The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues

Recently, I was asked by the Church Translation Department to share with them an experience I had while translating. I figured some of you might enjoy this story that I wrote for them:

I have been a member of the Marshallese translation team since 2005. For many years, our responsibility for interpreting General Conference broadcasts also included preparing the translations we were assigned to present. I found this to be a wonderful experience being able to really study, digest and memorize the various speeches that would be shared.

One problem we had with this system was if one of our team members was unable to present at the meeting, then we would have to scramble to translate their talk at the last minute to cover for them. And so it was with the 2007 Saturday Morning Session of General Conference. One of our other team members slid off the road while traveling to the Conference Center because of some ice. He was scheduled to present for President Monson, who was the concluding speaker that morning. He had finished translating the talk, but was unable to transmit it to us because he was in the middle of the mountains without Internet service.

My team leader asked myself and a couple I baptized on my mission to cover for him. The three of us quickly got to work translating the 20 minute long talk. It was very difficult, with poetry and other literary constructions that were difficult to properly convey in our target language. We worked and worked during the entire session and only got about half of the talk finished before my friend was to begin presenting it. We printed off what we had and sent him into the translation booth while his wife and I feebly tried to complete the final half.

I remember praying like mad for the Lord to enlighten our minds and give us the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues so we could complete the talk. I knew that we were working on an important message that the Lord wanted President Monson to share with the church. We had toiled and used our combined efforts to try to do the task ourselves, but we were completely inadequate for the task without the Lord's assistance.

 Rick Nang and Brian work on a translation at the last minute.

My fingers were a blaze on my laptop computer, jamming out phrases as quickly as they came into my mind. Within only a few minutes, the two of us were able to finish the rest of the talk, rush off to the printer to get a hard copy, and then bring it into the translation booth. We arrived just in time as our friend reached the end of our previously prepared materials seconds after I handed him the finished talk. He was able to seamlessly continue, and no one would ever know that he was doing a cold reading. He gave a wonderful presentation of the talk, and President Monson's message was conveyed in its entirety.

Fatigue after the translation is done. 

I marveled while listening to the words as they were spoken at the miracle I was witnessing. In only a few minutes, this sister and I had been able to duplicate the amount of work all three of us had previously accomplished in the space of an hour and a half. We truly had been blessed with the Gift of Interpretation of Tongues to not only translate the talk, but to do it in an incredibly rapid space of time. It reminded me of how quickly Joseph Smith had been able to translate the Book of Mormon. The Spirit witnessed to me there that President Monson truly is an apostle and prophet of the Lord and that he was actually sharing the words of God in his talk.

I don't know who it was that we were translating that message for, but I know it was God's will that it be shared. Perhaps the three of us were the ones who needed to hear the message and to go through that experience, to strengthen our own personal testimonies. I may never know for sure. But there is one thing that I am certain of: If we put our faith in Christ, we can receive power to do all things that are expedient in him. Moroni 7:33.

- Brian K. Tanner, April 2011.

Proposal

Recently, Jen and I celebrated the two year anniversary of the time when I proposed to her. Here is something that I wrote around that time to recount those events:

Back in September 2008, I went to visit Hawai'i to for Matson Matthew's wedding. While staying in Downtown Puputown, Waipahu, I found myself thinking about Jen all of the time and wishing she was there with me. I realized, to my great surprise, that I loved her more than I love Hawai'i.

This was a strange realization for me because I'd never thought I could love anything more than Hawai'i. I loved my mission there very much, and would always think about it. But I realized that I had begun to think about Jen more than I thought about Hawai'i.

I realized this was serious.

I realized that I wanted to marry her.

I began brainstorming about how to propose to her. Jen and I were both strongly opposed to the idea of ring shopping together before officially being engaged. We both agreed that if we were to get engaged, it should be a surprise. A temporary ring would be acceptable until after I proposed, when we could get a permanent engagement ring together.

When I came to visit in September, I brought a Marshallese Amimono flower that Handy Ceaser had helped me make for Jen. She absolutely loved this flower, so I got the idea that I should make her a Marshallese Amimono ring. I thought this was romantic, like the old traditions where guys would make something for their brides. In Wales for example, the guys would carve spoons to show their feelings for their brides. The more work they put into carving the spoon, the more love they showed for the woman.

The Marshallese Shell Ring that I made for Jen

Within a few weeks after returning to Spokane, I practiced making rings every weekend until coming up with my favorite design. I may have gotten carried away with putting shells on top because it was pretty top heavy. I quickly realized it probably wasn't as durable or practical as I'd originally though, so I then began my search for a substitute temporary engagement ring.

In keeping with the traditionalist theme, I decided upon an Irish Claddagh ring. The Claddagh design has two hands holding a heart with a crown on top. This was a traditional friendship and engagement ring. I first saw this design when I was in Blarney, Ireland almost ten years ago, and I remember thinking it was the most beautiful ring design I'd ever seen (which remained true until I saw Jen's wedding ring...now nothing can compare to that). I thought the Claddagh would be a great ring to give to Jen because not only was she my best friend whom I wanted to marry, but I would also be honoring my Irish heritage (my other island heritage).

The Irish Claddagh Ring I got for Jen

Once again I set off on a quest to find the perfect temporary engagement ring for my girl. After scouring all of the malls in the Spokane region, I couldn't find a single Claddagh ring. Around Thanksgiving, I began searching online and finally found a beautiful ring with a cubic zirconium in the heart. I thought it was a beautiful ring for my gorgeous girlfriend.

Flash forward a few weeks. Suddenly I find myself trapped in Spokane, snowed in and unable to get back to Jen. I had two engagement rings burning a hole in my pocket and I was going crazy. Soon everyone in the airports I visited knew I was fighting to get back to my girlfriend to propose to her, and gave me all sorts of advice ("Don't get cold feet in all of the snow. Heh heh.").

But as previously reported, I did in fact escape, and I was able to surprise Jen. We had a great Christmas together, and had a lot of protection while traveling down to California (We were in a scary snow storm going from SLC to Provo on Christmas. The next day in Arizona, we hit a random Semi-Truck tire that was rolling down the dark interstate, but it didn't do any damage to the car). Originally, I'd planned to ask her on Post-Boxing Day (December 27th), which was a holiday I'd celebrated every year since I was a teenager as being the day you have you last big adventure for the year (i.e. hiking, sledding, etc.). My rational was what better adventure is there than to get engaged? But alas, the moment just didn't feel right, and I decided to wait until New Year's Eve.

I then planned to propose on December 30th, but then Jen’s mom stuck her fingers in a food chopper and needed to go to the hospital. We saved my future mother-in-law’s fingers, but I had to postpone my surprise again.

For New Year's Eve, Jen and I had been talking about going to Disneyland for months. Upon discovering tickets were $90 a person however, we tried looking online for discounted tickets. We were able to find a good deal for New Year's Day, which ruined my original plan to propose outside her favorite ride, "It's a Small World." Instead, we had a fun day of adventure and spontaneity. I declared upfront that I wanted to have a really romantic night and to woo her, so it was a great day being able to plan it together.

We first went to downtown LA to the fashion district, which feels like you've stepped into a South American marketplace. I loved it, and we found some really cool clothes there. Dinnertime came, and we went to her favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden. I happened to have a gift card that I'd earned from successfully walking 100 miles at my old job over the summer. Jen and I had covered that distance together by walking her dog, Rudy, together, so it was appropriate that we share the reward for the contest together.

After dinner, we decided to try to go to the beach for change of the New Year. Originally, we'd thought to find a fireworks show on the coast, but decided that we wanted to have our own private New Year's celebration. We drove through thick fog to the first random beach we found, Sunset Beach. The fog was soo thick, we could only seen the road a few feet ahead of us. At the beach however, the fog made the scene more magical and mysterious.

We laid our blankets down on the cold, gritty sand and began dancing together to music we had on our cell phones. We listened to songs that were really special for both of us and helped set a romantic mood. Midnight came and we kissed to celebrate the coming of the New Year. Farther down the beach fireworks were set off, which appeared as colored flashes in the fog. Seeing the romantic scenario I'd set up, I knew my time to act had come.

Scared to death, I told Jen that I had one last present for her. I had given her a series of small Christmas gifts during our time together, so I don't this surprised her very much. I pulled out the Claddagh ring and proposed marriage to her. It seemed to last for several blissful hours, but I don't think it lasted more than a few minutes, with me saying all sorts of wonderful things about her and telling her I wanted to marry her. She was amazed and overjoyed, to put it lightly. She kept shouting into the misty night, "I'm going to marry this boy! I'm going to marry Brian Tanner!" She was the happiest woman and the world, and my heart soared because I knew I was the source of her joy.

We left the beach that night as an engaged couple, and I left with extra burden on my shoulders. I felt I had become a man by proposing to my girlfriend. I was no longer just floating through life. I had a purpose and a family to provide for.

It was simply awesome!

UMA Marshallese Education Classes

A few weeks ago, Jen and I stayed up very late into the night because we were unable to sleep. We were talking about many of the serious problems the Marshallese community faces here in Utah, and how many people that we know and love are facing tough times right now.

And then a series of ideas began to come to us of how to help. Along with the new ideas came an impression to write down all of our thoughts so we wouldn’t forget them in the morning. I’ve experienced revelation like this before, and I’ve come to recognize it as the Spirit guiding our thoughts and conversation to answer our prayers.

One of these revealed ideas was for the Utah Marshallese Association to host a series of education classes to help teach responsible adult behavior. Our proposed list of classes includes:

• Financial and credit responsibility
• Sexual education
• Healthy lifestyle management
• American citizenship and naturalization classes
• College enrollment
• Crime and fire prevention

One example of how these classes can help is with sexual education. Over the past two decades, Marshallese people have one of the highest fertility rates in the world. Marshallese women typically begin having children while teenagers, which can greatly inhibit their educational and work opportunities. By limiting their educational experiences, Marshallese women are limited in their ability to teach their children while raising them.

Adultery and extramarital relationships are also a big problem. Up in Spokane, Jen and I were amazed at how almost every family had a pastor who was having affairs with their wives’ sisters. Often these couples do not legally divorce, even if they have been separated for years and have multiple children with subsequent partners. This widespread adultery prevents their posterity from enjoying the full blessings of the law of chastity.

By teaching a Marshallese language class on the blessings of the law of chastity and dangers of unprotected sex, hopefully we can cut eliminate adultery and decrease the number of teenage pregnancies.

We are very excited for this and the other UMA classes. UMA is currently negotiating with West Valley City to use their City Hall for our forum. If you have other suggestions or ideas for this program, be sure to let me know!

Grandma Gorman

Recently during the Thanksgiving break, Jen, Rudy and I went down to southern California to visit Jen’s family. The day after Thanksgiving, Jen’s brother needed a ride to the LAX airport for an early morning flight. Since we were downtown, Jen and I planned to have some fun in the area after leaving the airport.
This being the first time that I had been to California as a married man, I felt a desire to visit places that were important to my family during this time when I have started my own family. Jen and I visited Inglewood, the area of L.A. just east of LAX where my mother grew up. My grandmother, Merle Gorman, was buried there in the Inglewood cemetery. She died in 1975 when my mom was only fifteen.
I’m not going to lie, my grandmother had a difficult life as a result of her disobeying the commandments of God. For example, she was addicted to cigarettes, which caused my mother to be born prematurely and ultimately resulted in her early death from lung cancer at age 53. Her life was very influential to me growing up because she made the word of wisdom and other commandments personal for me.

  Merle Gorman’s grave

I have only been to her grave one other time when I was fifteen. I was interested in returning so I could show my new wife to my grandma. It was a spiritual experience for me and I felt that Jen was approved of.
In addition to visiting my grandmother’s grave, we also visited the grave of her parents and my great-grandparents, Siney and Helena Lewis. Their parents were Mormon pioneers who had travelled from Kentucky to Nauvoo and later to Vernal, UT to be with the saints. Their parents had helped to build the Vernal Tabernacle, which is now the Vernal Temple. Siney and Helena eventually came to California, where my grandma was born. They passed away in the 1950’s before my mother was even born.

Siney and Helena Lewis’ graves

While standing before their graves, Jen made a very interesting comment that has resonated with me ever since. She said that it was interesting to see that while they had a daughter that apostatized and went against the commandments of God, my great-grandparents were still blessed with a righteous posterity that included Jen and me. Their ancestors had sacrificed everything they had for God, and yet they had died never seeing their daughter repent. Yet their sacrifices were not forgotten and within one generation their family has returned to the church and done much good in the world.
It reminded me of when Lehi passed away in the Book of Mormon, and his sons’ families were living wickedly. How tragic that must have felt, and yet there was likely some solace and peace from the knowledge that one day his sons’ families would repent and receive the blessings of God. 2 Nephi 1:17; 4:9.
All of this shows God’s great love for us and that he will honor his promises to us. He will give us opportunities to repent, and he will bless us greatly if we do.

Job Interview

I had a great job interview today to intern at the Salt Lake Immigration Court. It was my first real job interview for a legal position, so I was nervous about it. The interview ended up going really well, with a lot of discussion about my Marshallese service activities over the past few years. At the end of the interview, they offered me the position. The interviewer told me they have never offered a job so quickly to someone before, which made me feel pretty cool.

I still have to pass an FBI background check, but I will most likely be starting at the beginning of next year. Unfortunately, the position is only for the semester, but it will still be great getting my foot into the immigration court room. I'm interested in possibly doing immigration work full time once I graduate, and my advisers at the law school all think this will give me great experiences and help me look very attractive to immigration law firms. I really look forward to an exciting Spring Semester at the U!

Alaka'i and Bert Kanahele

A few days ago I got a message on Facebook from Alaka'i Kanahele that blew me away. I met Alaka'i (who went by the English name Donna) the first day of my mission in Kekaha, Kaua'i in Hawai'i. She and her boyfriend, Bert, were both from Ni'ihau, a small island some 17 miles away across the ocean where everyone speaks only Hawaiian. It is one of the last few places on the planet where Hawaiian is spoken on a daily basis.

Wiwi Kalawi, Bert Kanahele, and Alaka'i Kahale sitting under the mango tree.

I became good friends with Alaka'i and Bert. They had given birth to a baby named Maylynn who had just turned one right before I came on island. This was also about the same time when they began meeting with the missionaries. My companions and I could always find them lounging around underneath a big mango tree in their backyard because it was the coolest spot in their yard. They would sit there for hours, eating and making precious Ni'ihau shell leis while we taught them the gospel. Alaka'i and Bert accepted everything they were taught, but they had a hard time actually living it.

In order for them to repent, they needed to get married and Bert needed to stop drinking. Because they were living together and not married, they were breaking the law of chastity. The law of chastity strengthens families and gives greater joy and happiness to married couples when obeyed. But those who break this commandment are denied all of the blessings that God can give families. Similarly, drinking alcohol violates the word of wisdom, which keeps individuals from receiving all of the physical benefits and strength that God can give individuals.

I think I taught Alaka'i and Bert the lesson about temples, families, law of chastity and word of wisdom about six times during my stay in Kekaha. Some of those lessons were soooo spiritual, we would all be reduced to tears. The biggest obstacle was simply getting them married. I did a lot of planning for their wedding, including figuring out a way to make invitations, using the chapel for the wedding and reception, and even figuring out a way to get their family over from Ni’ihau for the wedding for little or no cost. But Bert was stubborn and was hesitant to go through with it, so these preparations were for naught.

But because of their great faith, their reluctance to get married did not deny them from other blessing. Since Alaka'i and Bert were merely second-cousins, it was no surprise when they discovered little Maylynn had a genetic disorder. She had some sort of bubble in her spine that doctors feared might eventually paralyze her. They would take frequent visits to Honolulu to see specialist doctors to see what treatment options were available to them. The doctors ultimately decided in order to save the girl, they needed to operate and remove that bubble.

Alaka'i was really worried for her daughter. At the time, my companion and I felt impressed to teach her about fasting. Looking back, I find this unusual that instead of being directed to give her a blessing, we instead taught her about fasting and faith. After our lesson, Alaka'i fasted for her daughter by going without food or drink for two meals. This in and of itself was an amazing feat considering eating food is what Ni’ihauans do best!

When the family visited the doctor in Honolulu again, they could no longer find the bubble in Maylynn’s spine. It had simply vanished, and it never came back afterwards. To this day, I marvel at the amazing blessing this young Ni’ihauan mother received for fasting and putting her faith in the Lord.

My companions and I read a lot from The Book of Mormon with them and they taught us a lot of Ni’ihauan words. They would often feed us poi, smoked meat and other Hawaiian foods, which I would ‘grind’ very quickly. Because they saw how much we loved them, their food and culture, my companion and I were practically adopted into Alaka'i and Bert’s Ohana. They gave both of me a Ni’ihauan name "Wiwi Kalawi", which translates roughly to mean ‘Skinny Cow.’

Not long after our being adopted into their ohana, we couldn’t ride our bikes anywhere without people throwing shakkas and yelling, “Hey! Wiwi Kalawi!” I had no idea who half of those people were, but they certainly knew who we were. It was like being a celebrity! To this day, the Ni’ihauans still remember a missionary named Wiwi Kalawi who learned Hawaiian.

When I left Kaua'i to go to another area, I had a lot of hope that Alaka'i and Bert would soon get married and baptized. Every month I would check the roster of people who had been baptized in the previous month searching for them, but their names were never there. A year went by, and I began to lose hope when I was about to go home. I stayed in contact with them after I went home, and was able to visit them on a few occassions. They started calling Maylynn "Wiwi Kalawi" because they didn't want her to forget the missionary who came to teach them the gospel. Alaka'i would often write me about miraculous dreams or visions she had, but never word about wedding preparations.

Which is what made Alaka'is message this week so surprising. She had recently gotten married and wanted to share some pictures with me of the exciting day. I stared dumbfounded at the computer screen, not believing what I was seeing. Alaka'i and Bert, after seven years of working with me, had finally gotten married! I couldn't believe it! The family is happier than ever now, and their faith in God had increased because of their obedience to the law of chastity.

Alaka'i and Bert Kanahele on their wedding day with their daughter, Maylynn.

Tears came to my eyes to think of the many years I had spent pleading and teaching them to obey the law of chastity. I find it strangely ironic that their marriage would come not long after mine. Jen and I ourselves have seen the positive influence of marriage on our dog, Rudy. Since getting married, Rudy is far more calm and obedient than he ever was before. This reminded me of other couples I worked with on my mission whose children were more obedient once their parents got married to each other. True, Jen and I were not breaking the law of chastity before marriage, but we have still received many wonderful blessings from obeying the law of chastity.

Alaka'i and Bert Kanahele's wedding day. Note Alaka'i's gorgeous and expensive homemade Ni'ihau shell leis.

The law of chastity is one of the greatest blessings God can give a couple who love each other. It brings me so much joy to see Alaka'i and Bert finally able to get married and repent. It is a miracle!

Transfer Student

Jen and I experienced a miracle this past month. As you may be aware, I was enrolled at Gonzaga University's law school in Spokane, WA last year while Jen was living in Provo, UT and attending BYU. After we became engaged, it became clear that in order to stay together this fall after school began again, one of us needed to transfer to another school. With Jen being in her last year of schooling, it would have been unreasonable for her to leave BYU at this point. This put the burden of transferring on me in order for us to stay together.

So Spring Semester I worked twice as hard to study and do well in my classes. Final grades came out and I got pretty good grades that I hoped would have me look as attractive as possible to the University of Utah or BYU. After school and our wedding were over, I worked hard on the transfer applications, especially the one for the U of U. After sending them in, I crossed my fingers while waiting for favorable responses.

Nearly a month went by without any word from either school. Nearly a month went by without any word from either school. As August came and the new school year grew closer, our anxiety continued to grow. We began making plans for me to move back to Washington at the end of August.

Near the beginning of August, Jen and I fasted that we could have a miracle happen so we could stay together this year. The next morning, I got a phone call at 8:00 AM from the U of U notifying me that I had been accepted to their school. During the phone call, I was quite calm about everything and saying, "Oh, that's wonderful news. Thank you for calling." The whole time I was on the phone, Jen was looking at me wondering what was going on. Once I got off the phone, I told her I had been accepted to the U, and she began screaming and jumping up and down in joy. It was the greatest news in the world! We were going to be staying together. It was a miracle!

Later that same day, I got another phone call from BYU saying that I hadn't been accepted there. We didn't really care because we had already gotten wonderful news earlier that day, so it was not a big disappointment for us. To be honest, I still feel that my BYU days are meant to be over, and I don't think I am needed to stay here in Utah county.

So now I'm a student at the U, my fourth school of higher learning in the state of Utah, and my second law school. The law school building is not as pretty as Gonzaga, and the teachers are more academic-y (i.e. they wrote the textbook), but I'm still having a great time in law school. My classes this semester are International Law, Constitutional Law II, Entertainment Law (for B-Money), Environmental Law and Intellectual Property. I really enjoy International Law (my professor was in the Israeli army for several years and negotiated many treaties with the Palestinians and Russians on their behalf. Some Canadians want him to be arrested for war crimes, if that makes him any more interesting) and Entertainment Law (the professor was a Hip-hop artist agent for many years and has awesome stories).

ConLaw II is a major disappointment. This is where we learn about all of the Supreme Court's controversial rulings on subjects like segregation, abortion, free speech, porn, etc., so you would imagine it would be really inflammatory and exciting. Instead the professor just lectures in a boring tone without any pep or controversy. Big let down.

Overall, I'm really enjoying the U. Sure I spend about 4 hours commuting on the bus everyday, but it's all worth it to come home to my wife and puppy every day. I wouldn't change it for anything.

Wedding 6-20-2009

One month ago today, Jennifer and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Our first month of marriage has been really great. Here are a few pictures from our wedding day:

Mr. and Mrs. Tanner leaving the temple.

Tanner siblings.

Four of the Marshallese Groomsmen, from Left to Right: Ring Nang, Steve Lutz, Bryan Boaz and Austin Lowe. I was missionary companions with Steve, Bryan and Austin, and Steve and I baptized Rick's family.

Tanner Family portrait.

I love all of my Groomsmen. Front row, from left to right: Austin Lowe, Daniel Tanner, Brian Tanner, Jennifer Tanner, Scott Perlmutter. Back row: Steve Lutz, James Welch, Dave Adamusko, Roman Matthew, Bryan Boaz, Rick Nang, Bryan Chisholm.

Bridesmaids: Angelica, Wendy, Jenny, Lissette, Shakira, Olia, Melinda, Jen, Kristen, Josephine and Laurice.

Jen and her niece, Jayden.
Jen had a hott dress.

Our rings.

Latter that day, we had a ring ceremony and reception at my parent's stake center. Because of bad weather, we were really lucky to find a new venue and decorations only a day before the wedding.

Rudy was our Ring Dog for our ring ceremony.

Jen and her father walking down the isle.

Exchanging rings

Our real cake. We were going to have a pinata cake as a decoy, but we ended up just displaying the real one. The shock of us pulling out a bat and hitting the pinata off the table would have been too much for my mother.
During dinner, my adopted sister, Maggie Nang, gave a hula dance performance with her friend.

Our first dance to "He Heals Me" by India.Arie. Everyone cried. We're pretty romantic.

Everyone had fun dancing.

Leaving the reception.

Return to Provo

I returned to Provo, UT last week. It is really strange for me to be here again. Just under a year ago, I left Provo without any intention to ever return. I left to begin law school in Washington, but also because I felt my eternal progression would not continue if I did not leave.

For one thing, I was burned out by the Utah dating scene. I had tried to develop knowledge, wisdom, kindness, charity and other talents to better myself, but felt unsuccessful in finding the lasting meaningful relationships I was really looking for. At the time, I had the impression that I would never get married if I stayed in Utah. And so under intense pressure from many of my friends to not leave, I packed up my car and went off into the unknown, trusting that God would lead me to where I needed to be to find the fulfillment I was seeking.

My theme for leaving was "Gone" by Pearl Jam:

No more upset mornings
No more trying evenings
This American Dream I am disbelieving
When the gas in my tank feels like money in the bank
Gonna blow it all this time, take me one last ride
For the lights of this city, they only look good when I'm speeding
I wanna leave em all behind me cause this time I'm gone
Long gone,
This time I'm letting go of it all
So long,
This time I'm gone

In the far off distance
As my taillights fade
No one thinks to witness but they will someday
Feel like a question is forming
And the answer's far
I will be what I could be
Once I get out of this town

For the lights of this city
They have lost all feeling
Gonna leave em all behind me cause this time I'm gone
Long gone,
This time I'm letting go of it all
So long,
Long gone, I'm letting go of it all
Yeah, This time I'm gone

If nothing is everything
If nothing is everything I'll have it all
If nothing is everything then I will have it all

This song really resonated with me, and I felt that I really could be all that I could be once I left Provo. My thought at the time was that I would go to Washington and rock whatever ward I ended up in. I wanted a new start, to show them what the folks in Provo were going to miss.

But then something miraculous happened. On the way to Washington, I had one of the greatest adventures of my life with my best friend, Jennifer, and suddenly I discovered everything that was missing in my life. Hidden reservoirs of joy, happiness, laughter, excitement, love, etc. all appeared to me. The day I left Utah, I became a new person; a better person. My prompting to leave immediately provided what I was missing. And as the months unfolded, I found more than I could ever imagine finding.


It is strange to be back in Provo because I am not the same person I was before. Everything is the same, yet it is not. Many of the same people are still here. The buildings on BYU campus are exactly the same as when I left. Traffic is still crazy. The Honor Code still rules the student body.

Yet I am very different than the person who left a year ago. I truly feel that I became more like the man I want to be while living in Washington. I am an engaged to be married in three weeks to the most beautiful girl in the world. I completed my first year of law school. I had an important calling working with members of the stake presidency, high councilmen, and multiple bishoprics. Any one of these would be enough to spur major changes in anyone, yet here I had all of them combined in the space of a few short months.

I feel deja vous from the time I returned from my mission. I feel like a superhero in disguise, just another face in the congregation/crowd. Yet I think this time I'm not doing a very good job to hide my secret identity.

While it is bittersweet to leave Washington and the many wonderful missionaries, law students and Marshallese people I met there, it is wonderful being reunited with Jen, and hopefully to stay. I am trying to transfer down here to BYU or the U so we can be together in the fall. Regardless of where we end up, I know that God will use us to create good around us.

I feel great and exciting things are coming our way, and I am excited to face these adventures with my best friend.

Weirdest Church Calling

I arguably have one of the weirdest church callings ever. For the past five months or so, I've been serving for my church as the "Marshallese Program Director" for Spokane and Eastern Washington. My responsibilities are working with the local Stake Presidency, bishoprics, missionaries, etc. to create a sustainable church program to fellowship the Marshallese people in eastern Washington. I'm sort of like a pseudo-Bishop/High Councilman/Ward Mission Leader/Sunday School President.

There are several thousand Marshallese people here in Spokane and they are the second largest minority group in town. Being a very faithful and humble people, many of them are joining the church. The Spokane Stake Presidency views the large number of baptisms from one ethnic group as grounds for starting a new branch or separate church congregation. Having spoken Marshallese for several years, and having a lot of insights from working with them as a missionary, my job to set up a program to eventually establish a branch.

Basically, this has set up my life to be a lot of crazy fun working with the Marshallese people while balancing law school. It has been wonderful being in their homes and enjoying life with them. But most of all, it has been wonderful to help so many of them come unto Christ through the principals and ordinances of the gospel.

Another perk is working with two Elders who are specifically called to work with the Marshallese. I've been working to help teach them Marshallese and give cultural insights to help them with a foreign mission in America. At times it really does feel like I'm a missionary again, and it's hard to not want to give up my study time to go out visiting investigators with them.

The true highlight though has been being able to work so closely with Jen on this program. She was living here in Spokane for a few months and was also called to work with the Marshallese in the region, which made it feel like we were missionary companions together. It was great. Not everyone gets to go on a couple's mission before they actually get married. She has had so many good ideas and plans that, if this program does prove to be sustainable, will be in a large part because of her.

One quick story happened back in February when Necinta, a recent convert, gave birth to a baby. The daughter, Lindsay Skyla Anton, was named after the ward mission leader's wife and the missionary who baptized her mother. Jen and I visited her in the hospital a few hours after the baby was born with flowers and diapers. I helped fill out the birth certificate form while Jen took pictures of the mother and newborn. 

Seeing Jen hold a newborn was a wonderful sight. I love her. That was a sacred moment for me that I would not trade for all the world.

What is the weirdest thing you have ever been asked to do for a church calling?

Measure of a Man

I proposed to my girlfriend Jennifer on New Year's Eve. I'm sorry this post isn't going to be that story (which will be coming soon! honest!). Since that time, I feel like a real man now, one who can tackle any and all obstacles with maturity. To celebrate this, I wanted to share my favorite church video from 1962 that I found online today...Measure of a Man.

It's the story of a nice boy going for a wild night on the town with his friends to get some root beer. Beginning with broken promises to mom to be home before 10:00, the night spirals out of control when they meet some wild girls (who act tamer than even the prudest BYU freshman). They also listen to rowdy jazz music (When the Saint's Come Marching In), drive really fast, and ultimately find a can of "teeny, weeny beer." "Mmmm...beer!"

This movie is soo awesome in its awfulness. It's like watching an incredibly awkward blind date, but it just keeps getting worse and worse. You simply have to watch it.

Christmas Surprise or BRIAN'S EPIC ESCAPE FROM WASHINGTON!

I, Brian K. Tanner, after three harrowing days, was able to escape from the State of Washington. After 6 airplanes, I was able to make it to Utah. Here's how I did it:

During our last episode of "The Adventures of the Laughing Monkey," (12-18-2008) our hero was trapped in Spokane after three feet of snow fell in two days. With the snow continuing to fall, the roads out of town closed, and the airport closed as well, things looked grim for our hero ever being re-united with his girlfriend!

You see, the reason why I was excited to get back to Utah was so I could be reunited with my really hott girlfriend, Jen. Living in two different states, we'd really been looking forward to spending three weeks together during Christmas break. All of the flights at the airport for Friday and Saturday were completely full, so I had a flight on the first available flight for Sunday afternoon. But with a forecast filled with snow, I was extremely fearful that I would end up stuck in Spokane until January, and would completely miss the much anticipated Christmas holiday with Jen.

I was staying with Brooks Crandall, another stranded law student, who's wife and infant twin sons had already left to Arizona earlier in the week before the snow came. I was extremely fortunate to run into him at the airport, and he was very kind in letting me come stay with him in his home. But he was also afraid he wouldn't be able to get out of Spokane to be reunited with his family before Christmas.

Friday afternoon (12-19-2008), I spent several hours researching any and all possible escape routes from Washington to get back to Utah. Amtrak, bus, rental cars, etc., everything was sold out or not operating, so our choices looked grim. The roads out of town appeared too dangerous to use, but we had about two days of "good" weather before the next storm hit Saturday afternoon.

Just as I was about to despair, two miracles happened simultaneously: First, Brooks found an opening on a flight to Reno, and then to Arizona for Saturday morning. The flight had previously been full, but he miraculously was able to get a ticket.

The other miracle was I found an available flight to Seattle that evening at 6:00 that I could take. I quickly arranged another flight from Seattle to Salt Lake City, and was just about to call Jen to tell her my good fortune...when instead I got the sly idea to repay her back for surprising me for Halloween. My flight to SLC was going to arrive on Saturday evening, where I could then go to a party with Jen's good friends and surprise her there.

To cover the fact that I was on an airplane, I told her I would be charging my phone in Brooks' car. Brooks and I then quickly shoveled the three feet of snow from his driveway, and then had a perilous drive back to the airport to drop me off.

Checked in and ready to go, I began to worry when I kept getting text message notification every fifteen minutes telling me my flight to Seattle kept getting more and more delayed. After the flight was delayed for more than four hours, I received a notification that the flight had simply been canceled. They did not announce this on the PA or post it on the board, so I realized I was the only passenger in the airport who was aware of the cancellation. I immediately ran up to the ticket booth, wherein they confirmed the flight had just been canceled, and was put on the stand-by list for a flight that was to leave in ten minutes on the other side of the airport. I quickly ran there, and in a panic, demanded of the workers there to know what my chances of getting on the flight were. The worker assured me that I would be getting on the flight, and a minute later I was issued a boarding pass.

At 8:00 on Friday night, I escaped Spokane on an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. Flying beyond the Cascade Mountain range, the hardest part of my journey was over. From Seattle, I had hundreds of new possibile contingency plans open up to me, including driving to California or Canada.

At my hotel the next morning (12-20-2008), I recruited Jen's friend Angelica to help give me directions to the party and to be my spy to ensure my surprise would work. I then told Jen I would be going snowboarding with Brooks up in the mountains, so I would probably be beyond cell phone range. This gave me a perfect excuse if she were to try calling me when I was flying home to SLC. I then returned to the Sea-Tac airport some six hours early to wait for my flight. I had a great afternoon there listening to live Jazz music, having lunch with some basketball players, and preparing my surprise for Jen that night.

The time for my flight to leave approached, and the flight attendants had us line up to board the plane. A few minutes later though, they told us that our plane was too heavy because we had too much fuel, so they needed to switch us to another plane. This then caused a two hour delay waiting to get on the new plane, and then another two hours for the plane to actually take off.

During my wait, it began to snow again. Hard. The monster storm had arrived, and I was on a race against the clock to get out of Seattle before the storm closed the airport. I was on one of the last planes before the airport was closed, stranding some six thousand people there on Sunday. I counted my self very blessed I only had a four hour delay instead of another two days.

Rudolph had landed.

I got to SLC at 10:30, some four hours late, and got a ride from my father to the LeSuer home to surprise everyone. I was in communication with Angelica, who changed my name on her phone so no one would realize it was me, to make sure everyone stayed there long enough for me to arrive. I finally knocked on the door, where upon a bewildered John LeSuer answered. I asked if Jen was there, and Jen looked up from the couch, saw me, and screamed as she lept into my arms.

Suddenly, all of the frustration and misery I had gone through to get home was erased in the arms of my girlfriend. It was the best Christmas present and surprise she had ever gotten.

Jen and Brian reunited again and having a feast at L&L.

Update (12-28-2008):
In the days that followed, snow continues to fall in Spokane. As of today, 51 inches has fallen at the Spokane Airport, and a state of emergency has been declared in the county. Power lines continue to go down, buildings are collapsing from the weight of the snow, and I am beginning to wonder if school is going to start again in two weeks after all. But for now, I sigh in content and peace, knowing that God has answered many prayers this week, and has helped me have the best Christmas of my life.

Merry Christmas.

Snowbound in Spokane

Well...it's a really crazy story, but in short, I'm trapped in Spokane. My last law school final was canceled this morning...the law school has never canceled finals before, so they have no idea when they're going to have our final. All of the law students had gotten a threatening e-mail the other day saying that there were going to be tests, no matter what, and that we had to risk life and limb to get there. Well...I had quite the adventure just getting to the school, only to discover it was closed, and then getting to the airport in my friend Joseph's trusty little Ford Taurus that could. It was amazing we got around town as it was, considering I saw a city bus that was stuck in the snow.

Basically, we've gotten a whole ton of snow in the past two days, somewhere above two feet. It's wild. The city streets have all been closed, no stores are open, public transit non-existent, the missionaries are told to stay in, and yet I was running around in the snow drifts to get back to my girl. You see, we've been looking forward Christmas break for some time because we would be able to get about three and a half weeks together. I stood in line for about five hours at the airport, getting bumped from one flight to the next, before the call was made to cancel all flights for the rest of the day. With more snow for the forecast, I'm scheduled for the next available flight to Salt Lake on Sunday.

I have been very blessed throughout the day. One of the blessings was another LDS law student had his flight canceled today too, so I'm just staying at his home until Sunday. It's great.

So get ready for a whole lot of cabin fever ramblings and the good times are going to roll!

Anyway, here are some pictures to let you picture things...

This was my backyard last night around 8:00 pm.

This was my backyard this morning around 7:00 am.

This is the view from my window around 7:00 am.

The front yard of the home I'm staying at around midnight.

Blessings and Bubu - UPDATE

Just for a quick update on this story, the missionaries and Bubu both keep telling me about more Marshallese people who want to get baptized. While I was having lunch with the Elders, Bubu and Handy yesterday alone, Bubu got a phone call from a lady named Nejinta. I'd met her the same night I met Bubu at the same party, and she had also asked me to give her child a blessing that same night. I went by and taught her a lesson a few days later with the missionaries, but haven't seen her since. Anyway, Neginta called Bubu yesterday because she'd just found out that she was going to get baptized and was asking if she could get baptized too. Crazy.

Oh, and Paul Ceaser, Handy's grandson, is going to get baptized with Bubu, also by me. This is getting a little out of control.

Paul and Brian after church

Let's hope it stays like this!

Blessings and Bubu

So a few weeks ago, we had a big crazy Marshallese birthday party here in Spokane for a baby (which coincidentally enough was the same day as Handy and Phillip Ceasers' birthdays). Marshallese first birthday parties (Kemem) are always wild, and provide lots of quality entertainment. My favorite part is at the end of the party, everyone forms a procession line to go greet the child, who by this point is usually screaming his/her head off at all of the scary strangers. Upon greeting the child, you of course have to give the baby money.

A Kemem in Hawai'i

Marshallese children, of course, are running wild everywhere during the whole party.


While sitting at a table with Handy, she introduced me to Bernice Rolfo, or as I call her, "Bubu" or "grandmother." She is an older woman, who was feeling very weak and in a lot of pain that night because of her dialysis treatments.

We hadn't been talking long before she asked me if I could give her a blessing, which caught me by surprise. This was a common request I got while I was a missionary, but I wasn't dressed like a missionary or anything, so it was surprising that she would recognize me as one who could give a Priesthood blessing.

I gave her a blessing not long after that once we had some privacy, and she later told me that all of her pain immediately left her body. She was able to rest that night in peace.

After that, Bubu and I became really good friends, and she adopted me as her grandson. She went trick-or-treating with me and Paul on Halloween, and was demanding earlier that day that Jen needed to come to Spokane so she could meet her (only a few hours later Jen sprung her trap on me). She was overjoyed to meet her and has two pictures of us proudly displayed in a frame that says "World's Best Mom" in her front room.

A few weeks ago I was taking Handy to church when I asked Bubu if she'd like to come too. She did, and brought two other granddaughters with her, which made everyone really excited. She began meeting with the missionaries and has since decided to get baptized next week. When the missionaries were talking to her about it, she got really excited when they told her I could baptize her. Her granddaughters also got really excited about this and are close to baptism themselves.

I've had a lot of experiences lately to give blessings to people who have asked me for help. It has been really humbling for me to realize that a lot of people here recognize me as one who has authority from God. It makes me really grateful to be here to help these people like this in my small way.

Going to that party also made me somewhat of a celebrity among the Marshallese here in Spokane. Everyone the missionaries talk to claims to know me know, which makes missionary work a lot easier for them. I think this is pretty crazy...Who'd ever thought I'd be a Marshallese superstar?

Handy's grandson, Joyle, and Brian playing at the Kemem

October Conference

The October General Conference was quite successful and I was even able to avoid going crazy during the weekend helping translate into Marshallese. This was mostly because I tried to avoid being the "fireman" this time and putting out all of the fires that sprang up. Instead, I was able to spend more time watching conference with Jennifer instead, which was wonderful! It was really neat to realize that our first experience going to church together as a couple was to the Saturday Morning session of Conference in the Conference Center!


Anyway, you can access the Marshallese audio archive for this session here. I did Elder Causse's talk from Saturday afternoon, which begins about 50 minutes into the program. Enjoy!