Hey Mom!
Sorry about the email times - they'll be different every week. Nothing is consistent because we can't control when we get to the church, but I would say you could bet on noon being the time that I'm on most days.
i HAVEN'T GOTTEN THE MAIL YET TODAY. THE MAIL GUY HAS LEFT THE PACKAGE IN THE PAST IF I WASN'T HOME. I HAVE USUALLY BEEN HOME WHEN HE GETS THERE IN THE MORNING, BUT IT SHOULD BE THERE.
OKAY! (JUST SO YOU KNOW, I'M NOT SCREAMING) haha. AND I AM WRITING IN CAPS BECAUSE THEN I DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT CAPITALIZATION. WELL, I WROTE A FAIR AMOUNT TO DAD SO THIS EMAIL MAY CONTAIN LESS DETAIL THAN YOU WOULD LIKE BUT MY RESPONSE IS.....GO READ THE EMAIL I WROTE TO DAD. ANYWAY - WE HAD A DEEC WEEK.
YES IT IS COLD. DO NOT FEAR, I DON'T ENJOY BEING COLD SO I WRAP UP IN COAT AND HAT AND GLOVES AND SCARF. I KNOW HOW TO KEEP MYSELF WARM YOU DON'T NEED TO WORRY! YES IT IS COLDER BY THE OCEAN. PEOPLE WERE SURFING ON WEDNESDAY - THE DAY AFTER THE SKY RAINED A FOOT OF SNOW. GOOD OLE SURFERS ARE CRAZY THEY HAVE NO BRAINS.
SO I GOT BOTH OF THE PACKAGES YOU SENT ME - THE ONE FROM MAPLEWOOD (FINALLY) AND THE ONE WITH MY LEVIS IN IT. THANK YOU! I AM HAPPY I GOT THE BLACK CORD LEVIS... THEY ARE WARM! I WOULD SAY THE RED CORDS FIT WELL ENOUGH TO KEEP, BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS: HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR THEM? IF THEY WERE OVER 30 DOLLARS, I WOULD SUGGEST RETURNING THEM. PERHAPS. BUT THEY FIT LOW ON MY HIPS BELOW THE HIP BONE, LIKE I WEAR PANTS ANYWAY. YES 07740 IS CORRECT.
MISSIONARIES IN THE AREA THAT I KNOW. SISTER COLLINS IS SERVING IN MY WARD - SO THAT'S GOOD. I'LL GET A PICTURE FOR YOU. OTHERWISE, I DON'T KNOW ANY OF THE OTHER MISSIONARIES. WE HAVE AN AWESOME ZONE LEADER NAMED ELDER BIGLER WHO IS ABOUT THE FUNNIEST GUY I'VE EVER MET. I LOVE HIM.
POINT COLLAR SHIRTS ARE FINE! WHATEVER REALLY. ONE THING YOU CAN SEND WITH THE SHIRTS IS ONE OF THOSE ORIENTAL STORE KIWI KNIVES. THOSE ARE SUPER SHARP AND WE HAVE A SHARPENER. YOU SENT ME ONE BEFORE BUT IT WENT DULL AND SO I LEFT IT IN TRENTON. BUT WE HAVE A SHARPENER NOW. JUST ONE IS FINE. THOSE CHEAP ONES THAT ARE ACTUALLY PRETTY NICE AND SHARP. SHEETS ARE GOOD. I ACQUIRED NEW ONES A LITTLE BIT AGO AND THEY ARE GOOD.
THAT'S ABOUT IT FOR STUFF THAT I DIDN'T TALK TO DAD ABOUT... ANYTHING NEW WITH YOU??
LOVE YOU,
TAB
Hi Dad!
Thanks for your letter. There are a lot of things in it that I want to reply to. First, things in the new area.
Elder VanWagoner (VW) and I have been enjoying being companions. As you know, it is not difficult to go out and work when you get along with your companion. We don't have as much to talk about as we did the first week or so, but still things are good. The only challenge I face is not wasting time in planning or studies by getting off topic on something interesting. I have a very short attention span. I have a hard time focusing on things. That has improved over my mission, however. I can easily spend an hour intensely studying the scriptures now. The other struggle we face and will face for a while is finding time to use the phone and street contacting. It is so cold that if I pull my hands out of my gloves to use the phone while we're walking to an appointment, I only have about a minute or so until I can't feel my fingers. So that's annoying. We spend so much time walking that it would be nice to have something to do on the way to appointments, like use the phone or talk to people. The other problem is that very few people are outside. And if they are, it's for some emergency or they are in a hurry to get out of the cold. I doubt anyone is just gandering through the city anxious to sit out in the cold and talk to us. So I have resorted to just leaving pass along cards on objects or handing them to people with a quick explanation and a goodbye! Walking areas are great, but in the winter is difficult to be efficient with time.
I am glad Colby enjoys the truck. I love it too. I find it more fun to drive than the Mazda, but the Mazda looks nicer and has a better stereo (haha). Tell him to be nice to the truck so that it will be around when I get home :)
I would love an OT study guide. I may be able to find one in the library and rent it, however. I'll let you know by next week if you should have mom ship one to me.
Exciting things this week... it snowed a lot. That slowed things down for us a lot too. We had zone conference and it was awesome! The topic was repentance and using the scriptures - the same as the monthly focus. I loved it. Elder VanWagoner and I got to teach the missionaries about repentance with only a few minutes heads up. That was scary, but we did well. We saw Sister Brown this week and had a good lesson with her. She had surgery this week so we only saw her once. But she did come to church! We also saw Sister Pacheco once and we got out all her concerns. It wasn't a very structured lesson, but it worked well. Now we know what to teach and who to bring with us! I was somewhat frustrated (not really, more so disappointed) during the week because we set up a lot of appointments and probably 2/3 cancelled or juked each day. That is annoying in a walking area! We got over it though. We always seem to find something to do. We also had ward conference this last sunday and the lessons were much needed. This ward is great, but they lack a love for one another. It doesn't feel like a "ward family" at sacrament meetings. I'm not sure how to approach the situation because it has been brought up many times in ward council and not much ever happens and I don't want to sound like a try-hard missionary (I hope you know what I mean by that) by bringing it up again. However, it sure would make missionary work a lot easier if investigators felt welcomed at church.
I had an interview with President Jeppson today and I learned a lot. He is fantastic at what he does. I love him for it.
That's about it! Most weeks are about the same - we do the same things - as you know. We found a couple new people to teach who were former investigators and I'll let you know when things pick up if they are keeping their commitments!
I hope your conference goes well. No need to be nervous if you prepare well!
Love,
Tab
p.s. Haha. I did find a neat scripture in Genesis this morning. It is JST Genesis 17:11. I had no idea that the age of accountability was around for so long. And, if you haven't read it before, JST Genesis 50 is a good one.
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