Here's some of the pictures from the CD that
Aaron recently sent home...
Aaron recently sent home...
Monday, February 25, 2008
Getting bored w/ subject lines...!
Taylor Family and Friends,
> Starting these letters is always weird. I know I´ve commented on it before, but just so you guys understand, I´m mentioning it again. Anyone got any good ideas for starting a weekly letter?
> This week was a pretty sweet week. We had Stake Conference yesterday, that was cool. Elder Huber and I had 9 investigators there for the general session. But that wasn´t even the best part; the best part was that President Peterson and his family were there! Pres. got up to speak for only about 5 minutes, but I think even person in that room could feel the power behind that man´s testimony. Pres. Peterson also gave me the chills...when he invited everyone at the conference who wasn´t yet a member of the Church to get baptized! He basically just invited around 20 people to get baptized! It was awesome.
> Nahuel is getting baptized this Friday night, and we´re working with the rest of his family, as well. We are going to invite Rosana, his older sister, with a date this week. We watched the Restoration last night and had an awesome lesson afterwards; mostly because we ate cookies that Elder Huber and I had made. :o) No, just kidding. But we compared the Restoration of the Gospel to cookies. How did we do it? Send me your ideas, and I´ll tell you how close you are!
> Anyways, Rosana got really in to President´s talk, especially when he gave the invitation. Last night, we invited her, along with the rest of the family to pray and ask if the message of the Restoration is true, and upon knowing, to be baptized. They all accepted. The Lord is really pouring out His blessings upon Elder Huber and I, and our investigators. It makes me kind of nervous, because changes are next week...I don´t want to change a good thing. Haha. But, that isn´t really a decision that I make! So, make sure you got that note, NEXT WEEK IS CHANGE WEEK, WHICH MEANS I´LL PROBLY BE WRITING ON TUESDAY. Ok, moving on.
> I don´t think I told you guys about Frederico last week, so I´ll do it now. I got a call from the offices of the mission about a week and a half ago, and they gave me a name and a address of a reference received from a member in Fray Bentos. Anyways, we went and contacted this reference, and it turns out that Frederico´s older brother sent Frederico´s name in as a reference. Frederico went and stayed w/ his older brother for a couple of weeks in Fray Bentos a couple of months ago, went to church w/ his older bro (who is a member of the Church) and he really liked. Frederico is 14, but he´s SUPER smart, and SUPER nice. He made us cake on Thursday or Friday...of course we´re going to like him. :o) The first lesson we had with him, we were just trying to get to know him a little bit, and he told us that he wanted to be sure of what we teach before he gets baptized; Frederico, there is no problem with that. Haha. We gave him a conditional invitation to be baptized, and he accepted. We have a lesson with him tonight, and we are super excited.
> Elder Huber is doing awesome. He understands basically everything, and he´s starting to open up more in lessons and whatnot. The other night he got kind of frustrated because he couldn´t express what he wanted to, but on the way home we had a good chat, and then looked up the words together when we got home. Just an awesome kid with great desires and an even better potential.
> That Spanish translation was pretty funny...all the missionaries got a good laugh at it. Maybe you should just take it to someone who speaks Spanish. ;o)
> Speaking of people who never answer questions...you guys left like all of mine unanswered! C´mon now. I have somewhat of an excuse-I only have one hour to read and write, but you guys have a whole week! Haha. Have you heard from or tried to contact Elder Stoddard? Did you tell Matt Lamunyon hi for me? How is Spring Break looking for next year? Good? Good. Hmmm...can´t remember what the other questions were, but that´s ok.
> Melanie, how was your show?! I was telling people here about it all week last week. Haha. One of our investigators, Ricardo, basically fell in love with one of the pictures I have of you! Mary-Anne sent me one of you sitting in the old computer chair when you had your extensions in, and Ricardo almost didn´t give me the picture back! Haha. Everyone here loves seeing your hair, especially!
> Alright, well I think that might just about cover it for this week. If I missed anything, please forgive me. My bad. Take care of yourselves this week! Next week will be March....weird. Have fun!
> Elder Taylor
> Starting these letters is always weird. I know I´ve commented on it before, but just so you guys understand, I´m mentioning it again. Anyone got any good ideas for starting a weekly letter?
> This week was a pretty sweet week. We had Stake Conference yesterday, that was cool. Elder Huber and I had 9 investigators there for the general session. But that wasn´t even the best part; the best part was that President Peterson and his family were there! Pres. got up to speak for only about 5 minutes, but I think even person in that room could feel the power behind that man´s testimony. Pres. Peterson also gave me the chills...when he invited everyone at the conference who wasn´t yet a member of the Church to get baptized! He basically just invited around 20 people to get baptized! It was awesome.
> Nahuel is getting baptized this Friday night, and we´re working with the rest of his family, as well. We are going to invite Rosana, his older sister, with a date this week. We watched the Restoration last night and had an awesome lesson afterwards; mostly because we ate cookies that Elder Huber and I had made. :o) No, just kidding. But we compared the Restoration of the Gospel to cookies. How did we do it? Send me your ideas, and I´ll tell you how close you are!
> Anyways, Rosana got really in to President´s talk, especially when he gave the invitation. Last night, we invited her, along with the rest of the family to pray and ask if the message of the Restoration is true, and upon knowing, to be baptized. They all accepted. The Lord is really pouring out His blessings upon Elder Huber and I, and our investigators. It makes me kind of nervous, because changes are next week...I don´t want to change a good thing. Haha. But, that isn´t really a decision that I make! So, make sure you got that note, NEXT WEEK IS CHANGE WEEK, WHICH MEANS I´LL PROBLY BE WRITING ON TUESDAY. Ok, moving on.
> I don´t think I told you guys about Frederico last week, so I´ll do it now. I got a call from the offices of the mission about a week and a half ago, and they gave me a name and a address of a reference received from a member in Fray Bentos. Anyways, we went and contacted this reference, and it turns out that Frederico´s older brother sent Frederico´s name in as a reference. Frederico went and stayed w/ his older brother for a couple of weeks in Fray Bentos a couple of months ago, went to church w/ his older bro (who is a member of the Church) and he really liked. Frederico is 14, but he´s SUPER smart, and SUPER nice. He made us cake on Thursday or Friday...of course we´re going to like him. :o) The first lesson we had with him, we were just trying to get to know him a little bit, and he told us that he wanted to be sure of what we teach before he gets baptized; Frederico, there is no problem with that. Haha. We gave him a conditional invitation to be baptized, and he accepted. We have a lesson with him tonight, and we are super excited.
> Elder Huber is doing awesome. He understands basically everything, and he´s starting to open up more in lessons and whatnot. The other night he got kind of frustrated because he couldn´t express what he wanted to, but on the way home we had a good chat, and then looked up the words together when we got home. Just an awesome kid with great desires and an even better potential.
> That Spanish translation was pretty funny...all the missionaries got a good laugh at it. Maybe you should just take it to someone who speaks Spanish. ;o)
> Speaking of people who never answer questions...you guys left like all of mine unanswered! C´mon now. I have somewhat of an excuse-I only have one hour to read and write, but you guys have a whole week! Haha. Have you heard from or tried to contact Elder Stoddard? Did you tell Matt Lamunyon hi for me? How is Spring Break looking for next year? Good? Good. Hmmm...can´t remember what the other questions were, but that´s ok.
> Melanie, how was your show?! I was telling people here about it all week last week. Haha. One of our investigators, Ricardo, basically fell in love with one of the pictures I have of you! Mary-Anne sent me one of you sitting in the old computer chair when you had your extensions in, and Ricardo almost didn´t give me the picture back! Haha. Everyone here loves seeing your hair, especially!
> Alright, well I think that might just about cover it for this week. If I missed anything, please forgive me. My bad. Take care of yourselves this week! Next week will be March....weird. Have fun!
> Elder Taylor
Monday, February 18, 2008
Another Anniversary...!?
Taylor Family and Friends,
Hey! ¿Cómo se están portando todos? Espero que todos anden bien. Quizás debo escribir esta carta en español...¿qué tal? Todavía no lo he hecho, y ¡hace un año que estoy aquí en la misión! ¿Qué lo tiró? El tiempo está pasando muy rápido-no sé lo que dicen los demás, pero para mí, es así. Los que han servido una misión saben cómo me siento. Pero bueno, para que todos puedan disfrutar de esta carta y para que mi madre no me baje la caña...voy a escribir en íngles ahora.
So how many of you could understand that?! I´ve been in the mission over a year, and I´ve never tested your spanish skills, so I figured I would give it a shot. How´d ya´ll do?
I´m super tired. Haha. This morning, the zone got together and we went up to the fort on El Cerro. That was pretty fun. The museum up there was closed, but when Elder Huber and I were taking a picture pretending to knock on the fort door, one of the military guys asked us how big our group was...I told him 14, and he said that they could open it up special for us, if we wanted. Of course we said yes. We went in, saw what there was to see, and left him with a pamphlet as a thank-you. :o)
Elder Huber and I had an AWESOME week this last week. We taught more lessons this week than I have in any other week while here in Cerro. We also found a ton of new people to teach. Some are just alright, but there are some others that we are really excited for. Also, a couple of the less-active families that we have been working with came to church. Overall, una semana exitosa.
Nahuel, Pablo´s son, was supposed to get baptized this next weekend, the 23rd, but we have stake conference, so we are postponing it until the first of March. That whole family is doing really well. We watched "The Testaments" with them last night, and the oldest daughter, Rosana (who has three kids) was really touched, because we had talked extensively about Jesus Christ throughout the week. Before we watched the movie, as we were waiting for something, I told her that when she gets baptized, I´m going to do it; if it means I have to come back from the States, so be it! We both laughed afterwards...but hey, you never know! :o)
Mary-Anne, I got your package last week! I think it got through untouched, too, so that means that you can´t get mad and stop sending packages. Haha. The music is awesome! Thank you SOOOO much. I didn´t expect you to put it all nice in a folder and whatnot, too-what an awesome sister I have. :o) No, Mom, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it a week or so ago, I should probly get it next weekish. I´m glad you all got my package. I tried to send some of the best alfajores with the package, but they told me that it wasn´t permitted. Remember what alfajores are? The SUPER good cookie-type thing that you guys said tasted like a dry alfajor? I still can´t believe that blasphemy. :o) When we come to visit the ´Guay, you will all recognize the beauty of an alfajor.
Speaking of coming to visit the ´Guay...how are those plans coming? Everyone getting next Spring Break set apart? Sure hope so! Elder Ludlow, who also went to Bingham, and I have been talking about coming back next April...if ya´ll care to join us! He´s one of my ZL´s here in Cerro. It´s been a lot of fun.
Megan, you look SOOO good! I´m so stoked for you! How does it feel to have your braces off? Did it feel kind of weird at first? It might have felt weird, but that´s one of the best feelings ever. Haha. Thanks for sending me the pics, Goose!
Melanie, was your play this last weekend, or next? How did it go, or how is it going? What is the play called? I forgot. My bad. Have you gone on any hot dates lately? :o)
Who are Bishop Mangum´s counselors? Bro. Lumberg and...? That sounds like a sweet bishopric! Bishop Mangum is an amazing guy, and I´m basically in love with the Lumberg family! I´m sure the other counselor is a good guy, too. :o)
No, Dad, I haven´t heard from Eduardo in a super long time. The last thing I heard was that he got the Melquisedec (I don´t know how to spell it in English) Priesthood and just doing fantastic. I wrote him another letter a few weeks ago, so I´m hoping to hear from him soon. Who is your home teacher that translated the video? That´s awesome! Quizás debo escribir totalmente en español para que él les pueda servir! ¿Qué le parece? :o) Matt LaMunyon gets home this week?! That´s super weird. Make sure you tell him hello for me!
They don´t really celebrate Valentine´s Day over here, but at least every one knows it´s a holiday. Oh, speaking of the holidays...this week I hit my year-mark in the ´Guay. Pretty sweet, uh? And my comp hits his month-mark. :o) Yeah, you guys are a "tad" behind on the scrapbook...Elder Stoddard was my TRAINER! Haha. Have you guys heard from him, ps? I haven´t heard from him since he left in August-what a punk!
Anyways, so that´s about it. Dad, did you ever look in your journal for an Elder Garns? That´d be pretty sweet! You should probly hop on that. Well, I hope you all had a fantastic week! I can´t wait to hear from ya!
Elder Taylor
Monday, February 11, 2008
Howdy Y'all...
Taylor Family and Friends,
> Yes, Mary-Anne, I did get your email. Sorry for not mentioning it! I thought it was pretty funny that Nathanael had to send your email because you forgot and fell asleep. :o)
> Anyways, today I am writing you all from a cyber in Playa Pascual. We are doing an activity as a zone, so we all got together in this area. We bought like 16 pounds of meat and then 2 sausage-type things for each missionary for lunch. Mmm. Elder Espínola, from Paraguay, volunteered to cook us the asado today, because apparently they make it pretty sweet in Paraguay. I´m super excited to eat. Haha.
> Last week was a really good week. We had Sector/Zone Conference last week, which was fantastic. The mission is really taking on a different look with President Peterson, I love it. Before Pres. and his family arrive at the conferences, they always give us a chapter to study in the scriptures to invite the Spirit before the Conference. This week the study was 1 Corinthians 13 and Moroni 7:33-48. We study for about 15 minutes or so until Pres. gets there. When he gets there and we start the Conference, he chooses and Elder or an Hermana to give a 5-minute talk on the study. We he shook my hand on Thursday, I knew I was going to be called-and sure enough...! It went well. I think it was one of the first times I was nervous to talk in front of missionary´s in my whole mission, or close to. I don´t know why I was kinda nervous, but I was. It went well, though. So that was fun. Elder Huber also had the opportunity to speak, because in every Zone Conference, the new Elders bear their testimony and also those who are ending this change. My comp is just a stud, that´s all that can be said. He´s doing super well.
> Last week, as I said, was a great week. We are working with Nahuel to finish getting him prepared to be baptized. We weren´t going have time to teach him all the principles before this Saturday, so we pushed the baptism back a week. Anyways, last Friday we went over to talk about the Word of Wisdom. As of late, his WHOLE family has been listening and participating with us. That would include his 28-year old sister (Rosana) with her three children, his 20-year old brother (Fabian) and his 18-year old girlfriend/fiancé. So Fabian is a "social-drinker" and his gf, Mariana, smokes, so we knew that this was going to have to be a great lesson. And a great lesson it was. By the end of the lesson, both had committed, by themselves, to stop drinking and smoking. It was amazing. The Spirit definitely testified to the whole family about the truthfulness of the message. At the end of the lesson, we invited all of them to come to Church on Sunday. All of them had been at least once, except for Rosana. She kind of looked away when I invited them all, but I made eye contact with her, and said, "You too, Rosana." She said, "Oh, I don´t know. I might go...some very distant day. We´ll see." So I re-extended the invitation and left it at that. Sunday morning comes around and the whole Godoy family was at Church...including Rosana. She LOVED it; she participated more than almost anyone else in the classes. We are going to have a FHE with them tonight, and we´re super excited to talk about their experience at Church.
> So that was good. Another great thing, Ricardo came to church with his son, Liber. It´s obvious that they both still have their doubts, but getting them to Church was a HUGE step. So basically, Church was a fantastic experience! Well, more than usual, of course...! :o)
> Last week we had a few rainstorms; it was nice to have a break from all of the heat. We only got drenched a couple of times...no big deal. It actually reminded me of Utah rainstorms, because it would be super hard for about 5-10 minutes, and then it would just drizzle for a while. Good times.
> We went to the Leadership Training Broadcast on Saturday night; that was good. The family must be a pretty important subject, eh? A two-hour leadership training on how we can protect and strengthen the family. If only there was an easy, effective way to just let everyone know all at once that THAT is what the Church is all about-providing the questions that we all have about our families. If people could just see past the shirts and ties and listen to the message that we share about the ETERNAL HAPPINESS of THEIR family...things would definitely change. They never said it would be easy, right? Just that it would be worth it.
> So Mary-Anne got a new job, Megan is getting her braces off, and Mom is back in school. A pretty full week. And Melanie...? Haven´t heard from my soul-sister in a while-what´s that all about, kid? :o) Nathanael, thanks for keeping me up-to-date on the important stuff. Haha. I had heard about the outcome, but that´s about it. When I come and live with you guys for a while, it appears we´ll have quite a few games to watch!
> Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it two weeks ago, I´ll either get it tomorrow or next Tuesday...that would be normal. I´ll let you know! I´m wearing the shirt that you sent me today...everyone loves it. Haha. :o)
> Mom, you asked if there´s anything that I want or need. Here´s my Valentine´s Day list...
> -Mother´s Taffy Cookies
> -Pictures of my House (My family would be good, too; Friends, "conocidos", it´s all good!)
> -Maple Extract (so I can make syrup)
> Other than that, I´m not quite sure at the moment. Those are the things I thought of in this last week. So if you can help me out with that...that´d be fantastic.
> Well, I think that´s gonna be about it for this week. Sorry if I left anything out that I should have included...don´t get mad at me. Haha. I hope you´re all doing well and enjoying the cold weather! Have fun, and don´t forget to drop me a line!
> Elder Taylor
> Yes, Mary-Anne, I did get your email. Sorry for not mentioning it! I thought it was pretty funny that Nathanael had to send your email because you forgot and fell asleep. :o)
> Anyways, today I am writing you all from a cyber in Playa Pascual. We are doing an activity as a zone, so we all got together in this area. We bought like 16 pounds of meat and then 2 sausage-type things for each missionary for lunch. Mmm. Elder Espínola, from Paraguay, volunteered to cook us the asado today, because apparently they make it pretty sweet in Paraguay. I´m super excited to eat. Haha.
> Last week was a really good week. We had Sector/Zone Conference last week, which was fantastic. The mission is really taking on a different look with President Peterson, I love it. Before Pres. and his family arrive at the conferences, they always give us a chapter to study in the scriptures to invite the Spirit before the Conference. This week the study was 1 Corinthians 13 and Moroni 7:33-48. We study for about 15 minutes or so until Pres. gets there. When he gets there and we start the Conference, he chooses and Elder or an Hermana to give a 5-minute talk on the study. We he shook my hand on Thursday, I knew I was going to be called-and sure enough...! It went well. I think it was one of the first times I was nervous to talk in front of missionary´s in my whole mission, or close to. I don´t know why I was kinda nervous, but I was. It went well, though. So that was fun. Elder Huber also had the opportunity to speak, because in every Zone Conference, the new Elders bear their testimony and also those who are ending this change. My comp is just a stud, that´s all that can be said. He´s doing super well.
> Last week, as I said, was a great week. We are working with Nahuel to finish getting him prepared to be baptized. We weren´t going have time to teach him all the principles before this Saturday, so we pushed the baptism back a week. Anyways, last Friday we went over to talk about the Word of Wisdom. As of late, his WHOLE family has been listening and participating with us. That would include his 28-year old sister (Rosana) with her three children, his 20-year old brother (Fabian) and his 18-year old girlfriend/fiancé. So Fabian is a "social-drinker" and his gf, Mariana, smokes, so we knew that this was going to have to be a great lesson. And a great lesson it was. By the end of the lesson, both had committed, by themselves, to stop drinking and smoking. It was amazing. The Spirit definitely testified to the whole family about the truthfulness of the message. At the end of the lesson, we invited all of them to come to Church on Sunday. All of them had been at least once, except for Rosana. She kind of looked away when I invited them all, but I made eye contact with her, and said, "You too, Rosana." She said, "Oh, I don´t know. I might go...some very distant day. We´ll see." So I re-extended the invitation and left it at that. Sunday morning comes around and the whole Godoy family was at Church...including Rosana. She LOVED it; she participated more than almost anyone else in the classes. We are going to have a FHE with them tonight, and we´re super excited to talk about their experience at Church.
> So that was good. Another great thing, Ricardo came to church with his son, Liber. It´s obvious that they both still have their doubts, but getting them to Church was a HUGE step. So basically, Church was a fantastic experience! Well, more than usual, of course...! :o)
> Last week we had a few rainstorms; it was nice to have a break from all of the heat. We only got drenched a couple of times...no big deal. It actually reminded me of Utah rainstorms, because it would be super hard for about 5-10 minutes, and then it would just drizzle for a while. Good times.
> We went to the Leadership Training Broadcast on Saturday night; that was good. The family must be a pretty important subject, eh? A two-hour leadership training on how we can protect and strengthen the family. If only there was an easy, effective way to just let everyone know all at once that THAT is what the Church is all about-providing the questions that we all have about our families. If people could just see past the shirts and ties and listen to the message that we share about the ETERNAL HAPPINESS of THEIR family...things would definitely change. They never said it would be easy, right? Just that it would be worth it.
> So Mary-Anne got a new job, Megan is getting her braces off, and Mom is back in school. A pretty full week. And Melanie...? Haven´t heard from my soul-sister in a while-what´s that all about, kid? :o) Nathanael, thanks for keeping me up-to-date on the important stuff. Haha. I had heard about the outcome, but that´s about it. When I come and live with you guys for a while, it appears we´ll have quite a few games to watch!
> Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it two weeks ago, I´ll either get it tomorrow or next Tuesday...that would be normal. I´ll let you know! I´m wearing the shirt that you sent me today...everyone loves it. Haha. :o)
> Mom, you asked if there´s anything that I want or need. Here´s my Valentine´s Day list...
> -Mother´s Taffy Cookies
> -Pictures of my House (My family would be good, too; Friends, "conocidos", it´s all good!)
> -Maple Extract (so I can make syrup)
> Other than that, I´m not quite sure at the moment. Those are the things I thought of in this last week. So if you can help me out with that...that´d be fantastic.
> Well, I think that´s gonna be about it for this week. Sorry if I left anything out that I should have included...don´t get mad at me. Haha. I hope you´re all doing well and enjoying the cold weather! Have fun, and don´t forget to drop me a line!
> Elder Taylor
Monday, February 4, 2008
Well hey there...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Hmm...where to start? A very interesting week. The main event was the funeral service of President Hinckley. We received permission to go and see the satellite broadcast at the Stake Center. I don´t know how long the program was at home, but we had a four hour broadcast; about 2.5 hours of the funeral and then about 1.5 of documentary type stuff. I did really well emotionally until the last song, "My Shepherd" which was accompanied by the slideshow of Pres. Hinckley. I don´t know if any of you remember, but Bingham´s Acappella choir my junior year sang that song...that was a tender mercy. I don´t know if it´s possible to put into words the feelings that we all have about such an amazing leader and example. I agree with Bishop Burton when he said it´s a especially hard loss for the youth of the Church; Pres. Hinckley was a role-model and an icon for the youth. He will be deeply missed.
Towards the end of last week, Elder Huber was feeling a little under the weather. I think it´s just that his stomach is trying to get used to the different diet. But he´s doing ok now. We´ve been doing really well together; we get along really well, so that´s definitely a good thing! He´s just a cool kid. I say kid...but he´s older and a LOT bigger than me. Haha. He could probly lay me flat with one swing. Needless to say, no one messes with us in the streets. :o)
Yesterday, we ate lunch with one of our investigators, Ricardo. (We are also teaching his 23-year-old son, Liber, if that helps you realize who it is.) Anyways, they couldn´t go to Church because they had family coming in from out of town, but to "make up for it" they invited us to come over and eat with them. We went over and had a very nice meal with them. His sister-in-law, two nieces, and a soon-to-be-nephew were there, along with Ricardo´s wife and son. Right when we sat down at the table before we started eating, the nieces and the nephew starting firing questions. It was an awesome lunch. I just love helping people correct their misconceptions about the Church. Not that they had "misconceptions," they just had NO idea who we are or what we do. They even thought that we were a branch of the Catholic Church....umm, no. It was a lot of fun, because they were kids around our age and it´s usually a more interesting conversation with kids your own age, because it´s easier to relate. Anyways, that was a fun experience.
This week there wasn´t a lot of big events, so I´m running out of things to say. Haha. Oh! One of the Elders that lives in our house, Elder Johanson, (from the Tri Cities, Washington area) hit his year mark on the mission this last week. We made a microwave cake, bought ice cream, and he burnt a tie. It was fun, because he did what I didn´t do at my year mark. :o)
Anyways, it sounds like you guys had a really cool experience at Pres. Hinckley´s viewing. In all, how long were you there? That would have been a really neat experience. I´m super glad that Megan wanted to go. Way to be, Goose.
Ok, so to make up for my short letter, I am sending pictures! There´s one of my son and I, Elder Huber, about 1 minute after we met each other; one of the house where I am living, which I love; one of my Christmas Eve dinner with the Baez family; and one of me with the Peterson family at our Zone Conference in December. Oh, and I´ll throw in one of Elder Larsen and I eating watermelon last change! Mmm. Be jealous. :o)
I hope that makes up for my short letter this week. If not...well... there´s really no other option. I´m excited to hear from you all. Take care of yourselves and drop me a line to give me an update an what´s going on! ¡Chao chao!
Elder Taylor
Hmm...where to start? A very interesting week. The main event was the funeral service of President Hinckley. We received permission to go and see the satellite broadcast at the Stake Center. I don´t know how long the program was at home, but we had a four hour broadcast; about 2.5 hours of the funeral and then about 1.5 of documentary type stuff. I did really well emotionally until the last song, "My Shepherd" which was accompanied by the slideshow of Pres. Hinckley. I don´t know if any of you remember, but Bingham´s Acappella choir my junior year sang that song...that was a tender mercy. I don´t know if it´s possible to put into words the feelings that we all have about such an amazing leader and example. I agree with Bishop Burton when he said it´s a especially hard loss for the youth of the Church; Pres. Hinckley was a role-model and an icon for the youth. He will be deeply missed.
Towards the end of last week, Elder Huber was feeling a little under the weather. I think it´s just that his stomach is trying to get used to the different diet. But he´s doing ok now. We´ve been doing really well together; we get along really well, so that´s definitely a good thing! He´s just a cool kid. I say kid...but he´s older and a LOT bigger than me. Haha. He could probly lay me flat with one swing. Needless to say, no one messes with us in the streets. :o)
Yesterday, we ate lunch with one of our investigators, Ricardo. (We are also teaching his 23-year-old son, Liber, if that helps you realize who it is.) Anyways, they couldn´t go to Church because they had family coming in from out of town, but to "make up for it" they invited us to come over and eat with them. We went over and had a very nice meal with them. His sister-in-law, two nieces, and a soon-to-be-nephew were there, along with Ricardo´s wife and son. Right when we sat down at the table before we started eating, the nieces and the nephew starting firing questions. It was an awesome lunch. I just love helping people correct their misconceptions about the Church. Not that they had "misconceptions," they just had NO idea who we are or what we do. They even thought that we were a branch of the Catholic Church....umm, no. It was a lot of fun, because they were kids around our age and it´s usually a more interesting conversation with kids your own age, because it´s easier to relate. Anyways, that was a fun experience.
This week there wasn´t a lot of big events, so I´m running out of things to say. Haha. Oh! One of the Elders that lives in our house, Elder Johanson, (from the Tri Cities, Washington area) hit his year mark on the mission this last week. We made a microwave cake, bought ice cream, and he burnt a tie. It was fun, because he did what I didn´t do at my year mark. :o)
Anyways, it sounds like you guys had a really cool experience at Pres. Hinckley´s viewing. In all, how long were you there? That would have been a really neat experience. I´m super glad that Megan wanted to go. Way to be, Goose.
Ok, so to make up for my short letter, I am sending pictures! There´s one of my son and I, Elder Huber, about 1 minute after we met each other; one of the house where I am living, which I love; one of my Christmas Eve dinner with the Baez family; and one of me with the Peterson family at our Zone Conference in December. Oh, and I´ll throw in one of Elder Larsen and I eating watermelon last change! Mmm. Be jealous. :o)
I hope that makes up for my short letter this week. If not...well... there´s really no other option. I´m excited to hear from you all. Take care of yourselves and drop me a line to give me an update an what´s going on! ¡Chao chao!
Elder Taylor
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
