I sent Tab a lengthly letter on Monday morning thinking he would be writing me back since it was his p-day. Monday came and went with no reply. I got an email from my friend Cheryl (one HAPPY mom because she had received this great letter on Tuesday from her missionary) letting me know that Monday was Veteran's Day - the reason they hadn't written. Duh! Tuesday still came and went. Well, Wednesday rolled around and what do you know......an email came in. This was it:
Zone 4! 4.3 to be exact.
That was it - it was all he wrote! I had asked him which zone he was in and he answered THAT question. I think he's testing me. So I responded.......
ok ......your emails are down to 5 words! you must REALLY be swamped. i'm thinking next week it will just say Hi.
love you!
His reply........
6 words! No I usually just do that so that you can see that I have hopped on and that I am writing you a letter. So that way if you need to tell me anything urgent then you can.
Love you too!
Love you too!
Then BAM!!! I get this...........
Hey again!
Today I have an hour on the computer so I'll see what I can fit in.
So first I'll answer your questions and then I'll get to the letter part.
1. Yes I got all of the work clothes you sent to me and in fact it was too much stuff! Because I had already planned before I left that I would need some service clothes, and I only wear one outfit of regular clothing a week (if that), I have more than enough to last me for a long time. I will keep some of the things you sent me like the leather gloves (which are super nice) and the sweatshirt, but I don't need any more pants or shirts for now. If I do need them, I will just go to Forman Mills and buy a tall tee and jeans or whatever it is. I haven't used the boots yet and I kept the tag for them so I'll just have them as standby but I may return them to you.
2. We eat out on occasion, depending on how much food we have at home and if we are anywhere close to home. Mostly Wendy's because they are everywhere. There's not a Del Taco for 400 miles - it's in Virginia or something like that. In East Orange there isn't much but if we go to Bloomfield, which we do a few times a week, there are nice places to eat. And since next month is our temple trip, we are planning to go to a nice place for dinner in an area called Ironbound. It's an area in Newark completely surrounded by train tracks (hence the name Ironbound) and is mostly populated by Portuguese and Spanish speakers. There's a restaurant in there that is supposedly better than Rodizio Grill, but similar in format. I'm looking forward to that!
3. Thanks so much for sending the CTR rings. I know that John and Jasmine will appreciate that a lot. By the way, they are doing well. We get to see them twice a week and each time they are so so thankful that we came over. They love us.
4. My companion is super great. Super rarely we will have a disagreement but it's usually something that is like what cereal to get. And he is a good trainer. He isn't super strict. Sometimes that is bad because we don't do as much as we could so that is something we are working on together. We can always work harder and smarter.
5. Either one. If you send me a gift card I'll pay for him and if you send one for him, then he'll pay for himself. No matter. But you don't need to spoil us because we don't really need it.
6. I'm staying warm just fine for now. I know I'll need thermals soon but it hasn't really gotten very cold yet. For example, it was 61 degrees on Sunday. From what I hear, winter doesn't come in till January. And I found a super nice coat in the basement that a missionary left behind and so I don't need any coats. So you don't need to send or buy me one! And I have gloves, and a hat and socks. I should be more than fine.
Thanks for getting all that other stuff figured out that I asked for. I appreciate it.
We went to Staten Island on Sunday to do hurricane cleanup for people who lived close to the coast and it was way awesome. There's a guy in our ward named Ted Sharon who came with us and he is the most awesome guy. He is a lumberjack, but his profession is Film-making. Anyway, all we did most of the day is help him climb in huge trees with his chainsaw and chop them down. I'll have to see if I can't email you the video we took of us cutting down a ~60 foot tree. Like the guys you see on discovery channel... like that. And we gutted a few flooded homes and heard cool stories and ate great food. That is how it went Saturday and Sunday. It was a memorable weekend.
This last week we weren't able to teach that many people for some reason and that was annoying but we did what we could with that. So we have been working on finding new people to teach because our current list is getting pretty old, and many of them aren't progressing. It is really tough for me to move on because these are people I've grown to be friends with and I honestly think that given enough time, all of them would be converted. And it's difficult as missionaries because while our branch is a strong group, there are not enough members to do branch missionary work on their own. It's also hard to get member-present lessons, which I know are super important. Our branch was only established something like 5 years so that is understandable. Anyway, I feel confused at times because we have several GOLDEN investigators who we are no longer able to keep contact with. It's a bummer but it's not our work, it's the Lord's and obviously he knows what's best.
I read Rorie's letter today and I totally loved it. I like that scripture in Isaiah 61 that she left. I have never seen it before! But it sounded a lot like missionary work. I highlighted it :)
And I read the letter from Clark too. Sounds like he has an interesting district! I know he'll have a blast with them though because he can be friends with literally anyone. And I know you're jealous of his details and what not in his letters and the letters of other missionaries... I honestly don't know what to tell you. If you want me to write you about my semi-exciting stories I can! I don't think they are that unusual but I guess you know nothing of the place so they might be to you. I haven't been shot at or anything like that, so that's good. My next letter home with the photos will hopefully be more exciting than those of late. The photos I took are pretty cool ones from the hurricane and then I think I have more tech-deck videos.
I've only got about 10 minutes left and I still have to write to other people so I've got to close up. Thanks for always sending me emails and letters - they keep me going for the week.
Tell everyone hi for me and tell them I am doing just dandy. I will hit my two month mark in 5 days! That was really quick looking back on it.
Love you all!
Tab
Today I have an hour on the computer so I'll see what I can fit in.
So first I'll answer your questions and then I'll get to the letter part.
1. Yes I got all of the work clothes you sent to me and in fact it was too much stuff! Because I had already planned before I left that I would need some service clothes, and I only wear one outfit of regular clothing a week (if that), I have more than enough to last me for a long time. I will keep some of the things you sent me like the leather gloves (which are super nice) and the sweatshirt, but I don't need any more pants or shirts for now. If I do need them, I will just go to Forman Mills and buy a tall tee and jeans or whatever it is. I haven't used the boots yet and I kept the tag for them so I'll just have them as standby but I may return them to you.
2. We eat out on occasion, depending on how much food we have at home and if we are anywhere close to home. Mostly Wendy's because they are everywhere. There's not a Del Taco for 400 miles - it's in Virginia or something like that. In East Orange there isn't much but if we go to Bloomfield, which we do a few times a week, there are nice places to eat. And since next month is our temple trip, we are planning to go to a nice place for dinner in an area called Ironbound. It's an area in Newark completely surrounded by train tracks (hence the name Ironbound) and is mostly populated by Portuguese and Spanish speakers. There's a restaurant in there that is supposedly better than Rodizio Grill, but similar in format. I'm looking forward to that!
3. Thanks so much for sending the CTR rings. I know that John and Jasmine will appreciate that a lot. By the way, they are doing well. We get to see them twice a week and each time they are so so thankful that we came over. They love us.
4. My companion is super great. Super rarely we will have a disagreement but it's usually something that is like what cereal to get. And he is a good trainer. He isn't super strict. Sometimes that is bad because we don't do as much as we could so that is something we are working on together. We can always work harder and smarter.
5. Either one. If you send me a gift card I'll pay for him and if you send one for him, then he'll pay for himself. No matter. But you don't need to spoil us because we don't really need it.
6. I'm staying warm just fine for now. I know I'll need thermals soon but it hasn't really gotten very cold yet. For example, it was 61 degrees on Sunday. From what I hear, winter doesn't come in till January. And I found a super nice coat in the basement that a missionary left behind and so I don't need any coats. So you don't need to send or buy me one! And I have gloves, and a hat and socks. I should be more than fine.
Thanks for getting all that other stuff figured out that I asked for. I appreciate it.
We went to Staten Island on Sunday to do hurricane cleanup for people who lived close to the coast and it was way awesome. There's a guy in our ward named Ted Sharon who came with us and he is the most awesome guy. He is a lumberjack, but his profession is Film-making. Anyway, all we did most of the day is help him climb in huge trees with his chainsaw and chop them down. I'll have to see if I can't email you the video we took of us cutting down a ~60 foot tree. Like the guys you see on discovery channel... like that. And we gutted a few flooded homes and heard cool stories and ate great food. That is how it went Saturday and Sunday. It was a memorable weekend.
This last week we weren't able to teach that many people for some reason and that was annoying but we did what we could with that. So we have been working on finding new people to teach because our current list is getting pretty old, and many of them aren't progressing. It is really tough for me to move on because these are people I've grown to be friends with and I honestly think that given enough time, all of them would be converted. And it's difficult as missionaries because while our branch is a strong group, there are not enough members to do branch missionary work on their own. It's also hard to get member-present lessons, which I know are super important. Our branch was only established something like 5 years so that is understandable. Anyway, I feel confused at times because we have several GOLDEN investigators who we are no longer able to keep contact with. It's a bummer but it's not our work, it's the Lord's and obviously he knows what's best.
I read Rorie's letter today and I totally loved it. I like that scripture in Isaiah 61 that she left. I have never seen it before! But it sounded a lot like missionary work. I highlighted it :)
And I read the letter from Clark too. Sounds like he has an interesting district! I know he'll have a blast with them though because he can be friends with literally anyone. And I know you're jealous of his details and what not in his letters and the letters of other missionaries... I honestly don't know what to tell you. If you want me to write you about my semi-exciting stories I can! I don't think they are that unusual but I guess you know nothing of the place so they might be to you. I haven't been shot at or anything like that, so that's good. My next letter home with the photos will hopefully be more exciting than those of late. The photos I took are pretty cool ones from the hurricane and then I think I have more tech-deck videos.
I've only got about 10 minutes left and I still have to write to other people so I've got to close up. Thanks for always sending me emails and letters - they keep me going for the week.
Tell everyone hi for me and tell them I am doing just dandy. I will hit my two month mark in 5 days! That was really quick looking back on it.
Love you all!
Tab
I could only reply with......
ok i'll repent! i thought you were gone and hadn't written me. now i'll read your letter!!!!
i love you tabby!!!!
A happier mom? Yep!
A happier mom? Yep!
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