Surgery tomorrow.....they're gonna knock me out!

Today we learned that Tab will be having surgery on his finger tomorrow. Any kind of surgery and anesthesia makes me a bit nervous. I spoke with the mission office and got all of the details. Hopefully all will go well. Wish I could go with him but it is nice to know that a senior missionary couple will be there to take care of him. 

Hi Mom!

Yes, I got to talk to dad again. I forgot his birthdate so I had to ask him for that. I did about 2 hours of paperwork and then I sat down with a doctor's assistant who wrote down some information about my finger for a couple minutes and then the real doctor came in for maybe 3 minutes with my xrays and concluded that my finger was indeed broken. I could have told them that. Good ole doctors. Then he told me I needed surgery and that he would set up an appointment for this week. So I have surgery tomorrow morning and they're gonna knock me out. I am excited to get it fixed! So that is that. I thought that President Jeppson would have called you by now to let you know everything that is going to happen but maybe he will tonight. The office told me that he would. The finger and I will be just fine.

Oh man! I can't believe it! I have hurt my elbow like that a few times and it always healed up within a couple days or so. Perhaps you chipped the bone. How in the world did you hit your thigh that hard? It looks like you pulled a wrestling move on the bedpost. Your friend nailed it: "SLOW DOWN AMBER." slow down. But I won't tell anyone. 

The said blizzard snow storm brought us a nice inch and a half of snow this morning. That seems to happen each time the weather team reports a storm. It's usually watered down to < 1/4 of the supposed intensity. NJ weather is lame.

I did get your package and Colby's letter. Both were great! I wrote a letter back to the family but I keep forgetting to take it with me when we go out or I forget it when I put it in my jacket. I got it in the box today, though. It is a decent letter. I didn't really know what to write about. I also wrote a letter to the Rasbands... I am sure they will like that. They deserve a letter from me. 

What is the name of the student who got hit? That is really sad. Never cross the street without looking first! I remember the Houtz family but I don't remember Heather. It seems that things like this never happened while I was still home! 

About my companion...... He's great. We get along pretty well. We have a lot in common, so that is always helpful. Things are going alright in the area, but finding new people to teach has been really difficult in the winter. Hardly anyone is outside to contact. That and our list of former investigators (people who were taught in the past) in our area book is about 20. I've met about 15 of them, and only 2 or so were interested/committed. The area is about a year old, so relatively new. So referrals is our main source of new investigators, and those are often difficult to get. As a result, we cycle through investigators pretty slowly. Meaning we teach the same people for a longer time. 

18 months... that was really pretty quick. I miss those 18 months!

How is the family? Miss you all.

Love you,

Tab

Hey Dad,

"You may want to express thanks when that occurs, for it is an evidence of His trust. When you are living worthily and your choice is consistent with the Savior’s teachings and you need to act, proceed with trust. When you are living righteously and are acting with trust, God will not let you proceed too far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision." That was in the talk you sent to me a couple of weeks ago. I remember reading that. I had never thought of doing such a thing! I will try that more often. I liked that talk, by the way. 

I have surgery tomorrow morning at 11am in South Amboy. That is a little bit far away from our house, but not too bad. I am excited! I will be knocked out. The doctor I went to was recommended by a surgeon in Salt Lake City who works for the church but I thought about it and I don't think it was much of a recommendation... he may have just looked for the closest hand surgeon and looked at some reviews on Google. It was only about 3 miles from our house. Fortunately, our zone leaders let us take their car. 

I agree with you on prayer. I have had weeks and months on my mission where prayer was a big deal to me, and times when it has not been. Right now is a time where my prayers to God have lacked desire and the like. I am working on it though. 

Thanks for your letter! I finished my hand written letter back at the beginning of the week and always forget to put it in the mailbox when we go out. I stuck it in today. So you should get it soon.

Love,

Tab