I have decided to share Tanner's mission on a blog so all his friends and family can share in his mission. Tanner was called to the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh mission in September 2010 and patiently waited for the visa to come so that he could go. He finally entered the MTC on March 29, 2011. Here are the letters that he sent us from the MTC.

April 6, 2011

Dear Family.

I thought this easier than writing a jillion different letters to each of you, as I have received letters from Mom, Dad, and Brandon. But if you would find that more personal, I can address you each in future letters, just let me know in reply. If you haven't guessed already, Wednesday is my p-day. So it kind of lacks quality that I only get two p-days in the MTC. Apparently the one last week didn't count because of orientation. What can you do? I actually sent a written letter your way last Friday (I think), so hopefully it should be there by now. If not, tell me so I can expect how long they will take to arrive in Chestermere. A lot of my thoughts on the MTC are already in the letter I sent, so I'm not really sure what to say. The food is cannon centre food for sure and it's really not sitting well with me a lot of the time. I told you in my letter that I got called to be District leader over the eight elders going to Pittsburgh with me. It's been quite a challenge. There's so much drama! I really hope it gets easier from here. I've already had one of my missionaries think of going home because of the way his companion treats him. Honestly, I don't know much more than him so I have no idea what to tell these elders most of the time. I can only hope the Spirit will guide me. General Conference has been a real help in my opinion. President Uchtdorf's Priesthood Session talk on fulfilling our Priesthood was really helpful on building my testimony. I know I've been taught this doctrine before, but it didn't hit me until then that the Holy Ghost may not manifest itself in some gigantic way. President Uchtdoft said that some of us may be believers even when we're not sure we are. I'm glad for my sureness in the Gospel now.

I had my first TRC (Teaching Resource Centre) lesson yesterday and it could've gone better. The MTC, although very spiritual has been some of the most trying times of my life. A lot of the time I feel very inferior and cannot comprehend how I will be able to teach the Gospel to anyone. Thank goodness for the next two weeks in here. Slash I can't wait to get out of here. Yeah, I know that didn't really make sense. But the MTC has really brought me to some weird extremes.

I know most of you won't care about the weather here, but that seems to be the theme in a lot of your letters. So to make Mom jealous, I can honestly say that the sun has been out everyday and the grass is unbelievably green. It snowed about two inches one night and all melted by the next day only to reveal a brisk and fresh Provo. Although one thing I've REALLY been hating about the weather here is how dry it is. Honestly, I have no idea how I stood it when I lived here at BYU. My skin has never been so dry and I keep getting dry rashes on my neck from the stiff collars of my shirts.

I love hearing about what's happening at home. I've been gone a week and it sounds like everything's changing so much! I can't wait to see how much everyone has changed in the next two years. Also, if you find out, let me know how Derek or Michelle is doing if that's possible, or just tell them to shape up and SEND ME A LETTER THEMSELVES. But yeah, keep up the updates!

I leave the MTC for Pittsburgh on April 18th, so that's not this Monday but the following. So start sending mail to my Pittsburgh address afterward. I really hope you got the letter I sent via the Postal Service, please let me know if you did. If not I did something very wrong in the address or something. If you do get it, please make sure the addresses on my facebook are correct.

Lots of love and stuff,

Elder Low.

13 April 2011

Dear Family,

My companion is great but sometimes he (along with a lot of the other elders in my district) aren't too keen on some of the more strict rules. That's always a challenge to deal with. This DL calling has gotten me quite shook up, but I know that who the Lord calls, he qualifies. And I can't help but feel everyone has quite a bit of respect for me, even though I'm such a stickler for the rules. I know that every single rule is in there to keep us safe, so I'm not sure why anyone would want to disobey them. Along with the two times I've already got to go to the Provo temple, I receive in the mail an invitation to go to the Salt Lake Temple to watch the live endowment session. I'M SO STOKED. It's probably because I'm from such an exotic country.

Oh! Very important piece of information. I had never heard of this before but apparently when we leave for Pittsburgh on Monday morning we get to call home. Sooooo, I guess you can expect a call from me around 5:45-6:00 am. YES A.M. My plane leaves at 7:00am and it will be the death of me. So hopefully you guys are home/awake for that. If you guys don't pick up after a while, I guess I'll talk to you on Mother's Day.

And yeah, we actually check the mail every day. So feel free to send me as many letters as you want. Out of my whole district I think I get the least mail, I never thought that would happen haha. But I guess it's hard to compare to them, since a lot of them get tons of packages and letters a day. I don't think I'd want THAT much mail. And yes, let me know as soon as Derek gets his call! I want to know!!!

You don't have to send me facebook news, that doesn't really matter to me. I just like hearing about my close friends. Like Derek, Michelle, Jared, Alan, Krista, Emma, Hanna, Alyssa, Sparrow, etc etc.

I know that my last week at the MTC will be good. I have mixed feelings about leaving so soon. I can't wait to get outta here but I can't help but feel I'm not prepared. I just pray that my trainer is good in Pittsburgh. My teachers have been preparing me for this. It's all been leading up to this. I've never been so scared and excited in my life. It's a weird feeling.

Hopefully I'll talk to you on Monday morning,

Elder Low