And it's Trenton for another transfer!

Transfers again but Elder McLain will remain in Trenton. He said there is lots of work to do. And the countdown begins.......two weeks until Mother's Day! And that means I GET TO TALK TO MY BOY!!  I think that will be my favorite gift.

Hi Mom!

Yes computer time is up to 2 hours! It IS nice.

Thanks for writing! Clark and Reese and I used to talk in unconjugated verbs back in the day... We still do haha. It looks like you had a good time in Paris! I got the box you sent (not sure if that's the one you sent from England) but it had beef jerky and 7 layer bars and all that jazz in there. It was a fantastic box.! I think the 7 layer bars are the best treat in the world. I may not need any for a while but next time Regan sends some, have her send the Rhubarb ones and the fudge brownie bars. That way we get some diversity going on, and I won't get sick of the 7 layer bars.

 

Ok, moving on. You're right, there's nothing like coming home. Not that that is in the forefront of my mind, but I do love that feeling.

 

We didn't have a baptism this week because the Stake President counciled our bishop to hold off. Fortunately, that is only one more week to wait for Richard. After that, we will know what will be the outcome of his situation and it will be more clear how we can best help him after baptism. I'm not sure what waiting until after the 7th will do, because regardless Richard will get baptized into the other ward, but we will listen to our leaders. I'm not worried and I know everything will work out better that way. Richard is really patient.

 

Yes, we are almost finished updating our ward list. We have found that many of the members have moved away. I guess that's good and bad news. But the ward council is all in on helping us find the rest of the members we don't know about. They have planned a night where each home teaching companionship will go out on a sunday afternoon and visit two names. That should get done in ~2 hours and will give us a large update. It shouldn't be long before we figure out where every one in our boundary is. Our biggest focus now is learning how to do missionary work through the ward. I'm not good at it, but the ward is working on doing their part to help us so we've got to keep up.

 

So to answer your questions:

- ummm I think I'm good. I can make rice just fine in a pot.

- We have a crockpot actually. So we're good on that.

- My white shirts are good for the most part. I have one long sleeve that I have had for a few years that is beginning to fray on the front. I just trimmed the strings and it looks fine now. That's about the worst of it. I don't need any new ones. However I could use new white and red tall tees (3X). Just one of each. No rush. Whenever you send the next package that it could fit in.

- I'm not sure if I got your package from England yet. It doesn't look like the package I just got was sent via airmail. But I'll let you know next week when I am sure.

- They are good, and perfect for basketball on Saturdays. But they are annoying because my shirt always comes untucked. They are like zero friction. So I think I'll just stick with Cotton Poly or what not, but with the wider neck. For when I need new pairs... I don't like the neck on the ones I have because they show when I am wearing a normal t-shirt. But they don't show when I am wearing a button up shirt so they are fine for now. Maybe in like a month or two I will need new ones, and I'll get a size large with the wider neck.

 

So my companion I think is good now but we still have a car for another few days. I think they'll just give it to the missionaries who will be opening up the new areas in this zone. We'll start walking again which I am happy about.

 

I have talked to all the T-Birds here. Elder Christensen, Elder Wells, Elder Key, Sister Collins and Sister Boshard. I think there is another few but I can't think of them. I think our high school has more here than any other high school, so that's good. And we'll get more soon! That's always exciting. I am happy for Chase deciding to serve a mission. That is going to turn his life around for the better. I knew he had it in him, and I am sure that Landon influenced him more than anything else. Which is a great thing, cause this work is true! I guess the Spirit worked on him.

 

I am reading the New Testament and some of the Old Testament and The Book of Mormon, still. So one day I'll study from one and the next I'll study from the other. It's been good - I have learned a lot from the New Testament. Old Testament, not so much yet. The books of Moses are interesting. Occasionally I'll cross reference in the D&C too, so I'm all over the place. Except in the Pearl of Great Price. I don't read that very often.

 

So you're getting a new calling. Maybe you'll be an artificial investigator in the MTC! I hated them! Cause they were either way too easily swayed into joining the Church or they were way too difficult. I guess that's sorta like the real world, but it was always hard to teach someone as an investigator when you can see that they are wearing church garments.

 

I can't think of anything else I wanted to mention. A new transfer! That will be nice. Almost nobody in our zone is leaving so that's good. A Chic-Fil-A gift card would be cool if you found one. That's the best place around here. I love it.

 

Ok gotta jet. I love you guys!

 

Love,

Tab

Tim's letter.....

Hi Dad!

 

I too am excited that I get to email for a little bit longer now. I usually am one of the two who all the other missionaries wait on before leaving the library. It has never been a big problem, but now I won't have to worry about them bugging me to finish up ;) I might be a really slow typist.

 

Well,  this is the end of another transfer. I am happy to some extent but also dissatisfied. Not as satisfied as I have been with transfers in the past, of the few that I have been through. I am happy that we got to see a baptism in this transfer and soon we will have another - Richard  - that I am really looking forward to. I wish that we could have worked harder. I've got to learn better how to do missionary work from home... phone calls, forms, planning, etc. Fortunately we got to do more work in this last week and in the past two days I have received a huge amount of motivation from ward leaders and their examples. We have an awesome ward missionary, Brother Jeff Johnson, who is returned missionary that never seemed to have lost the spirit of missionary work. I love him. He's really funny too. I think he is a BYU Alumni.

 

We had a correlation meeting last night with our ward mission leader, the Bishop, one of the ward missionaries and the zone leaders. That was a huge help to Elder Mullenaux and I. Their inspiration gave us a direction for the work we are doing in the Trenton area. I forgot my planner and backpack, so I took as many notes as I could on a mormon.org card. It was a great meeting. We also got fed by The Pethos. Sis Petho made chili rellanos and rice and beans, with flan as dessert. It was really good. I stuffed myself to the point where it was hard to give the lesson afterward because I could hardly focus or talk. I'm sure you remember a little bit what that is like. It went well.

 

I am excited for the new transfer. I am hoping that I can humble myself a little bit. In the movie "Between Heaven and Earth", Truman Madsen introduced a concept called "holy envy". I'm working on that.

 

Well I've got to write to Mom now. Thank you for you letter! I enjoyed it. I'm happy that I have a little bit more time to write home now. I look forward to hearing from you next week. Let me know how the yard work goes ;)

 

Love,

Tab

Another baptism

Tab had another baptism this past week! It's so exciting to hear and I love seeing pictures of newly baptized members. He continues to do good work!

Hi Mom!

How are you?

This week was pretty good. We have a car now! Probably not for very long, but still good. So we have been able to get more work done. We don't have many investigators and trying to find all of the potential investigators that are written down takes a lot of time. But usually we can find someone to teach. Our biggest focus this week was finding all the members in our area. Because of a split in the ward boundaries about 20 years ago, a lot of the records have been tossed around and a lot of young members went inactive. They moved the meeting place from Trenton to Pennsylvania to Princeton. I could see why that would be a mess. Anyway, we have done a decent job at updating the records in our ward. It has taken some time and we haven't finished but it will save a lot of missionaries time in the future. Also, we get the chance to meet new people to teach. So that's good.

This week we also had a baptism! Courage baptized his friend Johnson Browne, who we have been teaching for about a month or so. Courage was a huge help. Johnson is really cool and he was warmly welcomed into the ward. We actually had a linger-longer activity right before his baptism so it made for a large turnout of ward members that attended the service. That's always nice. Johnson's father and Grandmother also attended, which is a really good thing. They aren't investigators, but they enjoyed it and that was a sign that they supported his decision. I am happy for Johnson. That group of friends in the picture is a tight group. Two of them are less active, Hakeem and Fritz, but I get the feeling that this experience will help them return to full activity in the Church. I know they feel good when they are at church. That is an awesome bunch.

If I haven't already, I wanted to say thanks for the packages and letters! They were great. Grandma and Grandpa, thank you for continuing to write to me! I wish I had more time to write back. I love you guys.

I can't think of much else to write! Sorry. If you have any questions for me, let me know. Ok. Alright.

I love you guys! Have an awesome rest of the trip in England Mom! I will have a good week too.

Love,

Tab

Hi Dad,

So I think you're right about the consecration talk. I couldn't find it on LDS.org and the copy I have looks like it came from a missionary in the past. It is marked up but still perfectly readable. I'll see if I can fax it to you. Does long distance fax cost? There is a fax machine in our zone leader's apartment. Let me know where I should send it.

Well we had a slow week for teaching but we made a lot of progress updating our ward list. We spent two days going around and visiting the members that are unknown or inactive or less active. Sad to say, we found a lot of abandoned homes. We actually found three in a row on Friday. However, we did have a baptism this week for a young man named Johnson Browne. He is a friend of a strong member named Courage. Johnson is really cool and although it took a while for him to decide to be baptized, he knew it was right. The baptism went really well and the Spirit was felt. I enjoyed it very much. I also have pictures for you guys!

We plan to have another baptism this coming week on Saturday. It is for Brother Richard Valenzuela. He was interviewed by the Bishop yesterday and it was determined that he is ready. That was awesome news for us, because we know that it is one of Richard's strongest desires. He needs the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am excited for him!

Well I am still working on consecration, of course. It's getting a little bit easier. For example, one thing gets "checked off" and then I get to fully focus on another. I still have a lot to work on but I do feel accomplished.

Alright I have to write Mom now. Thanks for your loving advice! I appreciate it... keep it up. Have a good week!

Love,

Tab

Elder McLain and Elder Mulleneux with a group of 4 close friends. 

 The one on the far right was baptized by his friend in the white shirt.

Courage (r) baptized his best friend Johnson.

Missing my boy a little bit more than usual this week. He hit his seventh month and continues to grow! I love his letter to his dad. He is so honest and forthright and I admire his humility and desire to be better each day. What a wonderful example he is to me!

Hi Mom!

So this week I got to go on a several day exchange with one of the Zone Leaders because my companion is injured and has a hard time walking in this area. So he went to a driving area this weekend. It has been good, I enjoy being around Elder Walker (is his name). Some might think it is more enjoyable and easier to be lazy on the mission but it totally is not! Sitting inside for most of the day was killing me so fortunately the mission president ok'd a switch. It has been good. I have wanted so badly to start really working this area. Since I got here we haven't been able to and it's nice to start. 

So I wanted to say thanks a ton for that package! It is awesome to get those Mormon messages on DVD. We've already used them a bunch. That reflections of Christ video is great too. And thanks for the seeds as well! I loved all of it. For now, I don't need new scriptures I don't think. I will wait till the new ones come out. I don't think I'll get indexed copies either. I like just the plain without the tabs. But I'll wait on that. 

By the way, I found out we live in Trenton actually. Not a big deal because I still get all the mail if it's addressed to Hamilton (our house being in the old boundaries of Hamilton), but to be 100% correct, it's Trenton. 

So I think that's about it for random stuff. We have two baptismal dates for this coming Sunday, one of them is sorta up in the air because it involves Richard, who may or may not have pending charges for the whole situation he's in. We have an appointment Tuesday where we'll be able to find everything out. And then we'll go from there. He is prepared and completely read though. Next is Johnson Brown, and he is best friends with a really strong member named Courage, who as you know added me on facebook the other day. Courage and Johnson are awesome. Johnson is also ready, he just needs to show commitment. He has been, so he will be baptized this coming Sunday. I am excited for him, he knows it's right. Other than that, we haven't been able to explore our area that much. My companion is quite new to it, so it's almost like we got doubled in to the area, and we haven't been able to get out much so it's frustrating me. I just want to work so hard! I hope we can soon... there is so much potential for this area. Investigators, members, everyone here could grow. That would be awesome too because I know that would help the ward budget and perhaps allow them do build another chapel. I am anxious for this all to go down.

Well I am doing well. I have grown in testimony a lot lately. I tell President that it is so cool because looking back I see that I am experiencing my own conversion. I picture an ad in my head that has some stalwart Book of Mormon missionary and above it says... GOT CONVERSION? Anyway, I love what I am doing. I know it to be truly God's work. I am grateful that he trusts me to be a part of it. Alma 5:26.

Well I have to go now. I love you all! Have an awesome week in England, Mom. 

Love,
Tab



Hi Dad! 

I am having a good day. I have to be short as well, but I'll get in what I can. 

I have given a lot of thought to consecration as well. Right now I am not a consecrated missionary. I aspire to be one, and I certainly know how to. I have read the talk about consecration written by Elder Callister and I have made a list of things I need to be doing. Fortunately it is not many things that I have to let go of from home. I am trying to put away all things that potentially could pull me away from the work. Most of the things I need to do in order to be a consecrated missionary are: 

-Be on time to studies/ appointments/ missionary schedule
-Fill my mind with virtuous thoughts, more focused on missionary work.
-Contact everyone
-Love everyone
-Help the ward do missionary work, and help them trust me and a servant of the Lord.
-A few others I have written down over time.

The promise Elder Callister gave as I do these things is found in Ether 12:26-27 and D&C 31:5. 

I have it all in front of me and I know that I can do it. I cannot do it all at once but I can become a consecrated missionary well before the end of my mission. I hope to be one that President Jeppson, and the Lord for that matter, can wholly rely on. By the way, I think he will be an apostle in the near future. He is inspired. I am so grateful to be in this mission. 

I love the letters you send. Thanks for all of the good quotes. I write them down from time to time and keep them in my shirt pocket, just in case. 

I'm sure you're staying busy and working hard. Keep it up! I love you guys.

Have a good week,
Tab

Post conference happy!

Today was filled with about 5 emails from my boy! That makes for a BIG smile on my face. He continues to do well. Love him!

Hi Mom! 

So it sounds like you had a fun weekend! I wrote Colby a letter back and we talked about his experience golfing. That is awesome for him. Sky Mountain is still my favorite course in Utah!

I'm limited on time today but I wrote to Colby and Dad so you can check out their letters as well. I wrote to Dad a little bit about General Conference. I especially enjoyed Saturday's sessions with talks by Elder Bednar and Elder Cardon. Sister Dalton's talk was powerful too. Elder Uchtdorf's talks were my favorite of all the conference! He speaks so well.

Don't worry about sending that CD! I can just get it when I come home.  There were some things I wanted to ask you if I could get on CD, namely: Reflections of Christ (short video with pictures of Christ and a nice melody, probably from LDS.org) and Mormon.org videos. I am not sure about downloading mormon.org videos so if you do find out that you can, let me know and I will tell you which ones I like best.

Ok I am out of time but I hope to be back on in a sec. I just have to send this short email before it is deleted. 

Ok so to continue,

Yes mormon.org videos. They are super nifty to use in lessons with younger people, or anyone really because they bring the Spirit in super easily. Not everyone has a computer though so we can't always use them. That would be awesome if you could buy them from the bookstore or something. Also, if you could send a copy of the talk "Identity and Destiny" by Elder Callister I would like that. Elder Thompson suggested readings. Then if you would, I need another pair of upper garments. I think I'm going to try the mesh :) My roommate had it and he said it's the best. Low neck - old man style. Size L. I don't need more bottoms but I kind of want to try the mesh bottoms too. So just one of each and I'll tell you how I like them so maybe I can get more. But that's good for now. Thank you!!

Guess what they have around here? Pei Wei! I haven't been yet but I had some left overs from some other missionaries. It was pretty good. We also went to De Lorenzos - amazing - and Chipotle. They have a semi good selection in Princeton. We also went to a super good pizza place on Nassau St in Princeton, where they have lots of good places to eat and expensive stores for snooty princetonians. Not very many of them are friendly... I wave and nod to basically everyone but no one even gives a smile in return. They need the gospel of Jesus Christ in their life. Ya follow me? 

1. Yes we just went to the church with all the missionaries. We got a ride from our zone leaders or members. But not really anyone came on Saturday, except for the priesthood session, we got a bunch of less active members there! 

2. We do not eat that often with members here. We had one sunday two weeks ago where we ate at two members homes but besides that it's about once every two weeks. You'd think with all these wealthy people we'd get fed more often! But I think they are just super busy and never home together with their families. We have lots of young families and couples so it's understandable. Plus they'd have to pick us up... which makes it even more difficult for them. We get food from the Spanish elders a lot though. Something about hispanics - they love to feed guests. They are good to us. They are super generous and humble people.

3. We (my companion and I) get along really well. He's funny and we have similar interests. It took about two weeks to get in the groove of working hard but this last week I think we started to get it. We taught a bunch of lessons and got out on time, stuff like that. Fortunately he has desire and he is a good missionary and this month is consecration month so I think all things will start to fall in place.

4. Yes we have lots of people to teach! We have a million potential investigators that we contact each week and we are going to see a family tonight that has 13 kids... yes. We have a lot of potential in this area, we just need to work a lot with less actives too. Many of the less actives of Princeton 2nd ward are in our area.
5. I still like my old area better, but I cannot complain at all! There's more low-hanging potential here I believe and there's more places to shop, eat, and the like. The branch is what made East Orange so good. There's no way you couldn't love those people!

Well I can't think of much else to talk about. The work we are doing is getting progressively better. I have noticed my ability to teach by the power of the Spirit is going up. That is something I greatly desire, as does every missionary. I look forward to becoming even better from the things I learn and do.

I love you too! Be safe in England! I hope you have a great trip.

Love,

Tab 

Thanks dad!

Great advice. I do need to be more loving instead of trying to prove everyone that this Church is true by doctrine. Sometimes I get a little carried away with that :) Most of the time it's not a logical matter, it's a spiritual matter.

There will be a lot I will need to focus on this month in order to be a consecrated missionary. I'll let you know as soon as I make the list for President Jeppson.

I did get to watch all sessions of Conference! Saturday I was filled and overwhelmed with the Spirit while listening to talks by Elder Cardon, Sister Dalton, Elder Bednar, and others. We fasted this weekend and by the last session on Sunday I was drained and unfortunately was not able to feel the same focus and Spirit that I did on Saturday. I am sure the talks were not the reason why.

I took plenty of notes but I am excited for the ensign to come out so I can study the talks more in depth. I noticed that a lot of the talks were about missionary work, specifically member missionary work. I felt strongly as (I forget who it was! Elder Anderson?) spoke about deacons and the priesthood that we need to be taking more young men on team-ups to help strengthen the priesthood in this ward. That is something we will be working on for consecration month.

Well I still have to write to mom. I am thankful for you letter! It means a lot to me. I hope you enjoyed conference as much as I did. ...I'm sure you did.

Love you,

Tab

Sometimes we get sick..........

Tab seems to like his new area. I'm sure it takes time to adjust, especially when you're use to having a car, but I think he is doing quite well! Glad he got my easter package with candy and chocolate or he might not have had anything for dinner! Next holiday..........MOTHER'S DAY!!

Hi Mom! 

Got on at a weird time today... we have a weird situation where we might start getting on at noon now, I'll let you know.

I had a great week. We didn't get out to do much proselyting work as my companion and I were sick and he rolled his ankle quite badly. We still got to teach a few lessons, but not many. I was priviledged to go to a leadership training meeting with the new missionaries where we had trainings from many of the zone leaders and the President and his assistants. Of course, I learned so much! Not much new material, but the Spirit can teach you a million things from the same scripture. I took a lot of notes. As part of each training, we did role playing, where I received plenty of revelation for the few investigators that I have met in my new area. I felt the Spirit strongly, perhaps as strong as I ever have felt it, when President Jeppson gave his closing remarks and bore his testimony. He is so inspired. I am quite sure he will become a seventy in his near future. It is a priviledge for me to have him as my mission president. This two-day training was the highlight of my week.

I like my new area. I like the fact that it is small (more manageable) and it has somewhat similar demographics as compared to my old area. We have a few investigators that are well prepared to receive the Gospel, one in particular that I will talk about. His name is Richard, and if I didn't know about his past I would think he is the most kindhearted man on the earth... he might still be. The problem we face is that his wife and son are members, but they have separated because of his history with drinking and abuse. His wife has a restraining order against him but I think it is soon to be lifted. It has probably been a year since he has had any alcohol, and he seems to have repented fully. He has a strong testimony of the Gospel and he has been taught by missionaries in the past, but always had something get in the way of his baptism. But this time I believe him when he says that he will do all he can to get baptized. We have set a date for April 21st, with permission from the mission president to go ahead and baptize him. The challenge we face is that he can't attend the same ward as his wife, reasons pretty clear. But we have been having him go to the 9 oclock 1st ward, and he has faithfully come (and picked us up!) twice now for sacrament meeting. He is great. Pray for him (we will too) that all works out with his baptism and especially with his marriage. I don't know how close he still is to his wife, and whether his relationship can be fixed, but I hope it can. I know him being a member of the church will certainly help.

To answer your questions:

1. That is Elder Guymon. He is AWESOME! I miss serving around him. We went on a few exchanges and every time people ask if we're related... haha.

1. Yes! I got your letters and easter package. Thank you! I loved them.

2. I did see Meg and Anne and I talked to them both for a while. I have a picture we took with all the Thunderbirds. I'll send it home soon.

3. For Easter we had nothing really, just ate the candy you sent. We don't eat at members homes that often because we live in the outskirts of our ward boundary and we don't have a car. Unfortunate, but the way it is.

4. Our new ward is Great! Lots of white people who are from Utah/BYU. Smart, successful, wealthy

5. We went to De Lorenzos! Super good pizza. Best in NJ rated by Zagat.. all that. It was amazing.

Ok I have to close up, I am way over time. But will you send some cracked pepper and dill pickle spitz in your next package to me?  Please. I think that's about it.

 I love you guys!  Have a super week, and easter week.

Tab

Pictures glorious pictures!

Got loads of pictures! Some of them make me think he's having so much fun he may never come home.

 The Hudson River

Baptism!

What?! Toast Taco??

Yes....Tab's stash

Tab's little friend

The dare or the door?

Tryin to look like his companion......

Doin' werk!

Anyone home?

Tab and his companion stop at the corner store for soda and lemon heads!

The lone wilderness!

gotta love missionaries!

sweet tie!

Church in East Orange

church time

the foursome

beautiful people