The Brooklyn Bridge

There is nothing is either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. -Shakespeare Late August 2017, Harvey has finally resigned, Maria is on her way, and Irma was in full angry force. Residents of Florida anticipate the impending disaster. In the slow-motion blink of an eye, Hurricane Irma devoured 134 fatalities during her 65 billion-dollar tantrum. Images of damaged homes, slaughtered sights where homes used to be, and hundreds of people, suddenly thrust into survival mode, these images took over the big and small screens of Americans for two months. 180 mph winds will blow more than your mind. What we cannot count are the tears, the favorite blankets lost, the words spoken at funerals, the hugs, the prayers, the hands that helped. Surely, disaster invokes a reaction. Shock, horror, flee, fight, sadness, anger, devastation. Moments of speechlessness and anger because there is nobody to be angry at. No one to punish. However, disaster also invokes action. Neighbors and nearby acquain...

Standing obediently behind the kiroi sen, waiting for the futsu densha. The shinkansen rushes by violently, the daigakusei immersed in their keitai taking no notice to their fluttering strait hair. Exhausted men staggering in from the post-work nomikai and a teenage couple holding hands on the way home from a late night of bukatsu. Kaze. Kiroi sen, yellow safety line. Even the automated intercom voice warning riders to stand behind the line sounds tired, as she lists off the next few stops. Futsu densha, the local train, which is the slowest, but the only one that will stop near our obscure apartment by the river. Shinkansen, the bullet train that yells at 200 miles per hour, travelling from the frigid top to the beachy bottom of this California-sized island. Daigakusei, college students. Thoughts of breaking the mold swimming around in their thoughts, but conforming to the norm on keitai, their cell phones. Nomikai, men drinking together with the coworkers they have already spent 12...

I would love to share a bit of what I have learned. I pray that as I testify, the Holy Ghost will be in your heart to teach you the tidbit of Gospel that you need in your home this week. To me, the Holy Ghost feels like a warm swelling in my heart, which is similar to the feeling of heartburn I get after eating a meal like the one on Thanksgiving. So, sometimes it’s hard to tell. But, if we listen, the Holy Ghost will quietly testify to you in a way that is specific to you. This is how we learn truth. I am Brooklyn Tanner, Jonathan is my husband. I am from Murray, a suburb in south Salt Lake, and fabulous Jon is from fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. We met as missionaries in Matsumoto, Japan. We worked in the same ward for the very last month of Jon’s time as a missionary. We were friends there, but I never really expected to see him again. However, I came home about four months after him, just in time for his spring break trip to Arizona. He called and asked me for a ride to the airp...

In my pursuit to develop a helpful, graceful  pres ence , I hope to develop an understanding and cultivation of charity, humor, balance, and dependability.   Charity is pure love, the inherent desire and responsibility I believe we all have to care for one another. To have charity would be to be patient with all people, even those I  have no t  met who seem to make the world more unkind and unproductive. I want to be able to discern the needs of those around me, and especially those under my stewardship. I want to create a family where love foundational and felt daily. I want people to come into our house, and feel good,  and  know they are welcome, desired, loved, able, and listened to. Listening would be a big part of it too. I want to be able to discern when to talk and when to listen, because I know I need to do more of the listening.    Humor is adding a  helpful, light-hearted perspective to  mundane experiences. I absolu...

Dear God, thank you for mommy and daddy thank you for a dis day please bless that I can have a little brover amen. Dear God, Thank you for mommy and daddy and baby sitser please bless that we will all have good dreams and be happy and know whats right, amen. Dear God, Thank you that I am so beautiful. Please bless that my sister wouldn't bug me so much and bless people who are poor. Please bless that it will be cheesy breadsticks at lunch tomorrow. Amen. Dear God, Thank you for this day and for the food. Bless me not to be so ugly anymore and not trip in dance so much. Please bless that McKenna and Rosie will let me play with them at recess tomorrow and bless mom that she won't be so bossy. Amen. Dear God, Thank you that I get to go to work with my dad like every day and have so much fun. What do you want me to be when I'm like older? A magician? A writer? A mom? I think I want to be a mom. Like the best mom ever who even knows how to sew. Amen. Dear God, Th...

Every girl needs to tell her cheesy story while flailing her hands around and squealing, so here's the transcript of how Jon and I decided to get married and stuff if you'd like to read it.  July 2015 - First Met As a missionary for the LDS church in the Japan, I first met Elder Tanner (code name: Jon Tanner) at a conference in Fukutoku, Japan, where we were welcomed our new mission president. We shook hands and ate delicious lunch with 145 other missionaries! For six weeks, Jon and I both worked in the Matsumoto Branch in November 2015. We were good friends there (riiiight, "friends" ;) [no really, just friends who both had not great haircuts] uh huh, sure), and it was a little sad to say Goodbye to him, just like every elder and sister who goes home. However, I did not expect to see him again. The following January, as a junior at BYU, he emailed me with a couple updates about "real" life, and how much better it is to be in missionary life. We ...

When Jon and I began dating, my father was impressed with  a him immediately. So impressed, he worried just a bit about my  chances. He told him, "You so know she comes from clown stock, right?" Jon just laughed and continued to support me in my work and pursuits. That is when I was able to recognize he started showing his love  for me, just how I was and what I was trying to be. I recognized it because that is the type of love I feel from Heavenly Father. Kind, unconditional, and supportive. Another way Jon shows me he loves me every day is by communicating with me well. He let me know how he feels and what he is thinking thoroughly, concisely, and consistently. We are able to be or get on the same page because he communicates so well.  I also feel love from Heavenly Father because He communicates with me, and allows me to communicate with Him.  In prayer, we can report to Him all our feelings and happenings. In prayer we can express thanks, and faithfully as...