Well hey there...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
So, 13 months and 1 day, uh? That´s pretty sweet. To be honest, I didn´t even realize it was my ´anniversary´ until after church yesterday when we were in a lesson getting ready to set our next appointment. But when finally realized it, it was a pretty sweet moment. Haha. Oh before I forget, changes are next week, so I will be writing on Tuesday. Just so ya´ll know!
I have a question...did anyone else notice any weird accent when called for Christmas. Mary-Anne claims that I have a thick accent and a lisp-type thing going on; but she was the only one that mentioned anything, so I´m wondering if she´s still ´all there.´ Just kidding, love ya, M-A! But of course I could understand having an accent...after talking Spanish for over a year, what do you expect? Haha.
It´s kind of interesting to recognize changes in yourself on the mission, though. Some of them (obviously) aren´t as blatant to you as they are to others, because the life you are living is completely different from that of before; but there are still quite a few that are fun to recognize. For example, I´ve noticed that I´m just a more patient person than I was before. It´s interesting to meet someone in the street and afterwards talk about how you might have reacted differently before the mission. It´s quite the learning experience. You meet people from all different walks of life. That is another thing I´ve noticed... I really just like meeting people. I was a pretty social person before the mission, but I think that has grown. I still have no idea for sure what I´m going to study after the mission, but I´m basically positive that it´s going to have to be something where I have contact with the people. So we´ll see. I still have a long time to think about it. :o)
So I´m kind of depressed about that package that Mary-Anne sent me. It got through all good...except for the Detroit Lions stocking. That would have been SOOO sweet! Even the beef jerky got through untouched, which is very rare. Why people would steal a Lions stocking, I´m not sure. They probly just have no idea about how good my favorite team is...! :o) Oh well, I´ll just be depressed for a little while. Haha.
Mom, you asked about our food/laundry arrangements here in ´Deo. Well, the ward I´m in is split between the two companionships in our house; and, as luck would have it, I got put on the side where most of the less-active members live. Which means if we want more lunches with members, we have to do some missionary work and reactivate them first. Haha. But it´s giving me a chance to practice my cooking skills. Although the cooking is very different here, because all we have is a microwave and a gas can with a frying pan on top. Good times. As for laundry, the lady that lives behind us (who owns the house we live in) does our laundry. She charges 70 pesos a load, which isn´t super cheap, but not super expensive. They´re not members, but they´re really good people. Nice old couple.
No, I didn´t get my package sent off last week, but I did get the pictures copied onto a CD. I just have to make sure I have enough stuff in the box to make it worth it to send. Maybe if I buy some stuff today I´ll send it tomorrow when we go to District Meeting, which is close by the post office.
Megan´s giving a talk in church this week? That´s so cool! What is the topic, Goose? Don´t mess up. Haha. Just kidding.You´ll do great, kid!
Finding in Montevideo isn´t as bad as I thought it would be. But finding people who progress has been the challenge. We can find people and have a couple lessons with them, but it´s harder to find people here who really progress. They are here, we just have to find them, and it makes it all the sweeter when we do.
For example, we are teaching Gabriel and Sandra, who are 26 and 34. Really nice young couple. Gabriel´s parents used to be members of the Church, but for a problem of which I´m not sure of all the details, they left the Church. That was over 20 years ago, so when he was about 6. As a result, he knows basically nothing about the church; heard a couple of things here and there, but nothing for sure. Anyways, we started teaching them and the change has been amazing. At first, they “just wanted to talked” but now the desire has changed. We gave them a Book of Mormon yesterday. At the end of the lesson, Sandra prayed for the first time with us. After she got done saying an awesome prayer, she looked up, put her hand on her chest and said to us, “This is that feeling that you were describing.” I asked her if she remembered what it was. She nodded, “The Spirit.” Exactly. “When you read this chapter in the Book of Mormon and ask God if it´s true, you will feel that same feeling.” God truly does prepare His children. I have no doubt that the message of the restored gospel is a message that God has prepared for the happiness of His children. Eternal happiness.
Mary-Anne, you put my song online?! You didn´t even tell me! I got a letter from Alison last week, who told me that she had heard my song and explained that she found it on the blog, or something like that. Just make sure you copyright it. Haha. I really need to take advantage of the piano in our house here. Maybe next week I´ll just stay inside all p-day and write music. I started another song a couple of weeks ago, but I just can´t find the time to work on it. Hmmm. Taking a theory class would have helped speed up the process, as well. Oh well, next semester!
Anyways, I think that´s going to be all for today. I think there was some other stuff I had written, but with the power going out (twice), I can´t remember all I had written. My bad. Can´t wait to hear from all of you! Take care of yourselves and have a great week! Love ya!
Elder Taylor