MTC week 6 - Stripling Warriors?

Last p-day eve in the MTC. We went to the bookstore and got these cardboard tube that you are supposed to ship like posters or documents in, but we bought 20 of them. So later that night while everyone was eating food, we went into our room, put shoe polish on our face like Indians, tied ties around our heads and stuck our missionary tags on the front of our ties. Then we went outside and started attacking people with our cardboard tubes. It was pretty funny and it turned into an all out war.

MTC week 5 - We have flight plans

This week was pretty normal. We have our flight plans. So we leave on August 7th we are going to Detroit, then to Hong Kong, then to Manila. So I'm going to be on a plane for a day and a half and then on a bus ride to Cauayan for basically the whole day. I'm guessing we are going to stay in manila at least one night, perro hindi ko alam. The language is great. We speak it 100 % all day here at the MTC.

We go to the temple Saturday for endowments and then every Sunday just for a temple walk. I love it here at the MTC, perro I can't wait to leave. fast Sunday's are a little weird. We have something called a missionary conference it's basically just like an extra devotional we have in place of lunch, perro besides that everything is about the same.  Oh yeah, my flight leaves at 3:30 AM on Thursday. We aren't going to sleep that night. I don't have any pictures this week, because we didn't really do anything. I'll get some more this week before we leave, perro that's about it from me for this week.

MTC Week 4 - The priesthood is real!

What's up yo?

Still at the MTC Kicking hard. Hadley I got your letter, but haven't had time to write back this week, but you should get a letter back next week. Have fun in Albuquerque! This week has been pretty insane. The first district that was in here before us just headed out. We had a great testimony and then sent them off at 5 AM the morning after. The next district leaving is just of 2 sisters and they will be leaving not this week, but next. A story about one of the sisters in that district though, On Sundays, in our district we offer blessings to anyone who wants it. So most of us got blessings and those 2 sisters in that district wanted blessings as well. Sister Bakley from Montana asked me to do her blessing and it was my first one, but I accepted. After the blessing of course she was crying, but I didn't realize why until the testimony later that evening. During the blessing I said I bless you with the faith to make mountains flee, the same as Enoch's. Apparently that week she had been studying the life of Enoch and she was praying and asking God for faith and strength. So I'm pretty sure the priesthood is real, but no big deal. It's just God's power on earth.

 

Sorry for not answering all your questions dad. I always forget when I get to the computer lab. There is only one other sister in my district going to Cauayan, but the district after us is weird they are only here for 5 weeks and they leave the same day as us. So I don't know why they moved my district up a week, but everyone in my district got moved up. In the district after me there are 3 other Elders going to Cauayan with me. Elder Reynolds, Elder Lott, and Elder Einfelt. 

 

 

The first Photo is a picture of what we do when we are bored in our residency halls. We get mattresses and we either just do dumb crap or we wait till someone goes in the vending machine room and then we all run in with hug mattresses and block the doorway so they can't get out. It's pretty hilarious.

 

 

​I also seen Jonathan on a daily basis.

 

 

 

And more Pictures. The first one is a game of russian roulette with a cocky sister from across the hall. Basically you have 1 raw egg and 5 hardboiled ones and you just pick an egg and smash it on your head. The first one to get the raw egg loses. Of course, I won.

MTC week 3 - P-day Eve

​This week has been basically the same as last week. the only difference is our p-day eve this week was epic. A bunch of elders in our zone are about to head out and so we all brought all the food we have out on a table and we just had a MTC style party. Its pretty sad to see these elders go because they were basically the ones who trained us and welcomed us to the MTC , but I'm excited for them to head out to the Philippians besides that everything else has just been exactly the same. My pictures aren't uploading today so I can't send any of those. I think it's just the computer that I'm on. Oh yeah if you get a chance you should just send more food. I ran out last night and I need some more for this weeks p-day eve. Oh yeah I forgot to tell you, I told my companion Elder Ivins that if his girlfriend didn't send me a package that he couldn't marry him. I said that jokingly, but he put that in his letter and of course about three or four days later I got a package from her. just with beef jerky, snickers, and a Pepsi, and a note that said "Now you have your package so keep taking care of Elder Ivins. That's all I have to say today.  Jk I switched computers and now pictures are up. That first one is a part of our food for p-day eve.

Also I'm in the Dan Jones building and I thought that was pretty funny.

and here's the last picture I have this week. It's just a picture of our district including our sisters. Sister Dahl and Sister Hamblin. and of course I'm blinking. So from left to right Thats's Elder Staheli, Elder Ivins, Elder Me, Elder McBride (Our current District leader), Elder Garate. and then Sister Hamblin and Sister Dahl on the bottom.

MTC 2nd Week - Comps, District & Zone

I don't know if you have gotten any letters from me but, I've sent two. My experience here has been like no other experience I've ever had before. The spirit here is so strong and I have great friends here that are irreplaceable. I guess I'll kind of go through and describe who my companions are.

Elder Ivines: He's from Blanding, has a girlfriend that he's been dating for four years, I don't remember the name of the high school he went to, but he played football, and basketball in high school, he's tone deaf, but probably one of the nicest kids I've met. Elder Staheli: From St. George: played football and did choir in high school, has a girlfriend, but they have only been dating a few months. So Elder Ivins is on the right side, Elder Staheli is in the middle.

 

 

The one on the right is Elder Brown. He is probably the most nice, caring kid I've met here. He's from Compton California. He had heart surgery when he was 5 and his grandpa gave him a blessing and he said that if he survived he would serve a mission and he says he never wanted to serve a mission, but he said something changed and he just felt like he had to come. and I'm glad her did he pushes all of us harder than we have been pushed before. The one on the left is Elder Soifua. He is one of our zone leaders and he is cousins with JJ. He is a pretty good guy. I like him.​

 

 

This one is kind of blurry, but the Elder on the left is Elder Lucido. He's in our zone. He Is full Filipino bit he grew up in New York and didn't know a word of Tagalog before he came here. He is probably one of my greatest friends here. He is way funny. The one in the middle is Elder Dichens. He is a pretty funny kid that spen a year in Austria through and exchange student program. He is our other zone leader and he has some good stories.

 

These are the other 2 Elders in our district. Elder Garate and Elder McBride. Elder Garate is from Reno Nevada. He has a different sense of humor that's just as funny, but he thinks our humor is "Retarded". Elder McBride is impossible to get a picture of because his nose is always in the books.

 

 

Our zone does this pretty funny thing. Whenever we have cameras we run up to random missionaries and yell 'Make some noise' and then snap a selfie. So here are a few shots I got on our temple walk and then last night at the Fourth of July celebration.

 

 

​ Well thats all I have to write at the moment.

Love,

Elder Tanner Swensen

​

 

 

1st week in the MTC

 

Hey Fam,

     

Made it here fine. I have a letter on the way. My P days are on Saturdays so I'll be on from around 8:30-9:00. The MTC is a lot easier than I thought it would be. They have Everything scheduled so you know where you are supposed to be at any given time. Besides p-days. This is my first p-day but all we have done is eat breakfast and do laundry. We are going to hit the gym later and play some basketball. Thats probably the thing that makes the MTC so easy. You have a TON of time to just sit around, prepare, and relax. I only have classes for about 6 hours. The rest of the day is companion study, personal study, language study, and gym time. Last night we taught our first lesson sa Tagalog. The first part of the lesson was decent and the last part was awesome. We understood what he was asking us and we were able to respond accordingly. the language is pretty easy. It's coming a lot quicker then any other language I've learned. Also, I was put in a trio so I have two companions. Could you get me Logan's address that would be great. Also if you could get Adam and Sacs Address that would be great too. 

Love,

     Elder Tanner Swensen

This is a picture of my room.

 

The Call: Holy cow it's here already!

Tanner submitted his papers on Wednesday April 23, 2014.  Two weeks later he received his call on May 7th.  Of course, he didn't want to make a big deal out of it.  He only wanted his immediate family, Adam, Zach, and Aaron there for the opening.  No Facebook or Instagram posts were allowed.

Elder Tanner Shane Swensen,
You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Philippines Cauayan mission. 

You should report to the Provo Missionary Training on Wednesday July 2, 2014.  You will prepare to preach the gospel in the TAG-A-LOG language.

This was a complete shock to us all.  Never had any of us guessed that he would go to the Philippines.  He took German in high school and we just had a German exchange student so maybe Germany, high possibility he could have stayed stateside (New Mexico Navajo Nation), or maybe South America.  The most we knew about the Philippines was we had some super nice Filipino ladies in our Ward (and boy were they excited when they found out). 

But the bigger shock was that he was leaving in 8 weeks.  Tanner did not own a suit let alone any missionary clothing at all.  We had encouraged him to get his packet in quickly and Susie had been praying that he would leave soon, but we never imagined in 8 weeks.  Yannick, our German exchange student and Tanner's very good friend, was coming to visit on July 12.  We thought we would at least have that time, but it wasn't to be. 

We started to get some things here and there.  Tried to get Tanner to get his paper work done.  For some reason he could never get his passport and visa photos right (pictures in street clothes, pictures with his beard, pictures with his glasses on, pictures with his collar stuck in his tie).  Finally we just took the best of what we had.

With about 4 weeks to go we still didn't have a lot of his clothes and were starting to feel the pressure (just his parents not Tanner).  Then we got a phone call from our Stake President.  The church office had called and asked if Tanner could report one week early on June 25th.  Of course he accepted and we (mom & dad, no Tanner) hit the outlet stores and completed his shopping in one weekend. 

In three more weeks he was ready to go.  On June 25th, we woke up, packed his bags, and were ready to go.  We stopped in Orem and said goodbye to his older sister Britt and his younger sister Hadley who was at a soccer camp.  This left us time to grab lunch and still have time before he was to report at 1:30.  But Tanner was ready to go!  He passed on lunch and had us drop him off around 12:00.

Mom's prayers were answered, the Lord provided a way, and our oldest son was ready and eager to serve!

The Call!