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

First transfer......about as good as I could ask for!

Tab finally got his first transfer and he is now in Trenton. It sounds like it was a perfect fit for him. I was so happy to get his email but the best part came when I went to the mailbox and found a letter from him too. He wrote me for my birthday! I think i'll keep that one to myself. However, I will say that no gift would have meant more than that letter! Here is his email.

Hi mom!

 

Yes I got transferred, but my new area is about as good as I could have asked for. I am in Trenton, and my address is 134A Austin Ave, Hamilton NJ 08629. But I sent you a letter! I was hoping you would have gotten it by your birthday but I guess not :( That's alright though. It has my new address on it, so that's good. We live in a house, actually, that is quite nice. It was newly remodeled and so everything is clean and it was newly furnished just last transfer. Everything we have is more or less new. My companion is Elder Chris? Mullenaux, from Gilbert Arizona and he's pretty funny. I like him a lot already. We have similar interests in cars, movies, hobbies, and humor so we get along well. He's happy all the time which is super nice to have in a companion. Elder Thompson and Elder Estipona were like that.

 

Ok I'll be right back.........

Yes so,

I am in the Princeton 2nd ward. Our area doesn't cover all of it, only the more poor parts. In fact we only have 4 or 5 active families in our area. The nicer areas are covered by our district leaders who are in the Princeton area. We live with spanish elders who cover our same area and we split the work about 50/50. There are quite a lot of spanish speakers in this area. Most of the members in the Princeton 2nd ward are either from Utah or have lived in Utah while going to school at BYU. I found that somewhat funny. So there's plenty to relate to. 

I don't have a whole lot to talk about yet... Liberian food is really good! We had that on Friday and I ate two full plates. Most foreign foods to me are good. I think this area is slightly more culturally diverse because there are more asians and europeans and central and south americans. I haven't been able to visit many members yet, but we had dinner at some Utahns and some Liberians homes. Good food for the most part! 

I did get almost everything from my old apartment. We jammed the Corolla full to the brim! I only left behind a couple of hangers and I think that's about it. I even brought my waffle crisp :) So I'll be fine.

I will still get on for emails at the same time and everything... Missionary schedule is the same where ever I go. The library we go to is on Princeton campus - it's real nice here. I haven't been able to walk around too much but there's some cool art and nice buildings, like Stanford. It's a little more hilly. Trenton is different from Newark/East Orange in that it is a little newer/nicer. I don't know which city is older than the other but East Orange had way more abandoned buildings and it was more hood. More dangerous. More liquor stores and more crime. However, I haven't spent much time around downtown Trenton late at night, so I cannot say for sure. Plus directly around Trenton there are really nice areas. Like Princeton - which is real nice. Other than that, it's pretty similar. I was praying for a walking area so I got what I wanted!

Good: Mostly everything

Bad: Walking between appointments sometimes takes forever.

I look forward to getting my letter! Hopefully you get yours soon. I heard about Landon - he emailed me. That's awesome! Carlsbad is super hot isn't it? He's going to have a great time. 

Well, I'm out of stuff to talk about. Ask dad if he knows any of his students/colleagues that now are in Princeton wards. He may know some of them. I love you guys! Do some member missionary work or something. We love families that help us do missionary work. Utah is hard to do that. But you can do it 

Love,
Tab

Good morning!

Awesome letter. Thanks Dad! I'll have time to write you next week. Keep up the good work!

Haha you already know where I'm at. I like it a lot! I was hoping for a walking area.

I'll be studying up on the Atonement a lot this week so we'll do some discussing next Monday.

Everything is going great. I love the testimony that I am building. It brings me great joy. I know that this Church is true!

I'll write you next week

Love,
Tab

I am leaving East Orange : (

I knew it was inevitable! After being in East Orange for 5 1/2 months, Tab is leaving. I think he has gotten quite attached to the place and loves the people. This was one of the most heartfelt emails I've received. I know he will be fine but it is sad to see him leave this area. Despite the challenges he has had, the growth I've seen in him has been truly rewarding. And to think I cried when I first heard he was being sent here. I pray his next area and companion will be just as great! 



Hi Mom!

I am leaving East Orange :( It's alright though! So I'm pretty sad that I am leaving cause I don't really want to go, because I don't know how to, talk to not hood people right now and if I could guess, my next area is going to have more rich people. The people we teach, you can basically straight up tell them to repent ye sinners and be baptized like 2 Nephi 9 style. And then they'll either do it or not. Most of them don't, which is crazy because from my perspective I'm pouring my heart out about something that is so true I feel like you can't deny it, but they'll get it someday and if not then in the Spirit World. The other day some girl asked us to come visit her and she gave us a totally false address and her intention was to deliberately waste our time... she did a little bit - like 20 min or so. But at first I was mad and then I laughed cause I'm totally gonna give her a hard time in heaven about it. 

I'll let you know where I go by next monday.

So, yes we also had Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Tad R. Callister come speak to us on Saturday. That was crazy good. I shook their hands at the beginning! I don't really remember what I did cause I was so focused on looking him in the eyes and smiling and making sure my hand was not clammy and what not, but I do know that Elder Christofferson is most definitely the most handsome of all the apostles. He aged well. Plus he's pretty funny. He pulled a lot of jokes. Mostly, he talked about faith, our mission-wide focus. It was inspiring. He doesn't baffle with words really, but he brings the Spirit. He said some neat stuff in his closing remarks/testimony. He is a special witness of Christ - that is his calling as an apostle. Talking about how faith eventually becomes perfect knowledge, he said something like, "As someone who knows, I have come to testify to you that Christ lives." And he meant it, of course. It was powerful and I felt the Spirit! Elder Callister is a wizard at quoting scripture and you can tell he is intelligent. He talked about changing our nature, not just our behaviour, as missionaries. That was great too. I took notes of course so I'll remember what I learned and how I felt.

This week I also got to visit a house of unaccountability where I reunited with Philip, an old investigator who we dropped because he is unaccountable and he moved away without telling us where he went. The last time I saw him was over 3 months ago. I felt really bad for him cause he's in rough shape... he more or less has every disease in the world and he has nobody who he can talk to. So we talk to him. There is also a man in there named Carlos who has elephantitus (sp.?) The reason we went there is because a member named Lisa lives there and she is super funny/crazy/cool but after a few visits when we went back she had basically torn the place apart overnight and so they kicked her out to who knows where. Sad, but true. I wish you could meet some of these people. They are pretty far out there.

We had a going-away party on Sunday for the branch's first missionary! Sis Katiana Jean-Louis. She has a cool conversion story and she is basically the perfect convert. She's amazing. She leaves on Tuesday for the MTC. They will probably hold a party soon for Michael Paupulaire as well, who Reese knows. It was a pretty big deal for the members of the branch so they made tons of food and we did the Haka and a whole bunch of wild stuff like that. It was great!

One other cool event from this week. We visited a member, Sister Earlene Scott, for the first time this week. She comes to church every sunday and she is a champ. But I had never visited her until this week and it was the greatest visit I have had in a long time. She is quite old, 84, and she can hardly walk. She has a disease that makes her hands and mouth shake, she has a pace maker and several bone replacements, and she takes care of her diabetic son. So it's just her and her son in their small room in a halfway home. She has all the reasons to not go to church. I forgot to mention she can't drive and doesn't get a ride from members - she takes the bus!! She defines champ! So in our visit we talked about her conversion and the doctrine of Christ. I loved it. She was baptized with her mother in 1998. Het mother lived to be 107, outlasting the ENTIRE 20th century. How about that? Anyway, Sis Scott is the sweetest old lady I've met on my mission. I am hoping I'll get a picture with her before I leave.

BTDubs, the new Honduras temple is gorgeous! I think it's one of the best looking, ever. I realized that I am not a big fan of the style of architecture used on the Provo temple and the temples like Las Vegas temple, Boise temple, and the one in Germany (Frankfurt?). I don't like that style. But the new Honduras temple I like a lot.

Ok so I know most of this letter was somewhat all over the place but it is what my week consisted of. And some nerf basketball tournaments. So you asked who you should pray for... pray for Comfort and Diana and Apa - the Adjei family - they are planning to be baptized at the end of the month. I won't be here : ( but I know Elder Thompson will take care of them just fine. 

Have a great week! I will. Pray that I go to a super area and get a super companion! Haha. 

I love you all.

Tab

Mid week surprise!

There is not much that is better than getting a surprise email from Tab mid week! It just popped up and my heart skipped about 2 beats. Best feeling ever! It could have been two words and I would've been happy. But this is what I got......

Hi mom!

I got on because I wanted to say thank you for my package! I love waffle crisp haha.

Ok I have to go. Love you!

Tab