More Scattered Than the People at the Tower of Babel

To whom it may concern,

This week was was pure madness. We were more scattered than the people at the Tower of Babel this week. We had to clean 2 apartments before moving into our new one. There was an apartment in the town of Reading where missionaries lived before they were pulled out of the area. The apartment's lease had not expired though, so it had been sitting empty. Since it was in our area, we were assigned to clean it out and move the furniture from there to our new apartment in Peabody. Let me say, whoever lived in that Reading apartment probably were planning on opening a Salvation Army store because it was full of so much random stuff – including: A grill, a fire rescue ladder, a Christmas tree, a Foosball table, a Jimmer Freddette poster, a pair of HIGH QUALITY 1986 Reebok's, a vacuum from the 60's, coal, a treadmill from the 70's, 2 Nerf guns, 6 suits, 15 white button down shirts, and much more. We had to grab a group of 8 missionaries to clean this apartment on the 3rd floor. We had a box of large black garbage bags - you know the big ones? Well get this. We had - count it - 19 LARGE black bags filled to the brim with trash. 19 LARGE black garbage bags! It was madness. We were there for nearly 3 hours and were only able to clean 2 rooms. It was remarkable. 

On top of this we had one of our best teaching weeks! It was great. The people the Lord has placed in our path have blessed our lives greatly – and it’s not because of anything we’ve done. These are people who are doing everything to find the truth and build a relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. Bridget Kimball is getting baptized this Saturday. She is awesome. She drives around in her car all day and listens to conference talks.  Another superstar worth mentioning is Frank Tower. He has caught on fire! He reads about 3 chapters of the Book of Mormon everyday. The change that I have seen in him since the first time I met him has been truly remarkable. I love Frank. Caroline is also awesome. She came to church for the first time this week. She is so dang cool. She had offers to play D1 golf, but decided not to. We found out this week that she shoots in the mid to low 70's and drives the ball about 330 yards off the tee. That is a long, long drive for any of you who may not know much about golf. Elder Calvert and I are amazed by how humble Caroline is and how willing she is to learn. She is going to Ireland in a few weeks for study abroad, but we are probably going to continue teaching her over Skype! We had a ton of other things happen this week, but this is all I’ll mention for now. We have another great, jam-packed week ahead of us! I love you all and am so grateful for your support!

The insights our mission presidency shared with us this week have greatly enhanced the way I study the scriptures - specifically The Book of Mormon. When we begin to read a novel we start at the first page. This is the best way to understand the story. But this is not the only way we should study The Book of Mormon. It is great to read it from beginning to end, but questions can be answered through searching throughout the The Book of Mormon. Like I said, the beginning of a novel is the first page, but the beginning to The Book of Mormon is our questions. You know how many times I have given The Book of Mormon to someone, quickly explained it, then expected them to get something out of it? That does happen sometimes, but the best way to share the Book of Mormon with friends and investigators is to have them turn to the Book for answers to their own questions. Our studies will often lead us to receive personal revelation. I have felt this divine intervention in my own studying time after time, and I am always guided to find the answers. I encourage everyone to look to the Book of Mormon for answers to your questions and doubts.  

Elder Tait

Tender Mercies Due To Faith

Greetings loved ones!

This week has been absolute chaos, and this next week we have more on our plate than we could say grace over. We have to clean 2 apartments out. We have to move into a new apartment. We have 8 appointments. One Zone Conference. We have 2 baptismal interviews that need to be done. All of this needs to be completed by Thursday. We have no idea how it's going to happen, but it'll happen. 

We have been so blessed with people to teach here in Lynnfield. My testimony of the Lord giving us tender mercies due to faith is growing stronger and stronger everyday. It is remarkable how great our days go when we are following the promptings of the spirit and do what He wants us to do.

We are excited this week. Due to the great experience of serving with my boy, Elder Anofils, we were able to start teaching a Haitian Creole man. Haitian's can speak faster than Jimmy Johnson can drive a car. Excited to see how that opportunity goes. We continue to have great spiritual moments as we teach a bushel-full of people who are prepared to hear about the gospel. The exhilarating feeling of doing everything you can to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ is an experience that cannot be replicated in any other way. My trials have also strengthened my testimony that this is the Lord's kingdom on earth. The world has drifted away from the basic fundamental principles of self-discipline and hard work. Any way to do less work for more gain is favored. The injustice we are doing to ourselves. Some might disagree with this, but taking the easy out will usually always catch up with us. Working hard is not easy, but we grow more under pressure as opposed to coasting. We all fall into the trap of coasting, but it is important to realize the difference between relaxing as opposed to staying idle. Our attitude in life depends on how we look at ourselves and, more importantly, realizing how Heavenly Father looks at us. We are literally sons and daughters of Heavenly Father. The motivation we can receive from understanding this will always help us fulfill our potential. 

Hope everyone has a great week! 

With love,

Elder Tait

Sponsored by Calvert and Tait & Associates.......Enjoy your stay.

Calvert and Tait & Associates have never seen the growth that we are experiencing at this time. We’ve also had some funny things happen recently. 

We'll start with this story: Here I am with a bush of hair. Something needs to be done. It's P-Day and it's time to cut my hair. The problem is, all the barbers around here close their shops on Monday. Don't know if that is common with every barber or just some. Regardless – there we were - Elder Calvert, standing at 6'3”, and me, standing at 6'6", in our Toyota Corolla with our knees to our chins cruising around Salem/Peabody. We quickly caught on to the fact that the barbershops weren’t open after spending 1 hour in the car and visiting 7 shops. When we’d almost lost hope we spotted a barber with an open sign. We whipped the car around, jumped out, and sure enough we had come across a barbershop miracle. We entered to find a man who didn’t speak much English. I thought it was Arabic the man was speaking, but as I sat down in the barber’s seat and looked around I realized that the man was from the Dominican Republic. This was based on all the Dominican flags that were hanging up, and the tattoo he had of his country’s flag. I honestly struggled to tell what language he was speaking with his buddies. I am no language expert and I don't speak Spanish - but it didn’t sound like Spanish. Still, barely understanding his English, he continued with the haircut. Due to poor eyesight I wear glasses and for those who don't know, you really can't get a haircut with your glasses on. I pulled my glasses off and became blinder than a bat in the middle of day. But, I felt regardless of the language barrier, he understood what type of haircut I was looking for. Clean cut. Since I was blind, I could only tell how the haircut was going by how it felt. As it continued, I zoned off into my own little world, doing my best to ignore the heavy Dominican music in the background, when my barber friend asked me a question. It was something about my sideburns. I thought he was asking if I wanted my sideburns trimmed. I said sure why not. Need to make sure my sideburns are clean. But then, as I sat there blindly the thought dawned on me that maybe he had asked about shaving my sideburns. As the haircut ended and I put my glasses back on I saw that my Dominican friend had indeed given me a traditional sideburnless hair cut. So, I have no sideburns. But - no worries - they’ll grow back. 

One other story from this week was the infamous 5 Gallon Cooler Baptism of July ‘14. In the Zone there is a small Spanish branch in the town of Lynn. Lynn's meetinghouse is relativity small and does not have a font. Whenever a baptism occurs in the Spanish Branch it usually takes place at the Lynnfield chapel, which is about 7 miles away. They had a baptism yesterday at 2:30 PM. They put Calvert and Tait & Associates in charge of making sure we started filling the font at 12:30 PM. No problem whatsoever. We put two signs up telling people to let the font run so it would be filled in time. Here at Calvert and Tait & Associates, we do our best to make sure you get The Finest Quality Service.  We turned on the font at 12:30 PM. Go quickly to an appointment form 1:00 to 2:00. We come back to the chapel at 2:15 to see how the font is doing. Walk into the bathroom to find someone has turned off the font, and it's only filled halfway. We have no idea how that font got turned off - but it did. Baptism begins in 5 minutes. What do we do? We realized the physical baptism probably wouldn’t start until 3:00 to 3:15. We cranked that puppy on full blast then had to figure out how in the world we were going to fill this thing in 30 minutes. We told the Spanish Elders to begin the service and close the door so no one could see us running back and forth. We ran into the kitchen and found one of those 5 gallons coolers that athlete’s use. We went to the custodian’s office where there is a place you can fill up buckets of water for mopping. We filled up the 5 gallon cooler, then ran it halfway down the hall and dumped it into the font and repeated this for 30 minutes. We felt like we were at Wet' N' Wild' – except we were in our suits. After chucking gallon after gallon in we finally had enough water for the baptism to take place. I tell you what - if I ever win a football game I would be really good at dumping the cooler on the Coach. Just saying. Yet again, here at Calvert and Tait & Associates, we do everything to make sure you Enjoy Your Stay. 

I apologize for the long e-mail – for those who have already dozed off - but if you get anything out of this letter I hope it will be the things the Lord has taught me in my personal studies.

Heavenly Father doesn’t want to see us fail. If this is so, it’s then easy to ask 
"Why is there opposition in all things?" Turning to the scriptures can help us answer this question and gain a fundamental knowledge of our Father in Heaven's Plan, as it says in 2 Nephi 2:24:

"But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him [Heavenly Father] who knoweth all things."

He knows we will succeed when we choose righteousness over wickedness. We cannot grow if we stay on a plateau. Adam and Eve were only able to progress by eating the fruit of the tree. But then it’s easy to ask, "What if I fail and give into temptation?” The answer is simple –  repentance is provided through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. In 2 Nephi Chapter 2, Lehi the Prophet, who has led his family out of Jerusalem to the Americas, is close to death. Before he dies he speaks to each of his sons. To his son Jacob Lehi talks about why there is opposition in all things. At the end of the chapter, Lehi talks clearly about the Savior's infinite gift that we can all access. In 2 Nephi 2:26-27 is says:

"26 And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

 27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."

What we do with our life is up to us. This can hurt at times, especially when we make decisions based upon on what we want and not what our Heavenly Father wants. The cunningness of the world focuses on instant satisfaction. But the truth is, disobedience leads us away from truth and down a road of selfishness, low self-control, loss of the influence of the Holy Ghost, and ultimately, eternal regret. It’s "comfortable" for people to pick and choose which of God's laws they’ll obey, but in doing this they are throwing away their opportunities to progress and grow and become more Christ-like. I know that the principle of agency is fundamental to God's plan. It can provide happiness and sorrow, depending on people’s choices. I can testify that those who align their agency with God's will will never plateau on their path to eternal life. I try myself to do this everyday. I come short many times, but I have never once regretted obeying a commandment of the Lord. This is the way to true freedom. I have such gratitude for those who have been examples to me of aligning their agency with God’s will. Their decisions have inspired me to become a more dedicated disciple of Christ. It may not be easy, but I promise it is worth it. It is always worth it. I know the Savior lives and has a hand in our lives. 

With love,

Elder Tait
Sponsored by Calvert and Tait & Associates.......Enjoy your stay.

But....OH, Were We Wrong....

 I have no idea where to begin this week!

For those who may not know there was a storm here on the east coast that came in this weekend and butchered many 4th of July plans. President Packard gave us permission to stay out and watch the fireworks. We planned on going to watch the show on the Charles River in the Cambridge/Boston area. The show got changed from the 4th to the 3rd due to storm Arthur. We were able to re-arrange everything to attend the show that night. Elder Calvert and I were excited to join missionaries in our Zone for a fireworks spectacular. We both thought we had a great idea. We wanted to provide cold refreshing beverages for the Zone, so we were able to get our hands on a cooler with wheels, some ice and delicious beverages. We thought that cooler was going to a real benefit, but, oh, were we wrong.

It was more convenient to take the T into Boston to watch the fireworks because traffic is terrible. We thought "Hey, we can take this cooler on the T, it's got wheels, what could go wrong?" Everything. The trip down to Boston wasn't so bad, but the trip back was something I’ll never forget. We were able to roll that dang cooler all over Cambridge and plant it at the Charles River to watch the fireworks. The fireworks were great! We had a great time as a Zone celebrating our freedom as a country by watching explosions in the air. After the show was done we began to make our voyage back to Salem. As you can imagine the T was stuffed to the brim. It was a zoo. People trying to merge their way in to get underground to the T. Remember, Elder Calvert and I are lugging this cooler around. 

Then from about 100 yards away we hear these loud screams. We had no idea what was happening, but quickly found out when we were suddenly drenched with rain. Then havoc broke out everywhere. People were running across the streets dodging cars for shelter. No rules applied. We felt like we were in a Godzilla movie. People were shoving each other to get underground. Bloody noses were happening left and right. People were soaked. We were doing everything we could to get underground as well, but this dang cooler kept on breaking and falling and getting trampled on - we were about to abandon it. We were going downstairs to the underground when the cooler top pops off and next thing you know a few water bottles are taking a trip down the stairs. That cooler was lucky we didn’t throw it off a cliff. When we got downstairs, I loosened the bottom of my pants and about 1/2 gallon of water came pouring out. It was not the most comfortable ride back on the T, but at least we still had that cooler.

Regardless of the cooler - this week has been great! Calvert and Tait & Associates are really seeing the Lord's hand time and time again. We are regularly meeting with Frank Tower who is 76 and claims his fist can put Rocky Balboa into a coma. We’ve received multiple invitations from Frank for a fist-fight in his backyard. We politely decline and then begin our lesson on Christ-like attributes. He'll get there. The Lynnfield ward is incredible. We have seen so much love and support. The members in this area have been great examples to us. We greatly enjoy being able to brainstorm and plan together with them to help further the work of salvation. It has been great. They personally have inspired me to know what I need to do when I am off my mission – starting with a family and a job - but still making sure I put the Lord's kingdom first.

Hope you guys are safe and sound in Europe! It's great to hear you are doing the Lord's work giving pass along cards in Czech even when you don't speak a lick of the language! Keep it real Tait Family!

With love,

Elder Tait