Dear Family, Friends, and Loved Ones,
By virtue of the twenty-four months (mind boggling isńt it?) accumulated of toil, work, SUN, bug bites and incredible joy in the service of the Lord, the Missionary Committee has decreed that the time has come for these calloused, blistered, tired and DIRTY feet to take a rest. The un-assigned Elder, clothed in out-of-style rags, tanned on his neck from the collar up, but full of love for the gospel, will soon take his place again in the wicked Gentile world.
In making preparation to welcome the aforementioned Elder into the organized society, it is advised to keep in mind the different environment that has influenced his life for the past two years.
One would be advised to stock his kitchen with an abundance of the following: chocolate, ice cream, soft sandwich bread, 2% milk (not 32%), Doritos, salad (with crunchy Chinese noodles and ranch dressing), microwave anything, Big Gulp/Slurpee (anything cold), M&Ḿs, Snickers.... well, I think you get the idea. Dispose of any sign of rice, pasta with tomato sauce, dry hard breads, RICE, greasy soup, hot milk, RICE, and all undistinguishable meats. While you are at it, just dispose of all grease. Try to be understanding when he refuses half cooked eggs or greasy spaghetti. Do not take it personally if he looks through all food for flies, ants or animal hair. Above all, do not ask him to cook native dishes for you for the first few months.
Please do not be disturbed when he wears thongs in the shower, forgets to flush the toilet paper and instead throws it in the trash can, wears the same shirt and tie for a week, and eats with both arms on the table to be polite. Offense should not be taken when he looks for ants in the sugar, washes the dishes in cold water, carries toilet paper wherever he goes, or eats his food in 30 seconds flat to run off to an appointment. This poor exhausted man will probably run and scream should anyone mention Gamma Globulin shots, skin lice, fleas, heat, mud, dog packs, or crowded buses.
For the first few weeks until he finds himself and gets over jetlag and culture shock, be understanding of his broken English. If he slips into Spanish, a simple request for a translation will be sufficient.
Take into consideration his “condition” when he calls you “Elder” or “Hermana” and insists that it is a rule not to tell you his first name. Do not be bothered if he says “permiso” before entering or leaving a room, sticks his arm out to stop a bus and carries his scriptures with extra copies of the Book of Mormon everywhere he goes.
Do not ask why his only topic of conversation is Uruguay and missionary work, or think him a religious fanatic when he preaches to utter strangers in the street. Do not be embarrassed when he says “chao” to everyone he sees, hugs every man he meets, and even kisses the women on the cheek every once in a while.
You are hereby warned and duly cautioned to treat the newly delivered missionary with great care, courtesy, and affection. Humor him in every way. Remain calm when he jumps out of bed at 6:00 am to study and to beat his companion to the shower. Please have the bathtub ready with lots of hot water, bubbles, and a large, soft downy towel for his first bath in two years (also soft toilet paper would be appropriate). He is used to being with a companion 24 hours a day so do not be alarmed if he follows you around and wants to have comp study and prayer together. He will definitely show a great tendency to shake hands when meeting and parting.
He will surely be suffering from “Latinitis” (an extreme love for the Latin people). So please, try to understand when he gets that far-away look in his eyes and tears brim and he quietly excuses himself from the room. He will be thinking of that far-away land and people that he has grown to love, who have changed his life. But, broken hearts can mend with lots of love, hugs, and broiled bagels with cream cheese. And with a little patience, kindness and time, he will once again resemble the pre-mission specimen that you once knew.
Send no more mail to this address, THIS IS IT PEOPLE.........
HÉS COMING HOME!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Wow
Can you believe this is his last letter for a full week as a missionary?
What a memory!
We are looking forward as a family to seeing each of you and sharing the joy
we have of welcoming home our son.
Thanks so much for all your support, prayers, thoughts, it really takes a
village to raise a child.
Thanks for being a part of our family and being the ones that make up the
village.
Liz is decorating the house and getting everything just right.
We are all in for a surprise and the joy of a very special Christmas Season,
may the spirit of Christ be with all of you.
Merry Christmas, with love and respect to each of you.
Craig, Liz, Mary-Anne, Nathanael, Melanie and Megan
Taylor Family and Friends,
I really just don´t even know how to start this letter. It still seems unreal, but everyday it seems to come closer. Haha. Obviously, right? We had interviews with President last week; his first question was, "So is it setting in on you yet?" We just both started laughing. I couldn´t believe that was his first question! But the interview went really well. He told me some of the unknown details for what´s going down next week and everything, but other than that, we were just talking about how Tranqueras is going and what he can expect from the area in the future.
Had a good week last week. This last week and this one are tough because we are out of our area for 2 or 3 days, but what are we gonna do? Tomorrow we have zone conference in Tacuarembó, so that will be fun. It´s the Christmas conference, so everyone´s looking forward to it. It´ll also be cool because the four of us that are ending this change will all be there. Another fun bit of info-my first testimony and my last testimony in a zone conference will have been given from the same pulpit. My first conference was also in T-bó. I can´t believe that was almost two years ago.
It´s good to know that you got a hold of Elder (Tyson) Stoddard! What a punk, I haven´t heard from him at all since he left. Oh well, I´ll have to find a way to forgive him. Haha. I better, because if he´s living that close to me, we might have problems if not. :o)
Anyways, this Friday Nestor Mendez will be baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor! I´m SO excited. He stopped smoking last weekend, and we´re getting everything set up for the baptism on Friday. He was handing out invitations at Church yesterday, and on Saturday, he asked me if I would do the honors of baptizing him. He asked Elder Hughes to be a witness, and President Diaz as well. Victor was also confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. He´s doing great. After his baptism, I gave him one of my favorite ties. Remember the blue, yellow, and white one? Yup, that´s the one. It was hard to part with, but it was his birthday on the 23rd, and he got baptized...c´mon. Haha. President Diaz looked at me right before the confirmation and asked me to do it, so I was blessed to be able to participate.
Other than that, things are just rolling along. Elder Hughes and I are working to prepare a couple of investigators to be baptized Dec. 25th-a white Christmas. It looks like there will be a couple of them. Busy week ahead. Traveling, baptism, and also some goodbyes.
Mom, just so you know, Elder Shupe´s email is tshupe@gmail.com. I emailed him last week to let him know about my homecoming, but you might want to pass him a message just to make sure he got it. Thanks a bunch.
Well, I´m going to print up some address cards and stuff now, so I think that´ll be it for this week. I don´t know if I´ll be writing next week; if I do, I couldn´t really tell you when it will be. Sometime after Sunday and before Wednesday. Haha. So there you go! I love you all, and we´ll see you soon!
Elder Taylor
What a memory!
We are looking forward as a family to seeing each of you and sharing the joy
we have of welcoming home our son.
Thanks so much for all your support, prayers, thoughts, it really takes a
village to raise a child.
Thanks for being a part of our family and being the ones that make up the
village.
Liz is decorating the house and getting everything just right.
We are all in for a surprise and the joy of a very special Christmas Season,
may the spirit of Christ be with all of you.
Merry Christmas, with love and respect to each of you.
Craig, Liz, Mary-Anne, Nathanael, Melanie and Megan
Taylor Family and Friends,
I really just don´t even know how to start this letter. It still seems unreal, but everyday it seems to come closer. Haha. Obviously, right? We had interviews with President last week; his first question was, "So is it setting in on you yet?" We just both started laughing. I couldn´t believe that was his first question! But the interview went really well. He told me some of the unknown details for what´s going down next week and everything, but other than that, we were just talking about how Tranqueras is going and what he can expect from the area in the future.
Had a good week last week. This last week and this one are tough because we are out of our area for 2 or 3 days, but what are we gonna do? Tomorrow we have zone conference in Tacuarembó, so that will be fun. It´s the Christmas conference, so everyone´s looking forward to it. It´ll also be cool because the four of us that are ending this change will all be there. Another fun bit of info-my first testimony and my last testimony in a zone conference will have been given from the same pulpit. My first conference was also in T-bó. I can´t believe that was almost two years ago.
It´s good to know that you got a hold of Elder (Tyson) Stoddard! What a punk, I haven´t heard from him at all since he left. Oh well, I´ll have to find a way to forgive him. Haha. I better, because if he´s living that close to me, we might have problems if not. :o)
Anyways, this Friday Nestor Mendez will be baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor! I´m SO excited. He stopped smoking last weekend, and we´re getting everything set up for the baptism on Friday. He was handing out invitations at Church yesterday, and on Saturday, he asked me if I would do the honors of baptizing him. He asked Elder Hughes to be a witness, and President Diaz as well. Victor was also confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. He´s doing great. After his baptism, I gave him one of my favorite ties. Remember the blue, yellow, and white one? Yup, that´s the one. It was hard to part with, but it was his birthday on the 23rd, and he got baptized...c´mon. Haha. President Diaz looked at me right before the confirmation and asked me to do it, so I was blessed to be able to participate.
Other than that, things are just rolling along. Elder Hughes and I are working to prepare a couple of investigators to be baptized Dec. 25th-a white Christmas. It looks like there will be a couple of them. Busy week ahead. Traveling, baptism, and also some goodbyes.
Mom, just so you know, Elder Shupe´s email is tshupe@gmail.com. I emailed him last week to let him know about my homecoming, but you might want to pass him a message just to make sure he got it. Thanks a bunch.
Well, I´m going to print up some address cards and stuff now, so I think that´ll be it for this week. I don´t know if I´ll be writing next week; if I do, I couldn´t really tell you when it will be. Sometime after Sunday and before Wednesday. Haha. So there you go! I love you all, and we´ll see you soon!
Elder Taylor
Monday, December 1, 2008
Pictures!
December...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Man, this last week went by really fast. We had a lot to do this week and it kept us busy. We officially do not live in the chapel anymore! Yay! We moved out on Saturday morning. We could´ve waited until today to move all of our stuff, but we wanted to be out before Sunday. Some of the young men from the ward came to help us move our stuff and clean up the new apartment. It´s nice, we´re happy with it. For right now it´s pretty empty, but they´ll get some furniture in there pretty soon. But then again, we don´t need much-just the beds, a place for our clothes, and the bathroom! Missionaries aren´t too picky.
Victor Barreneche was baptized on Friday night! There was definitely a last minute push by the adversary to try and knock it off course, but it was done. On Tuesday morning, we were heading to Rivera for our district meeting and Victor was on the back of the bus. We waved, and he motioned for me to go back to him. I worked my way back and he told me that he was on his way to the hospital because his dad had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but he said he would be back for sure by Friday for the baptism. For the next couple of days we couldn´t get a hold of him. On Thursday, I was in Rivera to do some interviews and Elder Hughes and Elder Jones found Victor and met his father. He was doing much better, and Victor was as excited as ever. They set the interview for Friday morning, before we switched back from divisions. Elder Johnson and I arrived from Rivera and they still had not had the interview because Victor hadn´t shown up; Elder Johnson and I went over to his house, and he had slept in. Haha. And that´s not the end of it. The baptism was set for 7 PM Friday night, and Jesus Furtado was going to baptize Victor. Turns out that the machine at Jesus´ work broke and they got stuck late trying to fix it. We pushed back the baptism in hopes that he would be back, but he couldn´t make it. Victor asked me to baptize him at the last minute. On Sunday morning, a huge rainstorm came through Tranqueras. Victor lives in one of the farthest neighborhoods here in Tranqueras and the streets are horrible, so he didn´t make it on Sunday for his confirmation. Actually, Elder Hughes and I didn´t even make it to sacrament meeting on Sunday. Ok, let me explain. We were in Sunday School with everyone and we received a message from Nestor and Élida asking for Pres. Diaz´s number because Élida´s house was full of water and they needed help. Pres. Diaz took Marcos, Elder Hughes and I to get changed and we ran over to Élida´s house to help them. The roof is in really bad condition, and we´ve been working on getting materials in order to replace it, but we haven´t been able to do so yet. After the rain stopped and the leaking wasn´t as bad, the four of us headed back to the chapel in our jeans and t-shirts to take the sacrament. That was a first.
Yesterday afternoon we went back over to Élida´s house, but this time in shirts and ties in order to have a lesson with Nestor, Belén and Lorena. We have been teaching Nestor since I got here, and he´s just been struggling with smoking. Belén was invited by Yenifer to come to church two weeks ago, and has come the last two. Lorena is another friend who is also starting to show interest. We talked with all of them about the Restoration and it went REALLY well. The best part about the lesson, though, came at the end when I asked if anyone had any questions or comments; Nestor said yes, and asked me what date I will be leaving. I told him the 15th or the 16th, and he said, "Well, then we´ll have to set my baptismal date for the 13th, won´t we?" We all just kind of looked at him, speechless. Haha. We said yes, and talked about his resolution to stop smoking by this weekend. So Nestor Mendez is going to be getting baptized on December 13th! Super excited!
Tomorrow we have District Mtg, and Wednesday we have interviews with President. It´ll be interesting to see how this interview goes. Haha. I can´t believe it´s going to be my last "missionary work" interview. There´s four of us ending the mission this change: Hermanas Gutierrez and Gonzalez, Elder Temechuk and I. All four of us will be in the same zone conference next week in Tacuarembó, so that´s exciting!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for me this week. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! I was in Rivera on divisions, and we went to a buffet on the Brazilian side of the border. Mmm. No turkey, but plenty of food! Love you all, and we´ll see ya soon!
Elder Taylor
Man, this last week went by really fast. We had a lot to do this week and it kept us busy. We officially do not live in the chapel anymore! Yay! We moved out on Saturday morning. We could´ve waited until today to move all of our stuff, but we wanted to be out before Sunday. Some of the young men from the ward came to help us move our stuff and clean up the new apartment. It´s nice, we´re happy with it. For right now it´s pretty empty, but they´ll get some furniture in there pretty soon. But then again, we don´t need much-just the beds, a place for our clothes, and the bathroom! Missionaries aren´t too picky.
Victor Barreneche was baptized on Friday night! There was definitely a last minute push by the adversary to try and knock it off course, but it was done. On Tuesday morning, we were heading to Rivera for our district meeting and Victor was on the back of the bus. We waved, and he motioned for me to go back to him. I worked my way back and he told me that he was on his way to the hospital because his dad had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but he said he would be back for sure by Friday for the baptism. For the next couple of days we couldn´t get a hold of him. On Thursday, I was in Rivera to do some interviews and Elder Hughes and Elder Jones found Victor and met his father. He was doing much better, and Victor was as excited as ever. They set the interview for Friday morning, before we switched back from divisions. Elder Johnson and I arrived from Rivera and they still had not had the interview because Victor hadn´t shown up; Elder Johnson and I went over to his house, and he had slept in. Haha. And that´s not the end of it. The baptism was set for 7 PM Friday night, and Jesus Furtado was going to baptize Victor. Turns out that the machine at Jesus´ work broke and they got stuck late trying to fix it. We pushed back the baptism in hopes that he would be back, but he couldn´t make it. Victor asked me to baptize him at the last minute. On Sunday morning, a huge rainstorm came through Tranqueras. Victor lives in one of the farthest neighborhoods here in Tranqueras and the streets are horrible, so he didn´t make it on Sunday for his confirmation. Actually, Elder Hughes and I didn´t even make it to sacrament meeting on Sunday. Ok, let me explain. We were in Sunday School with everyone and we received a message from Nestor and Élida asking for Pres. Diaz´s number because Élida´s house was full of water and they needed help. Pres. Diaz took Marcos, Elder Hughes and I to get changed and we ran over to Élida´s house to help them. The roof is in really bad condition, and we´ve been working on getting materials in order to replace it, but we haven´t been able to do so yet. After the rain stopped and the leaking wasn´t as bad, the four of us headed back to the chapel in our jeans and t-shirts to take the sacrament. That was a first.
Yesterday afternoon we went back over to Élida´s house, but this time in shirts and ties in order to have a lesson with Nestor, Belén and Lorena. We have been teaching Nestor since I got here, and he´s just been struggling with smoking. Belén was invited by Yenifer to come to church two weeks ago, and has come the last two. Lorena is another friend who is also starting to show interest. We talked with all of them about the Restoration and it went REALLY well. The best part about the lesson, though, came at the end when I asked if anyone had any questions or comments; Nestor said yes, and asked me what date I will be leaving. I told him the 15th or the 16th, and he said, "Well, then we´ll have to set my baptismal date for the 13th, won´t we?" We all just kind of looked at him, speechless. Haha. We said yes, and talked about his resolution to stop smoking by this weekend. So Nestor Mendez is going to be getting baptized on December 13th! Super excited!
Tomorrow we have District Mtg, and Wednesday we have interviews with President. It´ll be interesting to see how this interview goes. Haha. I can´t believe it´s going to be my last "missionary work" interview. There´s four of us ending the mission this change: Hermanas Gutierrez and Gonzalez, Elder Temechuk and I. All four of us will be in the same zone conference next week in Tacuarembó, so that´s exciting!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for me this week. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! I was in Rivera on divisions, and we went to a buffet on the Brazilian side of the border. Mmm. No turkey, but plenty of food! Love you all, and we´ll see ya soon!
Elder Taylor
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Hey Hey!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Hey there! How are you all doing? I´m doing just peachy. Well, today it would probably be more like a tomatoe. I got fried today. Haha. Elder Hughes and I went fishing this morning with Maiko and Cecilia...lamanite style. For those of you who served here in the ´Guay know what I´m talking about, so explain it to those who haven´t. I forgot my camera cable, so I can´t send the pictures I took until next week. But anyways, we left this morning about 10 AM and we got back about 4 PM. It´s about 10 km outside of Tranqueras, so we walked a ways. We hitchhiked on the way back, so it wasn´t too bad. It was a blast. Cecilia and Maiko are just waiting for Maiko´s divorce to go through so they can get married and then Cecilia will get baptized. This morning while we were fishing, she got in the water and said, "I´m just gonna start practicing for my baptism now!," and dunked herself under the water. We all laughed pretty hard.
Really good week last week. Victor is really excited for his baptism this weekend, as is the rest of the branch. On Wednesday night, we had some surprising news. Marcos and Paola came over to the church while we were planning and Marcos told us that he and Jesus had gone to the house of a less-active member to meet her, because her son had come to a couple of young men activities. They asked her if she would have anything against her son receiving the discussions and getting baptized in the Church, and she said not at all! She even expressed interest in coming back to Church with her son. We were shocked. Haha. It was like having another companionship of missionaries in the city. Talk about member missionary work! What´s more, Yeniger invited her friend Belén to the birthday party we had on Saturday night for some of the youth and then brought her to Church on Sunday morning. She went around showing her the chapel, and presented us to her friend. We had challenged Yenifer to find and bring someone to Church and present them to us. She´s 15 years old, and was stoked for the challenge! What an example!
This weekend in my district we have 5 baptisms! I´m doing divisions with the ZL´s on Thursday so they can come out and do our interview while I go to Rivera and do the other 4. We also have a couple of other investigators who we are working to get ready for the 12th or 13th of December. We´ll see how things go!
Today the President is signing our house contract and tomorrow we take it back to the escribana. (How do you say that in English again? Haha) It looks like tomorrow they´ll be giving us the keys. Saturday we planned a priesthood service project-we´re gonna go fix an hermana´s roof that leaks and then we´re going to go to our new vivienda and clean up the yard. Afterwards we´ll have a little barbecue. We´re all pretty excited. It´ll be nice to be in our own place!
I can´t believe Bryce is home! Crazy! I´m super excited to talk to him in Spanish. It´s so weird to think that two years ago we wouldn´t even dream of talking to each other in another language. I´m glad to hear Zach is doing well, too. When is Spencer getting home? He should be getting close, as well. Sheesh, time flies by! This next week is our last "normal" week. Next week interviews, the next conference, and then changes! Bah! And this week will fly by because of the interviews and baptisms. Ah! Crazy! But don´t worry, I´m not trunky. We´ve decided that while we´re in the streets it´s not hard to focus, but while we´re in the house, it´s a little more complicated. So it´s a good thing we´re in the street all the time!
Mom, that´s cool that you gave the class from Pres. Monson´s talk...because I gave the same one! Sunday morning, I decided to prepare a class just in case the President forgot it was his turn, so I grabbed the Liahona and prepared with that talk. Turns out the President forogt, and I gave the class in Priesthood. It was an excellent class (not because of the teacher, but because of the participation of everyone) and we all learned a lot. Great minds think alike, eh?
Melanie, I´m anxious to hear about how the musical went...! How was your dance last weekend? I believe it was last weekend...? Who was your hot date? :o)
Oh, Mom, I forgot to mention that I had received the Bishop´s email about my homecoming. I have absolutely no problem with doing it on the 21st. Just tell him to let me know when he has a specific topic!
Alright, I think that´ll do it for this week! I love you all! Hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Eat a lot for me. Who knows what I´ll be doing for Thanksgiving, because I probably won´t even be in my own area. The mission...what a beautiful thing. Haha. Well, have a good week; I´m looking forward to hearing from you all! Chao!
Elder Taylor
Hey there! How are you all doing? I´m doing just peachy. Well, today it would probably be more like a tomatoe. I got fried today. Haha. Elder Hughes and I went fishing this morning with Maiko and Cecilia...lamanite style. For those of you who served here in the ´Guay know what I´m talking about, so explain it to those who haven´t. I forgot my camera cable, so I can´t send the pictures I took until next week. But anyways, we left this morning about 10 AM and we got back about 4 PM. It´s about 10 km outside of Tranqueras, so we walked a ways. We hitchhiked on the way back, so it wasn´t too bad. It was a blast. Cecilia and Maiko are just waiting for Maiko´s divorce to go through so they can get married and then Cecilia will get baptized. This morning while we were fishing, she got in the water and said, "I´m just gonna start practicing for my baptism now!," and dunked herself under the water. We all laughed pretty hard.
Really good week last week. Victor is really excited for his baptism this weekend, as is the rest of the branch. On Wednesday night, we had some surprising news. Marcos and Paola came over to the church while we were planning and Marcos told us that he and Jesus had gone to the house of a less-active member to meet her, because her son had come to a couple of young men activities. They asked her if she would have anything against her son receiving the discussions and getting baptized in the Church, and she said not at all! She even expressed interest in coming back to Church with her son. We were shocked. Haha. It was like having another companionship of missionaries in the city. Talk about member missionary work! What´s more, Yeniger invited her friend Belén to the birthday party we had on Saturday night for some of the youth and then brought her to Church on Sunday morning. She went around showing her the chapel, and presented us to her friend. We had challenged Yenifer to find and bring someone to Church and present them to us. She´s 15 years old, and was stoked for the challenge! What an example!
This weekend in my district we have 5 baptisms! I´m doing divisions with the ZL´s on Thursday so they can come out and do our interview while I go to Rivera and do the other 4. We also have a couple of other investigators who we are working to get ready for the 12th or 13th of December. We´ll see how things go!
Today the President is signing our house contract and tomorrow we take it back to the escribana. (How do you say that in English again? Haha) It looks like tomorrow they´ll be giving us the keys. Saturday we planned a priesthood service project-we´re gonna go fix an hermana´s roof that leaks and then we´re going to go to our new vivienda and clean up the yard. Afterwards we´ll have a little barbecue. We´re all pretty excited. It´ll be nice to be in our own place!
I can´t believe Bryce is home! Crazy! I´m super excited to talk to him in Spanish. It´s so weird to think that two years ago we wouldn´t even dream of talking to each other in another language. I´m glad to hear Zach is doing well, too. When is Spencer getting home? He should be getting close, as well. Sheesh, time flies by! This next week is our last "normal" week. Next week interviews, the next conference, and then changes! Bah! And this week will fly by because of the interviews and baptisms. Ah! Crazy! But don´t worry, I´m not trunky. We´ve decided that while we´re in the streets it´s not hard to focus, but while we´re in the house, it´s a little more complicated. So it´s a good thing we´re in the street all the time!
Mom, that´s cool that you gave the class from Pres. Monson´s talk...because I gave the same one! Sunday morning, I decided to prepare a class just in case the President forgot it was his turn, so I grabbed the Liahona and prepared with that talk. Turns out the President forogt, and I gave the class in Priesthood. It was an excellent class (not because of the teacher, but because of the participation of everyone) and we all learned a lot. Great minds think alike, eh?
Melanie, I´m anxious to hear about how the musical went...! How was your dance last weekend? I believe it was last weekend...? Who was your hot date? :o)
Oh, Mom, I forgot to mention that I had received the Bishop´s email about my homecoming. I have absolutely no problem with doing it on the 21st. Just tell him to let me know when he has a specific topic!
Alright, I think that´ll do it for this week! I love you all! Hope you have a fantastic Thanksgiving! Eat a lot for me. Who knows what I´ll be doing for Thanksgiving, because I probably won´t even be in my own area. The mission...what a beautiful thing. Haha. Well, have a good week; I´m looking forward to hearing from you all! Chao!
Elder Taylor
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Homecoming!
Elder Aaron Taylor
is finally coming HOME!
He has been serving the past two years in the Montevideo Uruguay West Mission. He will be home on Thursday, December 18th. He will be speaking in Sacrament Meeting on:
Sunday, December 21st
at 2:45 PM
The address for the church is 10227 South 4000 West South Jordan, Utah.
You are invited to attend the meeting and to also join us for an open house at the Taylor home after church.
Thank you to all who have supported Aaron throughout his mission.
We look forward to seeing you at his homecoming!
Love,
The Taylor Family
is finally coming HOME!
He has been serving the past two years in the
Sunday, December 21st
at 2:45 PM
The address for the church is
You are invited to attend the meeting and to
Thank you to all who have supported Aaron throughout his mission.
We look forward to seeing you at his homecoming!
Love,
The Taylor Family
Monday, November 17, 2008
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, first of all, I have to wish a Happy Birthday to my little sister! Megan, I cannot believe you are turning 15! That´s so crazy! I hope you know that I love you SO much. I´m so proud of all that you´re doing and the decisions you´re making. It´s too bad I can´t be there to celebrate this special day with you, but we´ll be seeing each other soon! Everyone here sends their love and says Happy Birthday; turning 15 is a really big thing here.
We had a really good week last week. Jose Bentaberry came to sacrament meeting on Sunday for the first time in like 7 weeks or something like that. We hadn´t seen him in a couple of weeks because everytime they were home, we were traveling, and when we were there, he was working. But this last week he changed his job, and now he doesn´t work on Sundays! Good things are going to happen. The rest of the family didn´t come because a few of them were fighting the stomach flu.
Today I´m writing you all from Rivera. I´m in a trio today, with two of my old companions- Elder Marroquín and Elder Larsen! All of our comps had to go to Deo today in order to take care of some paperwork, so we´re all hanging out today. It´s been fun to catch up on what they´ve been doing the last few months.
It seems like we found a new house. Last week we went and looked at a vivienda, which is about a mile or so away from the chapel. It´s a nice little place, with a big backyard. I took a bunch of pictures and sent them to the offices on Thursday, along with a copy of the contract. One of the office Elders said that President approved it, so all they had to do was get it approved or looked at by the mission lawyer. I told Elder Hughes to try and get whatever we need while he´s down there today. Who knows, we might be moving in to a new house this week- I sure hope so! It´s been cool living in the chapel and all, but it´s starting to get more complicated because the branch is becoming more organized. Last week they had a meeting/activity with the young men, and the Relief Society also had an activity. I´m glad that things are rolling well, but it will just be nice once it´s not in our house that things are rolling. Haha.
Our zone did really well on the goal to get 10 new investigators in each ward last week. We didn´t quite make the goal, but we had like 35 more investigators in church compared to the week before! We all felt like we have seen many miracles in our areas over the last few weeks, and we´re excited to keep seeing them. Those two inactive members that I told you about last week were both in church again on Sunday; they´re coming back strong!
Victor is getting baptized on the 28th of November. He turns 14 this weekend, and he´s just a little stud. I gave him one of my white shirts and I´m planning on giving him a tie before I leave. The young men have done a great job friendshipping him and making him feel comfortable.
The weekend of the 29th will be pretty busy for me. It sounds like I will have about 4 or 5 baptismal interviews to conduct. I´m not complaining at all, but it will just take me out of the area for the last couple of days before Victor´s baptism. Whatever it takes to help people take that important step!
Mom, when is it that you want me to talk about Christmas and whatnot in the ´Guay? How much time will you want me to take? As I said before, Christmas here isn´t as big as El Día de Los Reyes (The Day of the King´s?). I´d be glad to explain them a little bit and we´ll try to get some of pictures to show them as well, if you want. But yeah, I have no problem talking to the two groups. I might need a translator, though! Everyone´s began to razz me for my English errors, lately. It´s not TOO bad, but it´s noticeable. Haha.
My debit card says "Valid Thru 12/08," so I´m guessing that means I´ll be good up until New Year´s.
Thank you so much for taking care of registration for me! I´m super excited to get back and study. What day do classes start in January? The Spanish test I have to take is on the 19th, right? At what time? So much for sleeping in, eh? :o) Yeah, go ahead and get my books for me, too. That´s where I got them last time, right? I believe so.
I can´t believe that Bryce gets home on Friday! That´s so crazy! I remember talking to him in the MTC. Make sure you give him a big hug for me...and tell him that I´ll give him my own in a couple weeks! Haha. Hey Dad, thanks for the update on Brendan. I haven´t heard from him at all in the last 2 years; but I guess I haven´t written him either, though. We´ll call it even.
Hmmm, I´m trying to make this letter longer (making up for last week) but I think this is all I got. I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I look forward to hearing from you! Take care!
Elder Taylor
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Resting Place...?
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, the mysteries are basically all gone now-we know where Elder Taylor will be ending his mission. I´m staying here in Tranqueras! I´m actually really relieved, I did not want to go to another area for only about a month. Elder Hughes and I are both staying here, as we expected. There was one surprise that came with this change, though; Pres. Peterson assigned me to be a District Leader again for this last change. He probably just did it to help keep me focused. Haha. So that´ll be kinda fun.
Things are getting pretty warm here in Tranqueras; we had some really hot days last week. But things are going really well. Last week we had Zone Conference in Tacuarembó, and it was great. I was able to see Elder Tibbetts, Elder Centurión, Elder Gomez, and the Hermana Diaz, who are all finishing this week. Of course I saw Elder Ludlow, too, because he´s in my zone. I don´t know if you all remember me mentioning Elder Ludlow, but we went to high school together. Jason Ludlow, lives down on 90th in the neighborhood behind SoJo Elementary School, or in other words, around the corner from Alison. It was a lot of fun to see them all again, but I can´t believe they´re going home. It just seems so unreal. But hey, it´s all good.
We received an interesting challenge as a zone last week from our Zone Leaders, which provided for a great experience. On Tuesday night, after Conference, they called each companionship and challenged each of us to work a miracle in our areas, to have at least 10 investigators in the chapel on Sunday. Everyone accepted the challenge and the excitement in the zone was really high. We had a morning-side on Saturday morning on a hill in Rivera, and then started a zone fast on Saturday afternoon. We´ll find out today probably how everyone else did. Elder Hughes and I were able to see quite a few miracles here in our own area. We had been working with a couple of inactive members for a few weeks, and they had mentioned the chapel, but never accepted the invitation to come. On Sunday, both of them were there. Also, a couple of investigators who had kind of gone cold on us were present again. Victor, one of our investigators has a baptismal date for the 28th. We had a great lesson on Saturday night with Nestor when we talked about all the blessings that the Lord has prepared for him as soon as he makes the decision to quit smoking. The last week was definitely a testimony to me about how the Lord is willing to bless us as long as we are willing to sacrifice and give everything we have.
This change is going to be a quick one. Usually changes are six weeks, but this one is only going to be five for some reason....it seems they are sending some people home for Christmas or something...I don´t really understand it! :o) I´m really grateful to be here with Elder Hughes. We are really excited to keep things going this change, and we´re looking forward to a lot of success this change.
It´s been a couple of weeks since I heard from Melanie or Megan. How are you two doing? I imagine that Melanie is pretty busy with musical rehearsals. When is opening night? I would guess probably next weekend. Tell everyone good luck for me!
I heard that someone´s going to be having a birthday next week...who could it be? Wow, my little sisters are growing up! What happened? Haha.
Well, I know this letter isn´t very long, but I think that´s going to do it for me this week. I had some really special experiences last week, but I won´t have time to write it all if I try right now. I have no doubt that the Lord knows each of His children and that if we are willing to heed the impressions of the Spirit, He will guide us in what we need to say. Our job is to make sure that we are seeking His guidance, and living in such a way that we can hear it when it comes.
I love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week! Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but maybe I´ll get it in District Mtg this week. We´ll see. Take care!
Elder Taylor
Well, the mysteries are basically all gone now-we know where Elder Taylor will be ending his mission. I´m staying here in Tranqueras! I´m actually really relieved, I did not want to go to another area for only about a month. Elder Hughes and I are both staying here, as we expected. There was one surprise that came with this change, though; Pres. Peterson assigned me to be a District Leader again for this last change. He probably just did it to help keep me focused. Haha. So that´ll be kinda fun.
Things are getting pretty warm here in Tranqueras; we had some really hot days last week. But things are going really well. Last week we had Zone Conference in Tacuarembó, and it was great. I was able to see Elder Tibbetts, Elder Centurión, Elder Gomez, and the Hermana Diaz, who are all finishing this week. Of course I saw Elder Ludlow, too, because he´s in my zone. I don´t know if you all remember me mentioning Elder Ludlow, but we went to high school together. Jason Ludlow, lives down on 90th in the neighborhood behind SoJo Elementary School, or in other words, around the corner from Alison. It was a lot of fun to see them all again, but I can´t believe they´re going home. It just seems so unreal. But hey, it´s all good.
We received an interesting challenge as a zone last week from our Zone Leaders, which provided for a great experience. On Tuesday night, after Conference, they called each companionship and challenged each of us to work a miracle in our areas, to have at least 10 investigators in the chapel on Sunday. Everyone accepted the challenge and the excitement in the zone was really high. We had a morning-side on Saturday morning on a hill in Rivera, and then started a zone fast on Saturday afternoon. We´ll find out today probably how everyone else did. Elder Hughes and I were able to see quite a few miracles here in our own area. We had been working with a couple of inactive members for a few weeks, and they had mentioned the chapel, but never accepted the invitation to come. On Sunday, both of them were there. Also, a couple of investigators who had kind of gone cold on us were present again. Victor, one of our investigators has a baptismal date for the 28th. We had a great lesson on Saturday night with Nestor when we talked about all the blessings that the Lord has prepared for him as soon as he makes the decision to quit smoking. The last week was definitely a testimony to me about how the Lord is willing to bless us as long as we are willing to sacrifice and give everything we have.
This change is going to be a quick one. Usually changes are six weeks, but this one is only going to be five for some reason....it seems they are sending some people home for Christmas or something...I don´t really understand it! :o) I´m really grateful to be here with Elder Hughes. We are really excited to keep things going this change, and we´re looking forward to a lot of success this change.
It´s been a couple of weeks since I heard from Melanie or Megan. How are you two doing? I imagine that Melanie is pretty busy with musical rehearsals. When is opening night? I would guess probably next weekend. Tell everyone good luck for me!
I heard that someone´s going to be having a birthday next week...who could it be? Wow, my little sisters are growing up! What happened? Haha.
Well, I know this letter isn´t very long, but I think that´s going to do it for me this week. I had some really special experiences last week, but I won´t have time to write it all if I try right now. I have no doubt that the Lord knows each of His children and that if we are willing to heed the impressions of the Spirit, He will guide us in what we need to say. Our job is to make sure that we are seeking His guidance, and living in such a way that we can hear it when it comes.
I love you all, and I hope you have a fantastic week! Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but maybe I´ll get it in District Mtg this week. We´ll see. Take care!
Elder Taylor
Monday, November 3, 2008
Hey hey...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! Here we are on another P-Day, but there´s a new month on the top of the calendar. Crazy! In a little over an hour we are headed to Rivera again, because tomorrow morning at 5:30 we leave for Zone Conference in Tacuarembó, so that´s fun.
We had interviews with President Peterson last week. I always love getting to talk with him! Our interview was mostly focused on the growth of Tranqueras and what he can expect from the branch in the future. He asked me to help him and start looking for places where we could move. As of right now, we are still living on the second floor in the chapel, but as things get more and more organized and we start having meetings and activities during the week, he said he would be better for us to look for another place. So this morning we went and looked at one option; it´s a nice little place, but kind of a fixer-upper. I took some pictures, but we´re definitely still in the market. Haha.
Last week was kind of a rough week, because we didn´t actually get to work in our area until Wednesday, and on Thursday I was feeling pretty crummy. We left on Thursday afternoon anyway, though, because we had some really important lessons. Feeling fine now, though, so no worries! This week will also be tough; we have Conference tomorrow, then we have District Mtg. on Wednesday and we´ll get back to Tranqueras about 6 PM on Wednesday afternoon. The Zone Leaders mentioned something about doing divisions on Wednesday and Thursday, so we´ll see how that goes! Things are going really well here in the branch. We´ve found some inactive members in the last week or so, and we´re excited to get them back in church. The relief society president was changed last week. It was Pres. Diaz´s wife, but it´s now Karen Furtado, so that will be nice, because she lives here in Tranqueras and can organize things during the week. Yesterday we set up a time to start the home teaching visits this week with the quorum. Things are starting to move nicely here in Tranqueras!
Halloween came and went without any special news. Elder Hughes and I were half expecting a knock on the door on Friday night, but we were pleasantly disappointed. (Does that make sense? Haha)
I´m glad to hear things are going well at home. Sounds like you had a nice little surprise for Dad´s birthday! No, Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten the package, but I might get it tomorrow or on Wednesday in District Mtg. Oh, question. What were the last pictures on the CD I sent you? I´m going to delete them off of my camera, but I can´t remember what the last ones were that I took! No, Mom, we changed the hour on Conference weekend, so a few weeks ago. I thought that you had all changed it that same weekend, weird.
Anyways, not a lot of news today. Know that all is well and we´re still working hard. I was studying the other day and found a scripture that had a lot of meaning for me, especially at this time. James 1:8. "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (Or something like that. I don´t have my scriptures with me.) So that´s my goal-not be double minded in this last month or so! Elder Hughes and I do really well about focusing while we´re working; while we´re at home, we talk about the family and whatnot.
I hope you all have a fantastic week, and know that you´re in my prayers! Take care!
Elder Taylor
Well hey there! Here we are on another P-Day, but there´s a new month on the top of the calendar. Crazy! In a little over an hour we are headed to Rivera again, because tomorrow morning at 5:30 we leave for Zone Conference in Tacuarembó, so that´s fun.
We had interviews with President Peterson last week. I always love getting to talk with him! Our interview was mostly focused on the growth of Tranqueras and what he can expect from the branch in the future. He asked me to help him and start looking for places where we could move. As of right now, we are still living on the second floor in the chapel, but as things get more and more organized and we start having meetings and activities during the week, he said he would be better for us to look for another place. So this morning we went and looked at one option; it´s a nice little place, but kind of a fixer-upper. I took some pictures, but we´re definitely still in the market. Haha.
Last week was kind of a rough week, because we didn´t actually get to work in our area until Wednesday, and on Thursday I was feeling pretty crummy. We left on Thursday afternoon anyway, though, because we had some really important lessons. Feeling fine now, though, so no worries! This week will also be tough; we have Conference tomorrow, then we have District Mtg. on Wednesday and we´ll get back to Tranqueras about 6 PM on Wednesday afternoon. The Zone Leaders mentioned something about doing divisions on Wednesday and Thursday, so we´ll see how that goes! Things are going really well here in the branch. We´ve found some inactive members in the last week or so, and we´re excited to get them back in church. The relief society president was changed last week. It was Pres. Diaz´s wife, but it´s now Karen Furtado, so that will be nice, because she lives here in Tranqueras and can organize things during the week. Yesterday we set up a time to start the home teaching visits this week with the quorum. Things are starting to move nicely here in Tranqueras!
Halloween came and went without any special news. Elder Hughes and I were half expecting a knock on the door on Friday night, but we were pleasantly disappointed. (Does that make sense? Haha)
I´m glad to hear things are going well at home. Sounds like you had a nice little surprise for Dad´s birthday! No, Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten the package, but I might get it tomorrow or on Wednesday in District Mtg. Oh, question. What were the last pictures on the CD I sent you? I´m going to delete them off of my camera, but I can´t remember what the last ones were that I took! No, Mom, we changed the hour on Conference weekend, so a few weeks ago. I thought that you had all changed it that same weekend, weird.
Anyways, not a lot of news today. Know that all is well and we´re still working hard. I was studying the other day and found a scripture that had a lot of meaning for me, especially at this time. James 1:8. "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways." (Or something like that. I don´t have my scriptures with me.) So that´s my goal-not be double minded in this last month or so! Elder Hughes and I do really well about focusing while we´re working; while we´re at home, we talk about the family and whatnot.
I hope you all have a fantastic week, and know that you´re in my prayers! Take care!
Elder Taylor
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Rain, rain...sun!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! How are you all doing? Today I´m writing you from the main street in Rivera, Uruguay, about six blocks away from the border with Brazil. Cool, uh? Tomorrow we have interviews with President Peterson, so we decided to take advantage and come in today to play some soccer and eat with the zone. We´ll be back in our area working tomorrow after interviews.
This last week brought a lot of rain and a lot of mud. I think I have seen more rain in Tranqueras than in any other area in my mission. I´m not exactly sure why, but that´s the case. Maybe it´s because the region has more hills than any other place I´ve been. Who knows? There were on and off showers starting Wednesday and Thursday, then it rained ALL day Friday and Saturday, and up to about 3 PM on Sunday. I don´t mind working in the rain, but it always makes things difficult on Sundays for the investigators and even for the members. Tranqueras really only has one paved street, so if it´s raining too much, most people don´t even leave their houses. That was almost the case yesterday. Élida Bravo was supposed to get confirmed yesterday (because we had Stake Conference last week) but she was not able to come because her roof leaks in various places and they were trying to keep as much water out as possible. As soon as the meetings ended yesterday, Elder Hughes and I went over there to help them with what remained. When they get the materials to do so, we´re planning a branch service project to replace the roof.
We had a really good week, even despite the rain. We didn´t have as many investigators in the chapel as we have in past weeks, but we had a few. The members really stepped up in helping us this week. We had a lot of great lessons with members present, and even had a couple of finding lessons where members invited friends or family to their house in order to meet us. We´re excited to get back to our area tomorrow and get things ready for this Sunday.
Yes, Mom, they have Primary programs here. I believe I told you last year when I played the piano for the program in Bella Unión, didn´t I? If not, I just did! :o) Yes, I would appreciate it if you would set up a dentist appointment for me before I head up to school. As of right now, I don´t believe there is any necessity for me to see a doctor before I head up to Logan, but I´ll let you know if anything comes up! Okay, the 21st of December sounds fine. Let me know what the specific topic is, if/when Bishop Mangum tells you-thanks!
Time if flying by. Anyone know any secrets to slow it down? This week we have interviews, next week we have Zone Conference, then the next week is changes. After that...sheesh. Elder Hughes and I are really excited for the prospects we have for November, so it´ll keep us plenty busy!
Glad to hear you got the pictures ok. Now I can delete them off my camera and take more!
So Skyler´s getting operated on the 16th of December? Haha. That´s awesome, first time in four years that we see each other and he´ll have cotton up his black nose. Nice to see you! :o) Are he and Tyson still down at SUU together? Don´t worry Mom, my hair is not thinning! Haha
Well, I think that´s gonna about do it for me this week! I hope you all have a happy Halloween! It´s so crazy to think that we´re about to start November. Whew. But yeah, I love you all! Take care and let me know how things are going!
Elder Taylor
Well hey there! How are you all doing? Today I´m writing you from the main street in Rivera, Uruguay, about six blocks away from the border with Brazil. Cool, uh? Tomorrow we have interviews with President Peterson, so we decided to take advantage and come in today to play some soccer and eat with the zone. We´ll be back in our area working tomorrow after interviews.
This last week brought a lot of rain and a lot of mud. I think I have seen more rain in Tranqueras than in any other area in my mission. I´m not exactly sure why, but that´s the case. Maybe it´s because the region has more hills than any other place I´ve been. Who knows? There were on and off showers starting Wednesday and Thursday, then it rained ALL day Friday and Saturday, and up to about 3 PM on Sunday. I don´t mind working in the rain, but it always makes things difficult on Sundays for the investigators and even for the members. Tranqueras really only has one paved street, so if it´s raining too much, most people don´t even leave their houses. That was almost the case yesterday. Élida Bravo was supposed to get confirmed yesterday (because we had Stake Conference last week) but she was not able to come because her roof leaks in various places and they were trying to keep as much water out as possible. As soon as the meetings ended yesterday, Elder Hughes and I went over there to help them with what remained. When they get the materials to do so, we´re planning a branch service project to replace the roof.
We had a really good week, even despite the rain. We didn´t have as many investigators in the chapel as we have in past weeks, but we had a few. The members really stepped up in helping us this week. We had a lot of great lessons with members present, and even had a couple of finding lessons where members invited friends or family to their house in order to meet us. We´re excited to get back to our area tomorrow and get things ready for this Sunday.
Yes, Mom, they have Primary programs here. I believe I told you last year when I played the piano for the program in Bella Unión, didn´t I? If not, I just did! :o) Yes, I would appreciate it if you would set up a dentist appointment for me before I head up to school. As of right now, I don´t believe there is any necessity for me to see a doctor before I head up to Logan, but I´ll let you know if anything comes up! Okay, the 21st of December sounds fine. Let me know what the specific topic is, if/when Bishop Mangum tells you-thanks!
Time if flying by. Anyone know any secrets to slow it down? This week we have interviews, next week we have Zone Conference, then the next week is changes. After that...sheesh. Elder Hughes and I are really excited for the prospects we have for November, so it´ll keep us plenty busy!
Glad to hear you got the pictures ok. Now I can delete them off my camera and take more!
So Skyler´s getting operated on the 16th of December? Haha. That´s awesome, first time in four years that we see each other and he´ll have cotton up his black nose. Nice to see you! :o) Are he and Tyson still down at SUU together? Don´t worry Mom, my hair is not thinning! Haha
Well, I think that´s gonna about do it for me this week! I hope you all have a happy Halloween! It´s so crazy to think that we´re about to start November. Whew. But yeah, I love you all! Take care and let me know how things are going!
Elder Taylor
Monday, October 20, 2008
Hey Hey...
Taylor Family and Friends,
So, here we are at the close of another great week, with a new one just beginning. The last couple of days have brought a lot of sun and heat...looks like summer is just around the corner!
We had a really good week last week, with a couple of highlighting events. Friday afternoon at 6 PM, Élida Bravo was baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor. It was a great baptismal service. When 6 o´clock rolled around, there was hardly anyone there, but by 6:10 there was quite a few-Mormon Standard Time even exists in Tranqueras. Haha. Everything went really well in the baptism, and I will never forget how Élida looked at me as she came up out of the water and said, "Muchísimas gracias, Taylor." A truly unforgettable experience.
Sunday morning we got on another bus headed for the Stake Conference in Rivera. There wasn´t as many members in this trip as there was for General Conference, but there was still more than in years past. The Stake Conference was a conference transmitted to 26 different stakes in Paraguay and Uruguay. Elder Zwick conducted the meeting, which was presided by President Henry B. Eyring; Elder Richard G. Scott and Sylvia H. Allred were also present and spoke. It was a great conference where the Spirit could be felt in abundance. The members were encouraged to build their foundation on Christ through prayer and daily scripture study. The young men were challenged to prepare to serve full-time missions, and the youth were warned about the dangers of immorality. I am so grateful for inspired leaders who are called to teach us of our Father´s plan.
Mom, to answer some of your questions: we haven´t had a lot of opportunities for service here in Tranqueras yet, but we´ve talked to a few members and are planning projects within the coming weeks. Right now there are about 5 in the Elders quorum, with 1 priest, 2 teachers, and 1 deacon. Heber, who was baptized last month becomes a deacon next April. There are probably about 10-15 sisters in the Relief Society and 10ish kids in Primary. That´s not counting the investigators we have attending as well. Relief Society is usually taught by the branch president´s wife, who is the RS President. In priesthood it is usually President Diaz, or one of us missionaries. In Sunday School, the first counselor´s wife is the teacher as far as I know. Elder Davidson switched off teaching Gospel Principles every week, and that´s what I plan on doing with Elder Hughes, if he´s ok with the idea. He is doing really well. Like I said, he understands basically everything, but sometimes gets tripped up trying to speak, just like any new missionary. But he´s doing great, and starting to teach a lot more.
So you all got my itinerary...crazy. Don´t worry, I´m not trunky. There´s way too much work to be done. This last week, we found some AWESOME new investigators that we are really excited for, and we saw some great progress in others. We were with Ingri and Anivel on Friday night, and at the end of the lesson, Ingri told us that she was going to be in her mother´s house around 1 PM on Monday if we wanted to swing by and meet her. Monday is our P-Day, but after looking at each other, Elder Hughes and I both decided to do it. So about 2 hours ago, we said a prayer before leaving the house and prayed for the companionship of the Spirit in order to know what to say in order to help this family understand the importance of the message we have been called to share. We went over there and found Ingri waiting with her mom, Graciela, and two of her younger siblings, Evelyn and Julio. Come to find out, they all went to church before, but when the area was closed to missionaries, they stopped going. We had a great first lesson, and answered some of their questions about baptism! As we left, both Elder Hughes and I agreed that it was well worth the 45 minutes; with sacrifice come the blessings!
That is how the work has been going here in Tranqueras. The Church is so new here that the members are still excited and anxious to share the truth with their neighbors. Sometimes, after an area has been open to missionary work for a long time, the members become apprehensive about sharing their beliefs with others...don´t fall in to that! The Lord can´t use us as instruments in His work if we are apprehensive. That doesn´t mean be impolite and pushy, but it means actively look for opportunities to share restored truths. I have received more references here in Tranqueras than in any other area in my mission; this little branch is a GREAT example of member missionary work. I am so grateful for the members, and for the example they have given to me. I hope to always be as diligent and faithful to my responsibilities as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.
So there ya go, that´s what´s going on here in Tranqueras. I hope everything is going well for all of you! I can´t believe Sterling May is home, that´s so crazy. Elder May (Bryce) is probably heading home within the next couple of weeks, too, isn´t he? Wow. Don´t worry, as I said, I´m not trunky! Haha.
Love you all, and I´m anxious to hear from you!
Elder Taylor
So, here we are at the close of another great week, with a new one just beginning. The last couple of days have brought a lot of sun and heat...looks like summer is just around the corner!
We had a really good week last week, with a couple of highlighting events. Friday afternoon at 6 PM, Élida Bravo was baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor. It was a great baptismal service. When 6 o´clock rolled around, there was hardly anyone there, but by 6:10 there was quite a few-Mormon Standard Time even exists in Tranqueras. Haha. Everything went really well in the baptism, and I will never forget how Élida looked at me as she came up out of the water and said, "Muchísimas gracias, Taylor." A truly unforgettable experience.
Sunday morning we got on another bus headed for the Stake Conference in Rivera. There wasn´t as many members in this trip as there was for General Conference, but there was still more than in years past. The Stake Conference was a conference transmitted to 26 different stakes in Paraguay and Uruguay. Elder Zwick conducted the meeting, which was presided by President Henry B. Eyring; Elder Richard G. Scott and Sylvia H. Allred were also present and spoke. It was a great conference where the Spirit could be felt in abundance. The members were encouraged to build their foundation on Christ through prayer and daily scripture study. The young men were challenged to prepare to serve full-time missions, and the youth were warned about the dangers of immorality. I am so grateful for inspired leaders who are called to teach us of our Father´s plan.
Mom, to answer some of your questions: we haven´t had a lot of opportunities for service here in Tranqueras yet, but we´ve talked to a few members and are planning projects within the coming weeks. Right now there are about 5 in the Elders quorum, with 1 priest, 2 teachers, and 1 deacon. Heber, who was baptized last month becomes a deacon next April. There are probably about 10-15 sisters in the Relief Society and 10ish kids in Primary. That´s not counting the investigators we have attending as well. Relief Society is usually taught by the branch president´s wife, who is the RS President. In priesthood it is usually President Diaz, or one of us missionaries. In Sunday School, the first counselor´s wife is the teacher as far as I know. Elder Davidson switched off teaching Gospel Principles every week, and that´s what I plan on doing with Elder Hughes, if he´s ok with the idea. He is doing really well. Like I said, he understands basically everything, but sometimes gets tripped up trying to speak, just like any new missionary. But he´s doing great, and starting to teach a lot more.
So you all got my itinerary...crazy. Don´t worry, I´m not trunky. There´s way too much work to be done. This last week, we found some AWESOME new investigators that we are really excited for, and we saw some great progress in others. We were with Ingri and Anivel on Friday night, and at the end of the lesson, Ingri told us that she was going to be in her mother´s house around 1 PM on Monday if we wanted to swing by and meet her. Monday is our P-Day, but after looking at each other, Elder Hughes and I both decided to do it. So about 2 hours ago, we said a prayer before leaving the house and prayed for the companionship of the Spirit in order to know what to say in order to help this family understand the importance of the message we have been called to share. We went over there and found Ingri waiting with her mom, Graciela, and two of her younger siblings, Evelyn and Julio. Come to find out, they all went to church before, but when the area was closed to missionaries, they stopped going. We had a great first lesson, and answered some of their questions about baptism! As we left, both Elder Hughes and I agreed that it was well worth the 45 minutes; with sacrifice come the blessings!
That is how the work has been going here in Tranqueras. The Church is so new here that the members are still excited and anxious to share the truth with their neighbors. Sometimes, after an area has been open to missionary work for a long time, the members become apprehensive about sharing their beliefs with others...don´t fall in to that! The Lord can´t use us as instruments in His work if we are apprehensive. That doesn´t mean be impolite and pushy, but it means actively look for opportunities to share restored truths. I have received more references here in Tranqueras than in any other area in my mission; this little branch is a GREAT example of member missionary work. I am so grateful for the members, and for the example they have given to me. I hope to always be as diligent and faithful to my responsibilities as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.
So there ya go, that´s what´s going on here in Tranqueras. I hope everything is going well for all of you! I can´t believe Sterling May is home, that´s so crazy. Elder May (Bryce) is probably heading home within the next couple of weeks, too, isn´t he? Wow. Don´t worry, as I said, I´m not trunky! Haha.
Love you all, and I´m anxious to hear from you!
Elder Taylor
Thursday, October 16, 2008
It's Official!
We have officially received Aaron's itinerary for his flight home!
He will leave Montevideo on Wednesday, December 17th at 11:05 PM. After many long flights he finally arrives in SLC on Thursday afternoon, December 18th.
We are so excited to finally have a date set in stone and to know when the end will be here! Thank you all for your support throughout his mission, and we will keep you updated on when the homecoming will be!!
Lots of Love,
Mary-Anne
(and the whole Taylor family!!)
He will leave Montevideo on Wednesday, December 17th at 11:05 PM. After many long flights he finally arrives in SLC on Thursday afternoon, December 18th.
We are so excited to finally have a date set in stone and to know when the end will be here! Thank you all for your support throughout his mission, and we will keep you updated on when the homecoming will be!!
Lots of Love,
Mary-Anne
(and the whole Taylor family!!)
Monday, October 13, 2008
22 months...!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, in the last line of Mary-Anne´s email, she let me know that today is my 22-month mark in the mission. That´s so crazy. There are days when it seems like I just got here. But I won´t lie, there are days when it seems like it´s been longer than 22 months, too. Haha. No worries, I´m making the most of the time I´ve got left. No regrets.
We´ve had some special visitors this weekend; Elder Davdison and his mom have been in town. They got here Saturday night and they´re leaving tomorrow morning. It´s been really fun talking to her and getting to know her a little better. I´ve heard about her for the last year and a half, and even more so in the last 2 months, so it´s been cool to actually get to meet her. Elder Davidson´s face has changed even in just the last week and a half. I think he just looks more relaxed and at-ease. He told me he´s just anxious to get home now. His mom arrived Saturday (the 4th) and they fly out on Wednesday afternoon.
Just to let you know, before I forget, I sent the DVD with the pictures on it this last week. They said it takes 7-10 days in order to get there. Let me know when you get it, so I can delete the pictures off my camera and thus have more room on my cards.
On Friday morning I received a call from the offices. Elder Bigham said, "Elder Taylor, I have a question. Do you think your family would mind if we sent you home a week "early"? Or in other words, a week before Christmas?" I laughed and I said, "Ya know, I´m pretty sure they wouldn´t mind." You all don´t mind, right? Haha. He told me that they don´t have the flight itinerary or anything yet, but the projected date is the 17th of December. Whether that is the date I fly from Montevideo or the day I arrive in Salt Lake, I am not sure. But yeah, just so ya´ll know!
Elder Hughes and I had a great week last week. We found quite a few new investigators and had progress with some of the older ones. I don´t know if you remember, but I believe I have commented on Daiana, who was baptized on Sept. 13. Anyway, she has a sister-in-law named Ingri who has come to church a couple of times. She went with us to General Conference last week, as well, and had a great time. We asked Daiana and Walter afterwards what Ingri had thought of it and they said that she had mentioned that she wanted to be baptized. The next afternoon we were at her house! Haha. We had a great lesson with her and her husband, Anivel. We found out that Anivel has heard a little from the missionaries (years ago) and that he was reading the Joseph Smith sunday school manual that we had given Ingri a few weeks ago. We invited them to get baptized at the end of the lesson, and Anivel said, "Well it depends on what day it is, because I work Monday-Saturday." We chuckled and said we could work around his schedule. The challenge will be getting him to church because he´s also a soccer fanatic and often plays on Sundays. Ingri could be baptized this weekend, but we are going to see if we can help Anivel catch the vision and start progressing.
On Thursday, we had a lesson with Élida Bravo, who the missionaries have been teaching for a while. She is Marcos´ mother, the man whose family was baptized a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, she´s fantastic, but couldn´t progress because she couldn´t get a divorce in order to get married with the guy she´s living with now, who comes and goes from Artigas because of work. To make a long story short, they decided that things weren´t going to work out, and he´s staying in Artigas to live his own life so she can live hers. She said she needs God in her life more than she needs any man. When she told us this new news, I almost didn´t know what to say, because it was so unexpected. After stammering for a second and looking at my comp, I asked her, "Well okay then, what day do you want to get baptized?!" Haha. She said, whenever you two think I am ready. The baptism is set for this Friday. The whole branch was excited when the baptism was announced yesterday and she handed out invitations after church. It has been 10 years since she first met the missionaries in Artigas, and after watching her son, daughter-in-law, and 3 grandchildren be baptized, it is finally her turn! When the Lord gives a commandment, He always prepares the way for it to be obeyed, even if it takes a while!
This weekend, we have Stake Conference in Rivera, with a special transmission from Salt Lake. I wonder what it´s gonna be about, or who it´s gonna be....interesante!
This morning we went and had lunch with Marcos, Paola and their family along with Elder Davidson and his mom. We killed two of their chickens and about an hour or so later, we ate them. I´ll send pictures. :o) It´s a pretty nasty day out; it´s been REALLY humid the last couple of days, and it started raining yesterday afternoon-hasn´t stopped since.
Yeah, Mom, we can go onto the Brazil side, because it´s just a street that separates it. We only go over on P-Days though, mostly to eat or maybe shop. I´ve been over once or twice is all, when we´ve gone into Rivera for changes or something.
I believe I know the Bueno family, from Artigas. Well, I know a couple of them. One of the families has been members for years, and the other one I met was baptized last year right after I went to Bella Unión. Maybe it was them. I don´t remember the names, because they were in a different ward.
Well, I believe that´s gonna do it for this week. Thanks for the letters, and for letting me know some of what´s going on. I love you all, and pray for you often! Take care and enjoy the week!
Elder Taylor
Well, in the last line of Mary-Anne´s email, she let me know that today is my 22-month mark in the mission. That´s so crazy. There are days when it seems like I just got here. But I won´t lie, there are days when it seems like it´s been longer than 22 months, too. Haha. No worries, I´m making the most of the time I´ve got left. No regrets.
We´ve had some special visitors this weekend; Elder Davdison and his mom have been in town. They got here Saturday night and they´re leaving tomorrow morning. It´s been really fun talking to her and getting to know her a little better. I´ve heard about her for the last year and a half, and even more so in the last 2 months, so it´s been cool to actually get to meet her. Elder Davidson´s face has changed even in just the last week and a half. I think he just looks more relaxed and at-ease. He told me he´s just anxious to get home now. His mom arrived Saturday (the 4th) and they fly out on Wednesday afternoon.
Just to let you know, before I forget, I sent the DVD with the pictures on it this last week. They said it takes 7-10 days in order to get there. Let me know when you get it, so I can delete the pictures off my camera and thus have more room on my cards.
On Friday morning I received a call from the offices. Elder Bigham said, "Elder Taylor, I have a question. Do you think your family would mind if we sent you home a week "early"? Or in other words, a week before Christmas?" I laughed and I said, "Ya know, I´m pretty sure they wouldn´t mind." You all don´t mind, right? Haha. He told me that they don´t have the flight itinerary or anything yet, but the projected date is the 17th of December. Whether that is the date I fly from Montevideo or the day I arrive in Salt Lake, I am not sure. But yeah, just so ya´ll know!
Elder Hughes and I had a great week last week. We found quite a few new investigators and had progress with some of the older ones. I don´t know if you remember, but I believe I have commented on Daiana, who was baptized on Sept. 13. Anyway, she has a sister-in-law named Ingri who has come to church a couple of times. She went with us to General Conference last week, as well, and had a great time. We asked Daiana and Walter afterwards what Ingri had thought of it and they said that she had mentioned that she wanted to be baptized. The next afternoon we were at her house! Haha. We had a great lesson with her and her husband, Anivel. We found out that Anivel has heard a little from the missionaries (years ago) and that he was reading the Joseph Smith sunday school manual that we had given Ingri a few weeks ago. We invited them to get baptized at the end of the lesson, and Anivel said, "Well it depends on what day it is, because I work Monday-Saturday." We chuckled and said we could work around his schedule. The challenge will be getting him to church because he´s also a soccer fanatic and often plays on Sundays. Ingri could be baptized this weekend, but we are going to see if we can help Anivel catch the vision and start progressing.
On Thursday, we had a lesson with Élida Bravo, who the missionaries have been teaching for a while. She is Marcos´ mother, the man whose family was baptized a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, she´s fantastic, but couldn´t progress because she couldn´t get a divorce in order to get married with the guy she´s living with now, who comes and goes from Artigas because of work. To make a long story short, they decided that things weren´t going to work out, and he´s staying in Artigas to live his own life so she can live hers. She said she needs God in her life more than she needs any man. When she told us this new news, I almost didn´t know what to say, because it was so unexpected. After stammering for a second and looking at my comp, I asked her, "Well okay then, what day do you want to get baptized?!" Haha. She said, whenever you two think I am ready. The baptism is set for this Friday. The whole branch was excited when the baptism was announced yesterday and she handed out invitations after church. It has been 10 years since she first met the missionaries in Artigas, and after watching her son, daughter-in-law, and 3 grandchildren be baptized, it is finally her turn! When the Lord gives a commandment, He always prepares the way for it to be obeyed, even if it takes a while!
This weekend, we have Stake Conference in Rivera, with a special transmission from Salt Lake. I wonder what it´s gonna be about, or who it´s gonna be....interesante!
This morning we went and had lunch with Marcos, Paola and their family along with Elder Davidson and his mom. We killed two of their chickens and about an hour or so later, we ate them. I´ll send pictures. :o) It´s a pretty nasty day out; it´s been REALLY humid the last couple of days, and it started raining yesterday afternoon-hasn´t stopped since.
Yeah, Mom, we can go onto the Brazil side, because it´s just a street that separates it. We only go over on P-Days though, mostly to eat or maybe shop. I´ve been over once or twice is all, when we´ve gone into Rivera for changes or something.
I believe I know the Bueno family, from Artigas. Well, I know a couple of them. One of the families has been members for years, and the other one I met was baptized last year right after I went to Bella Unión. Maybe it was them. I don´t remember the names, because they were in a different ward.
Well, I believe that´s gonna do it for this week. Thanks for the letters, and for letting me know some of what´s going on. I love you all, and pray for you often! Take care and enjoy the week!
Elder Taylor
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sweet Weekend!
Taylor Family and Friends,
I´ll just start by saying how truly grateful I am to know that God has a living prophet on the earth today. What an amazing opportunity we all had to be instructed by His servants the last two days. Ok, I´ll get back to that subject in a minute. :o)
Last week was a very busy week for us, and it started out in an interesting way...! Elder Davidson and I went in to Rivera on the noon bus on Tuesday, because he was leaving from Rivera at 00:30 on Wednesday morning. We had a good afternoon over in Rivera. At 10 PM or so, we went and helped get some of the other Elders on their buses and whatnot, and then another group along with Elder Davidson at midnight. Elder Gillis and Elder Davidson were both finishing, and as I stood there with them, the feelings started to creep in. They both commented on the butterflies and the nerves. No tears, though, because both of them are going on a little trip with their parents this week. I stayed with the Zl´s on Tuesday night, because the offices said that Elder Hughes would be getting to Rivera at noon the next day...
The next morning at 6:30 we went and picked up some of the new Elders in the zone, and then went back to the house for studies. At noon, we got a taxi and started over to the bus terminal. The taxi driver asked me what area I was serving in, and I told him Tranqueras. He then said, "Oh, there´s been a Mormon in the terminal for the last three hours who is also headed out to Tranqueras." No way. Haha. He said the blonde kid and put his suitcases in a taxi, got in, and then got back out as he realized that the taxi wouldn´t take him to Tranqueras. As we pulled in the terminal, I jumped out and started looking around for Elder Hughes; nowhere to be seen. I went and asked Jorge, a guy we know who sells drinks and candy at the terminal if he had seen a lost Elder. He said, "Yeah, he was here for a couple of hours, and then the other guy helped him get on the 11:15 bus to Tranqueras." By "the other guy", he meant the member of the Church who sells empanadas and milanesas in the terminal. I couldn´t believe it. I ran on to the next bus that left right then for Tranqueras and started calling the members in order to have them stop the bus. You see, as the bus goes into Tranqueras, there are various places where you can get off, but you have to know where you want to get off, or tell the driver. My comp had NO idea where to get off. I got ahold of one of the sisters, and as she went out her front door, the bus passed by! She went back inside and called the agency, telling them to tell the Mormon to stay on the bus until they brought the bus back to the garage, which is a block away from our house. Haha. I got there an hour later, and as I went up the stairs in our house, Elder Hughes stuck his head around the corner with the most relieved face I have seen in a LONG time! I felt SO bad, but the offices had told us he got there at noon. Well, the most important thing is that he arrived safe and sound!
Elder Hughes is from Boise, Idaho. He has been in Uruguay for about seven weeks now. He´s actually doing really well with his Spanish. He understands a lot, and he can speak pretty well, too. We´ve already set some specific goals to help him get better, and he´s progressed a lot even in just these last couple of days.
The baptism was done in the garage, in a thing they use to clean the cattle here. At least that´s what they´ve told me it´s used for. I´ll send a picture. The picture with Marcos and Paola by the cake is in the front room of the house, which is just like the foyer. The one of everyone outside before the baptism is behind our house, yes.
Had a sweet experience yesterday. The branch rented a bus so everyone here could go to the sessions yesterday. I locked up the house, and was the last one to go over to the bus. I made sure everyone was there, and then I asked the driver if I could sit up front with him so "I could see the view." Hehe...! We chit-chatted for two or three minutes, and then he opened the door...."So do you guys have some kind of convention in Rivera today, or what?" Well, just let me tell you where we´re headed...! We had a fantastic conversation over the next 45/50 minutes about the importance of prophets, Christ´s church and it´s restoration, as well as the Book of Mormon. I told him, as we were entering Rivera, that that´s why people call us "Mormons"-because we give that book to everyone we meet so they can know of the truthfulness of our message for themselves. Freddy´s eyes lit up and he asked me, "Do you have one of them with you?" "Yeah, my companion has it in his backpack." "Would you give it to me?" "I would absolutely love to. As soon as we get to the chapel, we´ll get it out of his bag." The countryside of Uruguay is beautiful, which could be seen very well from our seas, but the knowledge of God´s plan for us often times surpasses that beauty. How grateful I am for having been where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.
Mom, I went to send the pictures between sessions on Saturday, but it was closed. I will send them tomorrow. I hope. :o) Well, my time is up for this week. Know that I love each and every one of you! I´m looking forward to going over the counsel we all received this weekend again. I´ll send highlights and thoughts next week. Take care!
Elder Taylor
I´ll just start by saying how truly grateful I am to know that God has a living prophet on the earth today. What an amazing opportunity we all had to be instructed by His servants the last two days. Ok, I´ll get back to that subject in a minute. :o)
Last week was a very busy week for us, and it started out in an interesting way...! Elder Davidson and I went in to Rivera on the noon bus on Tuesday, because he was leaving from Rivera at 00:30 on Wednesday morning. We had a good afternoon over in Rivera. At 10 PM or so, we went and helped get some of the other Elders on their buses and whatnot, and then another group along with Elder Davidson at midnight. Elder Gillis and Elder Davidson were both finishing, and as I stood there with them, the feelings started to creep in. They both commented on the butterflies and the nerves. No tears, though, because both of them are going on a little trip with their parents this week. I stayed with the Zl´s on Tuesday night, because the offices said that Elder Hughes would be getting to Rivera at noon the next day...
The next morning at 6:30 we went and picked up some of the new Elders in the zone, and then went back to the house for studies. At noon, we got a taxi and started over to the bus terminal. The taxi driver asked me what area I was serving in, and I told him Tranqueras. He then said, "Oh, there´s been a Mormon in the terminal for the last three hours who is also headed out to Tranqueras." No way. Haha. He said the blonde kid and put his suitcases in a taxi, got in, and then got back out as he realized that the taxi wouldn´t take him to Tranqueras. As we pulled in the terminal, I jumped out and started looking around for Elder Hughes; nowhere to be seen. I went and asked Jorge, a guy we know who sells drinks and candy at the terminal if he had seen a lost Elder. He said, "Yeah, he was here for a couple of hours, and then the other guy helped him get on the 11:15 bus to Tranqueras." By "the other guy", he meant the member of the Church who sells empanadas and milanesas in the terminal. I couldn´t believe it. I ran on to the next bus that left right then for Tranqueras and started calling the members in order to have them stop the bus. You see, as the bus goes into Tranqueras, there are various places where you can get off, but you have to know where you want to get off, or tell the driver. My comp had NO idea where to get off. I got ahold of one of the sisters, and as she went out her front door, the bus passed by! She went back inside and called the agency, telling them to tell the Mormon to stay on the bus until they brought the bus back to the garage, which is a block away from our house. Haha. I got there an hour later, and as I went up the stairs in our house, Elder Hughes stuck his head around the corner with the most relieved face I have seen in a LONG time! I felt SO bad, but the offices had told us he got there at noon. Well, the most important thing is that he arrived safe and sound!
Elder Hughes is from Boise, Idaho. He has been in Uruguay for about seven weeks now. He´s actually doing really well with his Spanish. He understands a lot, and he can speak pretty well, too. We´ve already set some specific goals to help him get better, and he´s progressed a lot even in just these last couple of days.
The baptism was done in the garage, in a thing they use to clean the cattle here. At least that´s what they´ve told me it´s used for. I´ll send a picture. The picture with Marcos and Paola by the cake is in the front room of the house, which is just like the foyer. The one of everyone outside before the baptism is behind our house, yes.
Had a sweet experience yesterday. The branch rented a bus so everyone here could go to the sessions yesterday. I locked up the house, and was the last one to go over to the bus. I made sure everyone was there, and then I asked the driver if I could sit up front with him so "I could see the view." Hehe...! We chit-chatted for two or three minutes, and then he opened the door...."So do you guys have some kind of convention in Rivera today, or what?" Well, just let me tell you where we´re headed...! We had a fantastic conversation over the next 45/50 minutes about the importance of prophets, Christ´s church and it´s restoration, as well as the Book of Mormon. I told him, as we were entering Rivera, that that´s why people call us "Mormons"-because we give that book to everyone we meet so they can know of the truthfulness of our message for themselves. Freddy´s eyes lit up and he asked me, "Do you have one of them with you?" "Yeah, my companion has it in his backpack." "Would you give it to me?" "I would absolutely love to. As soon as we get to the chapel, we´ll get it out of his bag." The countryside of Uruguay is beautiful, which could be seen very well from our seas, but the knowledge of God´s plan for us often times surpasses that beauty. How grateful I am for having been where I needed to be, when I needed to be there.
Mom, I went to send the pictures between sessions on Saturday, but it was closed. I will send them tomorrow. I hope. :o) Well, my time is up for this week. Know that I love each and every one of you! I´m looking forward to going over the counsel we all received this weekend again. I´ll send highlights and thoughts next week. Take care!
Elder Taylor
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Fotos...
Hey! A couple of pictures from the baptisms, one of the reception, and the chapel/house! Enjoy!
Cambios...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well here we are on another change day. This change seemed to go by really fast. I think it has something to do with all the traveling that we do here, but who knows? It seems that it always has to rain on change days; it rained when I left Paysandú, and it´s raining today. ¿Pero que se va a hacer? :o)
Great week last week. Super busy week. Monday-p-day, Tuesday-District Meeting, Wednesday-Baptismal Interview, Thursday-Wedding, Friday-Baptism, Saturday-Birthday Party for recent convert, Sunday-Meetings! Yup, Marcos and Paola got married last Thursday and then Paola, Heber and Maria (their two kids) were baptized on Friday by Marcos, their husband and father. It was a great service. After the wedding on Thursday, we threw a surprise reception for them in the chapel. Karen Furtado, the wife of the 1st counselor, set most of it up and got everything rolling. It was great. We had a pretty good turnout for the baptism, as well. President Díaz, the branch president who travels every week from Rivera to be at the meetings, came out especially for the baptism with his wife in order to support the family. The whole branch was excited for them.
On Sunday, the three of them were confirmed by President Díaz, Elder Davidson and I. Marcos had never confirmed anyone before and said his hands and legs shook bad enough in the baptism, so he asked the three of us to do it. Haha. We gladly accepted. After the confirmations, as Elder Davidson and I were sitting at the sacrament table and we had started to sing the hymn, we had a very pleasant surprise. Jose, Nury, and their three kids stuck their heads in the back door! We had been with them on Saturday night, had a GREAT lesson, and they said they´d be there at 2 o´clock for the meetings. Two o´clock came and went, three o´clock came and went, so we figured something had come up. When we saw them stick their heads in, we were stoked! We were already singing the hymn, so we couldn´t get up, but the members did a FANTASTIC job at going back and helping them feel comfortable, introducing themselves, and sitting at their sides. It was awesome. We went and had another great lesson with them last night where we explained a little more in depth about the Book of Mormon. We had told them to read the introduction before the lesson, and when we got there, Jose said, "I read what you told me to read, but I liked it so much, I kept reading. I read the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, as well as the testimony of Joseph Smith. I hope that´s ok." Haha. Elder Davidson and I were speechless. This is the man who BARELY let us in to his home that first Thursday morning, and was a little hesitant about us saying a prayer. He then proceeded to tell us EXACTLY what happened with the Prophet the night that Moroni appeared to him and told him about the plates. He told us, "I may not remember everything, but I´m just starting to find out about these things now. You will keep coming over to teach us, we´ll keep going to church, and we´ll keep learning things. With time, I´ll be able to remember." Haha, no problem, Jose! We talked more about the Book of Mormon last night, and then about the importance of prophets, with the invitation to go to Conference this weekend. They´re super excited about going to listen to the prophet. The branch is renting a bus for the two sessions on Sunday, and we´ll all go together. I love General Conference! So yeah, a sweet, tender mercy on Sunday and Monday.
Well, now to changes. Elder Davidson is leaving...who woulda thunk? :o) He´s pretty stoked. I´m excited to meet his mom in a couple of weeks, that´ll be fun. I´m staying here in Tranqueras, obviously, and I´m going to be with an elder named Elder Hughes. I don´t know him. He´s only been here in Uruguay for 1 change, in other words, six weeks. He´s coming from Salto, and he gets to Rivera tomorrow at about noon. I´m really excited. He could very well be my last companion. Crazy! We´ll see what happens, though, because President always manages to surprise me somehow. Haha.
Mom, I´m doing pretty good about writing in my journal. Not GREAT, like I was at the beginning of the mission, but I do pretty well. I just hope that you´re all keeping these letters, too, because that will be a nice back-up journal.
Yeah, I pulled out some money last week, and I´ll be pulling out some more here in a little bit. It´s for a good cause, no worries. Haha. But hey, don´t try and ruin the surprise. :o) The exchange rate is about 20 pesos per dollar right now. Hey, so what happened with the bank in NY? Our landlady said that some bank went bankrupt, but that´s all we have heard. I know I don´t need to worry about it or anything, but I´d like to have a little more info....
About this Conference weekend, I don´t know exactly what we´ll be doing yet. I have to talk to the ZL´s today, because we´ll probably be staying with them in order to go to the sessions on Saturday. We´ll see.
I have now trained two missionaries and sent two home. Last night I called Elder Holmes and found out that he is going to be training this change! I´m going to be a grandpa. Haha. We were both pretty excited. Elder Huber is heading back to Cerro, but a different area. He´s doing really well.
As of that goal of 100, I like the sound of it, obviously, but we´ll see what can be done. Right now, we have an attendance of about 35. If we get up to a steady 60 with enough priesthood and faithful tithe payers, the Church will start seriously considering the building of our chapel. They already have the lot, so they´re just waiting for the people to fill it. We´re doing really well, and I´m excited to do my part!
Hey Pops, thanks for the letter and the counsel. It´s a topic I have thought a lot about throughout my mission. I think it´s something I have learned a lot more about, but that I will continue learning throughout my life.
Mary-Anne, it´s good to hear that you´ve finally got some kind of break! I hope everything worked out with that job. It may not be the dream job, but it´s definitely a learning/growing experience! Take advantage!
Mel and Goose, thanks for your letters this week. I hope you both know that I think about you all the time. Well, not ALL the time, but you know what I mean. :o) Keep up the good work in school, and tell everyone that I say hello.
No, Mom, I haven´t asked President about a specific release date yet, but I imagine that within a short period of time, you will all receive my itinerary and whatnot. You will know before I do, I believe. They usually send the stuff to the family before telling the Elder. I don´t know, I´ve never ended the mission before. :o)
In the last couple of weeks, I´ve eaten ostrich egg and pig leather. The interesting experiences never end. Haha. I was going to mention that last week, but I forgot. Anyway, I thinks that´s going to about do it for this week. Know that I love you all, and that you´re in my prayers! Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Elder Taylor
Well here we are on another change day. This change seemed to go by really fast. I think it has something to do with all the traveling that we do here, but who knows? It seems that it always has to rain on change days; it rained when I left Paysandú, and it´s raining today. ¿Pero que se va a hacer? :o)
Great week last week. Super busy week. Monday-p-day, Tuesday-District Meeting, Wednesday-Baptismal Interview, Thursday-Wedding, Friday-Baptism, Saturday-Birthday Party for recent convert, Sunday-Meetings! Yup, Marcos and Paola got married last Thursday and then Paola, Heber and Maria (their two kids) were baptized on Friday by Marcos, their husband and father. It was a great service. After the wedding on Thursday, we threw a surprise reception for them in the chapel. Karen Furtado, the wife of the 1st counselor, set most of it up and got everything rolling. It was great. We had a pretty good turnout for the baptism, as well. President Díaz, the branch president who travels every week from Rivera to be at the meetings, came out especially for the baptism with his wife in order to support the family. The whole branch was excited for them.
On Sunday, the three of them were confirmed by President Díaz, Elder Davidson and I. Marcos had never confirmed anyone before and said his hands and legs shook bad enough in the baptism, so he asked the three of us to do it. Haha. We gladly accepted. After the confirmations, as Elder Davidson and I were sitting at the sacrament table and we had started to sing the hymn, we had a very pleasant surprise. Jose, Nury, and their three kids stuck their heads in the back door! We had been with them on Saturday night, had a GREAT lesson, and they said they´d be there at 2 o´clock for the meetings. Two o´clock came and went, three o´clock came and went, so we figured something had come up. When we saw them stick their heads in, we were stoked! We were already singing the hymn, so we couldn´t get up, but the members did a FANTASTIC job at going back and helping them feel comfortable, introducing themselves, and sitting at their sides. It was awesome. We went and had another great lesson with them last night where we explained a little more in depth about the Book of Mormon. We had told them to read the introduction before the lesson, and when we got there, Jose said, "I read what you told me to read, but I liked it so much, I kept reading. I read the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses, as well as the testimony of Joseph Smith. I hope that´s ok." Haha. Elder Davidson and I were speechless. This is the man who BARELY let us in to his home that first Thursday morning, and was a little hesitant about us saying a prayer. He then proceeded to tell us EXACTLY what happened with the Prophet the night that Moroni appeared to him and told him about the plates. He told us, "I may not remember everything, but I´m just starting to find out about these things now. You will keep coming over to teach us, we´ll keep going to church, and we´ll keep learning things. With time, I´ll be able to remember." Haha, no problem, Jose! We talked more about the Book of Mormon last night, and then about the importance of prophets, with the invitation to go to Conference this weekend. They´re super excited about going to listen to the prophet. The branch is renting a bus for the two sessions on Sunday, and we´ll all go together. I love General Conference! So yeah, a sweet, tender mercy on Sunday and Monday.
Well, now to changes. Elder Davidson is leaving...who woulda thunk? :o) He´s pretty stoked. I´m excited to meet his mom in a couple of weeks, that´ll be fun. I´m staying here in Tranqueras, obviously, and I´m going to be with an elder named Elder Hughes. I don´t know him. He´s only been here in Uruguay for 1 change, in other words, six weeks. He´s coming from Salto, and he gets to Rivera tomorrow at about noon. I´m really excited. He could very well be my last companion. Crazy! We´ll see what happens, though, because President always manages to surprise me somehow. Haha.
Mom, I´m doing pretty good about writing in my journal. Not GREAT, like I was at the beginning of the mission, but I do pretty well. I just hope that you´re all keeping these letters, too, because that will be a nice back-up journal.
Yeah, I pulled out some money last week, and I´ll be pulling out some more here in a little bit. It´s for a good cause, no worries. Haha. But hey, don´t try and ruin the surprise. :o) The exchange rate is about 20 pesos per dollar right now. Hey, so what happened with the bank in NY? Our landlady said that some bank went bankrupt, but that´s all we have heard. I know I don´t need to worry about it or anything, but I´d like to have a little more info....
About this Conference weekend, I don´t know exactly what we´ll be doing yet. I have to talk to the ZL´s today, because we´ll probably be staying with them in order to go to the sessions on Saturday. We´ll see.
I have now trained two missionaries and sent two home. Last night I called Elder Holmes and found out that he is going to be training this change! I´m going to be a grandpa. Haha. We were both pretty excited. Elder Huber is heading back to Cerro, but a different area. He´s doing really well.
As of that goal of 100, I like the sound of it, obviously, but we´ll see what can be done. Right now, we have an attendance of about 35. If we get up to a steady 60 with enough priesthood and faithful tithe payers, the Church will start seriously considering the building of our chapel. They already have the lot, so they´re just waiting for the people to fill it. We´re doing really well, and I´m excited to do my part!
Hey Pops, thanks for the letter and the counsel. It´s a topic I have thought a lot about throughout my mission. I think it´s something I have learned a lot more about, but that I will continue learning throughout my life.
Mary-Anne, it´s good to hear that you´ve finally got some kind of break! I hope everything worked out with that job. It may not be the dream job, but it´s definitely a learning/growing experience! Take advantage!
Mel and Goose, thanks for your letters this week. I hope you both know that I think about you all the time. Well, not ALL the time, but you know what I mean. :o) Keep up the good work in school, and tell everyone that I say hello.
No, Mom, I haven´t asked President about a specific release date yet, but I imagine that within a short period of time, you will all receive my itinerary and whatnot. You will know before I do, I believe. They usually send the stuff to the family before telling the Elder. I don´t know, I´ve never ended the mission before. :o)
In the last couple of weeks, I´ve eaten ostrich egg and pig leather. The interesting experiences never end. Haha. I was going to mention that last week, but I forgot. Anyway, I thinks that´s going to about do it for this week. Know that I love you all, and that you´re in my prayers! Take care, and I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Elder Taylor
Monday, September 22, 2008
Buenos Dias!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, here we are, at the beginning of yet another week. Nothing too crazy happened this week. We had interviews on Tuesday afternoon with President Peterson, so that´s always fun. He asked me, "So, Elder Taylor, what do you think of Tranqueras?" with a big smile on his face, because he knew that I would love it. We just talked about some of the people we´re teaching, Daiana´s baptism and how it happened, and he just told me to keep working hard and having fun. I love President, it´s always such a great opportunity to get to talk to him and listen to his counsel.
Other than that, the week just went by really quickly, with a lot of work. I can´t remember if I told you, but we had a change in the mission schedule. Remember how before we had that two hour block in the afternoon to study? That´s been changed. Now we follow the schedule exactly as it´s found in Preach My Gospel. It makes for an interesting couple of hours during the siesta, (the nap time) but it´s not too bad. I imagine that in the cities it´s a lot more difficult, but here in Tranqueras the people are pretty laid back. So that´s been fun.
We have a really busy week this week. Tomorrow we´re going to Rivera, like every week, for District Meeting. Oh yeah, I´ll be sending my picture DVD tomorrow, just so you know. Then Wednesday we have a baptismal interview, Thursday is a wedding and reception, Friday we have 3 baptisms, and Saturday we are having a party as a ward for two recent converts who turn 15 this week. Before we know it, it will Sunday again! Sheesh, I´m already tired. Haha. Next week will be change week, I can´t believe it. Elder Davidson is still doing really well, but we´ve talked a little bit more about his family and school and whatnot this week. I´ll be meeting his mom on the 12th and 13th, because that´s when they´re heading back this way. We´re thinking about doing a barbeque or something...
I´m so excited for Conference! We will be traveling in to Rivera for the sessions on Sunday with the branch, I imagine, unless we just stay with the Zone Leaders of Saturday night. The branch will rent a bus for the members here, but only on Sunday, so if we want to go on Saturday, we´ve got to go on a normal bus and stay the night or something. I´ll have to find out what they want us to do.
I´m glad to hear that you had an enjoyable weekend, Mom. I hope the fam´s all doing well. Hey Melanie, you never told me about your musical tryouts...what happened? I´ve been in suspense for like 2 weeks now! Sheesh kid. Are you hanging out so much with your boyfriend that you don´t have time to write your brother? Haha. And Megan, there´s no excuse for you, Goose. You can´t have a boyfriend still. :o)
Mary-Anne, that was a pretty good experience! Welcome to missionary work. Haha. It sounds like he was a pretty intense one, too. I good one for your first time out! Just don´t let it stop you from going with them again...they´re not all like that! Tell the missionaries that you´re willing to go again! At least until you get a job...!
Well, I think that´s going to about do it for this week. Like I said, not a lot happened out of the ordinary. Haha. We´re excited for the marriage and baptism this weekend and excited to keep finding new people to get to church next week. Take care, know that you´re in my prayers, and have a great week!
Elder Taylor
Well, here we are, at the beginning of yet another week. Nothing too crazy happened this week. We had interviews on Tuesday afternoon with President Peterson, so that´s always fun. He asked me, "So, Elder Taylor, what do you think of Tranqueras?" with a big smile on his face, because he knew that I would love it. We just talked about some of the people we´re teaching, Daiana´s baptism and how it happened, and he just told me to keep working hard and having fun. I love President, it´s always such a great opportunity to get to talk to him and listen to his counsel.
Other than that, the week just went by really quickly, with a lot of work. I can´t remember if I told you, but we had a change in the mission schedule. Remember how before we had that two hour block in the afternoon to study? That´s been changed. Now we follow the schedule exactly as it´s found in Preach My Gospel. It makes for an interesting couple of hours during the siesta, (the nap time) but it´s not too bad. I imagine that in the cities it´s a lot more difficult, but here in Tranqueras the people are pretty laid back. So that´s been fun.
We have a really busy week this week. Tomorrow we´re going to Rivera, like every week, for District Meeting. Oh yeah, I´ll be sending my picture DVD tomorrow, just so you know. Then Wednesday we have a baptismal interview, Thursday is a wedding and reception, Friday we have 3 baptisms, and Saturday we are having a party as a ward for two recent converts who turn 15 this week. Before we know it, it will Sunday again! Sheesh, I´m already tired. Haha. Next week will be change week, I can´t believe it. Elder Davidson is still doing really well, but we´ve talked a little bit more about his family and school and whatnot this week. I´ll be meeting his mom on the 12th and 13th, because that´s when they´re heading back this way. We´re thinking about doing a barbeque or something...
I´m so excited for Conference! We will be traveling in to Rivera for the sessions on Sunday with the branch, I imagine, unless we just stay with the Zone Leaders of Saturday night. The branch will rent a bus for the members here, but only on Sunday, so if we want to go on Saturday, we´ve got to go on a normal bus and stay the night or something. I´ll have to find out what they want us to do.
I´m glad to hear that you had an enjoyable weekend, Mom. I hope the fam´s all doing well. Hey Melanie, you never told me about your musical tryouts...what happened? I´ve been in suspense for like 2 weeks now! Sheesh kid. Are you hanging out so much with your boyfriend that you don´t have time to write your brother? Haha. And Megan, there´s no excuse for you, Goose. You can´t have a boyfriend still. :o)
Mary-Anne, that was a pretty good experience! Welcome to missionary work. Haha. It sounds like he was a pretty intense one, too. I good one for your first time out! Just don´t let it stop you from going with them again...they´re not all like that! Tell the missionaries that you´re willing to go again! At least until you get a job...!
Well, I think that´s going to about do it for this week. Like I said, not a lot happened out of the ordinary. Haha. We´re excited for the marriage and baptism this weekend and excited to keep finding new people to get to church next week. Take care, know that you´re in my prayers, and have a great week!
Elder Taylor
Monday, September 15, 2008
Well Hey There...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, this was a pretty busy week. We only did a little bit of traveling, but it was WELL worth it. On Tuesday afternoon, we went to Rivera for district meeting (like any other week) but instead of coming home Tuesday afternoon, we stayed with the Zone LEaders and did divisions. We slept on their floor Tuesday night because we, as a zone, left for Tacuarembó on Wednesday morning at 5:30.
We had a special visitor for zone conference, Elder Aidukaitis, the new 2nd counselor in the Area Presidency. It was a GREAT learning opportunity. President Peterson asked us to go fasting as a mission in order to know what it is that we need to do as a mission in order to duplicate the baptisms, in order to fulfill President Hinckley´s prophecy. In 1999, Pres. Hinckley said that the number of convert baptisms could be doubled if 1) we had a more focused, combined effort between the missionaries and the members, 2) if each member recognized the importance and gravity of their responsibilities, and 3) with sincere prayers to our Father in Heaven. Since Pres. Hinckley offered that challenge, convert baptisms have actually DECREASED, which surprised me. The entire focus of the conference was how we can duplicate the baptisms. President Peterson actually talked very little, in order to give more time to Elder Aidukaitis. He was a very motivating speaker, with a good mix of dropping the cane and inspiring to do better. Haha.
We talked a lot about how the same God that worked the miracles in the scriptural canon is the same God that will work the miracles today. We must have the faith sufficient (which includes a variety of things) in order to expect those miracles. Needless to say, we all left the conference anxious to become better in a variety of ways!
Last week, we didn´t have a lot of time in our own area for proselyting, but we had a successful week. On Sunday night, we were with Daiana, an awesome investigator who didn´t have a baptismal date just because she is a timid person. We challenged her to pray, choose a date, and let us know. On Tuesday afternoon, while we were in district meeting, Daiana sent us a message telling us that she was going to be baptized on Saturday...no problem! We set up the interview and Loriana Daiana Gonzalez da Silva was baptized on Saturday, September 13 at 5 PM by Elder Taylor. It was a really neat experience. She will make an immediate impact in the branch. Now we´ve got to keep woking and get all the rest of the investigators ready to take that step. Paola, Heber, and Maria will be baptized on Sept. 26th, and Nestor has just got to decide. Things are going really well, and we´re excited to help things get even better. Jose and Nury are doing well. We didn´t see them at all last week because we were traveling and whatnot, but we stopped by last night after church to see how they were doing. Great family, and we´re going to really start focusing on them. We have a lesson with them on Wednesday night.
Tomorrow we have interviews with Pres. Peterson, so that´ll be cool. I love talking to and learning from him. I have been very blessed throughout my mission with great leaders, teachers, and companions.
Tell everyone I say hello and send my best, especially to Bishop Stoker. I didn´t get to know him REALLY well, but I am so grateful for his service and I am glad to hear he is doing better. Well, that´ll do it for me this week. Love ya!
Elder Taylor
Well, this was a pretty busy week. We only did a little bit of traveling, but it was WELL worth it. On Tuesday afternoon, we went to Rivera for district meeting (like any other week) but instead of coming home Tuesday afternoon, we stayed with the Zone LEaders and did divisions. We slept on their floor Tuesday night because we, as a zone, left for Tacuarembó on Wednesday morning at 5:30.
We had a special visitor for zone conference, Elder Aidukaitis, the new 2nd counselor in the Area Presidency. It was a GREAT learning opportunity. President Peterson asked us to go fasting as a mission in order to know what it is that we need to do as a mission in order to duplicate the baptisms, in order to fulfill President Hinckley´s prophecy. In 1999, Pres. Hinckley said that the number of convert baptisms could be doubled if 1) we had a more focused, combined effort between the missionaries and the members, 2) if each member recognized the importance and gravity of their responsibilities, and 3) with sincere prayers to our Father in Heaven. Since Pres. Hinckley offered that challenge, convert baptisms have actually DECREASED, which surprised me. The entire focus of the conference was how we can duplicate the baptisms. President Peterson actually talked very little, in order to give more time to Elder Aidukaitis. He was a very motivating speaker, with a good mix of dropping the cane and inspiring to do better. Haha.
We talked a lot about how the same God that worked the miracles in the scriptural canon is the same God that will work the miracles today. We must have the faith sufficient (which includes a variety of things) in order to expect those miracles. Needless to say, we all left the conference anxious to become better in a variety of ways!
Last week, we didn´t have a lot of time in our own area for proselyting, but we had a successful week. On Sunday night, we were with Daiana, an awesome investigator who didn´t have a baptismal date just because she is a timid person. We challenged her to pray, choose a date, and let us know. On Tuesday afternoon, while we were in district meeting, Daiana sent us a message telling us that she was going to be baptized on Saturday...no problem! We set up the interview and Loriana Daiana Gonzalez da Silva was baptized on Saturday, September 13 at 5 PM by Elder Taylor. It was a really neat experience. She will make an immediate impact in the branch. Now we´ve got to keep woking and get all the rest of the investigators ready to take that step. Paola, Heber, and Maria will be baptized on Sept. 26th, and Nestor has just got to decide. Things are going really well, and we´re excited to help things get even better. Jose and Nury are doing well. We didn´t see them at all last week because we were traveling and whatnot, but we stopped by last night after church to see how they were doing. Great family, and we´re going to really start focusing on them. We have a lesson with them on Wednesday night.
Tomorrow we have interviews with Pres. Peterson, so that´ll be cool. I love talking to and learning from him. I have been very blessed throughout my mission with great leaders, teachers, and companions.
Tell everyone I say hello and send my best, especially to Bishop Stoker. I didn´t get to know him REALLY well, but I am so grateful for his service and I am glad to hear he is doing better. Well, that´ll do it for me this week. Love ya!
Elder Taylor
Monday, September 8, 2008
Howdy!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! How are you all doing? Things are going well here. Yesterday after church the sun decided to come out again and chase away the rain clouds that we had been playing with for almost the whole week. It´s been wet, muddy, and pretty chilly. But we´ve had a good time.
Lots of work this last week. A couple of trips to Rivera; once for district meeting, and one because we did divisions with our district leader. Good times. I was here with Elder McClellan, from California. It was fun, but I just like working with my "normal" comp. Just makes things easier. Haha.
Marcos and Paola finally got all the papers they needed and they got a date for their wedding! They will be getting married on Sept. 25th and then Paola, Heber, and Maria will be getting baptized on the 26th! We´ve all been pretty excited about that the last couple of days. Elder Davidson and I sold some ties and old gadgets to other missionaries in order to help them have enough money to get the papers and everything they needed for the wedding; they were very surprised and grateful when we gave it to them. 1 Nephi 3:7.
Nestor is going through a pretty tough time; he´s been without work for the last couple of weeks and is struggling to keep going day by day. However, he is a trooper. He will be getting baptized next weekend. Also, Daiana might be getting baptized this weekend; if not, it will be next weekend, most likely. She´s an amazing investigator (she memorizes entire CHAPTERS of the Book of Mormon) and she loves church, but she´s very bashful; or at least that´s what she calls it. She´s 24 and has 2 kids, the cousin of a recent convert. We had a lesson with her last night and went over the requirements for baptism, which she has met. I then gave her the little calendar I carry around and told her to choose one of the next 3 or 4 Fridays for her baptism. She said she would and she´s going to let us know today.
Tonight we´re going to be going out with Walter, Daiana´s cousin who is the recent convert. He turns 15 the 26th of Sept., and he is just a stud. He went to the temple 2 weeks after his baptism and loved it. He asked us last night if he could go out and do visits with us, so we told him to come with us tonight! The Lord is preparing a great future leader.
Tomorrow we head to Rivera for district meeting, and we won´t be back until Wednesday night or Thursday morning. We´ll be staying with the Zone Leaders on Tuesday night and Wed morning we all head to Tacuarembó for zone conference. I´m excited. I haven´t seen Tacuarembó since I went for zone conference when I was in Artigas. How the time flies.
Sounds like everything is going well back at home. What audition did Melanie have this week? Good luck, kid! Mom, how´s your leg doing? Dad, have you bought your truck yet?
Don´t worry, Mom, I haven´t forgotten about your Nativity, but this is not the time of year to find one. I´ll keep my eyes open. Bombachas are the type of pants that the gauchos wear here. I bought a couple more soccer jerseys last week in Rivera. I´ve also got some bigger expenses coming up here in a little bit...no details allowed. But just so ya know!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for this week. This morning we tried to wash our clothes...we got halfway done and they cut the water. That was after the power had gone out. Haha. We´re going to head back now and finish washing. Fun stuff. Know that I love ya, and that you´re in my prayers!
Elder Taylor
Well hey there! How are you all doing? Things are going well here. Yesterday after church the sun decided to come out again and chase away the rain clouds that we had been playing with for almost the whole week. It´s been wet, muddy, and pretty chilly. But we´ve had a good time.
Lots of work this last week. A couple of trips to Rivera; once for district meeting, and one because we did divisions with our district leader. Good times. I was here with Elder McClellan, from California. It was fun, but I just like working with my "normal" comp. Just makes things easier. Haha.
Marcos and Paola finally got all the papers they needed and they got a date for their wedding! They will be getting married on Sept. 25th and then Paola, Heber, and Maria will be getting baptized on the 26th! We´ve all been pretty excited about that the last couple of days. Elder Davidson and I sold some ties and old gadgets to other missionaries in order to help them have enough money to get the papers and everything they needed for the wedding; they were very surprised and grateful when we gave it to them. 1 Nephi 3:7.
Nestor is going through a pretty tough time; he´s been without work for the last couple of weeks and is struggling to keep going day by day. However, he is a trooper. He will be getting baptized next weekend. Also, Daiana might be getting baptized this weekend; if not, it will be next weekend, most likely. She´s an amazing investigator (she memorizes entire CHAPTERS of the Book of Mormon) and she loves church, but she´s very bashful; or at least that´s what she calls it. She´s 24 and has 2 kids, the cousin of a recent convert. We had a lesson with her last night and went over the requirements for baptism, which she has met. I then gave her the little calendar I carry around and told her to choose one of the next 3 or 4 Fridays for her baptism. She said she would and she´s going to let us know today.
Tonight we´re going to be going out with Walter, Daiana´s cousin who is the recent convert. He turns 15 the 26th of Sept., and he is just a stud. He went to the temple 2 weeks after his baptism and loved it. He asked us last night if he could go out and do visits with us, so we told him to come with us tonight! The Lord is preparing a great future leader.
Tomorrow we head to Rivera for district meeting, and we won´t be back until Wednesday night or Thursday morning. We´ll be staying with the Zone Leaders on Tuesday night and Wed morning we all head to Tacuarembó for zone conference. I´m excited. I haven´t seen Tacuarembó since I went for zone conference when I was in Artigas. How the time flies.
Sounds like everything is going well back at home. What audition did Melanie have this week? Good luck, kid! Mom, how´s your leg doing? Dad, have you bought your truck yet?
Don´t worry, Mom, I haven´t forgotten about your Nativity, but this is not the time of year to find one. I´ll keep my eyes open. Bombachas are the type of pants that the gauchos wear here. I bought a couple more soccer jerseys last week in Rivera. I´ve also got some bigger expenses coming up here in a little bit...no details allowed. But just so ya know!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for this week. This morning we tried to wash our clothes...we got halfway done and they cut the water. That was after the power had gone out. Haha. We´re going to head back now and finish washing. Fun stuff. Know that I love ya, and that you´re in my prayers!
Elder Taylor
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
¡Buenos días!
Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, I´m not as sore as I thought I would be, so that´s a good thing! Haha. But both Elder Davidson and I are a little more red today! On Sunday we had the idea of just borrowing a couple of bikes and going for a little ride to see the countryside. We went out on the Highway 30 and arrived (12 kilometers later) to Buen Unión, where the highway meets up with the freeway. We looked at the sign and it said RIVERA 41; we had just done 12 kilometers in 45 minutes, with a stop to scare some cows and take a couple of pictures, so we decided we could make it in a little over two hours. What we didn´t realize is that we took a sharp left turn to get on the highway....and to go straight into the wind. It´s a good thing we had bought a couple of apples and bananas before leaving. We were super tired afterwards, but it was a fun memory. Not many can say they biked from Tranqueras to Rivera!
One of the funniest parts is that when we got home, we found out that the water had been cut on our block! Unbelievable. We studied all sweaty and nasty, but then right before we had to leave for our first lesson, the water came on for about 20 minutes, so we could shower. While we were doing our hair, the water cut out again. A tender mercy that it came on at all! Haha.
I don´t know, Mom, if we are that close to the highest point in Uruguay. I can tell you that there are more hills here than any other part of the country that I have seen. There are quite a few gauchos here and in the roundabouts. I´m looking into some boots right now and some bombachas. :o) It´ll be interesting to see if this is my last area or not. I´ll for sure be here until November, but who knows if Pres. will move me for my last change. I kind of hope not; I´d like to finish here. I´m going to start looking for some more souvenirs because in Rivera you can find stuff pretty cheap.
I´d love to go and talk to your class this December about stuff here in the ´Guay. My last couple of days in P-dú I asked about some of the Chistmas traditions and whatnot, found out some stuff that I didn´t even know yet. Cool cool. But yeah, sign me up.
Jose and his family didn´t come to Church yesterday. Well, Jose came to tell us that they weren´t going to come because his wife was sick. But we had a great lesson with them on Saturday night, so we´ll see how things go. We have a baptism next week: Nestor. He is a really good guy who has had a big change. Just last night he told us that he hadn´t smoked since Saturday; that was going to be his biggest challenge before being able to get baptized. He´s going to get baptized the 12th and be confirmed the 14th-his birthday. Also, Marcos and Paola are going to pull out a date for their wedding this week. After they get married, Paola and her two oldest kids are going to get baptized. Marcos is already a member. Sandra and her three kids (Richard, Sandra, and Claudia) have also accepted the invitation to be baptized. It will probably happen the week of the 20th. So yeah, things are going well. Teaching a lot, and doing our best to find more people each day to teach. I´ve been really blessed with great companions throughout my mission who are willing and anxious to work. Even though Elder Davidson is in his last change, he is doing really well. We talk about school and stuff every once and a while, but we don´t let it pull us away from the work. His mom will be coming down to get him the first weekend in October and they´re going to swing by all his areas, so I will have the chance to meet her.
On Sunday, we were pleasantly surprised when the high councilman announced that a member of the branch had been called as branch counselor; Jesus Furtado, who moved here from Rivera about 4 weeks ago with his wife and two young children. We are grateful to have a priesthood leader here in Tranqueras, and we are anxious to support and help him.
No, Mom, I still haven´t sent the CD of pictures. My bad. It´s in my bags. Haha. There´s no post office here to send stuff internationally, so I´ll have to take it to Rivera with me one of these days. We go every week for district meeting (like today) but we don´t have a lot of time to run over there. We might be heading over there next Monday for P-Day, so I´ll see what I can do. I´ll think about what it is that I could need/want in a package, and I´ll let you know! I had some thoughts the last couple of weeks, but I forgot to write them down...!
Alright, I think that´s going to be about it for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic week and I hope you write me about it! :o) Take care and know that I love ya!
Elder Taylor
Well, I´m not as sore as I thought I would be, so that´s a good thing! Haha. But both Elder Davidson and I are a little more red today! On Sunday we had the idea of just borrowing a couple of bikes and going for a little ride to see the countryside. We went out on the Highway 30 and arrived (12 kilometers later) to Buen Unión, where the highway meets up with the freeway. We looked at the sign and it said RIVERA 41; we had just done 12 kilometers in 45 minutes, with a stop to scare some cows and take a couple of pictures, so we decided we could make it in a little over two hours. What we didn´t realize is that we took a sharp left turn to get on the highway....and to go straight into the wind. It´s a good thing we had bought a couple of apples and bananas before leaving. We were super tired afterwards, but it was a fun memory. Not many can say they biked from Tranqueras to Rivera!
One of the funniest parts is that when we got home, we found out that the water had been cut on our block! Unbelievable. We studied all sweaty and nasty, but then right before we had to leave for our first lesson, the water came on for about 20 minutes, so we could shower. While we were doing our hair, the water cut out again. A tender mercy that it came on at all! Haha.
I don´t know, Mom, if we are that close to the highest point in Uruguay. I can tell you that there are more hills here than any other part of the country that I have seen. There are quite a few gauchos here and in the roundabouts. I´m looking into some boots right now and some bombachas. :o) It´ll be interesting to see if this is my last area or not. I´ll for sure be here until November, but who knows if Pres. will move me for my last change. I kind of hope not; I´d like to finish here. I´m going to start looking for some more souvenirs because in Rivera you can find stuff pretty cheap.
I´d love to go and talk to your class this December about stuff here in the ´Guay. My last couple of days in P-dú I asked about some of the Chistmas traditions and whatnot, found out some stuff that I didn´t even know yet. Cool cool. But yeah, sign me up.
Jose and his family didn´t come to Church yesterday. Well, Jose came to tell us that they weren´t going to come because his wife was sick. But we had a great lesson with them on Saturday night, so we´ll see how things go. We have a baptism next week: Nestor. He is a really good guy who has had a big change. Just last night he told us that he hadn´t smoked since Saturday; that was going to be his biggest challenge before being able to get baptized. He´s going to get baptized the 12th and be confirmed the 14th-his birthday. Also, Marcos and Paola are going to pull out a date for their wedding this week. After they get married, Paola and her two oldest kids are going to get baptized. Marcos is already a member. Sandra and her three kids (Richard, Sandra, and Claudia) have also accepted the invitation to be baptized. It will probably happen the week of the 20th. So yeah, things are going well. Teaching a lot, and doing our best to find more people each day to teach. I´ve been really blessed with great companions throughout my mission who are willing and anxious to work. Even though Elder Davidson is in his last change, he is doing really well. We talk about school and stuff every once and a while, but we don´t let it pull us away from the work. His mom will be coming down to get him the first weekend in October and they´re going to swing by all his areas, so I will have the chance to meet her.
On Sunday, we were pleasantly surprised when the high councilman announced that a member of the branch had been called as branch counselor; Jesus Furtado, who moved here from Rivera about 4 weeks ago with his wife and two young children. We are grateful to have a priesthood leader here in Tranqueras, and we are anxious to support and help him.
No, Mom, I still haven´t sent the CD of pictures. My bad. It´s in my bags. Haha. There´s no post office here to send stuff internationally, so I´ll have to take it to Rivera with me one of these days. We go every week for district meeting (like today) but we don´t have a lot of time to run over there. We might be heading over there next Monday for P-Day, so I´ll see what I can do. I´ll think about what it is that I could need/want in a package, and I´ll let you know! I had some thoughts the last couple of weeks, but I forgot to write them down...!
Alright, I think that´s going to be about it for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic week and I hope you write me about it! :o) Take care and know that I love ya!
Elder Taylor
Monday, September 1, 2008
Notice...!
Hey there! Just wanted to drop you all a line so you don´t worry and let you know that we will be writing tomorrow afternoon! Elder Davidson and I took a "little" bike ride this morning to Rivera. Little meaning around 53 kilometers and 3.5 hours! Haha. We´re going to go catch a bus right now to head back and we will be writing tomorrow afternoon while waiting for our bus. So there ya go!
Elder Taylor
Elder Taylor
Monday, August 25, 2008
Happy Independence Day! (or something like that)
Taylor Family and Friends,
Are you all amazed like Dad to know that internet exists here in this little town? Not gonna lie, I had my doubts. Haha. So it´s been about 5 days since I arrived here in Tranqueras, and I´m in love! It´s so much fun. There´s about 8,000 people that live here in the city, so it´s pretty small. If you count everyone that lives out on their ranch, it gets up to about 10,000. Pretty small, but it´s awesome!
I´m here with Elder Mitchell Davidson from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. He goes home in 6 weeks, but we don´t talk about those sort of things. Haha. His mom is actually coming down and they´re gonna go around the country for about a week. He´s actually doing really well, hasn´t gotten too trunky yet. But we´ve got a lot of work to do, so I´m not too worried.
Elder Davidson has been out here for the last six weeks with Elder Lewis, who just went home to Oregon. They were working really well, and we had a baptism last week as a result. So a little about Tranqueras...it´s a tiny branch. We live in a house that doubles as the chapel. We have sacrament meeting/relief society in our garage, primary in the "family room," and priesthood/gospel principles upstairs in the room next to our bedroom. It´s so crazy, but I really enjoyed it. I was going to take a video this morning and send it, but it was all foggy when we left, so it wouldn´t have been as cool. Be anxiously waiting for next week! :o) Our branch president, Pres. Díaz, and his wife are from Rivera; they drive out here every Sunday for the meetings. They´ve actually been called as service missionaries for this time, their calling ends at the end of the year. The branch is super small. Yesterday there was probably 30 people in church, ten of which were investigators and two recent converts.
We are teaching like crazy. At times it seems like there´s not enough hours in the day to teach all of our investigators and find new people to teach. People here are really receptive to the message. Just in these five days, we have found 12 new investigators, including 2 complete families. The Lord has prepared and is preparing this city to hear His message. We have a couple of couples who we are helping get the papers ready for weddings and then their baptism.
Every week Elder Davidson and I head in to Rivera for District Meeting. We´ll probly go in a couple of preparation days, too, for some kind of zone activity. After nine months, I´m back in a two-Elder house. I like it. Nice and peaceful, easy to keep clean, etc.
On Thursday morning, Elder Davidson and I went to look for a reference that he and Elder Lewis had received, but had never been able to find at home. We knocked (clapped) and out came Jose, who stood on the other side of the gate/fence to talk to us. He told us that he and his wife were believers, but they didn´t like to participate in any religion. He was pretty frank and adamant, but we kept talking to him and he then asked us, "Well, what is it exactly that you teach, I MIGHT like to hear it. No promises." We told him we shared a message that blesses the family, that helps it become stronger and more unified. He said, "Okay, come on in. But without any commitment." No problem. We waited outside the door as he and his wife set up the chairs and loveseat. We went in and sat down in front of Jose, his wife, and three kids. We started to talk about the family, and they then told us that they were going through a pretty tough moment in their marriage, and that they needed help. "However," said Jose, "we don´t believe that going to a church will help us. We believe in God, but we don´t like going to any church." Bueno. We kept talking about the family, based on faith, repentance, and forgiveness. After about 5 minutes, Jose told us that if this message helps his family, that he WILL be in church, with all of his family. In 15 minutes, the Lord softened a man´s heart who did not want to hear ANYTHING, to helping him see that going to church will bless his family. Amazing. I´m so grateful for being able to participate in the Father´s miracles.
So that´s what´s going on on this side of the world. I can´t believe that the next time I wrote you all it will be September! Incredible. Elder Shupe and I were talking about it, and it´s so frustrating that when you feel that you finally understand what missionary work is all about and how to do it, the mission is coming to an end. I´ve still got time, but it´s coming too quickly. Definitely a bittersweet feeling. Ok, enough of that talk! :o)
Well, now everyone is back in school. I hope that the year started well for all of you! Work hard, and stay focused, because the time goes by too quickly!
Okay, that´ll be it. I hope you can all find a bit of time to send me a line! Take care of yourselves!
Elder Taylor
Here´s a couple of pictures from our morning adventure! Happy Birthday shoutout to Mary-Anne and Skyler! Have a great day tomorrow!
Are you all amazed like Dad to know that internet exists here in this little town? Not gonna lie, I had my doubts. Haha. So it´s been about 5 days since I arrived here in Tranqueras, and I´m in love! It´s so much fun. There´s about 8,000 people that live here in the city, so it´s pretty small. If you count everyone that lives out on their ranch, it gets up to about 10,000. Pretty small, but it´s awesome!
I´m here with Elder Mitchell Davidson from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. He goes home in 6 weeks, but we don´t talk about those sort of things. Haha. His mom is actually coming down and they´re gonna go around the country for about a week. He´s actually doing really well, hasn´t gotten too trunky yet. But we´ve got a lot of work to do, so I´m not too worried.
Elder Davidson has been out here for the last six weeks with Elder Lewis, who just went home to Oregon. They were working really well, and we had a baptism last week as a result. So a little about Tranqueras...it´s a tiny branch. We live in a house that doubles as the chapel. We have sacrament meeting/relief society in our garage, primary in the "family room," and priesthood/gospel principles upstairs in the room next to our bedroom. It´s so crazy, but I really enjoyed it. I was going to take a video this morning and send it, but it was all foggy when we left, so it wouldn´t have been as cool. Be anxiously waiting for next week! :o) Our branch president, Pres. Díaz, and his wife are from Rivera; they drive out here every Sunday for the meetings. They´ve actually been called as service missionaries for this time, their calling ends at the end of the year. The branch is super small. Yesterday there was probably 30 people in church, ten of which were investigators and two recent converts.
We are teaching like crazy. At times it seems like there´s not enough hours in the day to teach all of our investigators and find new people to teach. People here are really receptive to the message. Just in these five days, we have found 12 new investigators, including 2 complete families. The Lord has prepared and is preparing this city to hear His message. We have a couple of couples who we are helping get the papers ready for weddings and then their baptism.
Every week Elder Davidson and I head in to Rivera for District Meeting. We´ll probly go in a couple of preparation days, too, for some kind of zone activity. After nine months, I´m back in a two-Elder house. I like it. Nice and peaceful, easy to keep clean, etc.
On Thursday morning, Elder Davidson and I went to look for a reference that he and Elder Lewis had received, but had never been able to find at home. We knocked (clapped) and out came Jose, who stood on the other side of the gate/fence to talk to us. He told us that he and his wife were believers, but they didn´t like to participate in any religion. He was pretty frank and adamant, but we kept talking to him and he then asked us, "Well, what is it exactly that you teach, I MIGHT like to hear it. No promises." We told him we shared a message that blesses the family, that helps it become stronger and more unified. He said, "Okay, come on in. But without any commitment." No problem. We waited outside the door as he and his wife set up the chairs and loveseat. We went in and sat down in front of Jose, his wife, and three kids. We started to talk about the family, and they then told us that they were going through a pretty tough moment in their marriage, and that they needed help. "However," said Jose, "we don´t believe that going to a church will help us. We believe in God, but we don´t like going to any church." Bueno. We kept talking about the family, based on faith, repentance, and forgiveness. After about 5 minutes, Jose told us that if this message helps his family, that he WILL be in church, with all of his family. In 15 minutes, the Lord softened a man´s heart who did not want to hear ANYTHING, to helping him see that going to church will bless his family. Amazing. I´m so grateful for being able to participate in the Father´s miracles.
So that´s what´s going on on this side of the world. I can´t believe that the next time I wrote you all it will be September! Incredible. Elder Shupe and I were talking about it, and it´s so frustrating that when you feel that you finally understand what missionary work is all about and how to do it, the mission is coming to an end. I´ve still got time, but it´s coming too quickly. Definitely a bittersweet feeling. Ok, enough of that talk! :o)
Well, now everyone is back in school. I hope that the year started well for all of you! Work hard, and stay focused, because the time goes by too quickly!
Okay, that´ll be it. I hope you can all find a bit of time to send me a line! Take care of yourselves!
Elder Taylor
Here´s a couple of pictures from our morning adventure! Happy Birthday shoutout to Mary-Anne and Skyler! Have a great day tomorrow!
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