Monday, February 24, 2014

This week I did good things in the world


I guess it's still cold in Jersey. It sounds like Tab might be ready for a little warm weather. I don't blame him. It's been a long hard winter there. As for his finger, we are still waiting to hear what they are going to do, but I think surgery is inevitable. And once again he called home and talked to....his DAD! I guess he thinks if he calls me I will talk too long and ask too many questions and get all emotional. Whatever! Well, here's his letter from this week.

Hey mom! 

I'm on for the next hour or so.  I'm doing alright! It's a little bit colder than yesterday :( and it's supposed to snow on Tuesday. I like cold weather as long as it snows. But warm weather would be nice for obvious reasons. 

This week I did good things in the world. My finger is doing fine - haven't heard back from the doctor yet but the surgeon in Salt Lake got my X-Rays and I am waiting to hear back from him. I was told I may have to do the same thing as Tyler and get a pin in it. The break makes it so my joint isn't supported by anything and as a result I can't bend it that well. It doesn't really hurt, but I can't really do much with it. It's just in the way at this point. I thought about getting it removed entirely. 

Yes the weather is good though. Saturday was beautiful. We walked along the beach to one of our appointments and there were about 1000 people out walking or running. Tons more people were surfing too. It is...... 37 degrees here haha. I miss pretty sunsets! If we do have cool sunsets here (once every 5 months or so), you can't even see them! Mountains are nice too. I never know what direction I am facing.  

I am eating decently :) I made some hot wings and some red curry this week if that makes you feel better.

You see I started writing a letter today and I got one intro paragraph done and then I lost all train of thought. I have no idea what to write about. Anything you want me to write about? I haven't really had many funny experiences as of late (if you check my Facebook I think one of my friends posted a picture of a nerf war I had a couple weeks ago for FHE - GG DaCosta) or anything out of the ordinary happen to us. Just busy teaching! I know you probably think my life is more interesting than I make it out to be but I am so used to the things I do that everything is normal! Nevertheless, I will write a letter! It should come around by thursday or friday. Even if it is not finished I will send it. That's a promise! I am amazed that Reese had time to write you a letter! He is a zone leader now (what a guy) so he has even less time than I do! He's also teaching more people from Ghana than I am now :( Lots of Ghanaian people in Germany for some reason.

This week we taught some lesson and we picked up a new investigator who now has a baptismal date. Her name is Marcela. She is 14 years old. She is from Minas Gerais, Brazil (dad?). Her brother joined the church in Brazil and then they moved here before she turned 8. She is really smart and we love teaching her but getting her to come to church is tough. The mother would join the church, too, if she could free her schedule to come to church on Sunday. She works a lot. So (optimistically) Marcela's name should be popping up again soon as a baptism. I'll keep you posted. Sister Pacheco keeps coming to church faithfully but she wants more time to think about being baptized. The last two or three lessons we have had with her have been more or less the same. We start out following up on her reading and her prayers (about baptism) and then it ends up taking the whole hour. She's awesome, but I am not really sure what else we can teach her that would change her mind about waiting. She is just a hesitant person, apparently. Some people we teach are like that. 

EEEERRRRRMMMMMMM I got nothing left. I gave a baby a priesthood blessing yesterday. That was a first on my mission. He is missing a valve in his heart so he was in the intensive care unit and we have an awesome member family named the Oliveras' who told us to go visit. The baby belongs to one of their friends. So that was cool. Damond Brown is working on going on a mission so we're helping him with that. here's a good snapshot we got of him: (attached)



ok I am really done now. Have a nice week.

I love you! 

Tab




Hi Dad!

Oh man, I really like that talk! It brings more light on the reason for living a life of integrity and righteousness. 

I will accept the challenge to contact 10 people a day. I am excited to hold myself to it and reap the blessings of being faithful to it. I have seen many blessings before in my mission when I made an effort to contact everyone we saw. 

I don't have time to write much to you but I am writing a letter this week (I promise) so there should be something interesting for you to read in there. 

I feel that I have reached a point in my mission where I am not quite sure what I should specifically be looking forward to. I hope that makes sense to you! I am just doing my best to be obedient and use my time wisely! Let me know what helped you the most in your mission.

Thank you for your support. I love you a lot.

Tab


Tim's response:

You are almost to the point where you have served longer than I did as a missionary (next month) since I served an 18-month mission (still bitter about that  :^).   I'm not sure that I ever reached the point where I felt like I had the basics down.  I think if you strive to follow the admonition of D&C 4, you will be on the right track.  Obedience and making the best use of your time are certainly high priorities. Developing Christ-like attributes would also be high on the list (see section 4, BofM scriptures on charity, etc.)

You are doing great and we are so proud of your efforts as a missionary.  Be good and do good!  Endure to the end! 

I'm so glad you are doing well.  Love you too!
Dad







Friday, February 21, 2014

Not so fun news......


Got this picture from Tab mid week. He had complained (after jamming it playing basketball on his p-day) that his pinky finger has been hurting for several weeks and the swelling wouldn't go down. He finally decided to go to the doctor. Guess what they found! Hint.....look at pinkie bone. Totally split. Now we are waiting to hear from the surgeon in SLC. They think it will require surgery : ( 




Monday, February 17, 2014

More picture's from Jersey!

Nothing like a Jersey winter!



Jersey winters!



Still smiling even when it's freezing cold!



Loving the snow with Elder VW!



Tab and his hats!



Sister Brown's baptism!



Sister Brown's son, Damon, who baptized her.


Staying for at least one more transfer!



Well, I wasn't so lucky this past week (Valentine's Day). Tim was! He got to talk to Tab on the phone. He called from the Dr's office needing information for medical purposes. Yes, he called his dad. Bummer! Oh well, I have Mother's Day to look forward to......and I get a WHOLE hour! Now I'm smiling : )

Hi Mom!

I'm here.

Colby is 6 ft! The whole time you made it seem like he was already as tall as me! haha no, that is awesome. Tell him to learn how to dunk a basketball before I get home! 115. my. I was 148 lbs. when I got my license! 6'3" too. Scrawny guy!

Wow, neat for the Christens!! They sent me a nice family letter at Christmas. Tell them hello for me.

We hope to have some more baptisms soon :) 

Elder VanWagoner and I are staying together for at least one more transfer! Nice... I don't have to pack for a while hopefully.

Man, Regan is like a vagabond. She should just declare herself homeless and travel the world in her car! Skydiving sounds really fun though. If I had advice for her, I would give it but I can't think of anything. Maybe just read the Book of Mormon - that's always neat. Yeah tell her to read the Book of Mormon!

Everyone is looking so healthy. Is Nate wearing the same hat that I am??  Tell them hello.

Yes we had another baptism. Pashel. That was a picture from yesterday. Damond Brown and his mom Sister Pashel Brown. He baptized her. It was great!
As for my finger, Haha it's broke. Yes it has been broken for 2 weeks now and I didn't know it, but it doesn't hurt that bad. I got an x-ray last week but now I need to send it to the doctor in Salt Lake and he'll figure out where to go from there. I don't have anything on it at the moment though. It's fine. The Dr. in Salt Lake will give an opinion on where to go if I need surgery.  I can handle it  - no worries :) Trust me I will be fine. I can still grip a golf club just fine too!

I miss you too! I love you and the family! Colby is a goon and never emails me back! He should be sittin there on his phone during class all the time emailing me.  Anywho, so tell him to hit me up. Gotta run.

Love, 
Tab!!!!!



Hi Dad,

Thanks for your letter. I hear you're a hipster with your new suits!

About my pinky - it has a couple fractures so I was told that I will need to go get surgery -_-   I'd feel bad but it wasn't my fault so I can't do much about it. I have tested my grip on a golf club - doesn't make much of a difference even with it being broken right now. 

Pasel is actually Pashel, who is Sister Brown. He (President Jeppson) just misspelled the name. My name too :) Everything went really well. I've come to learn that there's no need to worry too much about prepping for a baptismal service so this one was not as stressful as other baptisms in the past. If anything, the members stress more about it being perfect than I or the investigators do. Here's a picture of her son Damond (who baptized her) and Sister Brown: 




Love you!

Tab

Monday, February 10, 2014

I'm alive. I am always alive!




Hi Mom!

I'm alive. I am always alive! 

Today is pretty decent. P-days in this zone are slightly boring. Lackluster (hope that's the right word). There's no real rush to get anything done so usually I don't get any free time. People like emailing here at church - I do not! It is what it is, at least for a couple more weeks. 

But this week was good! I didn't freeze. It was actually a little bit warmer this week. IT snowed last night and that was nice. I love snow so much! It's usually warmer when it snows and much prettier and there is much less ice to slip on. 22 inches (at Sundance)! I want that here. Most of the storms are about two inches. Last monday we got about 8 inches and then it rained the next day so it was all gone or turned into nasty ice. eh

We went out every day this week. We always do! 

What were the names of the two girls who died? That is horrible...

Go Jazz! 

I did have something I was going to mention this week but I forgot it. I will remember probably tonight at 8pm and then forget it next monday. It's not that important so you're good. How is the family? Talk to you again soon.

Love, Tab!


Hey Regan...... sup?

Haha Regan is a goon. Tell her to do something that is safer and exhilarating, like snowmobiling or snowboarding or the like. (this is a response to hearing that Regan is going skydiving.....again!)



Hi Dad! 


I like that thought you shared about discerning what is the Holy Ghost and what is my thought. A video I like is: 


with Elder Bednar! He knows his stuff. We use that series of videos quite frequently with the people we teach.

Things are going pretty well. We hit 20 lessons this week - my first time in this area - but our other numbers were lower than usual. We only had one investigator at church which was frustrating for having worked as hard as we did. It happens! Sister Brown will be baptized this week. She had another great experience at church so that's good :) Her daughter gave birth on Saturday night so Sister Brown wanted to wait a week so that her daughter could be at her baptism. Sister Pacheco is also doing well but progressing at a really slow rate with our other investigators. Frustrating -_- but I like the investigators that we have. They want to be baptized. We do not have to force them. Recently, I have gained a lot of understanding on how to help people experience conversion. As a result, we have been teaching our investigators a lot about prayer and revelation (or other basic gospel principles) so that they can gain answers to their prayers instead of teaching them the restoration and convincing them that the church or the Book of Mormon is true. It's a better approach. The Spirit is stronger in our lessons. 

Talk about potential... that is my greatest struggle. I hardly ever reach my potential in any area. I talked to President Jeppson about it, and he gave me a few tips but not much. He encouraged me to read my patriarchal blessing and have my companion hold me accountable for things. I have been doing that. But still, I am working at it. 

The weather wasn't too bad this week. I could make calls on the way to appointments, haha. Things picked up a little bit.

Thanks for your help. I love you too!

Tab


Just a side note - I always love the way Tim responds to Tab. He has the best advice and encouragement for him. So, I thought I'd share it.


Tab,

I'm glad to hear things are going well. You are reaching your potential by serving faithfully as a missionary. Reaching one's potential in any area takes a lifetime of effort — often slow and steady effort. Lucifer is a crafty fellow — if he cannot destroy your vision of your own potential, he will try to discourage you in one way or another, or in your case convince you that "you hardly ever reach your potential".  Don't fall for that!  Better to say, "I haven't reached my full potential yet, but I am making progress, and I refuse to give up!" Remember, by "small things are great things brought to pass."  Do the small things.

Have a great week!

Love, Dad

Life in Jersey!

It's always a good day when we get pictures......I love seeing his face!



Christmas in NYC



In the city with Elder Pabla



Temple trip



Tab would take a picture of Will Ferrell!



Tab and Elder Pabla



Manhattan Temple



Elder VanWagoner



Elder VanWagoner



Got lettuce?



Stylin Tab!



"We made a lamp!" 



Got milk!!



Tab found his buddy from home! 
It's great to serve with friends.

Monday, February 3, 2014

It's snowing alot today....I like the snow!

I've said it before but I'll say it again......I LOVE Mondays! I get to chat with my most favorite missionary and it is by far the highlight of my week! 


Hi Mom!!

Our week was pretty good. Lots of good thing happened during the week! Sister Hightower (Sis Brown's real name :/ ) is getting baptized next week and we had a really good restoration lesson with Sister Pacheco. We had 3 team ups for that appointment so that was fun. And her daughter joined the lesson because her and Sister Pacheco are reading the Book of Mormon together so as to help her improve her reading comprehension! And we got a bunch of referrals from a member. I feel like these things are really boring for you to know but hey I'll write them down. It is snowing a lot today too! I like the snow. Yeah we're stuck at church! haha. We're just fine! it's not too bad. Yes, we'll still go out in it. We'll shop and what not and we go out tracting no matter what! 

 Sister Collins is a crazy missionary. She's awesome at what she does!

About that picture you sent - I think that is Giani DaCosta - awesome jamaican family! I love them so much.

Regan should marry a Japanese guy. Or she should go on a mission (to Japan) and then end up working with that. Elder Ream was an assistant in this mission and I think Elder Tilley may have been one too. Elder Ream is old! He's like 28. Super fantastic missionary though.

I got the donuts! They got pretty beat up but I still am enjoying them. They taste the same haha. I got another box - 1 of 2 - which had a bunch of treats in it. Thank you! for some reason it looked like someone cut open the sides and tried to see what was in it. So it fell apart when I cut the top. But the treats were great!

Colby -  I like that new suit and rose combo. Those kids in your picture better play golf!

Wow Delaney! I am happy for her. I hope she stays strong!

I will send you pictures today in my emails. We have tons of time but there is a basketball game I have to get to!

 I love you too! Actually I won't have photos of our apartment... next week.

Gotta go! BYE! love you

Love,
TAB!