I Am So Happy

Mom,

Holy crud you like to write! I feel like that lady from the first Despicable Me, (I love reading...) 

Thanks for the advice about focusing on my mission. I will be sure to continue doing what I'm doing :)

But anyways, me and Elder Witham are doing great. We walk a lot and teach a lot. We have too many people we are teaching to talk about all of them. But I'm doing well, I'm healthy, the members feed us a ton and I am so happy.... and I speak Portuguese.

Love Elder Tagg

The following was an excerpt from his awesome companion's email who is so upbeat in his letters.  So thankful this guy is Nathan's companion...

"Our Bishop is on fire, really young and brand new and has a ton of awesome Ideas for missionary work. he has already given assignments in the ward for almost all of our investigators and we are now starting to do a missionary themed activity every 15 days! That is unheard of, that is what every missionary dreams of having. I hope that I can make the best of this great blessing.

So pretty much the whole week we hadnt been able to see our super amazing investigator cleiton, which is really bad because we are supposed to keep in daily contact with our people with baptism dates. But because he works a ton and we had a bunch of meeting this week we didnt get to. anyway we go to his house on saturday and to be honest i was a little worried because we hadnt talked to him in so long. But I said a prayer in my heart as we were walking in that we could both teach by the spirit and the member that was with us could say the right things. ANd of course that prayer was answered, as always, incredibly spiritual lesson where we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Raimundo, the member was PERFECT for him. so the craziest part of that visit was when I asked him if he had read and prayed about the book of Mormon. He told me that he had been praying to know if this is the right path for him and that one day he was at work (works in a hospital) and he was at the desk when a random girl walks up to him and gives him a note that read "God loves you, and will always give you what you need when you need it" (that wasnt a very good translation but it more or less said that) HELLO!!! answer to prayers are real! He showed me the note and he said that when he read that note he felt the spirit very strong. So did I. I have no idea who that girl was and neither does he, but I know that she was acting as an instrument in Gods hands. It was so crazy that that happened on that day because that morning I had studdied about the book of mormon and recommitted myself to rely on the promise that moroni gives " And by the power of the Holy Ghost, you may know the truth of all things" If you felt the spirit while reading that, that is the Heavenly Father testifying to you that these things are true. I know God doesnt lie and he always will inspire to do good. I know that His Sons Church is good.

SO to end off that story, I will tell you something more that I learned. SO we go there on sunday with the stake president to visit him, Turns out that he doesnt live in our are....ahhhhhh!!! we cant teach him anymore and we might not see his baptism. He lives at the very edge of our area and one side of the street is our area and the other is a different ward. I was very down at first that I wouldnt get to see him baptized but I recieved comfort through the Spirit that this work was never about me, it was all about helping Cleiton. The other elders are great and I am so grateful that he has found the true church and that he will one day be able to return home to his father in heaven. 

We also had a lot of our other people at church that need to get married. WE have a marriage and baptism date for one of them for the 20th of febuary. really awsome family named gilliarme and nice. Love them and they have such a funny kid named samuel that is about the same age that oliver was when I left. They are really excited to be baptized as well."

We also got  this letter and these photos from Nathan's mission president

January 13, 2014

Dear families of missionaries,

We are sending a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year note to you, along with some photos of the Christmas Conferences we had the week before Christmas.

We had missionary training, a scriptural Christmas program with amazing musical talent, a delicious lunch and other yummy treats, and a service project.  It was a joy to be with these delightful missionaries.  We always marvel at their great abilities, their many talents, their willingness and diligence in this work, and the goodness of their lives.

We love this sacred season when we remember the birth of our Savior.  Our hearts are filled with gratitude to be able to serve together with your sons and daughters, sharing our testimonies of Jesus Christ and the restoration of His gospel to the earth. 

We hope you have had a special Christmas and that you will have a wonderful new year.  We pray constantly for our missionaries and for you, their families.

With love and gratitude,

President and Sister Tanner

He's not in this one 

Where's Waldo? Can you see him?