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