May 17 2011 - first call from SLC and second 90 minute phone call from LAX airport
He is really excited to be going for a change to the Guatemala MTC.
Here are some questions we asked:
How many Missionaries slept in your room? Normally there are 4 missionaries per room, but there was just myself and my companion so we had lots of room which was good.. plus I had the little christmas tree I found and put in there.
How many Missionaries are traveling with you? - There are 5 elders and 2 sisters traveling to Guatemala with me
Tanner told us that he really likes an “Elder Moon” from Provo Utah and they have become quite good friends. Elder Moon is also going to the same mission as Tanner. He also really likes Elder David Limblam from Mesa and they plan to get together after their missions.
He has gotten mail from 3 friends, Laura Payne, another girl, and Parker Steele. Mail is like gold he says.
He told a funny story about a meeting they had one day. In the meeting, was a very good looking Australian Sister missionary going to Temple Square. All the missionaries that knew of her thought she was really hot. The Australian sister missionary happened to be sitting beside Tanner at one meeting, and she had her legs crossed and was swinging her foot a little. Every time she swung her foot it would hit Tanner's pant leg slightly. This went on for a while and Tanner said she didn't realize she was doing it, so Tanner moved his leg further away. Then Tanner felt a rubbing of a foot up and down the back part of his leg but couldn't tell who was doing it, as he couldn't really see the Sister Missionaries leg anymore and he didn't want to make it really obvious by bending over to see. He felt very embarrassed thinking what the heck is happening, I'm a Missionary (and I guess his face showed it) He eventually moved his leg away, and then after the meeting he told his fellow missionary buddies about it. They started laughing because it was Elder Moon's foot that was rubbing up and down the back of Tanner's leg, to make him think it was the Sister Missionaries. Tanner totally did think it was the Sister Missionaries leg so felt really awkward about the whole thing. They all had a good laugh.
Homesick at all? - not really
Were you ever hungry at the MTC? No, I could eat whenever I wanted, the food was really good and I have gained 4 pounds
Do you keep your MTC companion in the Guatemala MTC as well? Do you know? - don't know, have no idea
Did you give anything to Bancrofts for Gedlamans to bring back of stuff you didn't want to take to Guatemala? - Yes a small box of stuff
How are your clothes holding up? - one pant hem coming out, I will need more socks and my brand new suitcase wheel's broke, so its like pulling a suitcase with one square wheel. (dang that thing wasn't cheap!)
How is the spanish coming along? Pretty good, excited to get more immersed in it in Guatemala
How much overweight was your luggage and what did it cost? One bag only was overweight, it was 70 pounds and cost only $50.00 and it will go right through to Guatemala. The other bag was 50 pounds
They have caffeine free diet coke and coke in the MTC, I sometimes drank the diet coke but missed my Dr. Pepper so thanks for sending me some in my packages.
Did you sleep well at the MTC? - yes the beds were really comfy and I fell asleep immediately every night.
What is the Language learning program you do in the MTC? - its called TALL, Technological Assistant Language Learning – done on the computer
How many teachers did you have – 2 – Brother Roman and Brother Bob Shilineyounger(sp?)
Have you been writing in your journal every day - yes
What were some of your spiritual highs? - hymn singing was good, its hard to say, cause so much of it is spiritual all the time. Every day we sing “Scatter Sunshine” in spanish.
They sang hymns always in spanish
There were only 12 elders in my District, and I was the only Canadian in both my district and zone, so I get teased a lot all in fun.
There is a guy traveling on the same flight as us that works for the Deseret News and he is going to Guatemala to do a documentary on the welfare of the church in Guatemala.
Are you happy? - yes
Are you glad you went? - yes, it would have been worse not to go.
Did you have a haircut yet – yes, last Thursday
Close to Christmas time, please send me a little fake Christmas tree (unless I can find one down here)
Last Fireside we had a member of the 70's come, Cecil O. Samuelson
He told about a fireside where they asked one of the Missionaries who was a skilled musician to come and entertain them with some songs. He started playing Phantom of the Opera type Vampire or Haunted House music really loud.. It was very strange, then a member of the 70's got up and said, “and I heard you also know this tune, and mentioned it” and then the guy played another song that was almost rock and roll. Seemed totally inappropriate but he got standing ovations every time from everyone including all the members of the 70's who were there. It just seemed so odd, cause the music he played seemed really out of place and inappropriate for a church meeting. Tanner thought it was really strange but funny.
Next contact will be from Guatemala!
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