Elder Tanner Rogers: Beneath a Man You Find....His Nucleus

Howdy,

Wow, what a week. It's crazy that I'll be flying out soon to Ohio, it seems like my time in the MTC has flown by. Sorry, this letter is a novel - I guess I had a lot to say.

Last Wednesday I had a really fun experience going to Tokyo Station with Grandma, my mom, Caden, Zac, Debbie, and Russ. It's one of those restaurants where they cook the food right in front of you. It was a super awesome experience. The food was delicious and it was really fun to see everybody. Another cool thing that happened there was that while I was leaving I saw my friend Tracen. He also ran for Riverton, and now runs for Weber State. I was pretty happy that I had decided to wear my Weber State XC shirt that day. It was good to talk to him for a little while. It was awesome.
Thursday I had a pretty fun experience during one of my classes. I made a comment and proceeded to jam out, whistling to the 2016 youth theme, press forward song. Anyway I looked up, and everybody was laughing but I couldn't figure out why, so I just kept jamming. It was a couple of seconds later that I realized that everybody was laughing at me because I forgot to turn off my mic. I was a little embarrassed about that but oh well. They were lucky to be able to hear a beautiful whistled rendition of the 2016 youth theme. I, like Tow Mater, am a pretty good whistler. Haha just kidding. At least I didn't start singing with my mic on like an elder in my district did.

Another crazy thing that happened this week is that we got a new morning teacher... AGAIN. This is our third one, and I was actually pretty happy with this one. The crazy teacher isn't there anymore, and this guy is pretty strict, but also hilarious. He likes to tease us and stuff but he also likes to get stuff done. He asks a lot of stuff from us. I thought I was busy before, but I had no idea. When he started our first class he said that we would suffer a lot in his class. He said some of us would probably cry, and we would all probably hate him by the time we were done with him. I was super happy about that and excited for the opportunity to learn. It didn't take long for me to learn that he was serious - I would suffer in his class, and although I was excited for the suffering and the learning, I quickly learned that you can't suffer and learn without the suffering part. One morning I was pretty stressed because I felt like I was falling behind and I was coming up short in so many areas. I prayed and during my prayer I kind of whined to God, telling him about how I felt like I was inadequate and overwhelmed. I went on for a while about the things that I felt I was getting wrong, and then I finally turned to him and asked what I should do, and if he would help me to be able to get all of my things done, so I could feel more caught up, and so I could learn what I needed. It was in that moment that I reached out for help that an idea for a plan popped into my head. This idea was about how I could better spend my study time. The more I thought about the plan, the less overwhelmed I felt, and the more excited and capable I felt. I know that God heard my prayer and that He knows how to help me, and each one of us. It has not been easy to get everything done, but nothing of value comes easy. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve God and to challenge myself in new ways so that I can be better prepared to serve those in Cincinnati.

One of the highlights from this week happened on Friday. While eating breakfast I flipped raspberry jam all over my white shirt. It was pretty bad, but in a way I was excited. Before my mission, my mom bought this stain remover she heard of through her Missionary Mommas Facebook group. It supposedly had magical powers that could take out any stain with ease. My time to put this bar to the test had finally arrived. It had done well with other small things but the big job was here and I was excited. Grandma had spray and wash, but I didn't use it because I wanted to see the true power of the bar. A lot was on the line. If the bar didn't work, we would have wasted 3 bucks on Amazon, and I would also have to throw away my shirt while still in the MTC. I prepared my shirt and put it into the wash, and I went to class, anxiously awaiting the results of my experiment. When I got a three-minute break I hurried to the laundry room and... it worked!! That Missionary Momma's Magic Mexican Miracle Stain Remover Bar really does have voodoo powers or something.

Also on Tuesday Hermano Guitierrez joined my class and I got to talk to him. That made me super happy. His "it's not adios it's hasta luego" proved to be true and I was so glad. That day I felt "super bien" y "muy fuego".

Today I drove all the way down to Riverton from Grandma's to get a cavity filled. I've had this appointment for a long time, but when I got there the nurse lady cleaned my teeth, and then the Dentist said that he wouldn't have time to fill it today. That was pretty frustrating. I also felt dumb going in there cause he's a pediatric dentist, and I'm too tall for all the chairs and stuff. I thought the humiliation would be worth it when they gave me a token at the end and I could get a bouncy ball, but it turns out the bouncy ball machine was broken and so I had to settle for one of the lame toys. Oh well, it'll be OK. Hopefully, I can find another dentist with enough time to help me before I fly out on Monday, or else I'll get it fixed in Ohio. He did give me two toothbrushes though so that was nice.

Make sure y'all get out and vote, but be respectful of others. We don't have to agree with others to respect them and treat them with kindness. Also when you vote you get a sticker. My sticker is not what I was hoping for though. It says "Utah Women I Voted" on it. Where's the "Utah Men" sticker? That's sexist. I'm offended haha. Anyway, go vote!

Have a great week!! I'm excited to write y'all from Cincinnati, Ohio next week!!

Keep Striving,

Elder Rogers