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.

Utah Marshallese Christmas Peet 2008 - West Valley Chapter

The guys of the West Valley Chapter giving one awesome Christmas Peet performance. Every year on Christmas, the Marshallese people will throw the biggest party of the year to celebrate the birth of Christ with songs and dances about his life to honor him. They will often practice for months in advance to coordinate everything, and the results are awesome. This video features my Marshallese brother, Dustin Nang, who is wearing a Santa hat in the lower left corner.

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.

Halloween Video

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

Halloween 2008

Halloween was a great day for me. School got out at noon, my homework was all done for the weekend and I was allowed me to spend the rest of the day playing. I went trick-or-treating with Paul and Handy Ceaser, which was a blast. I realized trick-or-treating is a lot like tracting like an LDS missionary, except you get more candy. Paul made off like a bandit with about four pounds of candy, including several king-sized candy bars.

After dropping them off at their home around 10:00 pm, I started driving home when Jen called me. She told me that her brother had called her after a friend of his living here in Spokane called him. His friend is another first-year law student, and has supposedly been stalking and spying on me for a few months now for Jen’s brother. Jen told me that the girl had gotten really drunk that night and was stranded in a park down town and needed a ride home. Being the perpetual super hero that I am, and probably against my better judgment, I told her that I’d go try to save my stalker from Halloween mischief.

With hordes of wild Halloween spooks lining the streets of down town, I really didn’t want to have to get out and search for the girl on foot. At first I figured if I just drove around I could find her and shout for her to come get a ride. I spied a figure dressed all in black, just like Jen had described to me sitting on a bench some 20 yards into the park from the road.

Shouting and hollering at her to come get a ride, the black figure finally heard me, raised their arms into the air and began shouting back in a drunken drawl, “Whose callin’ me?!” Getting frustrated, I realized I wouldn’t be giving the girl a ride unless I got out on foot to find her.

Parking on the road, and muttering to myself about the hero going to save the world, I approached the figure on foot. Up close, the figure appeared to be wearing a black hat, mask, cape and coat which completely covered their body, so it was extremely hard to make out any features. On the figures chest was a small neighborhood watch sign with a black figure being crossed out on it. Somewhere from deep within my memory, I recalled how this sign had scared me as a child, so I initiated conversation with the person with some trepidation.

The Neighborhood Watcher

“Hey, are you Anne?” I ask, thinking to myself that I probably didn’t really want to talk to this person after all.

The figure in black replies in a drunken drawl, “Hey man, you gotta light?” What is it with this park and weirdos asking me for cigarettes?

“I’m afraid I don’t. Are you Anne?”

“You don’t gotta light?”

Getting frustrated, I repeat, “I don’t.”

The black figure then caught me off guard by saying, “You’re really cute.”

Stunned, and unable to discern if the figure in black was actually a boy or girl, I was extremely creeped out. I couldn’t say anything.

“Yeah, you’re really cute.”

Annoyed, I asked a different question. “Do you know Scott Perlmutter?”

“Yeah…yeah I do” was the reply, which made me think, “Finally, we’re getting somewhere!”

The figure continued, “He’s actually my brother.” And immediately the figure cast off the hat, mask and cape to reveal not some creepy drunk person, but my lovely girlfriend, Jennifer! She jumps into my arms and I just stand there for a moment in amazement before saying, “Ok, you win!” She giggles and we kiss and it was beautiful…she made it up to me for having scared the tar out of me!

The Neighborhood Watcher unmasked

You see, with Jen living in Provo, UT, and I living in Spokane, it’s rather difficult for us to see each other on a regular basis. Jen had only come her one time before, and that was when I was first moving here, so seeing her here again was quite a surprise, and especially since she filmed it too.

Now, to my credit, I’d been suspecting she was going to do something like this for a while now. She’d been telling me about how she was going to go to a salsa congress this weekend for months now, so I knew that she was going out of town this weekend. I’d suspected that she was really coming up here, and kept dropping hints that I knew her true intentions, but she was eventually able to convince me that she wasn’t coming about two days before she came.

Enjoying Grandma Perlmutter's Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken at Brian's Apartment

The surprise was wonderful and we ended up having a great weekend together. Jen knows how I love surprises, and this was the best surprise anyone could ever hope for.

Brian and Jen along the Spokane River

She told me that she’d used the money she would have spent to go to her favorite salsa congress in San Francisco to come here, which was a big sacrifice for her. I was amazed that she would do such a thing for me. It really meant a lot to me to know that she cares more about me than salsa dancing, which is one of her great loves in her life. Knowing this gives me an awesome sense of responsibility to take care of her and our love and to make sure I live worthy of this love in every way.

Jen brings so much joy to my life. Not a day goes by that she does not make me laugh or smile. It’s impossible for me to talk with her and not do so. Seeing her smile makes my heart sing. Because of her, it’s hard for me to have a bad day or be too stressed about my schoolwork. She balances me with her personality and spirit and I love how she is always able to make my fears go away.

Brian and Jen along the Spokane River

For these, and many other reasons, I love Jen Perlmutter!

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!

My Best Friend – Jennifer Perlmutter

My best friend in the world is Jennifer Perlmutter. She makes me happy, more so than anyone else. She has always been there for me when I needed a friend the most. She has always given me wonderful advice that has changed my life for the better. By knowing her, I am a better man and a happier person over all.

I love how I can always share the simplest joys with her. No matter the time of day, she is always willing to listen. No matter where we go, there is always an adventure to be had with her. I can accomplish anything when she is by my side, because she is my hero.

I love her. My feelings for her are deeper than anything I have ever experienced before. I love her laugh. I love her smile. I love her sighs of contentment. Words cannot describe how much I care for her.

We have been good friends for three years now, beginning when we both moved into the same BYU ward in Provo, UT. We spent a lot of time together: chatting on the phone for countless hours; being L&L buddies; having ice cream parties; and going on hundred of late night walks with her dog Rudy.

We were always trying to help each other overcome whatever challenges we were facing, which usually meant dating drama. Initially, I had been very attracted to her and had wanted to date her, but whenever I entertained the thought for any amount of time, it always “felt wrong” to do so. In truth, I needed to grow up more before I was ready for such a relationship, and so did she.

Despite this, everyone else around us would always tell us to date each other. If I had a quarter for every time I was told I should date Jen Perlmutter, I could probably fund my law school education.

Jen in fact was the first person I told about my decision to attend law school. Her encouragement gave me enthusiasm to take the LSAT and make all of the other steps that have landed me here in Spokane with a scholarship.

As the time grew closer for me to leave Provo for Spokane, I began to catch myself thinking how lovely Jen is and how I should date her. I tried to chase these thoughts away, but they would keep coming. But as I’ve learned from experience, the Spirit is usually the one prompting me whenever I have reoccurring thoughts that I can’t chase away.

Jen was heartbroken when I left to go on my road trip with Daniel to Texas. Unbeknownst to me at the time, she had begun to foster deeper, romantic feelings for me since the time she had gone to the temple at the beginning of July. My leaving for a week showed her how difficult it was going to be once I had moved to Washington. She knew she had to do something or I was going to walk out of her life forever.

The night I got back from Texas in the middle of August, which also was my last night in Utah, we went to the Salt Lake Temple together along with our mutual friend, Beth Deever. That night Jen presented me with a medal that said “Brian Tanner – 1^st Place Friend” and had a ukulele in the middle. I had joked with her a few times how I deserved a medal for how all of the times I had saved the world for her, so she had luckily “found” this one at the “DI” for me. I was overjoyed at her kind gesture.

She didn’t let me go home until about 2:00 am that night. While I had gone to bed to prepare for the long drive to Spokane the next day, Jen Perlmutter ended up staying up all night long freaking out that she was going to lose me forever. After a hard long night, Jen sent me a message the next morning at 6:48 that read, “Call me when u wake up…I might really want to drive out w you. If I don’t answer it means I’m sleeping, so keep calling :).” Reading this message, my only thought was “Yes! That is a good idea!” and was filled with peace. It simply felt right.

I was excited for her to come with me. Even though we ended up leaving later than I had originally planned, I didn’t mind because I had this feeling that she needed to be with me as I came to Spokane. We didn’t leave until 6:30 that night and planned to drive all night long to get to Washington. We had so much fun together talking in the car through Utah and Idaho. But once we got to Montana, our conversation had drifted to talking about our relationship. Jen confessed the feelings that she had begun to have and I confessed the feelings that I had been trying to suppress for a long time. While driving that night, I could feel the hesitant feeling I’d had about dating her be lifted, and I knew time was now right for us to date.

It was at this point that we pulled over for a rest stop around 3:30 am in Missoula, Montana. Stopping in front of a gas station/Indian Casino, I got out an umbrella and we held each other in the rain. It was quite romantic, just me, her and the gas station attendant.

We left Missoula as a couple; a pair of best friends in love. We were so excited; we wanted to tell everyone in the world, because we were in love. There have been many fun adventures since then, and our relationship continues to deepen every day.

There are some lessons I want to point out from this story. First, revelation from God can change at times depending on circumstances and timing. What had been wrong before is now right because the timing is correct now. Second, by continuing to endure in faith and putting your trust in God will eventually bring you the blessings you seek if God wants you to have them.

Today is her birthday, and I wanted to publicaly post this note to share the happiness we have together. We know that our friendship and current relationship are truly blessings from God. There have been too many coincidences to just be a simple twist of fate. It is a miracle.

Jennifer Perlmutter is my best friend, and is an angel from God.