Pictures! October 29, 2012

October 29, 2012

Good Morning Dallin!

 

How are you doing?  I'm sure you are staying pretty busy. 

 

It's been a great week here. Pretty busy.  We had an open house for Caleb at our house last night.  All the usuals came and we had a lot of food.  He is very excited to go.  He gave a great talk in Sacrament meeting and expressed his love for you. It made me cry, of course :) He goes into the MTC on Wednesday. Some of his co-workers came to the party and it was a nice missionary contact for them.

 

I'm working hard on the Primary program.  It's fun to be back in Primary.  We had our ward Halloween Pary on Saturday.  220 people came with lots of non-members.  It was really fun.  I didn't win the Chili cookoff.  Lake Hills Ward is tough competition! The Bauers dressed up as twin robots--sooooo funny!!

 

Dad is still working very hard and is working Mason as well. Dad has an inflammation on his collar bone called costacondritis.  Very painful.  We went to the clinic on Saturday to make sure it wasn't a fracture.  He was in so much pain he was willing to take the shot in the fanny from the male nurse, who we think was gay...  HAHA!  I wish I would have taken a pic. :)

 

I think you know by now that you are getting another nephew.  Ang is doing great and Cade is trying to figure out where his little brother is.  Chels is doing great in school.  She really appreciates her schooling now.  Vance's b-day is today--3 YEARS OLD!  Wow-time flies by.  He is such a talker.  He can sing "let's get down to business" from Mulan.  So funny.

 

Beau is doing great-back in Alaska and still living with the Light's. He's made some good friends there.

 

Well, your others buds are doing great in the missionary field.  Have you seen Dave?  If you do, tell him hello and that we pray for all of you!

 

Dad says to tell you hello and that he is having lunch with Uncle John Light today. He's here hunting with Peter.

 

Well, gotta get to work.  We love you.  Keep up the great work.  All the ward members ask about you all the time.

 

Mom

PS- oh and check this out: 

“As Church leaders had anticipated when the change was announced, the number of individuals who have begun the missionary application process has increased significantly.  Typically approximately 700 new applications are started each week.  The last two weeks that number has increased to approximately 4,000 per week.

            Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland predicted that lowering the age limits for young Mormon missionaries would trigger a "dramatic" uptick in their numbers. Turns out, dramatic was an understatement. Try a 471 percent jump in applications — so far! "Slightly more than half of the applicants are women,"

This means that there will be probably 250 missionaries in the Iowa Des Moines mission by next year(currently we are to full capacity with 186)!

This is the Lord's work!

Hey Mom!

We are indeed busy. Denise has taken a couple steps backward because we taught her the word of wisdom a few days ago. We plan to teach her the stop smoking workshop on Tuesday, which is proven to make you a non smoker in seven days. The guy we taught the workshop to in Keokuk named Dillon never joined the church, but he still doesn't smoke to this day. We also had a great stake conference this week about eternal families and Agusta the Indian lady came to it with the Stake President and his wife. Ken is continuing to read the Book of Mormon, but he is reading it at an intellectual level. Hopefully the Lord will help him understand its importance. 

Speaking of gay guys, One night we were knocking in this apartment building. The walls and doors are paper thin, so after you knock a door and the door closes you can still hear them talking about you with their friends. Anyway, so we knocked this one door and this guy who is obviously homosexual answers and says he is an atheist and wouldn't talk about it. When the door closed a girl inside was like "mormons? were they cute?" and he said "yeah, they actually were!" hah. 

My time in Iowa City is quickly coming to an end! I love it here and I love the ward. I only have two more weeks to help Elder Musick keep this area going. 

Love you,

Elder Tall

October 29, 2012

Dal!!!
Did you already write ?!?! I'm such an idiot! I've been waiting for Sunday night all week!!!! I got released from YW today, so needless to say it was a long one. I'm pretty bummed. I felt like I was just getting goin with my girls. So sad. Good news is that the Giants won the World Series! I hope you got your Halloween pkg!!!!!!!!! Missin you and sending you loads and buckets of love and support..
Ang

Hey Ang. 
I had to come send an email to Des Moines. Sorry to hear you got released. Those girls will appreciate you forever. I will always be grateful to my leaders growing up. They played a HUGE role in my life. I know how much you love them, and they know it too.

Did Bill have a giants celebratory party or what?

I haven't gotten the package yet, but thank you so much in advance. You rock you kn0ow that?

Still haven't told me the gender of the baby. :)

I Love you and I love the Lord's work. It all starts at home :)

Dal

October 22, 2012

Hi Son!

 

How are you doing this week?  How did Denise do with your reading of Alma 36?  And, Ken and his nine kids.  Just think of the change that could take place for his huge posterity if he were to accept the Gospel.  Pretty amazing. 

 

We had a very nice regional stake conference.  Elder Russell M Nelson spoke, along with Sister Dalton and a couple other Generals.  It made me very excited for the future hastening of the missionary work.  I think it has amped up a lot of us to be better at sharing our testimonies freely.  Sis Dalton's talk was amazing about the strength of youth and repentence.  I loved it. We can look forward to some exciting times!  Our family is truly blessed and we need to share those blessings with others.

 

Mason returned last week.  It has been great to see Aaron, Mason, and Joe Weitz's growth.  They are the same and yet so much more solid in their testimonies.  They were working on Ben even up to the last moment before he left for boot camp.  He left Sunday.  He loves you and said to tell you hi.  He cannot get email yet.  He said he would call if he could.  He'll join the church someday. 

 

It's getting a little chilly here.  It looks like you have been having some good weather but it will get cold soon.  Do you need anything?  Beau leaves for Alaska tomorrow until Christmas.  He's not too excited but it has been a great thing for him.  The girls are doing great.  Chels is doing well in school. Vance has learned "Let's get down to business" from Mulan.  He's a crack up.  Nor Nor is soooo stinkin sweet!  Cade is cheering "gooooooo Giants!" all the time.  Makes his daddy proud! Can't wait for the next little one to be born in Feb.  We are sooo blessed!

 

Well, I love you.  Put all your energy into your work and training.  You are a great example to me and our family. 

 

Love, Mom

Hey Mom!

 

Oh what a week! Denise loved Alma 36. It changed her progression.  This week the spirit had guided us so much! Its nice when you get specific instructions from the Lord. We felt like we should make a calendar for Denise with all the things that need done before baptism on a specific date. She responded to it very well. She and her two kids (Tyler and Sydney) came to church on Sunday! It was so great to see them. She is feeling better and better about the 17th, and she plans to come to see a baptism on the 27th. 80% of all investigators that attend a baptismal service join the church. Pretty cool. Pray for her because I think she has a small smoking problem. 

 

The spirit also brought to rememberance a breifly mentioned referral from a member. It was way out of our way, and they said nothing would come of it. I felt stongly that we needed to go knock the house. So we headed across town on the bikes at eight at night, during the Hawkeye game (it's a religeon around here and people get ticked when you interrupt their game parties), and we had no idea if they would be home. We knocked it and a 14 year old girl comes to the door. We asked her if she goes to church, and she said no but she would like to. We volunteered the family in our ward that she babysits for to pick her up in the next morning for church, so she came as well and had a great time. She plans on attending Young Women's from now on! Her name is Alexis.

 

We have a dinner tonight at a member's home with Ken the nerd with a plethora of children. It is inevitable that we will be talking about deep doctrine like the origin of God, and the color of the grass in the world we will build with our minds and things, but he is sincerely reading so hopefully it pans out. He also has a date for December 22nd. He is awesome. 

 

Love you thanks for your prayers! Pray for these people, they need you

Elder Tall 

October 16, 2012

Hi Dallin!

 

How are you?  We have been talking about you and all your antics this weekend!  We had a great experience going to the temple with Caleb.  I'm sure you know that he goes into the MTC on 10/31.  He is very solid about it.  It was so neat at the temple because Aaron was there and Allen Bauer officiated the session.  Aaron returned to Billings last Thursday.  He said to tell you hi and enjoy your mission.  Mason gets home on Wednesday. It is wonderful that all of you, including Beau, are great friends.  It would be so great for all of you to go to the temple together one day-  Time is really flying by. 

 

Beau has been home on "vacation."  He has worked for Dad almost the whole time :) He goes back to Alaska on next Tuesday.  I guess Mason is thinking about going up there if he can.  I hope he does and Beau stays through the winter. I really want him away from Billings.  We'll see.

 

Dad had his first ever presidency meeting.  I don't think they call them that in the High Priest Group.  But, whatever.  A new experience.  He really is happy about being home and being able to be active in the church.  A mighty change of heart sometimes takes a mighty long time! He says to tell you Hi- He is still working on the Branch President's house.  He had Ben and Beau up there all week, out of cell range.

 

I'm writing the Primary program and getting to know these cute little kids.  They are so smart and cute.  We have a great ward.

 

Grandpa Tall is being released next Sunday.  He will be greatly missed as a bishop in his ward and I know he will miss being bishop, although he is a little tired.  Did I tell you ally is adopted two little girls? Ages 10 and 8, I think.

 

We have been praying for your investigators.  How are they doing?  How is your companion adjusting?  Are you riding your bikes alot?  Do you need anything? 

 

We super love you and love to hear your experiences.  Please send pics if you can.  When I enlarge the pics that you sent a long time ago, they are grainy.  I still need a good one for your placque.

 

Enjoy every moment, son!  I love you!

 

Mom

Hey Mom!

What a week! It was nice and busy. Good news! We set a baptismal date with Denise Slauson for Nov. 17th. The story has been one of the greatest blessings of my mission. As I told you before, we found Denise as we accidentally ended up in her neighborhood. We decided to knock some doors in the area since we had some time. The spirit confirmed to that we were there for a reason. We skipped a few houses and headed for the end of the street, but the spirit came strong about a certain house. We knocked it and she let us right in. In subsequent visits She told us that she had been praying and hoping for some way to get closer to God, and then we showed up.

 I was in zone conference the other day, and our zone leaders were giving a powerful training on the Doctrine of Christ. It hit me so strongly that Denise was expressing the greatest desire to repent at this time, and that we needed to read Alma 36 (Alma telling his son of his conversion) and focus on the sweetness of joy she would feel after baptism. We did so, and the spirit carried our words, and when the time was right Elder Musick got to set his first baptismal date. She said she didn't know if she was ready, and we assured her that she was. She said that in the days after she accepted the date, she was happy and care free. Please pray for her faith to increase enough to come to church this Sunday! 

As for the other work we saw tons of success this week. Next week we should be setting more dates. The Lord gave us 7 new investigators this week, and much planning and preparation to do for them. We are meeting with a guy that was found by a member of our ward tonight. He has NINE kids. Most of them are over eight! His name is Ken Boucher. He is a nerd. :)

I am gaining such a testimony of repentance. It is a commandment that in every way shows God's love. There is no greater blessing of my mission than to watch people feel forgiven or happy through the Spirit of the Lord.

Tell all the boys I love them and Im proud of them for returning with honor. 

Love you 

October 8, 2012

Hi Elder Tall,

Wasn't that a great conference?  Amazing how the leaders of the church are always looking forward 10-20 years, if not further.  There will be needs that will be fulfilled by this new announcement regarding the age of missionaries.  We just can't see it yet.  What do you and your fellow missionaries think about it?  I think one of my favorite talks was ....well all of them, but Elder Holland couldn't be more powerful and Elder Bednar's was so great about the lamp of testimony and the oil of conversion.  This little clarification makes all the difference in the story of the 10 virgins. We are so lucky to get to hear the prophet and all the leaders.  They are there for no other purpose than to lift us up and give us hope in the atonement and to love us.  So great!

Dad has injured his back.  He spent the weekend on the couch watching conference.  It's hard to keep him down.  He says to tell you hello and that he loves you.

He is employing Ben and Beau tomorrow up in Melstone, outside of roundup.  They will be there for the whole week.  I heard dad tell a customer yesterday that his back was injured and that he had a priesthood blessing with consecrated oil.  This is a great example of standing for truth and testifying at all times.  This guy knows the Bible and said, " that's exactly how they do it in the Bible." Maybe, after dad is done with the job, he can give him a Book of Mormon.  I think those people who faithfully read the Bible are being prepared for the BOM.

Well, I am off work today, and forgot that it was Monday.  So, this is late.  It may give you a chance to catch up on other correspondence.  Well, I love you and pray for you always.

Mom

Hey!

Woooooo! I loved conference! Elder Nelson, Anne Dibbs (love the gospel not just live it is what we have been teaching the members in various meetings), and Uchdorf's priesthood. Top three. Might have to throw Elder Christensen's talk about the Holy Ghost in there...I think it was Christensen.  Tough choices. I watched conference at a member's house in Iowa City with our whole district. We just gasped and then cheered when we heard the announcement. There will be so many more missionaries in the next few years! Think of how this will change highschool...it will change everything. I could not have imagined serving when I was 18, but whom the Lord calls He qualifies. I am so excited. The Lord just keeps blessing us out here.

So I recieved some good news. Iyabo, the african-american bisexual jew in Keokuk, got baptized a couple weeks ago! It was so fun to teach her.

Tell Dad to keep up the good missionary work...and lift with your legs :).

So we will be working really hard on finding this week. We also plan to set some baptism dates. We have a couple of investigators that are so close. Denise the single mother being the closest. Please pray for miracles. We need all the prayer and faith we have to reach 400 by the end of the year!

Love you ,
Elder Tall

October 8, 2012 - Ang & Dal

Hi dal!
I am sitting in the gym parking lot feelin large and in charge, about
to go to a class...conference was awesome!!!!!! I feel like we were
just emailing about the last one-time flies eh? What was your favorite
talk? Missin you. Things are going fantastic back here so be happy and
content knowing that. Including the parents and bub. They're doing great,
dad is so happy. Have a great day!!!
Ang

Sent from my iPhone

Hey
thanks for the warm fuzzy about the fam. I love to hear about that. Think of our family without the blessings of the atonement. Not the forgiving power of it, but the enabling power, to transform into a new creature. We would...struggle.

I hope you are feeling good and feeling special. We all benefit so much from you having babies :).

My favorite talk was probably Nelson's Ask the Missionaries talk.
I love you,
Elder Tall

October 1, 2012

Hi dal. We are at gma talls and I am doing this from my I phone. Not good. I love you.
 Nate's wedding went great and we are going home tonight. 
We are praying for your success. How are you ?

Mom

Sent from my iPhone

Hey there!

This week was awesome! It was a bit slow because we moved and cleaned our old apartment, but we saw great success.

We got back in contact with a lady named Denise. We are scheduled to teach her on friday. She is very prepared.She is trying to find a job right now and be a single mother. She is awesome. Kim dropped us because her husband said he would divorce her if she continued to progress and be baptized. That was hard. I wanted to help her so bad. All things in the Lord's time and according to his will!

We also got to teach the Young Women this week as well as the adults in the 5th sunday combined meeting. We had fun activities with the Young Women and showed them how they can share the Gospel. For the 5th Sunday our ward mission leader taught a portion and we taught a portion. The whole meeting was directed toward praying specifically for opportunities to testify. Every member has the responsibility to gather Israel. In order to do that we have to follow the Saviors pattern of sharing the Gospel: testify, then invite. It was a powerful experience to stand in front of all the adults of our huge ward and tell them how much I love them, and how much I appreciate the opportunity to testify every day, and how I love the Savior. We all have such a gift. We have the fulness of the Gospel, and power to testify of it given by the spirit, and that is not limited to the missionaries.

Afterward we had several members thank us and offer meals and such. Things are movin' in this ward! Loving it.

Tell Nate congrats and I love him. How is the house project going?

Love you!
Elder Tall

September 24, 2012

Hi Dallin!

 

How was your week?  Any new investigators?  Is this transfer week?  Your last letter sounded like you may have hit a small plateau in your work.  That's ok.  It's normal and will come in waves.

 

We had a great week.  Beau came home for a visit and we have had the usual influx of Matt, Chase and Caleb in the house and hottub.  Beau will be here until the middle of October and then he will go back until Christmas. I think he really likes it and he has grown up.

 

We had Grandma and Grandpa Tall here for the weekend as well. Dad was ordained and we then we went to the temple.  It was a great experience.  Angie says that Dad now needs to have a pair of tan slacks with a blue blazer- the High Priest uniform:)  Kerry Kimball was also ordained a high priest.  We are going to Nathan's wedding this weekend.  You will really like his wife, Katie.

 

I hope you have a great week.  I'm a little pushed for time today.  I love you and we pray for your work everyday.

 

Love,  Mom

Hey!

I am so excited about Dad! I love all this good news. 

This week was...well we are past the plateau and continuing to ascend! This ward is getting so excited to do missioanry work. We got invited to teach the Young Women on Wednesday, and teach the 5th sunday third hour next Sunday. Members are consistently offering rides and meals. They also seem to be changing their outlook on missionary work as we have followed the counsel in PMG and taught members the investigator lessons. Our ward mission leader said that ward council now focuses strongly on missionary work and how the ward can double their efforts. Elder Musick and I have been doing everything we can to gain the trust of the members and show them our sincere desire to help their friends come unto Christ. Sunday at church is the most important time of our week. We follow up, set up lots of appointments, and follow up on commitments in the little spaces of time we have. Elder Musick seems to be learning quickly what it takes to love, serve, keep track of names etc, and encourage the members of a busy family ward. He is a great teacher and lets me know when he has a prompting, and I love to follow it and experience the benefits. 

We found 2 new investigators this week. We ended up spending alot of time around Patricia's non member family. Her niece (inlaw) has repeatedly turned us down, but we have developed a great friendship with her and her kids. Recently she had been humbled as her marriage is really struggling. She accepted the invitation to take the discussions and is committed to come to church next Sunday! We also have begun teaching a member's husband, who has never had religion in his life. He has met with the missionaries before and has attended church several times, but with faith I know he will accept the Gospel. Please pray for them (Kim and Earl).

Its not transfer week, and training takes two transfers(3 months) so I will be staying. 

Thanks for the love and prayers!

Elder Tall 

September 24, 2012 Ang & Dal

Hey Dal!

You've almost been out 8 months already?!?!?! Nuts. And so awesome. Some days go by slow, but over all you will be a man and home makin babies in no time. So much to look forward to. So on this end-we are still trying to find a place to move to due to the carbon monoxide that is the Middle-Eastern food smells oozing through my walls, but to no avail, nothing has worked out yet. I'm officially 17 ish weeks along and had a few complications, but I think we are good to go and the Doc says the baby is doing fine so that was good news. My next appointment is tomorrow, so we'll see then. Cade is funny as ever. He calls Beau 'Dal-nin' on skype. As usual I want to keep this short and sweet on my boring end so I can leave you time to give us a juicy fun fact filled one. Attaching a few other funny pics I found. LOVE YOU SO SO SOSO SO MUCH. 

Ang

PS-It's my birthday in a couple days. Keep a mental note of that would ya.

Ang, B & C.

Ang! 

This week was great! Things are picking up, and I am trying hard to keep up! Our entire ward are families like you and Chelsea, and the fathers are all doctor residents and U of I. We have had so many spiritual appointments with them. I love this ward so much. This one little kid (bout 4 years old) snuck up behind me and jumped on my back and he whispers in my ear "Ewda Tall...you fascinate me" haha. So random. 

I also forgot to tell you this story. So one of Elder Musick's first doors he knocked and talked was so funny. This guy answers talking in some Bosnian or something. He is like 6'2 and looks like hes been up for three days. Hes super skinny and wearing nothing but some way too tight white Euro boxers with racing stripes on em...completely see through.

 I just look over trying to contain myself and just lost it as Elder Musick stood there trying to do a door approach. The guy just stood there straight faced like he had no idea why I was laughing. What a good trainer I am ha. 

Love you

September 17, 2012

Hi Dallin,

 

I can't believe the weeks are flying by so fast!  It's already time to write again :) I received some insurance notifications that you went the the doctor.  What was that about?  It looks like they gave you 3 meds. 

 Let me know please.

 

How is Elder Musick doing?  Are you drumming up some investigators? (ha-no pun intended :)

 Is it getting a little cooler there?

We hope you are continuing to be motivated and happy. 

 

We had a great, impromtu, stake conference yesterday.  Elder Steven E. Snow was there and the new mission president and his wife.  There were several investigators with our missionaries and the spirit was really strong.  It's always nice to see people we haven't seen in a long time.  Tim Light got his mission call to Korea.  Wow!  Same mission as John. 

 

This is the poem Elder Snow read in Stake Conference:  So cute!

 

Cowboy Poetry

Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,
The temperature had fallen, the wind and snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart.
From the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us would do if we had been there.
He humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked -- it looked just like Wyoming!

Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
(Now, this line ain't needed but it helps with rhyme and meter)

So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping' score -- in Heaven time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayer,
But one time I asked for help, well, he just plain wasn't there."

"Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square -- I know all men are brothers."

"Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day, the weather or the season."

"Now I ain't trying to act smart, it's just the way I feel.
And I was wondering', could you tell me -- what the heck's the deal?!"

Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you're the one!!"

"That day your truck, it wouldn't start, and you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying."

"A thousand angels rushed, to check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake, we hadn't heard from you in quite a long while."

"And though all prayers are answered, and God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota ."

Ha! 

 

Dad probably told you that he has been called as the assistant to the High Priest Group President.  That means grandpa will come up and ordain him a high priest.  Miracles are real and some take a long time and continue.  As I watch his change occur, the power of prayer and the spirit are so real.  The power of the scriptures to 'calm our troubled hearts' is SO REAL.  This morning we were in our usual dither trying to get to work.  I stopped, grabbed my scriptures, knelt down and made sure I put the Lord first.  Dad stopped and knelt by me, I read to him and we said our prayers.  There was an immediate calm to our morning!  It's real and true.

 

I hope you have a great P-day.  Keep your room and car clean!  We love you so much.

 

Mom

Hey!

That was an awesome poem! I need to find a way to use it. I think president Jergensen would like it. 

It is getting a bit cooler here. It still hits 90 and humid, but it is way better than 100. 

Thanks for the little story about you and Dad. I loved it. It reminds me of Alma 13:28-29. This is after Alma is teaching about The melchezidek priesthood, and especially the office of a high preist. He explains the sacredness of the Melchezidek priesthood, and then finishes off by explaining the only way to maintain the power of your priesthood, which is through love...Its interesting, I was reading Alma 13 today in my studies. 

Elder Musick is doing really well. He has some of the same focus issues as me, and I try to lead by example to help him overcome those. It is really through the power of the spirit, and Jesus Christ that weaknesses like ADD or anything else can become strengths. He came into the area when we were in finding mode, so he is having to be patient with the work, and love it when we seemingly fail. There is no failure if your work was consecrated. 

So as of two days ago I have been out 7 months. Weird. Yesterday we had dinner with the Murdocks. They have four little kids. We taught them about prophets, and the restoration. First we had them all pick a random verse in the scriptures. I said "when I say go, everybody read your verse out loud." Of course it was a jumbled mess. We explained that after Jesus and the apostles passed there were no more prophets, and it sounded alot like when we read. It was hard to understand what God's commandments were. Then we had one of the kids be the holy ghost, and  Brother Murdock be the prophet. The kid whispered a verse into his ear, and Brother murdock read it aloud. We had Sister murdock tell everyone what she learned, and she heard it all just right! We explained that God called another Prophet so that we could hear everything from God clearly, and we helped one of the kids recite Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision. The spirit was really strong, and it was so fun. 

Oh and the doctor's visits ha. Well first someone in the ward thought I had shingles, and didnt take a look at it. So he ordered me some stuff. It was extremely painful and I biked on it alot for a few days and all this, and I couldn't sleep at night. So I felt like I should figure it out. Went to the clinic and I had some kind of cyst and infection. I got some anti biotics and now it is fine. It was rough. I was blessed. A lot of people have to have surgery done, but the antibiotics took care of it. 

Pray for our members to share the gospel!

I love you 

September 10, 2012

Hi Dallin!

 

Can you pleeeeaaaasssse send a good pic of you for the plaque!!?? Thank you (said in the cheech and chong voice).

 

 

How was your week?  This will be short letter because I am running so late this morning. 

 

Lots of good things happening.  Dad and I are beginning the tear out/clean up of a small house we bought.  It's a small house in the north side of Wal-mart in the Heights.  I'll send you a pic so that you can wish you could be involved in removing pet stained, stinky carpet and mouse droppings everywhere:)

 

We have been praying for missionary opportunities and it seems we are getting questions and discussions from lots of people.  How are your investigators doing?  All we are required to do is plant the seed and testify and the spirit will take over.  Dad and I read a good article in the Ensign this morning about a man whose wife was not a member and that he would push her to join the church but that always ended in an argument.  He stopped pressing and other members began befriending her and she eventually WANTED the gospel.  The spririt leaves when we push too hard. 

 

I don't know if you remember Sister Cunningham in our ward.  She looks like Edna Mo from the Incredibles :)  Her husband just joined the church after many sets of missionaries being fed in their home.  She is so happy.  He gave the sweetest testimony in Sacrament meeting.

 

Well, all is well here.  We are looking forward to seeing Beau next week.  He has been really working hard and Uncle John has been very good to him.  He has made a lot of money and is looking forward to getting into college as soon as he can.

 

There are more protein bars on the way.  Is there anything else you need?  When are transfers?

 

We love you so much and are so thankful for your great attitude.

 

Mom

Hey!

                     I haven't been able to take a picture because my camera is dead and I can't find the charger. Sorry. It will turn up. You could crop one of the ones I have sent :)

              This week was very humbling. We had alot of appointments fall through, a lady that seemed solid dropped us, and we are struggling to find new investigators. We did receive a few referrals that we plan on contacting asap. Things are still looking up though because I know the member are going to start having good missionary opportunities. We are getting there! 

                 I have had several opportunities to serve though. Patricia's sister, Mary Rose, has a niece who is getting very interested in the church because of service. The other day we went and taught her son how to mow a lawn, and she said she would be coming to church this coming Sunday, and that we could come visit the family after they get settled into the new house. Her husband could get in the way though, so we will see.

               We are still being persistent with Mary Rose too. Please pray the the spirit will guide us to those who are prepared. And that we will have the faith to find them.

                                                         Thanks and I love you 

                                                                       Elder Tall

September 3, 2012

Hi Dallin,

I need a good pic of you to put on your plaque at the Stake Center.  The pics you've sent either have a shadow across your face or you are with someone else....or whatever.  Take a nice pic and download it so I can get you up on the board.

It's Labor Day and I have the day off.  Yea!!  I get to labor at our house :)

How has your week been?  Have you had anymore investigators? How is Elder Musick liking the mission?  I love the idea about you going into RS to teach the women how to more easily share the gospel.  I'm going to share that idea with Sis. Bennion, our RS president.  Dad and I were eating Sunday dinner and wondering where you might be having dinner that day.  :)

We've had a good week.  Busy as usual with work and church.  Vance is feeling better, thankfully.  That was a scary situation. Saw Caleb at chuch yesterday.  He was having his mission interview with the Bishop and then he'll have his Stake President interview thereafter.  He's very excited now to get his papers in.  Connor Reid got is call to Arkansas- same mission as Eli Webster.  It's exciting to watch these boys move forward, no matter what the rate of speed.

It's interesting how much the dialogue has increased about the church due to Mitt Romney's run for the presidency.  They had a piece on the National news about temples and garments.  Elder Ballard and Elder Cook were asked some good questions and they answered them really well.  The other day, Dad had a sub-contractor riding in the car with us and dad keeps a Book of Mormon on the center console.  The guy was blabbing on about his ex-wife and then stopped mid sentence and said, "are you guys mormons?"  We had the nicest discussion where I explained the need for a restoration. He said, "thank you for telling me that.  That is the best explanation I have ever heard and it makes sense."  It was great.

Well, I better get this sent off.  We are going to make an attempt at cleaning the garage.  

It's like laundry.  It never goes away.  

Love you! 

Mom

                                                                             Hey!

What an awesome story about your missionary moment there in the car! On Sunday we ate with the relief society president, her husband, and two little guys. She made some incredible rolls, and we set a date with her to invite her friend to come to dinner with the missionaries.

          So something amazing is happening in our ward. The missionary fire is lighting. We had members testifying about their experiences in investigator lessons that we had them along for. They testified in all three meetings of church. People are getting excited! That makes me excited. We are so close to having a miracle take place in first ward (the miracle being a domino effect in member referrals: mucho people coming unto Christ). 

So we have two new investigators that are pretty solid. One is a nice old lady that is progressing just like Patricia did. We even mow her lawn and everything. Her name is Carol, and we found her when I was out with that mini missionary a while ago. We also took a lady named Melanie on a church tour. 

She liked it and wants us to help her quit smoking. I am so excited to see what happens this transfer.

 I don't feel like I have enough time, but I know the Lord will help us accomplish his will. 

       We found a new apartment in North Liberty, which is the heart of our area. When we move we will save tons of time and miles when we have the car. I don't know if I told you, but our area is a car share area again, which          means no car every other week. It is more interesting that way.

                Elder Musick is progressing really well. He is still nervous about alot of things, but it will get better.     He is a stud. 

All is well. Please pray for our members to keep getting excited, and for Carol and Melanie!

I love you

                                                                           Elder Tall

September 3, 2012

Hi Dallin,

Mom and I were just talking about you and I thought I better write you. 

Things are very busy here for me work wise.  It’s crazy!!  I have BIG projects and lots of them. 

I bulldozed and made a road and then laid gravel.  Then I reshaped a couple of earthen dams to this guys place.  Then I came back and put in a 2200 gallon cistern, connected it to his house and installed a pressure pump and pressure tank for his house water.  We also put in a septic system.

I have 5-6 other jobs that are just as involved but more towards house lifting and new concrete driveways etc.

How’s the work??  Have you heard anything about Elder Davey?  I read your last letter.  I love that you get to really get to know the people in Iowa City.

What did you do for Sunday dinner yesterday?  Mom and I were sitting on the deck eating our lunch and we commented on what we thought you might be doing for lunch.

I’m attaching a couple of photos for you just for fun. 

The first is a basement wall that is caving in and I am going to jack the house and replace the wall.

Second:   This is a grizzly a few miles from where mom and I camped.  He was just outside of Cooke City.

Third and fourth:     This is me, Jayden and this French exchange student Antoine (Antwaan) (stupid French names) out in front of U-Haul where I have been doing quite a bit of commercial work.  I was grading out this area next to the sidewalk and BAM! The skid steer got a jolt from something from H***!  I started pushing tugging and digging.  What I thought was just a little concrete post that was cut off and abandoned turned out to be a monster!  I slayed it and there it lies in the trailer.  I actually got it out using the forks only.

I’ll send more pics next time.

We pray for you all the time.  I hope you feel our faith.  I love you very much. 

Everything is how it should be.

Have fun on your p-day.

Love Dad

Hey Dad!

            It is so cool to hear about all these projects you have going! The Lord is blessing our family so much. Ha the kid comes all the way from France to be hired on classic Tall jobs in Montana. Thats too awesome. 

I'm glad the skiddy survived that post. That thing was huge!

          On Sunday we had some lemon pepper chicken, homemade rolls and jam, and salad at the Relief society President's house. She is excited to start sharing the gospel. The families in the ward are all here for residency programs at the university, so the sisters are all full time moms and amazing cooks, like my sisters. 

           They are busy families, but always willing to help us if we need it. Once in a while I get to work with my hands out here, and today I get to help cut down a tree at our ward mission leader's house. Great things are happening in our area, and the Lord is really changing me. I am discovering how to turn my will over to his, and life is not only better, it is easier. 

          It is all about praying for charity, and acting on it in every little decision. 

Love you Dad Elder Tall

September 3, 2012 Ang & Dal

Dal-babe-

I am so sorry I missed again last week, I know you were just sobbing-devastated 

at missing a tidbit or 50 from me. How's it going?

 I can't imagine the gusto and dedication it takes to do what you do everyday, in and out. That's hard and we're proud...

Beau just skyped me so I talked to him for an hour or so and now it's Monday morning and

 I'm hoping I haven't missed you for the day! 

So I'm sending this in case and I'll finish in another one...\

Part2: Dal-

Beau sounded good, he is so funny, he has to go to McD's for internet and so he sits in his vehicle on a tablet at night lookin like a total parking lot creeper. hahahaha!  These last few weeks have been good, except for Taco Bell switching their #2 Grilled Stuft burrito meal to some nasty wanna be version called the XXL burrito. Sick. Mom, me Chels and Steph are NOT HAPPY. I am not as morning sick anymore which is AMAZING because that was miserable. Hard to be grateful to be pregnant when everything makes you wanna barf. For months. Not days. But it's getting better and I'll attach a picture of the little nugget. It's from his/her backside because the doc was looking at the baby's spine, SO EXCITING!!!!!! It was amazing to see the little heart beat and face. Pretty cool. I don't know how anyone who has had a baby in them doesn't believe there is a God. It is unbelievable what the body does. Sending a few pics, hopefully I'm not too late. In lieu of a deep thought I found some HILARIOUSSSSSSS pictures:):):) I even saved them as "dallinjoke1, dallinjoke2..." LOVE TO THE MOON AND BACK!!!!! 

Ang, B &C

ANG!!!!

And again Im embarrassed in the Library because of the uncontrollable volume of my laughing. Plus its like a wood cubicle thing that acts as an amplifier. Oh man that mario one bout killed me. 

Are you going to wait to find out the gender or are you going to be nice and tell me asap? Hey when you have that baby Ill be like a year and a half out. Im workin on seven months. crazy.

It is nice to be in 1st ward because I am watching these little families, and it is kinda like watching your little families. I love all the little kids in the ward. We aren't really allowed to play with them or anything so it can be hard sometimes. I'm affectionate.

The work is going great! I love you
Kiss Cade for me

August 27, 2012 Chels & Dal

Dal! 
So this week has been crazy in a bad and good way. I told you last week that Vance was going to get treated for some bumps on his skin and so thats what we did. Last monday we had him treated by a dermatologist and she applied the saliva from beetles(very very poisonous) which causes a little blister to draw out the head of the bumps so that they will fall off and disappear. Come to find out, you are only supposed to treat no more than 10 at a time and the doctor treated about 50 on Vance's abdomen and about 10 on his arms. He began to pee blood and have really high fevers. We ended up in the ER and the Vance was hospitalized for 5 days because the poison had put blisters on his kidneys and bladder and left his skin with 2nd degree chemical burns. The burns were bad enough that we were almost transferred to the burn unit up at primary children's in SLC. Can you say malpractice?!?

We are very very upset to say the least. This shouldn't have happened. He is now in an outpatient situation where we go in and he gets sedated to change his bandages because they are so painful still and too intense for me to change the dressings. The burns look way way better now than they did. Luckily, children grow skin very quickly so he has healed much quicker than everyone thought he would. We are very grateful for good nurses and to be able to stay in a very nice hospital. Most countries don't get room service when they are staying in a hospital. We are grateful for his quick recovery and that he is so happy still. He is skeptical of all nurses and doctors now and screams when we even go near the burns. I feel so bad for him. 

I got a very small glimpse of how the Heavenly Father felt when he saw his son suffering and couldn't do anything about it. I wanted to take all the pain away from Vance and switch positions with him. I have shed so many tears and my love has increase immensely for the Savior and for Heavenly Father. 

Anyway, we have some decisions to make about legal things. We are not sure what to do quite yet. We are just trying to focus on Vance and getting him healed. 

So is this transfer week? Did you get a new missionary to train? I am excited for you to be able to have a greenie who is excited to be there (hopefully) and that you can get back on the positive side of missionary work. I am grateful for you and your letters each week. I know how hard it can be to pull the weight of another, I did it all through high school, but I am sure you are better for  doing it. I am sure you have learned to be a lot more patient and understanding through your experiences. 

Well, I know you don't have a ton of time. We love you. Keep working hard! I have put some of the pictures of Vance in this email... they are kind of graphic. Love you:) 

Ches,

I feel so bad for my little buddy! I wish I could hug him and tell him I love him. 

Tell him for me. Those pictures were bad! I hope he heals up, I know he's a trooper. 

             I loved your perspective about Heavenly Father and all. I felt the spirit really strong when reading that.So this week went great. On thursday I did begin training a new missionary. He is so excited to be here, and honestly it is such a refreshing change. The Lord has really blessed me with the opportunity to train. 

                    I was really nervous about it at first. In training a fresh missionary you can honestly make or break their mission, and heavily influence their life, so it is a big responsibility. 

                     Something I have learned though: Whom the Lord calls, he qualifies for his work. 

             This means if we have complete trust in him, He will make up the difference when we fall short, and that is always through the atonement of Christ. So when I work hard to prepare to train, even if it is super inadequate, the Lord teaches him what he needs to know through the spirit. 

               I have a real testimony of that, and I am learning at a much deeper level how to give my will to God's.       I love you Chels.