Changes...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! I hope that this letter finds you all well and happy in this special time of year. It´s still kind of weird for me to think that you are all in various inches of snow and trying to stay warm while I am worrying about getting fried in the sun. Cool, uh? Haha.
So anyway...changes are today. Right before the birthday and Christmas...that´s cool. Makes it easier to stay focused. :o) Elder Taylor is being moved to his third area here in beautiful Uruguay! I am headed to Montevideo. A part of Montevideo that is called Cerro (which means hill) Why is it called Cerro? Because that´s exactly what it is. It´s just a big hill right on the outside of Montevideo. I can´t remember exactly what neighborhood or ward I will be in, but yeah, I´m headed to ´Deo! I´m pretty stoked! It´s going to be a VERY radical change from my area here in Bella Union. Bella Union is tiny and very slow-paced; so basically the opposite of what I´m headed for. Haha.
And another cool thing...I´m going to be with a gringo!! As a matter of fact, with three of them. I was informed that I will be living in a house of 4 missionaries, and we are all American. Sweet! After 4 1/2 months straight with a Latin, I´m super excited. Elder Larsen is my new companion´s name. I heard he is from Idaho, so that´s a good thing, I think. :o) He will be headed into his fifth change, which means he has been in Uruguay for 6 months. I´m kind of anxious to see how he speaks. But in any case, I have heard that he´s a stud.
Elder Marroquín is staying here in Bella Union and Elder Vallejos (from Paraguay) is coming. I think Elder Marroquín is a little nervous, but he will do really well. He will still be junior companion, which is fine. He is really excited, however, to stay and work with our investigators here. This last week, we had a very successful week-the most successful since we´ve been together, probly. We are very excited about the new people that we found this last week, and I will be looking forward to a lot of good reports from my little Peruvian! Haha.
As I said last week, I am actually pretty excited to be heading to a new area. New area, new people, and a very different experience. Changes are like a new year every six weeks-you get to set new goals and make new commitments with your Heavenly Father in how you are going to help Him carry out His work among His children. I will miss Bella Union and how tranquilo it is, but I have always enjoyed big cities, so I´m not worried. It´ll been interesting to see how different missionary work is in a big city like ´Deo, though; everything moving very quickly and people who keep to themselves. I´m trying not to take any prejudgments into my new area, because I have heard a fair share. I´m just focusing on the fact that I have been called to serve the people in that area with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and that´s what I plan on doing.
Mary-Anne, those were some pretty intense pictures that you set of that storm. Thanks for letting me know before some Uruguayan told me about it and I started to worry! :o) So Nathanael´s motorcycle got a little messed up, but everything else is all good? No damage to the apartment or anything like that? Sounds like you all were very blessed. Sorry about forgetting to forward my letter to your address last week, I just forgot. My bad. I did get your card just this last week. Thanks a lot! It´s a lot of fun to get stuff like that.
So Nathanael is finished with his first semester of law school, uh? How´d you do, Swift? Still keeping your head above water? Haha. I´ve always heard that the first year is the hardest so they can weed out the slackers...how ya doin? :o) Could it be that way with the mission too? Hmmm. I can´t believe that I´ve been out a year. Well, ok, I still haven´t. Only 363 days...ish. I hit my year-mark on Thursday...that´s weird.
Dad, sounds like things went pretty well with the interview, thanks for letting me know. I hope that things work out. So the static firing was pretty sweet, uh? What did the Lt. Col say when you gave him a high five? ¿Mansa? Haha. That´s what all the little kids say here in Bella Union. A thumbs-up with, "Mansa!" Kind of random, but hey, it´s Bella Union.
Melanie, how did your tryouts go? How did the school musical end up, anyway? You never let me know....! I expect a one-page report, due by next Sunday night. :o) Have you had any hot dates lately?
Megan, how you doin, Goose?! What have you been up to these last couple of weeks; I haven´t heard from you. Keepin´ up on your schoolwork, kid? How is SoJo, anyways? I never went there...just had to deal with the aftermath at Bingham! Just kidding, Snow Leopards, settle down. Go Wapitis! :o)
Anyways, I think that´s going to be about it for this week. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and keeping in focus the meaning of it all! Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers often. Elder May, I´m glad to hear that you are doing all right. I saw all the articles in the Church News and stuff-pretty intense. I kept my eyes open for pictures of you, but no luck. Take care of yourself, Boykid. :o) Alright everyone, have a good one! ¡Chao!
Elder Taylor