Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Kenosha is on FIRE!

"It's been an amazing week here in Kenosha. We are kinda stressed with the busy week we have ahead of us, but the Lord has blessed us so much! Miracle after miracle this week! It's incredible", Sister Tanner said. Clearly, her week was nothing less than amazing! She is anxious and excited for the coming week!

The Missionaries decided to forgo their usual sporting activities on Monday in exchange for mini golfing! They even brought one of the investigators in their ward along for the fun! "I'm terrible at golf, but it was fun", Sister Tanner said. Later that day, Sister Tanner had a miracle moment! Her and Sister Reed decided to tag along with the Missionaries to go help a family in their ward move. When they got there, it was obvious that practically the ENTIRE ward was there to help! There was no room for them, and they didn't want to be in anyone's way. So instead, they walked across the street to the Bishop's house. The Bishop's wife was watching all the children of those helping with the move. Sister Tanner and Sister Reed helped her with the children. The Bishop's wife told the Sisters that she wanted to talk to them. She told them all about this amazing experience she had giving a friend of hers The Book of Mormon. Right then and there, the doorbell rang. It was that exact friend! "So we got to meet her! It was awesome. This lady is totally prepared for the gospel! I know Heavenly Father needed us to be there to meet her. It was so cool", Sister Tanner said. What a perfect experience!


District Meeting on Tuesday was all about "The Doctrine of Christ". "Our district leader always uses weird analogies and drawings of car engines and I never have a clue what he's talking about, but other than that, it was super good", Sister Tanner said. After the district meeting, it was time for exchanges. Sister Tanner went to Racine, Wisconsin with a greenie, Sister Escobar. "She's awesome. We had a blast together and worked really hard. She was like, wow we never get this much done in one day. So hopefully our exchange motivates them to work a little harder. It was good though. We got to teach their investigators who are getting baptized soon, and they are awesome", Sister Tanner said. 


Wednesday was a fun day in Racine! Sister Tanner was able to meet with a recent convert from Kenosha, that moved to Racine shortly after her baptism. Everyone thought she had fell off the face of the earth! Sister Tanner's ward was happy to hear that she was able to meet with her in Racine. The Sisters there are going to start meeting with her on a regular basis. So wonderful! She ended her time in Racine by volunteering at a thrift store. "I got to hang clothes for awhile. It was fun! It felt like my first job at Bows and Arrows", Sister Tanner said. What a great day in Racine! Once she got back to Kenosha, she was able to go see the 9 year old boy she has been teaching. She wanted to have an "epic fun lesson" with him since it was his birthday! This lesson really was "epic"! "So we planned this whole lesson at the church with basketball and teaching the Sabbath Day Holy and the 10 Commandments. It was so fun. We had a bunch of other members bring their families and so he had a blast! Then we brought ice cream for him to celebrate! His mom said he was waiting all day to just be able to go to the Church for this lesson", Sister Tanner said. What a fun birthday lesson! Sister Tanner is so creative! That night, the Sisters went to Institute. Sister Tanner learned some fascinating information! "I found out that Ishmael in the Book of Mormon is a descendant of Ephraim! What the heck? I never knew that! I knew that Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh, but I learned that both Ephraim and Manasseh were in the Americas. So cool", Sister Tanner said. What a fun Wednesday!


During weekly planning on Thursday, Sister Tanner prayed hard for new investigators to teach. Her prayers were answered immediately! "Then miracles happened! We were able to get ahold of a lot of potentials and set up appointments, it was great", Sister Tanner said. Heavenly Father truly does answer prayers! Also on Thursday, Sister Tanner was able to go over the baptism questions with the 9 year old boy she has been teaching. He knew them all! "Such a smart kid", she said. That night, the Sisters went to the Young Women President's home. They are coming up with ideas on how to teach the Young Women, and introduce "Preach My Gospel" to them. "We are so excited! We told them some ideas we had for the mutual activity that's going to be a Missionary pump up, and then ideas we had for activities for them to invite their friends too and be the Missionaries. The YW Presidency love us and can't wait to work with us more. They also invited us to come to YWs during church once a month to be able to get to know the girls and help them want to serve Missions. I love Young Womens", Sister Tanner said. The Sisters ended their day by teaching one of their investigators. She had two, 16 year old girls over at her home while they were there. Sister Tanner started to talk to them, and they both ended up being very interested in the Church. They want to learn more! "New investigators! Prayers are answered! I don't think it's a coincidence that we found 2 young women right after our meeting with the YW leaders", Sister Tanner said.


On Friday, Sister Tanner volunteered at the Shalom Center. Afterwards she participated in National Custard day! It was only $1! So awesome! Then she had another amazing experience! "We had an awesome church tour with this guy "J". It's crazy! He was a former investigator. I was here on exchanges in like November when we found him and contacted him on the street. I didn't even remember it was him until I saw him! We saw his name in the area book on Thursday and called him and he was super ready to start taking lessons. He's way cool. Our whole lesson he was like, "I feel like there has been something trying to stop me from learning about the LDS church, so I know it must be something worth while learning about." He felt the spirit so strong and he committed to start reading the Book of Mormon", Sister Tanner said. What a miracle! Truly a reassurance of God's perfect timing. That evening, Sister Tanner went to the Church so that the young boy she is teaching and his older brother could play basketball with the Elders. They even brought friends with them too! A family from the ward was there cleaning the building, and had sons the same age as them. They all started playing basketball together. "They had a blast playing basketball together! It was a good day", Sister Tanner said.


Sister Tanner enjoyed a wonderful correlation meeting with a Brother from their ward on Saturday morning. It went really well! That day was also the birthday party of the 9 year old boy! Sister Tanner had so much fun! It was great being able to interact with his nonmember and less active family members. After the party, the Sisters drove around contacting like crazy! They got a lot accomplished, including a lesson with the recently baptized Sister. She was baptized a week ago, and is doing awesome! She is studying the "True To The Faith" booklet and had some great questions for the Sisters. Sister Tanner ended her night by going to an open house Wedding Reception for the son of a family in her ward. It was their dinner appointment for the night, and they had no idea it was a reception! It ended up being a lot of fun, and Sister Tanner met a lot of people!


5 investigators attended Church on Sunday! So incredible! One of the Bishopric came up to the Sisters after church and said, "This is the most missionary work I've ever seen in any ward I've ever been to." "He is so right! Kenosha is on FIRE", Sister Tanner said. After church, Sister Tanner taught some amazing lessons! She taught the recently baptized Sister (pictured above) about Missionary work. She was even given her own Preach My Gospel! She is so excited to be a member missionary! Then Sister Tanner had the opportunity to teach the two, 16 year old girls whom she met earlier in the week. "They were mad they couldn't come to church, because their ride bailed on them last minute. We taught them the Restoration and they loved it! They said they feel really good about it and they said they want to be baptized! Yay! We are so excited for them! These are amazing young women", Sister Tanner said. Lastly, they had a lesson with the Sisters and the 9 year old son. "We taught the Law of Chastity but made it super kid friendly and basically just talked about temples and looking forward to temple marriage, and not dating until we are 16", Sister Tanner said. It went really well! What an amazing day, and a rewarding week! Heavenly Father truly does answer our prayers. When Sister Tanner prayed for a new investigator, little did she know, multiple investigators would come her way. In just a couple days, she now has potential baptisms! If we are diligent and faithful in our prayers, they will be answered.


Sister Tanner's Testimony

"It's been an amazing week. The Lord has prepared so many people here for the gospel. I love that we are so busy helping others come to Christ. I know the Lord is blessing us for our diligence and efforts here. I feel like the Lord has answered a lot of my prayers lately. I am getting better at recognizing his answers as well. Sometimes he answers immediately and sometimes he wants us to wait patiently. I've come to be able to trust that God will always answer and it's up to us to follow his guidance or listen for his promptings. I love you all so much!"

"The ultimate source of empowerment and lasting acceptance is our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ. They know us. They love us. They do not accept us because of our title or position. They do not look at our status. They look into our hearts. They accept us for who we are and what we are striving to become. Seeking and receiving acceptance from Them will always lift and encourage us."
-Elder Erich Kopischke of the 70

Love always,
Sister Karlie Marie Tanner








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