Happy New Year

 (Dallin) How ya doin'?
I noticed you got some pretty awesome T-shirts there. Hope you like them. My T-shirts are pretty sick nasty too. Thanks. I noticed you have a beard now. How did that happen? Some of it's even on your chin! Well I hope you're doing good and well. It seems like you guys are having fun with the new missionaries. Tell Elder Bates I said hi. He's a really good missionary, that's why I want you to take care of him and... introduce him to Gavin. Can you do that for me? I really want Gavin to talk to this guy, and you can tell Gavin I think he should meet him. So, let me know how life is going sometime. Are you going out on a date with a different girl every night? Are you now the new Super Smash Bros world champion? Did you sit on the couch for 6 hours yesterday without even blinking? Keep me in the loop.
Love ya. Tanner

This week has been really good for me. I don't think you guys heard about the rest of Christmas though so I'll start there. We woke up, went to music and the spoken word with the Motab, watched A
Christmas Carol live action, went to a Q and A Devo with David A Bednar, then David Archuleta came and sang for us. But most importantly, I got to call you guys for half an hour. That was so much fun, best Christmas present ever. I love you guys. So anyway Christmas was pretty awesome. We've been teaching lots of lessons and our teachers have been on break so for a while our classes were combined and that was really cool. We're all a little sick now due to our kōhai bringing nasty germs from Australia. I made it 8 weeks and had to get sick 6 days from heading out. Jinsei wa taihen desu ne. Luckily we have a nurse teacher and she said to drink water and avoid sugar. Dang it.  Almost everything I own has sugar in it. But my momma is an inspired woman and sent me CCLemon. So I'm set. We taught a couple of lessons yesterday and they went really well I think. Our kyudosha are gonna be baptized on Saturday. Not really, don't freak out they're just my teachers. But we do real plays here not role plays and they act like someone they know and react the way they would. So it's pretty much the same thing. I'm trying to stay focused on studying hard so I'll be ready when we make it to Japan. It's gonna be awesome. Let me know how you're doing.
 Love ya, bye. Tanner

Yo Bro- To Dallin

  So I've realized that I haven't sent you any personal emails, sorry. I guess I'll just give you some advice: Read the Book of Mormon everyday. Just a little goes a long way. It makes my days so much better when I do and I promise if you do, you'll feel much better about everything. I've been changed a lot while I've been here and it's because I've increased my spiritual intake. I would highly recommend reading the PMG for 10-15 minutes a day, it'll get you ready for here. Also, if that's not appealing enough, missionary tactics can land you a date. ;) I tested out a missionary strategy on one of my friends and got her email. For missionary purposes of course, she is going to Fukuoka so she may end up going to Okinawa. Also remember, any problem you have Jesus has been through for you. And he knows exactly how you feel. Nobody else knows what you're going through like He does. So when you feel like no one understands you just remember that He does. And He wants to help you, and He will. If you let Him, if you believe in Him and trust Him. If you ever feel down just remember that He sunk below it all so He could lift you up. I know He's been carrying me through my 'tough' experiences, and He'll do the same for you.
Love ya, Tanner

Zone Squat Picture

From left to right men: Hipps, Roberts, Sharp, Craig (new), Manapori (new), Me, both my companions (front Jackson, back Beckstrand), Rhea Women: Fossa, Aoyama(new), Hannant(new), Simpson, Solomon(new), Larsen(new), Alvaranga(new), Domino(new), Doll, Bede

Hey Bros

Hey bros,
     This is to Dallin and Grant this time. How've you been? I'm sorry you've been in the hospital a lot lately Dallin, I hope you get better soon. I saw a picture of Grant with a cutie next to him. Nice Grant. 👍🏻. So I've been out, y'know, training to save people's souls and stuff. It's really fun and I love it so much. If I had anything I could tell you it would be this: read the Book of Mormon everyday and share what you learn often. It not only makes your day much better but also everyone around you. So if you aren't doing that now guys I invite you to start. Also try to spend some time with the missionaries. They're cool people and they probably want to hang out with someone on Christmas. Just pretend they're me and take care of them. However you would want people to treat me, treat the missionaries that way. Also, send me tons of pictures from Christmas. And let me know the names of the missionaries, I had some friends from the MTC go to Okinawa. So send me some pictures of them and I'll let them know to take care of you guys. Also, I told them that you, specifically you Dallin, would give them referrals. So don't make me a liar. 😁. If you can't think of anybody just start asking the wrestling team if they wanna know how to get to heaven. Also, don't let them have Gavin unless the missionaries are people that you can completely trust with his salvation. If they're going to do it just kind of their best, don't let them have him. Only the best for my bruthufrummanuthumuthu. Do you know Elder Morgan, Bates or Sister Sundell? They're my friends so if they're there you should talk to them. I love you guys, take care, do good things, remember who you are and where you come from, remember who you represent, etc.
Love, Tanner

Christmas Letters to Tanner

Dear Tanner Merry Christmas!!
     I am honored that your mom has given me this opportunity to send you a special Christmas Letter I hope things are going well for you. I hope that you have been able to learn the language even better than you already did. As I look at the missionary Program in the church, I am confident in the abilities of you young missionaries. And I am staring to see the wisdom of the lord. From even the days of the bible and the book of Mormon, The lord has had missionaries in his gospel. You are sharing missionary work with many of the greatest followers of Christ.
     When I think of missionary work I think of King Benjamin. He spoke to the people and taught amazing doctrine, everything from the plan of happiness to the atonement. And the numbers of people were so many, he had to have them listen to the doctrine and then have them teach others. And at the end of his teaching, he asked them in Mosiah 5:2 if they believed the words that he had spoken- and they said:  2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
      Even as great of a teacher that he was, I think he realized that it was not him who had converted his people, but it was the spirit of the lord. And that shows how powerful the spirit of the lord. In order to teach with the spirit of the lord, King Benjamin had to have the spirit with him.
     He had to be living his life in a worthy manner so that he could have the spirit with him. I know that you have probably had times in your life when the spirit was not as strong, because of things that may have been going on in your life. I encourage you to strive to make your life better, try to be a better disciple of the lord. Try to live every day more worthily than the last one.
     I believe that as we get closer to the spirit, the desire to do good increases. Satan knows that if he can get us to not be quite as worthy as we should, that he can keep us from feeling the spirit. And in turn he can keep us from being truly converted to the gospel.
     Tanner I know our heavenly father wants us to be happy and he has given us the spirit to bring us back to him, so that we can have true happiness. I also know that he loves you. I know that he knows the challenges that you and your companion face. I know he has placed people that are trying to find the gospel, all along your path, specifically for you. I encourage you to rely more on the spirit. If you have any doubts or questions , Ask the Lord, do as Joseph smith did in the first epistle of James, and ask. I know you will receive and answer.
     Lastly – I want to share my testimony with you. I know that Christ Lives, I know that the gospel that you are teaching and preaching is true. I know that the missionary program of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is truly inspired. And that you are doing the lords work. I know that families are inspired by god, as the fundamental unit of the great plan.
     Best Wishes to you and your companion. You have so many people who love you. We Think about you and pray for you. Please don’t forget about him whose work this is --
 … When you are in the service of the least of these my brethren, ye are only in the service of your God.
Serve God and be great !! Love Always Your Uncle— James Dabb

Dear Tanner,
     I am so proud of your decision and worthiness to go on a mission. It will change your life for the best. You will never regret it. Your tie I gave you represents one of many ties we have to each other. Grandfather to Grand son. Brother to brother in the gospel. We are sons of our Father in heaven. Sons of Father Adam and Mother Eve. You were ordained an elder by your grandfather, Farrell Olsen a high priest. I was ordained a high priest by your uncle Leo Gordon Olsen. Gordon was ordained a high priest by James A Cullimore, a general authority. Gordon did not have his complete line of authority, but it would only be two more generations more to go back to Christ. Another tie along the way. So you see we are eternally tied together. The ultimate we are tied together is through the sealing power of the holy priesthood of God. That sealing cannot be broken. As long as we keep the commandments He is bound. I love you without reservation. I look forward to having an eternal relationship with you and be tied to you throughout the eternities to come.
Your loving Grandfather, Farrell.

Merry Christmas

Hey Family,
      Merry Christmas!!! How are you guys doing? How's your day been? So I've got some cool stuff to tell you. Tomorrow Elder Bednar is coming to talk to us! I'm so excited. We've watched a lot of his devotionals and he's awesome when he comes to the MTC. These past few days have been pretty cool. My friend Hipps Chōrō ate a dozen donuts in one sitting. That was cool. We also went to choir more than usual to prepare for Elder Bednar. Yesterday there was a mini blizzard for about 20 minutes and we got covered in snow. There was about 2ish inches. We also saw a quail when we were taking out the trash! It was crazy cool, it was the first time I saw one so I got excited and wanted to take a picture but we had to finish service. So that's why I didn't send a picture. We're gonna play some volleyball in a few hours so that'll be fun. My companion got a cool picture of me and zoomed in on my face a lot. Then he sent it to everyone. It's pretty awesome. I've started learning how to play the Ocarina. I can play a few songs from the Legend of Zelda, Derude Sandstorm, and Taylor Swift's you belong with me. We were singing in the hall and I just jumped in with my ocarina, making it up on the spot. And it worked. So that was cool. We also did a Skype with a Japanese member last night. It went super good. We talked about Christmas and the real reason for the season and i shared my favorite story about Jesus and then we ran out of time so we challenged him to share his on Facebook. And what's cool is he was thinking about doing that on that very morning! Revelation is real. So I thought I'd just let you know what my favorite story about Jesus is. Mt's found in John 8:2-11. It's the story when Jesus forgives the sinful woman. Jesus is teaching and some men bring him a woman who has committed adultery. They want to stone her but Jesus says something like, "let him that is without sin cast the first stone." And that's really cool because we all make mistakes and we shouldn't be so quick to judge because Jesus doesn't care, he always loves us. He doesn't just stop loving us because we mess up. He also says that He doesn't condemn us. He came to earth to save us. And then he says, "go thy way and sin no more." And that's really all he asks of us. To give up our sins and follow him. And that's enough for him. So I really like this story and I invite all of you listening back at home to find a story about Jesus and share it on Facebook. And then in just 1 or 2 sentences explain what it means to you. Merry Christmas everybody and just remember the reason for the season. He is the gift.
Love,  Tanner

Oh yeah! Did I not send pictures? Sorry. Yeah we got it and it was super awesome. Thank you so much for all of the packages, they're awesome. Also, can you please stop sending food? Not that it's not appreciated, it totally is. But we literally have a closet full of food now and an entire bed covered in snacks and so we can't keep up with it. You're pouring out blessings to the point where there's not enough room to receive it. It's awesome but we really can't handle it. Also, thank you for all the ties and notes, I was too excited to actually wait till Christmas so I read them all. Sorry. And Dad's tie is awesome by the way. I've worn it twice so far. In two days. Thanks Dad. I love you guys, Tanner

Just Thinking of you Guys

Hey guys,
     All your stuff sounds awesome! Hannah's Christmas thing was good and Scott's diaper trick was interesting. I got your packages and a few more pictures for you guys. Thank you so much for all the stuff, it's awesome. Thanks for the pictures guys, I'm hanging them up today since it's my P-Day. Our kohai got here! We got an elder the day before and he stayed with us for the night. He's really cool, his name is Manapori Choro and the other one is Craig Choro. They're the only elders we get, the rest are sisters. A lot of our kohai came from New Zealand and Australia so their accents are cool. Anyway they're all fun and cool. Our teacher won tickets to Star Wars on the radio so we don't have any classes today. Which is awesome. We're just going to use the time to plan our lessons and just make them really good. We haven't been up to much lately, just learning Japanese and teaching. Although we do teach 3 times a week in English. We taught a guy yesterday and the lesson was just straight ballin'. It went so well! We all taught an even amount and everything just came so naturally and we all felt the spirit and it was really cool. So tell me more, what have you guys been doing?  How's gymnastics? How's school for everybody? How many dates has Dallin been on there in the island of Brokinawa? Just thinking of you guys.
    Love ya, Tanner

Awesome, thanks. I'll check the mail today for the other package. We haven't battled yet but today is P-Day so we have a lot of down time. Things will probably happen. Thanks again for sending me stuff. We really needed that CC Lemon. My companion's been kind of sick lately but you can ask Grant about that. I sent him and email. Dallin too. By the way did Dallin send me his ocarina? That's really nice of him, we all sure enjoy it. I was playing it in class yesterday. Also the pictures were really cool from Scott and Hannah. Hannah's heart pineapples are really cool and Scott's mega Charizard is super cool too. I'll send you a video if we play with them today.

Hi Grant,
What's up! I heard you rocked a concert for the Marines on Hansen. How was that? What else have you been up to, I don't hear about what you do for fun much. 2 nights ago I rubbed my companions back while he threw u in a trash can. That was fun. We ended up locked out of our room after that and had to call security to let us in. So we just sat there in our underwear while he threw up until they gave us medicine and unlocked our room. Have you done anything like that? I've been doing good lately, teaching and stuff.
Anyway I love you.
Tanner

Bathroom Prank

Hey Scotty,
     That's awesome that you get to go to Yuron! How exciting right! I've got a story for you, so we have started to go crazy from being here so long so we do some weird things and we don't know why. So I have 2 companions and one of them was in the bathroom and the other was next to me. Another one of our friends goes into the stall next to him and says, "Hey I'm out of toilet paper, can you pass me some low key?" So this is a prank. He isn't out of toilet paper and he isn't even using the bathroom. He actually has some Nutella on his hand and as he goes to get the toilet paper my companion freaks out and throws it at him under the stall. So all of us crazy missionaries know about it and we're watching and we just bust up laughing. My comp still doesn't know it's Nutella and he says, "ok that was pretty good, slide me some skin with your non-defiled hand." And so the other guy wipes the Nutella all over his hand. Now keep in mind, he still thinks it's poop. He says in a super calm voice, "That's not what I asked for." And we LOSE IT. My other comp is rolling on the bathroom floor busting a gut and I'm not much better. It was hilarious! Anyway, that's what I've been up to.
    Love you guys, Tanner

We're Taking a Fieldtrip

     So I didn't take many pictures this week, but next week I'm taking a ton. Let me tell you why next week has me psyched out of my mind. I'm already a little out of my mind. But anyway, since Jackson choro is considered an international missionary and I'm one of his companions, I get to go to temple square on the 18th! So we're taking a field trip there next week. Also the long hard 3 weeks of being alone are over on Wednesday. We get kohai! So we'll have little new Japanese missionaries here with us and we won't be so lonely. We are just so stoked for next week. I've been good, I get along with my companions (I have 2 now) and our lessons have been getting a lot better.
    Love, Tanner

Our Flag is Missing!

Hey Family,
This week has been pretty crazy and all of my days blur together so I have to read my journal to keep track of what day it is. So concerning the gym I'm getting pretty swoll. jaw muscles are getting pretty big, which is of course a euphemism for I'm getting fat, and I like it. It's too cold here. Also, I can bench 75lb dumbells and I've benched my companion for fun a couple of times. I got a video and I may be able to send it in a minute. For some reason most of my videos won't send. I've actually taken a few pictures but last week I didn't have time to send them because Pday was on Thanksgiving. But this week I should be able to today. Thanks for all of the packages, they're awesome. Can you send me: an ocarina, some more sweatpants, some Japanesey stuffed Pokemon for Christmas, ( that's important to us because we're learning how to challenge people to battles and the winner goes to the other's church) missionaries start to go crazy after a while with limited human interaction. My friend started reciting from Romeo and Juliet and I started doing an interpretive dance for it. I can feel myself slipping :) Yeah we pretty much have to spend some time everyday talking to someone that's not in our district just to stay sane. So we have an interesting relationship with the district down the hall from us. A few weeks ago someone stole their map of Japan. They thought it was us and I blamed the Koreans of trying to incite civil war. So we said we'd beck them up if there was a zone war. They were still a little suspicious. This went on for like a week where we'd see them, ask them if they found their map, they'd say they till thought we took it, and we'd all go on our way. Well one day we went to the bathroom and as we're coming back one of them says to us, "I didn't do it." So we're like what? And we go in our room and our Flag is missing! So we march down to their room and they laugh and give it back. It was funny. So I taped some notebook paper together and drew them a new map in like 10 minutes and it was super ghetto. But it's the thought that counts. So we made peace between our districts and now we talk to them all the time. I also saw Jake a couple days ago. He walked right on in and I was like Hi. Wait I know you! And then I gave him a hug and we talked. Apparently I got bad info and he actually teaches in the afternoon. But it was cool to see him. I hosted some people again and it was fun. I have been teaching a lot of lessons lately and I've been getting better. The Japanese ones get better every time but kind of slowly. We also teach in English sometimes and it's really fun. I'm having a great time here and I love you guys.
Tanner

Rite of Passage

Hey guys,
     So much has happened that I don't know if I can remember it all. My senpai left to Japan and they did this CRAZY ritual and rite of passage for us. I mean it was WEIRD, and I LOVED IT. I took a video of the 2nd half but I can't send it to you, you'd question our sanity. And rightfully so. Anyway it was also our teacher's birthday, Sanderson kyoudai. we made him a present with a paper bag and our packages from home. I can send you a video of that. we had tons of really good speakers come and that was really fun. Oh yeah, part of the senpai's ritual is to just dump all of their useless crap, that they got from their senpai, all over our room. So our room is a mess. Moore Choro gave me a cool tie and so did Price Choro. Price Choro's has the names of all the people it has been passed on to. So now my name is on it. Gonzales Choro took his suit to the dry cleaners and it shrunk a little bit so he gave it to me! It's a really nice suit too. We went to choir a couple more times too and it was fun. We started teaching a new investigator because our old one got transferred. We're also doing a service project today for Feeding Children Everywhere so look for that. We're making over 350,000 food kits with 6 servings each. It's gonna be big. I'm super excited because we do that in a few hours. I'm also really happy to hear how you guys are doing. Way to kick the other kids' butts Scott and Grant. I'm proud of you guys. Dallin, kick your girlfriends butt at her own sport, tennis, and then flaunt your victory excessively. That's how you win the ladies. Good job getting to level 3 gymnastics Hannah, tht's super awesome! It's super cool that you guys had a pie night with the Duenas Family. Tell them I said hi. And that they still didn't email me. :) I'm making new friends over here since we have to to survive without senpai. It's fun meeting new people. Oh yeah, can you tell Jake to find me sometime? I'm in 7M Room 233 for class and 13M Room 117 for sleeping. I've tried to find him but he's never in the classroom I check (352).
I love you guys and I'll talk to ya later.
Tanner

Daily Schedule

Hi Dad,
     We've had a lot of 70s talk to us. I write down their names but I didn't bring my notes to laundry. I'll send their names to you later.  Apparently we're supposed to hear from a 12 today. Awesome! My  teachers are like my best friends here. They are so helpful and they tell the coolest stories and say funny things all day long. My average day is get up at 6:30 work out and eat breakfast and be ready  by 8:30, go to class until 12:50, hang out with the other elders until 1:35, go back to class and teach an investigator, study until 9:20, go back to the dorms and relax for 10 minutes, then study until 10:15,  write in my journal, and if there's any time after that, study. I study all day everyday. It's actually good because I'm learning a lot and so I enjoy it. But yeah, it's a loooooong day. I'm glad you guys had a good day. I love you all.
Tanner

Best of Luck

Hey Dad,
     It's great to hear everyone is doing so well. I wish Grant and Scott the best of luck in their games, although Rogers men don't need it. I'm not fast tracked, I will be here for all 9 weeks. I think that's a good thing right now but looking at my senpai, the guys who have already been here weeks, you go absolutely looney after a while. they just do THE WEIRDEST THINGS. They'll all just lay on the floor in the hall and they don't even know why. But at the same time they are really really cool. Sorry I haven't sent you my favorite scripture yet but I just sent it to Mom. I gotta go because I'm in the laundromat but I love you a lot.
Tanner

The Legend of the Soda Tree

     Hey Mama, I'm doing good here. I discovered the legend of the soda tree. There's a tree here that smells like soda if you get close enough. Sounds like something you tell the new guy to make him look stupid right? Well I did it anyway and i can tell you, The Soda Tree is REAL. It smells just like cream soda and it was awesome. I don't know who discovered it but I'm glad the did. I was so excited that I told every new missionary I hosted yesterday all about it. I'll send you some pictures in a little bit with it in it. Aside from that, I helped host some new missionaries yesterday which means I showed them around a tiny bit and then took them to their rooms and then classes. It was super fun. My teachers, Sanderson Kyoudai and Moon Shimai, are super duper awesomesauce. I learn so much from them every day it's unbelievable. Oh by the way, you can send me emails all throughout the week (which I would like) and I can write responses, I just can't send them until my Thursdays. Also, why hasn't the Duenas family emailed me yet? Or my Utah friends? Do you think you can let them know I wanna hear from them? Also I wanna hear from you guys a lot too. It's super awesome that everybody's doing well in school and I'm proud of all you guys. They do read these emails right? Anyway I'm proud of all of them for whatever they do, in school or in a sport (gymnastics included Hannah ;) ). Have fun at the movies and whatever else you guys do. I'll send you a few pictures i a minute. Love ya Tanner the Kukyuu Kisai (you can Google Translate that if you want)
      Oh yeah, we made a little tiny snowman (chisai yukidaruma) and it was as big as a water bottle. Here's the scripture you wanted me to send you like, forever ago. And the soda tree. And an origami dragon.

The MTC is Really Good

Hey Minasan(everybody)
      To answer all of your questions, Elder Moore was in my first EFY group and we are good friends. Elder Jackson I know from SMYC and Scout camp. The MTC is really good. They feed us a ton and we have dessert every meal, but that's ok because we'll lose a lot of weight when we get to Tokyo so we're all getting kind of fat. My companion speaks Portuguese and so it's fun to listen to him talk. He speaks some English too. Our lessons with the investigator have gone pretty well. Funny story, we were finished with our first lesson and instead of asking if we could HOmon(visit) her again, we asked if we could HAmon(excommunicate) her. We fixed it though. Our teacher did make it back from California and he's super awesome. When you said Kadena won I had to tell my friends real quick because it was so unexpected and awesome. Good job Grant and Scott! Way to kick the other kids' butts! It's good to hear mom is less involved in scouts now, have fun with you're free time Mom. I speak more Japanese than I did when I got here a week ago. I don't know how to put it on a scale but I think I've at least doubled my knowledge. So a lot of my emails after this will be in Japanese and then I'll translate it for you underneath. This time I'm writing in English though just so you aren't totally confused. Also because I have a list of things I need and I want you to know what I'm talking about.
     So, I need my: running shoes(the gray ones) My black jacket with a gray hood inside (Dallin probably adopted it but now I need it :)   Assorted Japanese snacks please so the other missionaries know what to get. And all those people who want to email me to actually email me(please) And I think that's it. I love you guys and hope you have lots of fun doing whatever you do.
   Love, Your missionary Bro/Son Tanner

I Made It!

Hey Mom and Dad and anybody else who reads this,

      I made it to the MTC all right. Grandma and Grandpa dropped me off on time for orientation and I got to meet a lot of cool missionaries. I saw Elder Moore and Elder Jackson and they're in my building where I'm staying. The food is good here and all the people are super nice. We've been studying Japanese super hard and we are getting better at it. We've learned a lot more than I thought we would and we're going to teach an investigator tomorrow! In Japanese too. I think it'll go well as long as we listen to the Spirit and do our best. I'll let you know how everything goes next Thursday, because that's my P-day. I was told to write long and detailed emails but I'm not sure what to say. The guys are all nice, they've all offered us junk food at least and they shook our hands a lot. It snowed today and we'll probably get some more tonight. I 'm trying hard to learn what i'm supposed to and it's pretty hard sometimes, but it's fun at the same time. They gave us 10 minutes to email our families today because we're kind of busy, although we don't really have a teacher because he had to take a trip to California. Anyway, we're studying on our own and there's a lot of really smart people here so we should be fine. I took a couple of pictures just like you wanted but I'm limited on time and I can't technology so I'll send those later. I love you guys and I'll send you another email later.

 Love,
 Tanner

Utah Going Away

The night before I went to the MTC my family in Utah threw me another going away. I had a lot of cousins, family, and friends come to send me off to the MTC. It was great to see everyone. I saw some of my friends from elementary school.