Feb. 4, 2015 - Portugal or Not?

So over the last week we have received several emails from Tanner keeping us abreast of his travel plans.   Here they are in the order we received them.

1/29/2015
Big news here! I got reassigned to the Santa Rosa, California mission!! Apparently everyone going to Portugal or brazil in the MTC didn't get their visas so theres been like 100 reassignments. Anyway I leave on Tuesday morning at 4:30 am and my flight leaves at 10 am flying into oakland. I'm way excited to see what a US mission is like! it's going to be a struggle to keep up on the language but I know I'm meant to be there! It's a shame elder rich is going to Tuscon Arizona but we're all way excited! 

P.S. There is a rumor going around, from the travel office, that they are actually expecting the visas to come by Saturday and if they come by then we'll get to go to Portugal but for now I'm expecting to go to California. So It's going to be a crazy couple days. So.....yeah. Fun Stuff! Talk to ya on monday!

1/31/2015

Hey so we got our visas!!! It has been a crazy couple days but yesterday they told us that our visas did get approved! I'm not 100% sure of the exact travel plans yet but we are for sure not going to California. We can email once a day until we leave so I'll keep you posted. I'm pretty sure my P day is still going to be monday though

I did get the package and the bag will work great thanks! and the monkey is perfect! haha Thanks for that too! and rachel. that was pretty dang funny if i do say so myself! hahahahahahah so yeah I'll keep you posted until we leave. 

2/2/2015 Last Week in America

Hello family and friends!

Well I don't know what all you people know but I will try to set everything straight with a timeline of events starting on thursday. So we were in our in field orientation workshop meeting and after lunch we get the mail and everyone in our district got reassigned because our visas hadnt been cleared yet! It was crazy! I was going to the Santa Rosa CA mission and Elder Rich was headed to Tuscon and we were all really confused. So we go to class the next morning and tell our teacher and she's freaking out and emails our mission president because apparently they were pretty close and we had a pretty stressful 24 hours. THEN the next day we go to the travel office and they tell us that everyone except 2 got their visas confirmed and they were on their way back to the CTM and we were going back to portugal! It was quite relieving. THEN today they tell us that our visas arent actually here yet and they cant buy the plane tickets until they physically have them so we have to wait until 4 this afternoon, I guess an hour, for the next round of mail. And if they dont arrive today we will probably have to stay here untilwednesday. So yes. It has been pretty insane around here but we're all pretty flexible and were just in a state of waiting right now. 

But as I said 1 elder and 1 sister in our district didn't get their visas so they got reassigned. Elder allen left to bakersfield CA this morning and the sisterr carroll leaves to roseville CA tomorrow and another sister bale left to mozambique this morning too. So theyre slowing just picking our district apart one by one. It's been sad to say goodbye to everyone because we have all become such good friends over these 7 weeks! But i know our district is going to do amazing things in the field! So these are some pictures of our district and teachers on our last day together. 

Well it's been an awesome experience here at the CTM and I'm excited to finally be able to teach and help real people find joy in their lives. I had the awesome experience to start and finish the Book of Mormon in these 7 weeks and I actually read teh last chapter in the celestial room in the temple on P day and it was so cool. I know it is so true and I know if you read it everyday you'll become so much closer to Christ and be so much happier. 

Well I love being a missionary and I'm pumped to serve the people of portuguese! Wish me luck! Amo-voces!

Love,

2/2/2015

Sister bale loved her monkey!! It was so awesome! haha she was so happy! it was sad to have her be the first one to go this morning but she'll do great. well i'll probably email you in an hour about the final details if we get our visas or just that i'll be waiting another day haha who knows!

Love you and tell everyone ola minha irmas and irmao, voces estamos chatos :)

2/2/2015

so if you get this and think of anything you need to tell me in the next 30 minutes or so speak now or forever hold your peace. or until i call from the airport haha

2/2/2015  36 more hours in the MTC!

hey so the visas have not arrived yet. They are obviously expecting them tomorrow but who knows. So as of right now we're just stuck in the MTC until they tell us when to leave. but it will most likely be wednesday morning that we fly out. Tomorrow is our real P day so I guess I'll email you some more tomrrow! :D haha so if anything crazy happens in 24 hours lemme know!

2/2/2015  Its official

So its official! we leave tomorrow! finally. our flight leaves from salt lake at 2 pm and we go through atlanta and Amsterdam which should be pretty cool! I'm pretty sure i'll call sometime around 12 or 1 or so. I was thinking about calling dads cell then making it a conference call with you. So i'll talk to ya tomorrow!