P-dú...

Taylor Family and Friends,
How are you all doing? Things are going really well here in beautiful Paysandú. It´s really nice to be back to a "normal" city. I really enjoyed my time in Montevideo, but I´d almost forgotten how different it is to be in a laid-back city. Don´t get me wrong, Paysandú is a good-sized city, about 80, 000, but it´s definitely no Cerro, Montevideo.
I arrived here about 5 AM on Wednesday morning on a bus with Elder Stobbe, who was coming in from Colonia. We talked for a little starting the bus ride at 12:30, but then decided we should sleep. Not the best night´s sleep, but that´s ok. About 5 minutes after we pulled into the terminal here, Elder Maughan and Elder Ballard walked up and we headed our separate ways. Elder Maughan and I live with two other Elders, Elder Villa and Elder Arrieta. They are both from Peru. Elder Villa is one of the two Elders that I arrived to the mission with, so it´s fun to be on this close-term basis. We live in an apartment building called PayTorre, on the 11th floor. Needless to say, the view is something to see; no, I haven´t taken pictures yet, because my batteries ran out, but I´ll send some next week. The house is pretty spacious. Two bathrooms, which is VERY nice in a 4-Elder house. We live in the middle of town, so that´s fun. Elder Maughan and I have to walk about 10 blocks everyday to get into our area, but that´s no big deal.
Our area is actually not too big, geographically-speaking, but we´ll have plenty to keep us busy. We have a little part of the city and along the river bank, which tend to be poorer neighborhoods. The ward is decent-sized; about 50 people in church yesterday, with some of the "regulars" being absent. Right before church started yesterday, I said hello to the bishop (not for the first time) and he asked me if I could give a short little talk in Sacrament Meeting while "introducing" myself. Sure Bishop, no problem. Don´t you just love surprise talks? I´ll never complain about talking again with a week´s notice. :o) Not to give you any ideas, Bishop Mangum...!
We had our first District Mtg. on Thursday; it went well. There are 12 Elders in our zone and 2 Hermanas. The Hermanas are actually in a little city called Young about an hour outside of P-dú. We have a good zone, with a lot of potential...now just time to develop it. We had the highest amount of people in church yesterday than this zone has seen in over a year...that´s a good start!
Elder Maughan and his previous companion, Elder Gray (from Riverton, UT) had been working really well, so the teaching pool is looking good. We definitely have to go out and find some people to teach, but we have a couple good ones. We went to teach a recent convert, Silvia, on Saturday afternoon, whose friend, Denise, has also been listening to the charlas. Denise has denied an invitation to be baptized a couple of times, though, on the pretense that she wasn´t prepared. Anyways, we taught the two of them on Saturday afternoon, and it was an EXCELLENT lesson; after we finished and asked if they had any questions, Denise said, "Yeah, I have a question: when is my baptismal date?" That took Elder Maughan and I by surprise, but we were both grinning like a little kid on Christmas morning. So Denise Ayala is getting baptized this Saturday! A good start to my stay in Paysandú.
As for my Mother´s Day call, Mom, I´m not sure at what time we´re going to be doing it yet. I´ll talk to my comp and the other Elders in our apartment this week and see what they think. An interesting side-note: last time I talked to you guys (Christmas) Elder Maughan was living in my house and now, 6 months later and in a completely different city, he´ll be there again. Sweet...
Melanie, I heard that you did awesome in your Musical Theater audition! Congratulations, kid! And you know what? By the time you guys do your review next year...I´ll be home. That´s crazy. But don´t worry, I´m not trunky! I´ve got too much work to do. It´s just a cool thought! :o) You´ll have to let me know when you find out about Mads. But hey, you made A´Cappella, too?! Good job! What is this about Ms. Hatch leaving? That´s not cool. Is she gonna teach somewhere else, or is she just going to focus on studying? Crazy. Tell her I say hello!
Megan-you got your wisdom teeth out! How do you feel? I can still remember getting my teeth out...neato. Two days before Christmas...whose crazy idea was that?! How is school going, Goose? Keeping up on those grades of yours? Hey, you better watch out, the zone got together and played basketball this morning...your big brother´s still got his game...I hope you´re practicing! :o)
Dad, I have an assignment for you...are you ready? I want you to start practicing your homemade cinnamon rolls again! I can´t remember the last time I ate Pop´s cinnamon rolls. I sure hope you´re back up to your old level by the time I get home...! Just thought I´d give you a little advanced warning. Haha.
Mom, how are the choirs coming together? Has Elk Meadows already been open 10 years? Wow, I am getting old. And your arrangement for the ward choir...how is/did that go? I can´t remember if you already performed that one or not; something tells me that you did...? Anyways, good luck witht the upcoming events!
Well, that´s gonna about do it for me this week! Elder Maughan and I are headed to Montevideo tomorrow morning at 2 AM for Zone Leader Conference, so we´re gonna go get some beauty rest right now to make up for that. :o) Have a great week! Looking forward to hearing from all of you!
Elder Taylor