Well, after reading this letter I think it's safe to say Tab is keeping very busy! I love his praise for his companion. He sounds great, but he wants an extension?!?!?! I guess he's happy and Jersey Strong!
Hi Mom!
Another Monday... did you enjoy your week?
Another Monday... did you enjoy your week?
I did. We stayed really busy with stake and missionary meetings in the north. We did a lot of driving. That is the only problem with thesouth. New Jersey isn't even that big of a state! It just takes 3x as long to go the same distance in Utah. My companion and I set some good goals and we saw lots of success. We had 22 lessons, which is the first time since he has been here (at least 6 months) that that hashappened. So that was good! I ate at Smashburger again and then I had a beef brisket sandwich at Costco. It wasn't bad. I would probably eat it again. Our team up Ryan Stojka takes us out to eat every time we go with him so we've been getting lots of free yummy food. :) I had Five Guys too after our meeting in Morristown. We also had a meeting with the stake president in East Brunswick to address the problems in the units in the zone. Face to face with a Jersey stake president talking to him about the problems with the leaders in his units is really scary! It must be very humbling for him.
I sent a big letter to dad and so I'll copy it in here for you. Hopefully it answers your questions!
"Thank you for giving me an update on your trip to Alaska. I enjoyed hearing that you were able to fly around in a Cessna. Elder Traasdahl's brother in Norway was required to take a small plane like that to get to transfer conference when he was serving in Svalbard. Supposedly, the missionaries there are required to carry around shotguns to protect them from bears and other wild animals. I'm not sure if that is true, but it sounds cool.
So I'll update you a little bit on the work. We stay really busy. I am surprised at how much time we have to work in our area. We had 22 lessons in our area last week, which is something hard to do even as a regular missionary without leadership responsibilities. We lost a lot of time on Thursday and all day Friday due to stake and mission leader meetings. It takes us a little over two hours to drive up to Morristown with regular traffic. That's the one problem with this zone: it is huge and it is way down south... "down to the river to [work]!" But other than that I love the zone. We have great missionaries who are strong enough to stay busy and be obedient without the nearby presence of leaders. We only get to see other missionaries (besides the ones in our ward) once a week at district meetings. I pray for them a lot - this whole zone seems to struggle with finding and baptizing. However, my area has been fairly fruitful in the last few transfers. Since I have gotten here, things have slowed down a little bit. But I try not to let that happen!
We have a couple investigators who have baptismal dates - Natalie (June 21st) and Jackee (June 22). Natalie is very promising. She is only 14 years old, but she is very mature for her age. She has already been taught everything over the phone by sisters in Salt Lake, so all
we do is just follow up to make sure she understands everything. She has come to church on her own for several weeks. The only hold back is getting permission from her parents. I haven't met them yet, but she says they aren't interested in learning more about the church. We'll see what they have to say about her joining it! She is Vietnamese, by the way. Jackee is hispanic and she is 24 years old. She actually just broke up with her boyfriend she was living with so now she can get baptized without having to get married! She is like most investigators - super willing in lessons, but she doesn't do too well at keeping commitments. Other than that, we have taught a lot of people once or twice and then not been able to see them again. New Jersey special! People seem to just disappear...
My companion is a champ. I love him. He is what President Jeppson calls "the consumate missionary". I have a lot to learn from him. And him from me, hopefully.
Thanks again for writing! I look forward to going to Alaska with you again. Enjoy your trip with Colby! Get some yummy Vietnamese (#23 Dry - was that the dish?) for me. We've seen a couple places around here so I'll go check them out."
I sent a big letter to dad and so I'll copy it in here for you. Hopefully it answers your questions!
"Thank you for giving me an update on your trip to Alaska. I enjoyed hearing that you were able to fly around in a Cessna. Elder Traasdahl's brother in Norway was required to take a small plane like that to get to transfer conference when he was serving in Svalbard. Supposedly, the missionaries there are required to carry around shotguns to protect them from bears and other wild animals. I'm not sure if that is true, but it sounds cool.
So I'll update you a little bit on the work. We stay really busy. I am surprised at how much time we have to work in our area. We had 22 lessons in our area last week, which is something hard to do even as a regular missionary without leadership responsibilities. We lost a lot of time on Thursday and all day Friday due to stake and mission leader meetings. It takes us a little over two hours to drive up to Morristown with regular traffic. That's the one problem with this zone: it is huge and it is way down south... "down to the river to [work]!" But other than that I love the zone. We have great missionaries who are strong enough to stay busy and be obedient without the nearby presence of leaders. We only get to see other missionaries (besides the ones in our ward) once a week at district meetings. I pray for them a lot - this whole zone seems to struggle with finding and baptizing. However, my area has been fairly fruitful in the last few transfers. Since I have gotten here, things have slowed down a little bit. But I try not to let that happen!
We have a couple investigators who have baptismal dates - Natalie (June 21st) and Jackee (June 22). Natalie is very promising. She is only 14 years old, but she is very mature for her age. She has already been taught everything over the phone by sisters in Salt Lake, so all
we do is just follow up to make sure she understands everything. She has come to church on her own for several weeks. The only hold back is getting permission from her parents. I haven't met them yet, but she says they aren't interested in learning more about the church. We'll see what they have to say about her joining it! She is Vietnamese, by the way. Jackee is hispanic and she is 24 years old. She actually just broke up with her boyfriend she was living with so now she can get baptized without having to get married! She is like most investigators - super willing in lessons, but she doesn't do too well at keeping commitments. Other than that, we have taught a lot of people once or twice and then not been able to see them again. New Jersey special! People seem to just disappear...
My companion is a champ. I love him. He is what President Jeppson calls "the consumate missionary". I have a lot to learn from him. And him from me, hopefully.
Thanks again for writing! I look forward to going to Alaska with you again. Enjoy your trip with Colby! Get some yummy Vietnamese (#23 Dry - was that the dish?) for me. We've seen a couple places around here so I'll go check them out."
Haha, no I don't want time to pass by quickly! I thought about asking for an extension but I highly highly doubt they would give it to me. :) Reese will get back in time to go to the winter semester so we'll all go back at the same time :) I just have to find an apartment! Elder Traasdahl is coming too!
I'm doing great. I love you all!
Love, Tab
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