They explained to her all about General Conference, and she now plans to watch all the Sessions with them! After their lesson, the Sisters went to dessert at a member's home. All of the Elders were there as well. They spent the evening reading the scriptures together and discussing the signs of the Second Coming. "I love it! We had a blast", Sister Tanner said. One of the Elders shared this quote with them, "When Satan reminds you of your past, remind him of his future." "We are so blessed to know how things will end and how it will all turn out. As long as we hold fast to the rod, we will return home with our Heavenly Father", Sister Tanner said.

Sister Tanner had an amazing week of helping others come closer to their Heavenly Father. She is such a great example of using personal revelation in our life to share the gospel with others. If we are faithful and prayerful, we too can have the spirit with us at all times. Sister Tanner also encourages everyone to watch and enjoy General Conference this coming weekend. For those of you who may not know, it will be broadcast on BYU TV and also online. For more information visit www.lds.org.

Sister Tanner's Testimony:

"I love my life and this work. I'm so excited for General Conference! We read in Eph 4 that the Lord gives us prophets and apostles for the "perfecting of the Saints". Lets all open our hearts and minds this coming weekend to how we can come one step closer to perfection. After all. that's our goal, isn't it? It's only possible through Jesus Christ!"

Moroni 10: 32, "Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in hime, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." 

"I love each of you so much. Thank you for your prayers, I can feel them every day. This is truly the Lord's work. I know that each of us are instruments in the hands of the Lord for him to accomplish his work. I will feel close to you this weekend as we all gather to hear what the Lord needs us to know and do through the mouth of his prophets and apostles."

Sister Karlie Marie Tanner