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

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

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

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

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