Another letter from Tyler!

Hello!

I'm sure you're thrilled to know that I am still alive and kicking! Where
do I begin? Oh.. How many pictures did you get from me? I sent 16 I
believe.. and for every e-mail I got an error message saying that they
didn't send... But if they sent, then neato!

For one, NO! I DIDN'T get to see the picture that Sister Lamph drew before
she sent it, but I saw the picture that she referenced it from and I saw
her sketch of Christ. Did you read the story behind it? I found it truly
amazing. :)

DAD!! You'll never guess who I ran into the other day! I'll tell you
Christmas day when I call you... But in case I forget, be sure to remind
me! I was kind of blown away!

Let's see. WELL! The work goes on in Tremonton! We're back up to 4 people
with a baptismal date within the next 4 weeks - I will be having my first 2
baptisms on the 31st of this month! Whoo! A 9 year old named Kolton and a
30+ year old named Jeremy. It's going to be a super exciting day.

Ermm.. I GOT YOUR CHRISTMAS PACKAGE! I haven't opened any of the presents
yet! I'm not entirely sure how I got it. The Mission Office called me and
said that they were not going to be able to forward the package to me, but
lo and behold, it showed up on our doorstep 3 days later... Question mark?
I got the cute little tree decorated and put the little stars on it! All
the neighbors are jealous. Well.. I'd like to think they are. But we only
have one neighbor.

I guess I haven't sent you a picture of our home yet! To be completely
honest, Tremonton looks EXACTLY like Iowa! It's farm country. And if there
weren't mountains on the horizon, I'd be hard pressed to believe that I
WASN'T at home. Kind of funny actually. I'll send you a picture of me just
outside our house. I believe you'll find the resemblance quite shocking.

So everybody asks me how I think the Utah winter is! And the short answer
is... well.. It's possibly the mildest, least threatening winter I can
remember. Its December 20th and we've had one light snow that has since
melted. The coldest it has ever been is like 28 degrees and that was late
at night. My companion (from Arizona) is like, dying, but I'm still cozy
wearing a short sleeve shirt under my jacket. People don't understand how
I'm putting up with the cold, but when I point out that I've lived in Nova
Scotia and then Iowa, they seem to understand a little bit better.

I forgot to mention this last week, but I already had to give a talk! My
first Sunday in Tremonton and they had me speak in 10th ward. We cover the
Tremonton 2nd, 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th wards, the Fairview 1st
ward, Thatcher-Penrose 1st and 2nd wards, the Bothwell ward, and the Elwood
1st and 2nd ward. I may or may not have left out a ward. Blast. I'm drawing
a blank on the other one.. But things are slowly coming together in my head
as to who's bishop and ward mission leader of what ward, and what wards we
need to attend to be with investigators, etc. I'm wondering how long it's
going to be before I'm not the automatic scapegoat for prayers in lessons
(Hey! You're new! You get to pray!), but somehow I think that it's going to
be an everlasting thing.

Umm.. questions questions questions.. Let me open up another tab of your
past e-mails and see if I can shed some light on some things...

Okay. I will call home (not skype) on Christmas day, but I'm NOT entirely
sure WHEN. At a best guess, somewhere between 3 and 5 o clock mountain
time. Reason being that we're going to members' homes for breakfast, lunch,
AND dinner. Feeding the missionaries on Christmas is a very coveted thing,
I guess. I'll probably call after we get home from lunch, as the Hatch's
have volunteered to take us to Brigham City (20 mins away) to eat lunch
with their family, and their best tentative arrival time was between 2:30
and 3. Our time. I'm sure mom will be sitting with the phone next to her
for the majority of the day regardless, so it may not matter when I call :).

Uhh.. Mom asks a lot of questions.. Lets see.. I have not bought any ties
yet, but I suppose it might be better if I picked them out, yes? I'll pay
for them with my debit card and hope that you love me enough to pay for it
:) haha. I have NOT gotten my scriptures engraved yet! Shocker! I've been
meaning to, but haven't found the time or really thought about it. So i
guess I haven't been meaning to. Oops. I need to get another suit! Or at
least another jacket.. In the winter we're required to wear the suit jacket
wherever we go, even if we wear a coat (which I haven't yet!). And since
dry cleaning takes like, a week here, I gotta pick up another suit before
too long. Unless you wanted to send me my old one! Because that one's legit
as well.

I'm sorry to hear about Sister Phipps. I remember her face but cannot seem
to recall talking to her very much. Best of luck at the funeral whenever
that may be. Or if it happened, then.. Uhh.. Good job? Tell the Kelly's I
says hi before they go! That will be rather odd indeed. Umm.. 

THEY FOUND DIGIMON! OF COURSE THEY FIND IT WHEN I'M GONE! Blast. I guess I
can wait. I've been away from home for a month already! That's hard enough
to believe. (Going back to other e-mails which I probably ignored questions
to.. oops!) Evan prays for me! Ah! Well tell him I pray for him too! Him
and his crazy advanced algebra.. That's awesome! HEY! You didn't re-send me
andrew's address! I wrote the letter like.. ON December 1st and I still
can't mail it because I don't have the address.. Can I have it please?
RRGH! Oh! Tell Myra Miller that I got her letter and appreciated hearing
from her!

I haven't been extremely diligent at taking pictures since I left the MTC,
so I only have a few to send, but I shall send them nonetheless! Send me
addresses, keep me in your prayers, and I'll be just fine :).

I Love you all!

- Elder Tyler Grant