Happy Independence Day! (or something like that)

Taylor Family and Friends,
Are you all amazed like Dad to know that internet exists here in this little town? Not gonna lie, I had my doubts. Haha. So it´s been about 5 days since I arrived here in Tranqueras, and I´m in love! It´s so much fun. There´s about 8,000 people that live here in the city, so it´s pretty small. If you count everyone that lives out on their ranch, it gets up to about 10,000. Pretty small, but it´s awesome!
I´m here with Elder Mitchell Davidson from Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. He goes home in 6 weeks, but we don´t talk about those sort of things. Haha. His mom is actually coming down and they´re gonna go around the country for about a week. He´s actually doing really well, hasn´t gotten too trunky yet. But we´ve got a lot of work to do, so I´m not too worried.
Elder Davidson has been out here for the last six weeks with Elder Lewis, who just went home to Oregon. They were working really well, and we had a baptism last week as a result. So a little about Tranqueras...it´s a tiny branch. We live in a house that doubles as the chapel. We have sacrament meeting/relief society in our garage, primary in the "family room," and priesthood/gospel principles upstairs in the room next to our bedroom. It´s so crazy, but I really enjoyed it. I was going to take a video this morning and send it, but it was all foggy when we left, so it wouldn´t have been as cool. Be anxiously waiting for next week! :o) Our branch president, Pres. Díaz, and his wife are from Rivera; they drive out here every Sunday for the meetings. They´ve actually been called as service missionaries for this time, their calling ends at the end of the year. The branch is super small. Yesterday there was probably 30 people in church, ten of which were investigators and two recent converts.
We are teaching like crazy. At times it seems like there´s not enough hours in the day to teach all of our investigators and find new people to teach. People here are really receptive to the message. Just in these five days, we have found 12 new investigators, including 2 complete families. The Lord has prepared and is preparing this city to hear His message. We have a couple of couples who we are helping get the papers ready for weddings and then their baptism.
Every week Elder Davidson and I head in to Rivera for District Meeting. We´ll probly go in a couple of preparation days, too, for some kind of zone activity. After nine months, I´m back in a two-Elder house. I like it. Nice and peaceful, easy to keep clean, etc.
On Thursday morning, Elder Davidson and I went to look for a reference that he and Elder Lewis had received, but had never been able to find at home. We knocked (clapped) and out came Jose, who stood on the other side of the gate/fence to talk to us. He told us that he and his wife were believers, but they didn´t like to participate in any religion. He was pretty frank and adamant, but we kept talking to him and he then asked us, "Well, what is it exactly that you teach, I MIGHT like to hear it. No promises." We told him we shared a message that blesses the family, that helps it become stronger and more unified. He said, "Okay, come on in. But without any commitment." No problem. We waited outside the door as he and his wife set up the chairs and loveseat. We went in and sat down in front of Jose, his wife, and three kids. We started to talk about the family, and they then told us that they were going through a pretty tough moment in their marriage, and that they needed help. "However," said Jose, "we don´t believe that going to a church will help us. We believe in God, but we don´t like going to any church." Bueno. We kept talking about the family, based on faith, repentance, and forgiveness. After about 5 minutes, Jose told us that if this message helps his family, that he WILL be in church, with all of his family. In 15 minutes, the Lord softened a man´s heart who did not want to hear ANYTHING, to helping him see that going to church will bless his family. Amazing. I´m so grateful for being able to participate in the Father´s miracles.
So that´s what´s going on on this side of the world. I can´t believe that the next time I wrote you all it will be September! Incredible. Elder Shupe and I were talking about it, and it´s so frustrating that when you feel that you finally understand what missionary work is all about and how to do it, the mission is coming to an end. I´ve still got time, but it´s coming too quickly. Definitely a bittersweet feeling. Ok, enough of that talk! :o)
Well, now everyone is back in school. I hope that the year started well for all of you! Work hard, and stay focused, because the time goes by too quickly!
Okay, that´ll be it. I hope you can all find a bit of time to send me a line! Take care of yourselves!
Elder Taylor

Here´s a couple of pictures from our morning adventure! Happy Birthday shoutout to Mary-Anne and Skyler! Have a great day tomorrow!

Changes

Taylor Family and Friends,
I don´t know if it was the same for any of you who have served a mission, but when the phone rings on Sunday night before cahnges and the caller ID says "Casa de la Misión" (Mission Home) my heart definitely starts pumping. It´s not like I´m nervous to talk with President or anything, but it´s always interesting to see what he has to say.
Well, President asked me how I was doing and how our week had gone; not too shabby. That´s good. "Elder Taylor, I´m extending to you a new calling, is that ok?" "Yeah, no problem." "Well, as you´ve noticed, I´ve been doing something new the last couple of changes with a few missionaries who have served as Zone Leaders. I take two of them, and I put them together as normal, proselyting missionaries in order to give experience and energy to a young zone. That´s what I would like to do with you. What do you think?" I think that´s great. So Elder Taylor is leaving Paysandú and he´s heading back to the north....! Zone-Rivera, Area/city-TRANQUERAS! Tranqueras is a little city about an hour away from the department capital of Rivera, and it is an area that has only been open for a little over 6 months! I will be serving with Elder Davidson, a great missionary and a good friend of mine, who will be finishing his mission in this next change. I still haven´t had the opportunity to talk with Elder Davidson yet, but I hope he´s as stoked as I am! I guess we´ll have to ask him, huh? Haha. So yeah, I´m heading out this afternoon at 5 PM. I´ve already got all of my stuff packed; we´re going to go say goodbye to a couple of families before I leave.
President always manages to surprise me with changes, without fail. Like all missionaries, Elder Shupe and I were talking about the possible changes this last weekend a little bit, and what actually happened didn´t even come across our minds! But obviously, it is so perfect. The Lord knows us, our needs, and our abilities better than we could ever imagine. It is very consoling knowing that a Being such as He is guiding this work and watching over us in every moment.
We didn´t have a baptism last weekend like we were hoping, Diego had some problems with his step-father, and we decided it would be better to hold off for a little bit. But he´s doing well, and I´m sure we´ll get notice of his baptism soon. Everyone in Casa Blanca is doing GREAT! Rosa is feeling a lot better with her back, and she´s reading the Book of Mormon like crazy. Last Friday, Elder Shupe and I taught her and Viviana more about the Book of Mormon, and what exactly it means. Towards the middle of the lesson, Rosa said, "Listen, I can´t make it to church on Sunday because we have a commitment with the family, but don´t worry, next week, I promise you that my mother and I will be at church. Viviana can make her own decision, but Elsa and I will be there!" What a sweet parting gift, knowing that they are about to take another great step of faith. Viviana also said that she will be there, as long as her work schedule doesn´t interfere; she works with animal skins, and the season is just about over. I´m going to write them a letter today and leave it with Elder Shupe so he can take it out to them this Friday. That´s the worst thing about changes-goodbyes. It´s amazing the love that you can feel for someone after knowing them for such a short amount of time!
Oh yeah, Mom, I forgot to tell you that I already got the package. I think it was two weeks ago, if I remember correctly. We already made/ate the pie, the Taffy Cookies, and the Goldfish. Haha. What can I say, we´re growing boys and we need to eat! :o) P.S., the graham crackers and frosting....GREAT idea! Not gonna lie, got kind of trunky eating it, but hey, that´s ok.
Sector Conference just went really well. Learned a lot and felt the Spirit. Elder Shupe, Huber, Garns, the Hermana Litchfield and I sang "My Shepherd Will Supply My Need" as a musical number. It went really well. I don´t know if you all remember that song, but we sang it for choir once at Bingham. Great song. For ward conference, Elder Shupe and I set up the activity of Human Foosball. I don´t know how many of you have played it, but if you haven´t, you definitely should! Especially with a bunch of Latins who know how to play soccer...it was a BLAST, and everybody loved it, which is the most important. A good chance to get together and laugh. Afterwards we had tortas fritas, which are basically scones, and a barley drink. Good times.
To answer the question, no we don´t get to watch any of the Olympics. But we have heard a lot about them. It´s so cool that Phelps broke the record! Attaboy. Uruguay was resting it´s hope on one guy, from what I understand, to bring home some kind of medal. Winston or Winton or something like that. He´s a cyclist, but it didn´t come out too well for him this time around. He took 16th. People were/are sad, but it happens. It´s funny being with Elder Shupe during the Olympics, he gets frustrated when people talk about them, because it makes him trunky. Haha. But hey, I can´t blame him...if I was fourth in the world in my event in gymnastics, I would be trunky too! I´m so grateful for the last two changes I´ve had to be with Elder Shupe. He´s definitely one of those eternal friendships that are made only on the mission. What a stud. He heads home the first weekend of October.
Mom and Dad, I hope you have a very happy anniversary tomorrow! Know that you will both be in my thoughts! Enjoy your day!
Well, that´s gonna do it for me this week. Megan and Melanie, enjoy your last week of summer! I can´t believe school is starting again already. Crazy. Glad to hear that Mary-Anne and Nathanael had a good time for his birthday. And my nephew, Jackson, is already two? From the pictures and all his gray hair, he seems a lot older. Haha.
I love you all, and I hope you´re all doing well! I´m waiting to hear from you!
Elder Taylor

Sorry, not much time...

Taylor Family and Friends,
This letter is going to be SUPER short. Elder Shupe and I just spent two and a half hours in court...no, not that kind of court! Diva Ceballos asked if we could go with her to talk to the judge about the divorce that they´re trying to get. They told her to be there at 2 o´clock, so we were....and at 4:30 the judge FINALLY talked to her! She talked to her for about a total of three minutes. Blugh. She said that she is going to send for the necessary papers from Montevideo because Diva was married in Montevideo. At the end of the month, we go back to check and see if the papers are in and see how things go from there. Just to let ya´ll know, everything is going really well. My back´s doing fine. Last week went by even faster than we thought it would. Sector conference went really well as did ward conference. I´ll try and remember to put details in my letter next week. This week is promising to be a good, we´re excited to have a normal week again. Next week we have changes, which means I will probably be writing on Tuesday, just so ya´ll know. This may be my last week here in Paysandú...where will Elder Taylor be headed next change...or will the President surprise us all and leave me here? Only time will tell. Haha. Well, sorry the letter is so short, but for sacrifices blessings are given! We felt good going and supporting Diva. I hope everyone is doing well. Enjoy whatever is left of summer.
Hey Swift...HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW! You´re getting old, bro...just in case you didn´t know.
Ok, I love you all! Have a good week and take care!
Elder Taylor

¡Buenas tardes!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well here it is, the first letter of the month of August. I´m still waiting for that part of the mission where it seems like time doesn´t fly, but it´s taking it´s time getting here! I can´t believe we´re already in August. Speaking of which....HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELANIE! Well, on Friday! :o) Know that you will be in my thoughts all week! Have a GREAT week, and, por favor, ¡PORTATE BIÉN!
Last week went really well. Thursday night I threw out my back, but we won the soccer tournament, so it´s ok. Haha. Elder Shupe and I conducted our weekly planning session Friday morning in various places-our study room with me in the chair and then on the floor, with a later appearance standing against the wall and, to wrap things up, in various positions on the bed, trying to get comfortable. But now all is well, no worries! The Hermana Peterson was definitely inspired when we made rice bags last zone conference. I should write her and thank her for that! Note to self....!
Things are going really well. Diego Rodriguez has a baptismal date for the 16th of August, and we are getting ready to give one to Yosep either this week or next. The families out in Casa Blanca are all progressing VERY well, we are very content with what´s going on out in that little pueblo. Rosa Romero, one of the first we found out there, was admitted to the hospital on Friday for back problems (go figure) so Elder Shupe and I paid her a visit on Saturday. She´s been operated on a few times already, so she´s used to it. She said that she chastised her daughter for not bringing her her Book of Mormon when she came to visit, so I gave her the one I had in my backpack. Haha. All of them out there are taking big steps of faith by not only reading but striving to study the Book of Mormon and pray about it. Many of them have already commented on the desires to come to church to at least see how it is; Rosa already said that when she gets out of the hospital and feels better, she´s there. That´s what I like to hear...!
We have a SUPER busy week this week. Ward conference this weekend, so Elder Shupe and I are helping with two ward activities and a big service project for the ward, on top of the things we get to prepare for our Sector Conference on Wednesday. It will be a busy week, but that will be nice. It will be Monday again before we know it!
The zone had a GREAT week last week. We did a couple of Choque de Fuerza´s, which is where all the missionaries in the zone go to one area for a couple of hours and work. Tuesday morning in Barrio Centro and Elder Shupe and I went with Elder Quiroz and Elder Machuca on Saturday morning in their area to help them out. It went really well!
Mom and Dad, the fridge and oven look AWESOME! I was SO surprised when I opened the picture, because I hadn´t read the letter beforehand! It looks SO good! Just so you know, the color of the fridge is about the color I want for my Toyota Tacoma...just so you can make the match! :o) Haha.
Mom, thanks for making that call up to USU. So I don´t need to send them an email or anything for scholarship details? Everything´s ready to go in that regard. My science professor was Dr. Wolf, I believe. Thanks for taking care of that for me! Love you!
Melanie, your audition sounded like a GREAT experience! Thanks for the letter and letting me know how it went! I´ll give you some belting lessons in the car when I get home. Haha. It sounds like you had a great time up at EFY, too! What was the cute boy´s name? :o) Don´t forget to write me this weekend and let me know how your party goes!
Goose! So the thing you liked most about EFY was all the cute boys, uh? Haha. I knew it. :o) Did you actually dance with the guys at the dance, or were you too scared of their cooties? It would be fun to be and EFY counselor when I get home, we´ll have to see if it´s a possibility with work and studies. I still play basketball quite a bit, no worries. I´ll still give you a good whippin´ when I get home! Better get out and practice some more, Goose!
Well, I believe that´s going to be it for me this week! It was great to hear from all of you! Thanks for the pictures, Dad, that was a lot of fun to see! A lot of them came out kind of dark because of the sun, so I couldn´t see who everyone was at the funeral and whatnot, but I got a pretty good idea. Say hello to everyone for me and have a great week!
Elder Taylor

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! How´s everything going? Things are going just dandy here. It´s still pretty chilly; this morning we woke up to fog and a cloudy sky-great weather on P-Day. Haha.
This week was a pretty normal week, as far as the work is concerned. Last night we ended the week feeling content with the work that was done in our area and we are also seeing a big push from the zone, so that was great to see. On Tuesday, we had interviews with President Peterson and the Hermana; it was a lot of fun. They started at our house. First they inspected the house and let us know if it was clean enough, nice enough, etc. The Hermana said she´d already told 9 companionships to find new houses. Haha. She said they´re trying to raise the "standard of living" in the mission. After we had our interviews, we sang a hymn and President said a prayer, during which he blessed our house and both of our companionships-a neat experience. Then Elder Shupe and I accompanied the Assistents and the Peterson´s to each of the houses in the zone and while President was in the interviews, we went on splits with the Assistents to do contacts in the street and try to find new people. Neato. After we finished the interviews around 1 PM (we started at 9 AM), the Peterson´s took us out to eat with them. It was fun to just sit and get to chat with them and get to know them better. I had a really good garlic chicken with mashed potatoes and Elder Shupe and I shared a banana split for dessert. Mmmm.
Health wise I´m doing just peachy, no worries Mom. We are planning an activity for sometime in mid-August for the ward; we´re going to play human foosball. I´m super excited. We´re really pushing it to make sure we get a lot of the less-active members involved. We´ll see how things turn out. This ward is awesome! I love the people here. I´m really going to miss this area whenever it is that I get transferred. The members, the investigators, and just the people we meet are awesome people.
I don´t know if I told you, but we are reading Preach My Gospel as a mission this change. I have read it before, obviously, but it is amazing to see how different things stand out and catch the attention this time around. It has been a great learning experience.
So things are sounding busy on the homefront. I hope Melanie and Megan had an awesome time at EFY last week and learned a lot. I´m looking forward to their report next week....hear that, Mel and Goose?! Haha. Dad, that organization chart was pretty sweet, I hope I understood it well. My dad´s a pretty important guy, apparently. Haha. Why are you getting a new boss? Is it over the whole branch out there in Magna, or just in your department, or what? Mom, how are you enjoying your break? I hope things are going well!
Sorry for the bland letter, but that´s what´s going down this week. Have a great week! I can´t believe we´ll already be starting August. Crazy. Take care and I can´t wait to hear from you!
Elder Taylor

Howdy!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Buenos días! How ya´ll doin? Hope everything is going just dandy up there! Things are going well here. The weather has gotten a little chilly again-this weekend we actually had to put on our jackets in the streets and sweats in the house. They said it was supposed to rain this weekend, but it never did. Not complaining by any means, don´t worry!
Last Tuesday we went down to ´Deo for ZLC, with the District Leaders as "special guests." Haha. It was a lot of fun to get together with some of the Elders of the mission, as always. It was a great learning experience, we talked a lot about the importance of goals and what we can do as individuals, as companionships, and as a mission to reach them. After the conference, we had lunch at the mission home, and I got the chance to just sit around and chat with the Hermana Peterson and President with some of the Elders for a little bit. It was a fun, casual chance to just get to know them a little better and ask them questions. I am so grateful for them and their counsel to us as missionaries. I have no doubt they have been divinely called to preside over this mission for a reason!
We had a nice little surprise this weekend. On Saturday night, we were planning for Sunday and, all of a sudden, we hear the apartment door open. Elder Shupe went around the corner to find Elder Hansen and Elder Centurión (the assistants to Pres.) in our door! President and the Hermana are on a trip to visit each house in the mission to make sure it is in suitable conditions, and at the same time, President is conducting interviews; they told us our interviews are tomorrow morning, but they just came to stay the night at our place for a couple of days. The President and the Hermana are staying in a hotel. We´re basically the launch pad-yesterday after church they drove up to Bella Unión and came back, and this morning they went to Salto and this evening they´ll be back.
Yesterday, President and the Hermana came to our sacrament meeting before leaving for Bella Unión. Just to make sure I was awake, or for some other reason, the bishop asked me to give a talk about 5 minutes before sacrament meeting started....! Thanks a lot, Bishop. Haha. I was up on the stand already, because I play the piano for the ward, so when the Bishop announced that I was the closing speaker, Pres. just looked over at me and smiled a "tough-luck" kind of smile. It was pretty funny. It was just a quick, simple talk about scripture study and why it is so important for us. Simple and sweet. :o)
Things are going really well for us work-wise. We´re still going out to Casa Blanca once a week and visiting the three or four families that we are teaching out there. Rosa wasn´t able to be there on Thursday, because she had a meeting for work, but we had a good lesson with her mom, Elsa, and her daughter, Viviana. They are doing really well, and our goal is to get them to church this week-we´ll see how it all goes! We also found a really neat lady named Patricia out there on Thursday. She is a widowed mother with 5 kids under the age of 17, and she´s probly about 35 years old herself; her husband died of cancer at a VERY young age. But she is an amazing woman with unshakable faith in her heavenly Father. She is Adventista (I believe it´s 7th Day Adventist in English) but she says that sometimes she just gets confused because of all the different religions that exist today. We had a very nice introductory lesson and we´re excited to go back on Thursday and continue!
So yeah, everything is going well! Melanie and Megan, I don´t know if you´ve already left or not for EFY, but if not, HAVE A GREAT TIME! I had SUCH a good time up at EFY. Just get involved and don´t be scared!
Mary-Anne and Nathanael-HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I can´t beleive it´s been three years since you guys got married. That´s so crazy. I hope you had a great weekend and are enjoying the time together. What are you doing to stay busy, Mary-Anne? Swift, what do you do in your new job? If you give a good enough description, maybe I´ll come join you up in Oregon. Haha. Yeah right!
Mom, enjoy your break! Any big plans for the next few weeks? Matt is headed up to USU? That´s awesome! Do you know where he is going to live? That´ll be cool to have him up there. How´s the rest of the gang doing?
Well, I think that´ll just about do it for me this week. We have interviews tomorrow, so that´ll be fun. Other than that, just finding more people to teach and helping them make the necessary changes in their lives to come closer to their Father! I hope you all have a FANTASTIC week, and I´m looking forward to hearing from all of you!
Elder Taylor

Hey there...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, this letter might be kind of a short one, because the internet is being SUPER slow today, but we´ll see how it goes! Things are all going really well here. Changes came and went, no problems. The new zone is a great one, we´re really excited for this change.
Tomorrow morning/tonight Elder Shupe and I head down to Montevideo, but this time we´ll have two guests-Elder Stobbe and Elder Larsen, our two district leaders. This change President has invited all of the district leaders to come to ZLC so we can help train them and things can be more unified. It´ll be pretty sweet. Elder Larsen is my old comp from Cerro-he just got here to P-Du this last week, where he replaced another Elder Larsen. So here in the zone I have 3 comps-Elders Shupe, Huber and Larsen-that´s pretty cool!
This last week wasn´t as "great" as the last few, but it still went really well. We went out to Casa Blanca again on Thursday afternoon and had a GREAT lesson with Rosa and her family. We arrived and chatted for a minute, sang a hymn, and then I asked if we could start with a prayer. Elsa, Rosa´s 70-year-old-ish mother, said, "Well I read that pamphlet you left me last time, and I have a question I want to ask." I said, "That´s great! Could we start with a prayer first, and then you can ask your question?" Sure. We said a prayer, and then she pulled out the pamphlet of the Restoration that we had left her. She turned to the back, where the index of words is located, and started to read the definition of "Restoration." As she came to the name Joseph Smith, she stopped and asked, "So this means that this Joseph Smith is a prophet? Ok, but where how did he know he was a prophet; where did he get the authority?" What a GREAT question, Elsa. We proceeded to talk about how God had previously set up the Church on the earth through his Son, how it had fallen, and how he had restored it in our day. Just a fantastic lesson with lots of great questions and at the end, a conditional invitation to be baptized: When each of you know that this message is true- that God has restored the authority to baptize to the earth and that authority is found in this church-will you be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ? Rosa IMMEDIATELY said, "Yo sí!," followed by her daughter who said, "When I receive an answer for myself, yes." What a sincere and prepared family! On Thursday we are headed back out there to teach them about the Book of Mormon and prayer-definitely looking forward to that!
Sounds like you all had a great week! Mel and Goose, I´m glad to hear you had a fun time up at girls camp-I´m looking forward to your email that tell sme what you learned! Have a GREAT time at EFY. I´m so jealous! But hey, everything has it´s season, right?
And Mom got to see them put the angel Moroni up on the temple-sweet! Does that mean the temple is basically done? Dad, did you tell me the open house is going to be like next April or May? It´s going to be so crazy to get home and see a temple up on that hill and lots of houses behind the house.
Haha. Here I am thinking that the package was going to get here this last week or this week, and it´s still sitting at home! But hey, it´s all good, I understand. PS, I took some money out of my account last week so I could buy a sleeping bag from one of the missionaries who was headed home. I´ll use it for a bit and then sell it to someone else before I leave; I already have a buyer. Haha.
Anyways, I think that´ll be it for this week. Sorry for the short letter. Just remember that you love me! Have a good one!
Elder Taylor

Pictures!

Here are a couple of pictures from our Zone Conference in Mercedes! After the Conference, we had a couple of hours to wait for our bus, so we went and hung out by the river! Good times!

Buenos dias...! Changes...

Taylor Family and Friends,

So here we are, at the end of one change and getting ready to begin
another! Time is going so quickly! So where is Elder Taylor going to be for
the next six weeks, and with whom? Drumroll please.....
Elder Taylor is staying in Paysandu and he´s staying with Elder Shupe!
I am SO excited! I was really nervous that I was going to be heading out,
but all is well in Barrio Ombu!

Last week had another SWEET experience, and yes, it was in Casa Blanca,
yet again! Elder Shupe and I went out there, and had a good lesson about
the Restoration and the Book of Mormon with Carina, which she accepted to
read. We left that lesson feeling great and headed over to a lesson we had
set up with a family we found a week earlier...nobody´s home. Oh well,
sometimes it happens. We decided to start knocking, which is what you have
to do in a little pueblito where you don´t know anyone. We walked down a
street and Elder Shupe looks at the house NEXT to the Catholic
church..."Let´s knock this one." Sure, why not. As we walk up the tiny
little walkway, we can see a couple of people sitting around drinking mate
and watching tv. Well, they can´t say they´re busy....! We clapped, and
out comes Lorena. Elder Shupe tells her who we are and tells her that
we´re here to share a message about/for the family (as we see their two
daughters in the house). She looked at us hesitantly for a second and then
invited us to come in.

Inside, we met Lui­s (her husband), Rosa (her older sister), and her two
daughters (12 and 4). We sat down, showed some pictures, and then the first
question out of Lorena´s mouth-"So what is the difference between your
church and the Catholic church?" What a LOADED question! Is this a trap or
is it a sincere question? Elder Shupe and I kind of paused, he looked at
me, and I started to talk about the authority of the priesthood. The Spirit
quickly filled the room as the family learned of God´s plan for them, and
how it is made possible through the power of the priesthood. Rosa, the
older sister, then commented that her father had recently passed away, and
that her mother was going through a hard time. She asked us why God allows
that sort of thing to happen; we explained that the purpose of this life is
to learn and grow, which takes place as we face and overcome trials. Tears
welled up in the eyes of the two sisters. As we are getting ready to end
the charla, Rosa asks us if we have somewhere else we have to go, or if we
would be willing to go over to her mother´s house with her; of course
we´ll go! We ended with a prayer, and went over to Elsa´s house.
At Elsa´s place, we found her and Rosa´s two children, Viviana and
Nicola¡s, waiting for us. We got to know them a little bit, laughed, and
showed some pictures. As we´re showing pictures, Elder Shupe finishes with
the one of his uncle´s sealing to his three children. We began to talk
about how it is God´s plan for families to be together forever and how
that can only take place in the temple with the correct authority. We had
an AMAZING lesson with this family, and the Spirit was SO strong! We ended
with a prayer, and we have a return appointment for this Thursday, where
all 7 people will be waiting for us in Elsa´s house...! I have no doubt
that I am where I need to be, and I am so grateful that the Lord allows me
to take part in His miracles!

Conference last week was fantastic. President talked about faith and
symbols of Christ-amazing! We met his son, Chris, who just returned from
Sao Paolo. And I learned something REALLY cool- I can understand the
majority of Portugese! It´s been a long time since I´ve heard it (since I
was in Artigas) but it is REALLY similar to Spanish, and I could understand
most of what he said! How cool is that?! I´m going on a vacation to
Brazil!

Well, I think that´s going to be about it for this time around! I hope
this letter finds you all well and content after your holiday weekend! Know
that you are in my prayers! Love you all !
Elder Taylor

¡Buenos días!

Taylor Family and Friends,
It´s June 30th, and it´s a beautiful day! That´s a nice change. The last few weeks we´ve just had clouds, rain, and COLD. Everyday when we wake up all we can see is fog! Yesterday you couldn´t even see a block ahead of you as we walked to church. But this morning, the sun decided to come up and all I need is a jacket instead of my two-layered coat! It´s funny to think that I never thought it would get cold in Uruguay...!
We had a really good week last week. Yesterday was kind of disappointing in terms of having investigators in church, though. We were expecting a pretty big amount of investigators, but a lot of them were sick because of the weather the last week. Not cool. But hey, that´s just more incentive to work harder this week!
We also had interviews with President Peterson on Tuesday. I love that man! He and I talked quite a bit about the zone (obviously) and the things that he expects from the mission. I´m so grateful to know that he is the man that God has called to lead this mission at this time. I have seen a great change in the mission over the past year, and it´s very exciting. Sometimes I wish I could stay longer to help keep it going...! But...
"I´LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!" I asked President before he left on Tuesday what he was going to do with my group, and he told me that we´ll at LEAST be home a week before Christmas, and most likely two weeks. Which means I might be home for my birthday, as well! Pretty sweet, eh? I would be leaving here (most likely) the 11th of December and arriving home on the 12th. That´s the plan for right now! So there ya go. Enough of that talk, I´m going back to work...! :o)
Elder Shupe and I went back out to Casa Blanca on Thursday afternoon. When we got off the bus, we ran into Yanina who said she was sorry, but she had to go in to Paysandú for a meeting at her daughter´s highschool. She felt bad, but there was nothing she could do. So Elder Shupe and I looked at each other and just said, "Well, the Lord has brought us here for some reason...let´s go find out what it is." Two and a half hours later, we knew. On Thursday afternoon, we found 8 people, comprised of three families! We found three married couples, two of which had children of baptismal age. The husbands in two of the three lessons participated in and enjoyed the message; the other participated, but very cautiously. It was interesting, because by 6:30 it is already really dark now, and even more so out in this little pueblo. At 7 o´clock, after we had found two of the families, Elder Shupe and I were trying to decide if we should keep knocking around in the dark (not very effective-ask any RM you know) or if we should start heading back to P-dú. The bus didn´t come until 8:30, so we´d have to walk-and a very considerable distance. We decided, no, we need to stay. We knocked to door on the corner...no, we´re busy, sorry. Ok. We looked to the other side of the street and realized that we were looking at the first house we had knocked in the afternoon, but no one had been there...now there were lights on. We knocked the door and Enrique came out. He couldn´t talk a lot, because he had just arrived from having two molars pulled out at the dentist. We asked him if we could come in for just ten minutes and share a message with him and his 9-year old daughter. Sure. As we got into the 9th minute or so, we hear someone coming to the door, and he says, "Should be my wife and my daughter." And in walks Rosario! My mouth dropped open, and Elder Shupe says, "¡No me diga!" We had talked with Rosario the week before while looking for a non-active. Really nice lady, with lots of questions about the mission, but who didn´t want us to come by her house another time. When she saw us at her kitchen table, she just laughed and said, "Well, you found me!" We sat and talked, laughed, showed each other pictures, and shared a message that will bless their family. We have a return appointment for this Thursday evening! The Lord wanted us there for a reason...I´m so grateful for the guidance of the Spirit, even when it means knocking the same door twice!
Yesterday I gave a surprise talk in sacrament meeting, so that´s always fun. I talked about the importance and the power of prayer, and I learned a lot as I spoke. Those are the best learning moments; as you share your testimony or your feelings, and the Spirit whispers something to you that makes you look at it or think about it a different way. What a blessing!
Anyways, I think that´s gonna about do it for me today! We´re gonna go play basketball, soccer, and frisbee with some of the youth. On Wednesday, we´re headed to Mercedes for Zone Conference where we will meet President´s son who just returned from his mission! Sweet! I hope this letter finds that all is well for all of you! Have a great 4th of July, and shoot off some fireworks for me! Can´t wait to hear from you and everything that´s going on in your life! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Some fun pictures from last week!

-Elder Taylor pretending like he´s rich with the rent money for the apartment!

-Elder Taylor and Elder Shupe playing around the cauldron of Buseca that we ate for a priesthood activity

-Elder Taylor looking off into the distance and contemplating the eternities...!

Enjoy! I wouldn´t mind getting pictures...especially if there´s any new cute girls in the ward! :o) Take care!

Pictures

Here´s a couple of pics...
-In front of a wall painting in my area...
-With my Bishop´s TURKEY!
-Pointing to a "dollar bill" that says "The United STATE of America"...gave us a pretty good laugh!
Enjoy! More are coming...sometime!
Elder Taylor

Hey There...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, here we are yet again. The weeks just fly by, it seems like. Tomorrow we have interviews with President Peterson and next week we will have the Zone Conference of this change; we´re having it in the 5th week instead of the 2nd because President´s son gets home from his mission in Brazil this week and he´s going to come meet us all at Conference next week. That´s why they postponed it...so that´ll be cool to meet him!
The weather took it´s toll on the zone last week-a lot of the Elders got sick and one of the Hermanas, but Elder Shupe and I have stayed healthy, luckily! The majority of the week was cloudy and sprinkling; I think we only saw the sun twice, one of them being yesterday. But, all the missionaries are feeling better now and looking forward to gettin back to work this week!
Elder Shupe and I had a SWEET experience last week! Are you ready...? Are you sure? ´Cuz it´s REALLY cool....alright, I´ll tell you. We received a reference from a member in another ward about a week and a half ago, but the reference lives out in Casa Blanca-a little pueblito about half an hour outside of Paysandú, but that still belongs to our ward. Neither of us had ever been out there, but we organized the week so we could go out there on Thursday afternoon. We left P-dú at 4:15 and had to get on the bus back at 8:30. By the time we got there, we had about 3 to work. We got out to Casa Blanca, stepped off the bus at the first stop, and watched the bus pull away. We looked around a second, and I said, "Well, let´s go." We walked across the street and a little field to the first house, our plan was to knock and ask if they knew where this reference lived, and at the same time invite them to listen. The house was yellow, and as we walked up, I looked at Elder Shupe and said, "Yellow for golden" with a little smile. We knocked the door, and Yanina came to the door. I introduced who we were and told we we would like to share a message about the family. She accepted, and invited us into her home. About 35 minutes later, she had tears in her eyes as she listened to how God began His communication with man in our day and accepted an invitation to read in the Book of Mormon. After the lesson, we asked her if she knew the reference, and we found out they were co-workers in a factory and she lived just down the street. Once again, the Lord is preparing His children...are we doing our part to invite them?
So, that was a really exciting part of the week. We are headed back out to Casa Blanca this Thursday, so we´ll see what happens!
But that´s about all the big news from this week. Dad, thanks for taking the time to write that big email and fill me in on last weekend´s events. It sounds like you all had an enjoyable weekend; I hope you remembered to give Matt and Amanda my congratulations! If not, Matt and Amanda....CONGRATULATIONS! I can´t believe I didn´t get an invitation...! Don´t worry, Matt, you´ll get what´s coming to ya. :o) Love ya, cuz!
Well, that´s gonna about do it for me this week! Melanie, I got your email...thanks for writing! Who is the new choir teacher? Congrats on your theater awards! That´s awesome. And Hello Dolly is the musical next year? Sweet! Too bad I´ll miss it...by a few weeks. Oh well, it´s for the best cause there is! :o)
I hope ya´ll know that I love you and think about you often! Mom and Dad, I hope you had a happy Father´s Day, and a Happy Birthday! We sang to you, Mom...about 4 times! Haha. I love you! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Big Week

Taylor Family and Friends,
Hey there! How ya´ll doing? Things are going really well here in Paysandú. I´m writing a little later today because we spent most of they day with a family that Elder Shupe had met over a year ago here in Paysandú. He served in Barrio Obelisco a year ago, and now he´s returned to P-dú to serve in Barrio Ombú. It´s not very often that an elder serves in the same zone twice in his mission, so he got lucky. The family that we went to see was one in which Elder Shupe baptized the daughter, and started to teach the father, who later got married and baptized as well. It was a really neat experience for him, so it was worth sacrificing my weekly nap! :o)
The time is flying by. It´s crazy to think that we are already in the middle of June! Last week I hit my 18-month mark, that´s pretty intense. This week is a pretty full week for us. On Thursday, we´ll have interviews with President Peterson. They did the interviews at the beginning of the change this time because President´s son finishes his mission in Brazil in the next week or so, so they postponed the zone conferences until he got here so he can come and meet all of us in the conferences. So that´ll be fun.
Elder Shupe and I had a pleasant surprise yesterday at Church. We had been teaching this little old lady named Yospeh for about a week, but we had decided to drop her last Monday or Tuesday; so we basically hadn´t even gone by in a week. Much to our surprise, she showed up yesterday at 9 AM at the chapel! We gladly lead her in to the Relief Society and as we opened the door, she walked in saying, "Hola! Soy una nueva hermana!" while flailing her little hands. Right away, about 10 hermanas from the Relief Society surrounded her like a swarm of bees, giving her hugs and kisses. Elder Shupe and I shut the door and just started laughing in the hallway; it was a good start to the day!
With the cold weather, a lot of the people who had said they were going to come to church yesterday didn´t make it, but we have high hopes for this next week. Cristina and Juliano are doing very well, and in our last lesson, asked a lot of questions about baptism, which we were glad to answer! Elder Shupe and I have been teaching quite a bit, so now it´s just time to get them all to church!
Sounds like Dad and the girls had a really busy week up in Moses Lake. I hope they took pictures so I don´t miss out on too much of the action! Make sure you tell Matt and his WIFE (weird) congratulations. I always told him he would get married before I got home. Couldn´t he have just waited 6 months longer? Sheesh.
So I still haven´t got that picture CD sent off yet...my bad. The last couple of P-Days have been really busy with activities and whatnot, so I haven´t even gone to develop pictures yet. But don´t worry, they will be on their way soon.
Well, I´m not really bursting with information or news this week. Just the same story- we are working hard and enjoying every minute of it! I finally got the letter from Caleb. It was really nice to hear to him. Hopefully I´ll get a reply off to him next week! But, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying all there is to be enjoyed! I can´t wait to hear from you. :o)
Elder Taylor

Rainy Monday

Taylor Family and Friends,
So here it is, yet another cold and rainy P-Day in beautiful Paysandú. But, no need to worry, the zone still got together this morning and played ultimate frisbee out in the cold rain while Hno. Mederos cooked an asado! After the zone was cold and wet enough, we went inside and played the sign game! Good times.
Last week was a really good week. On Tuesday, Elder Shupe and I went to ZLC in Montevideo and learned a lot about setting goals and the work required to meet those goals. All of us in the mission are in the process of learning that principal. Our mission has changed A LOT in the last year and a half, and I am SO grateful for the chance that I´ve had to be a part of that.
Elder Shupe and I worked very hard last week. At the end of the week, I felt as though it had been one of the best working weeks of my mission. The results weren´t exactly what we had expected, but we´re just keeping our heads up and we´re going to make this week even better. We are really enjoying the opportunity to be together in a companionship. The Lord has blessed us with a powerful companionship, and we both know that He is expecting to see that by our works. Just in the last week, we have learned to rely on one another, but even more importantly than that, to rely on the Lord. He is the one directing this work, I have no doubt of that. He has led us to some of His elect children. His timetable may not be the same as ours, but that´s part of the learning process.
So Jason Aurich is married and Matt gets married this weekend. That´s crazy. How is the Boyce family doing? Wow. Last week I receive the notice that Uncle Tom was sick, and this week I receive his funeral schedule. Please send my love to his family. I can´t even imagine the trial that this must be. Let them know that they are in my prayers.
Elder Shupe and I have been working with a couple whose names are Juliano and Cristina. Their living conditions are very humbling, but they are awesome people. They have had some real extreme challenges and are looking for that peace that they lack. Cristina told us that she used to be very blunt and unpleasant to the missionaries that she saw in the streets and that passed by her home; she was very cold and wanted nothing to do with the subject of religion. Then, she had an experience where her husband left her and took her four children with him. She was hurt, and began asking questions and looking for answers. A couple of months ago, Cristina and Juliano talked and decided they wanted to hear the message that those young men in white shirts and ties had always tried to share with them; the next time they saw them on the street, they were going to stop them and give them their address. A month passed without seeing ONE missionary! They had passed by them everyday for years, but not passed during the following month. Then, one afternoon, two missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints came walking down the street. Before Juliano could say hello, they had stopped and presented themselves as Elder Larsen and Elder McGann. They told him they were sharing a message about the family and how the teachings of Jesus Christ can help us in our families. He gave them his address and went his way. Elder Larsen then passed this address to Elder Maughan and Elder Taylor, who belonged to the area where the address was located. Now Cristina and Juliano are reading daily in the Book of Mormon and strengthening their relationship with a Heavenly Father that they had barely ever heard of through sincere prayer. The Lord knows each one of us, and provides the opportunities for us to learn of His perfect plan...are we ready to accept those opportunities, or to be instruments in giving those opportunities to others?
I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows me and answers my prayers! I know that He loves us and wants to bless us; He´s just waiting until we do what is required to receive those blessings! I love being a representative of my Savior, Jesus Christ. To all those who are thinking about serving a mission, I only have six words: Decide now and never look back! I have learned SO much, and I still have a long ways to go. You will not regret your decision, as you taste of the blessings for yourself.
I am glad to hear that things are going well on the homefront. Nathanael, how´s the new job? I heard that Boston and LA are in the Finals...thanks for keeping me updated. :o) Some guy asked us the other day in the street who we thought was going to win-I told him that the scriptures tell us who´s going to win what really matters! Haha. Good times. Well, I love you all, and I hope you all have a fantastic week! I´m looking forward to those letters!
Elder Taylor

Cold...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Hey there! So things have finally gotten nice and chilly here in Paysandú, and it is pretty darn chilly. But it´s nice to have the change. Well, changes came and went pretty smoothly, I guess. I was in the terminal for 23 hours straight...it made for quite the night and next day. The comp of Hermana Díaz left Tuesday night and her new comp didn´t get here until noon the next day, and she couldn´t find a member to stay with her that night, so we had to stay with her all night long in the terminal. We had a good 3-hour game of Phase 10! Haha. Needless to say, Elder Shupe and I were DEAD the next day. We´re still trying to catch up on our sleep; but we´re heading to Montevideo tonight at 2 AM for Zone Leader Conf. tomorrow, so we´ll just get backed up again! Good times!
Elder Shupe is from Ogden, UT. He went to Weber High and graduated 2006. He is a STUD! A gymnast, by the way. He competed internationally and is amazing. He has been fascinating the Uruguayans by doing a standing backflip. Makes for easy contacts. Haha. We get along really well and are having a blast together. Barrio Ombú doesn´t know what hit them! When I met him in the offices last year, he was just starting his first change as statistical secretary of the mission, and was later changed to executive sec. He heads home the very beginning of October. Elder Arrieta is having a great time with the three of us. His English is getting better, little by little. Yes, some of the investigators I had in Cerro got baptized! Two of them got baptized the weekend I left and another woman got baptized the same night we had the baptism here. It´s so nice to know that some of the people with whom you put in a lot of time finally took that big step. Some plant and some reap, but the growth comes from God!
Elder Shupe and I are really excited for this new change. We haven´t even been together a week yet and we have both shared things that we have learned from one another. I have no doubt that the Lord surrounds us with others who we can learn from. We all have something to share, and we all have something to learn; the trick is finding what it is, and accepting it! I am SO grateful for the companions I have had throughout the mission and the things that they have taught me.
Something that Elder Shupe and I have been talking about the last couple of days- the best thing about being a missionary is just being able to get to know people! Everyone has a very unique and intriguing story; the thing we/I love is just finding out who people are, and showing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ is going to bless them in their lives. On Friday afternoon we were walking down the street and decided to knock a door; we knocked and Myriam, an older lady, came to the door. Elder Shupe told her that we were in the neighborhood sharing a message about families and how God has a plan for our families. I asked if she had a few minutes so we could explain a little more-she said yes, and invited us in. We got to know her quickly and in the process learned that her husband passed away 5 months ago. While he was in the hospital, the missionaries had passed by her home, but she was so stressed out, she asked them to swing by in a couple of weeks. Apparently, the Elders forgot to pass by. As we talked to her about the plan that our Heavenly Father has prepared for our families, a familiar spirit entered the room and bore testimony to each of us that the plan of our Father is real. I am so grateful for that knowledge, and I am grateful for the guidance of the Spirit to find those who are prepared to receive this wonderful message. We have no need to be ashamed of sharing our testimonies!; it is a very simple act, but it can LITERALLY touch someone´s heart and change someone´s life.
I know that my Heavenly Father lives and He loves me. He knows who I am! What a wonderful blessing that is. Through simple and sincere prayer, I have felt that love. I have received answers to my prayers, especially when searching the scriptures. I truly know that they have been written for our time; they have been written for you; they have been written for me. I hope we each take advantage of that blessing and put Moroni´s promise to the test. We WILL receive an answer, if we are sincerely looking for His help. These things I know.
Tomorrow I am going to have another opportunity to learn a ton. We have ZLC in ´Deo, and I am so excited. I love being with other missionaries and learning from them, not to mention President Peterson and the Hermana. Take advantage of your opportunities to learn!
Who is Jason Aurich getting married to? That´s so crazy. I remember going on campouts and playing night games with that kid. Man, I´m getting old. :o)
Mom, banana cream pie stuff would be a GREAT idea! Mmm. I haven´t bought socks yet...I´m trying to put it off for a while so they´ll still be nice by the end of the mission. Haha. Those taffy cookies would also be a beautiful thing! I still have to convert Elder Shupe. :o) Which CD´s are you sending?! Oh, PS, did you ever find out if Caleb and Jordan had received my letters?
Well, I hope that all is well! That´s gonna about do it for me this week. I hope you´re all enjoying the summer break-Melanie and Megan, you have no excuse to not write me now! :o) I love you all and can´t wait to hear from you!
Elder Taylor

Hey, these are more pictures from the baptism on Saturday! Sweet, eh?

Cambios...! (Changes...!)

Taylor Family and Friends,
Waiting for changes this time wasn´t as intense as it has been for the last year and a half; maybe the fact that my comp is heading home has something to do with it! Haha. Elder Maughan leaves for Montevideo tomorrow morning at 2 AM. He´ll be at home with his family on Friday evening. Crazy.
As for Elder Taylor, I´m staying here in Paysandú, obviously. And I will be accompanied by my new companion...Elder Shupe! I met Elder Shupe about a year ago in the offices when I went to go pick up Elder Holmes and we become good friends really quickly. We are both stoked to get together and hit the ground running! I think Elder Shupe has been out about 3 months longer than me, so we´re both pretty close. This will be his first change as a ZL, so we´ll see if I learned everything I needed to. :o)
Another cool thing about changes....ELDER HUBER IS COMING TO PDU! And more than that, HE´S GOING TO BE LIVING IN MY HOUSE! I am SO excited! Elder Villa is heading to Mercedes and Elder Arrieta will now be Huber´s senior comp. Last weekend I called him to find out the baptismal date for one of the investigator´s I left in Cerro, and I told him (jokingly) to get ready because he was going to be bounced up to P-Dú with me...and now it´s happening! Haha. A very pleasant surprise!
Last week was a busy week. We had lots of stuff to take care of, especially the ward activity on Friday night and the stake baptism on Saturday. The ward has been really struggling with activities, so the bishop asked us to help the Young Men with an activity for the ward. We called it "La Noche del Evangelio" or "Gospel Night." We talked about the 5 steps in the gospel and had an activity to go along with each one. Young Men were in charge of faith, we were in charge of repentance and baptism, Relief Society was the Holy Ghost, and the Primary was enduring to the end. It went REALLY well and the ward LOVED it. The bishop was very content. We´ll see if he asks us to help with an activity for June...!
The stake baptism-what an awesome night! In the zone, there were 9 baptisms, and we did 7 of them in our chapel. (The other two wards are pretty far away- half an hour and an hour.) Elder Maughan and I had planned 8 baptisms for Saturday, but last week we talked about it with the bishop, and we decided that 3 of the Rodriguez family need a little more preparation, and the other 3 want to wait and be baptized with the others. So on Saturday, we had 2 baptisms in Barrio Ombú-Estefany and Belén Benitez. Elder Maughan baptized Estefany and I baptized Belén. Their parents are working on the paper work for their marriage so they can join their daughters as members of the Church. It was an awesome baptismal service; three wards combined and tons of member support! I haven´t seen so many people in white outside of the temple-it was sweet! Hopefully it won´t be the last!
Elder Maughan gave a talk on Sunday; it went well. Last night and tonight has been going around to different goodbyes and picture events for him. He has left a mark on this ward.
So Mary-Anne-are you baby-hungry yet? Haha. Those pictures showed up well. Send Megan and Ashley my congrats! And now Nathanael is off on one of his crazy adventures, eh? That´s cool. Is it some kind of contest, or did he and Jordan just decide to do it? I wouldn´t be surprised...! :o) PS, about your dream-Forget about it! That´s ridiculous! I thought you knew me better than that...I´m going to need at least 8 months....! Haha. Just playing!
Hey Melanie, so how did that American Idol thing turn out? Did that one LDS kid win? How´s the last few weeks of school going? When do you guys get out, anyway? Any hot dates lately? :o)
Goose! What´s up, kid? How´s school? Are you behaving yourself? Haha. Don´t forget to write me, and don´t forget what we talked about on Mother´s Day...!
Pops-thanks for those quotes! You know me so well. Haha. You went and vacuumed in the Conf. Center? That´s sweet. Was it a huge vacuum? So it´s looking like I´m going to be home for the temple dedication? Sweet! How´s your truck shopping going? Hurry up, man! :o)
Well, I think that´s about it for this week. I´m going to go take a nap, because I´ll hardly get any sleep tonight. I´ll be up in the bus terminal almost all night long...oh goody. But I hope you all have a great week and I hope to hear from ya soon!
Elder Taylor

Two of these are from Zone Leader Conference and then the next
 one...well...isn´t!Haha! Elder Maughan and I! I´ll make a cd
and send some more in the mail. It takestoo long to download
them on here. Dad, if you know of a faster way, let me know! :o)

Hey There!

Taylor Family and Friends,
The weather here is driving me crazy. It can´t decide whether to be winter or stay in summer forever. It´s been crazy hot the past like week. Well, not CRAZY hot, but way hotter than it should be! This morning the zone took advantage of the nice weather and we all went to the beach to play ultimate frisbee and soccer in the sand. It was SO nice. Then most of us went to the chapel to make tacos-MMM!
So this last week was a really good week! Both Elder Maughan and I were good health-wise, besides a couple of stuffy noses. We had interviews with President Peterson last Thursday that went really well. He is VERY pleased with the work that is being carried out here in Paysandú-the zone has done an excellent job this change. Now the trick is to find out what made the change and get it done next change as well!
This weekend, there´s going to be 13 baptisms in the stake, 5 of which are going to be here in Barrio Ombú. Elder Maughan and I are pretty stoked for these 5. They are almost all teenagers, and they are just awesome kids; really an example for the rest of the ward, and to teenagers anywhere. Very impressive. Last Monday, Ruben (16) when out to a lesson with Elder Maughan and I. Needless to say, he was super nervous, but he LOVED it! And he´s not even a member yet! What a stud. I´m glad we have these 5 baptisms this weekend, because it helps to keep Elder Maughan focused. Haha. He has done really well this change, but after he talked to his family last weekend, it has been a little more difficult. Obviously. But hey, I don´t blame him. He knows we still have a lot of work to take care of.
Last Friday I went on a little road trip with Elder Bean. We took an hour bus ride out to where the sister missionaries are in our zone to interview a few baptismal candidates. Young (the name of the city) reminded me a lot of Bella Unión. It´s a little bigger than B.U. was, but it was a fun reminder. I interviewed a 12-year-old named Jesus David who was an absolute stud. We talked about how he wants to be a missionary and all when he gets older. After we finished the interview, we had a little question-and-answer about the mission. It was a lot of fun to see his excitement and hear his questions. The Lord is preparing His children in order to find and help those who are waiting.
On Sunday, Bishop Savchuk came up to my comp and I right before sunday school and asked if one of us could give a talk in sacrament meeting; absolutely, no problem. Elder Maughan claimed he´ll probly have to give one next week, so I volunteered. Haha. It went really well...I think. Afterwards, Elder Maughan and I were talking (again) about how ridiculous it was to give talks before the mission because we got SO nervous and needed like 3 weeks to prepare, even though we ended up writing it the night before anyway. :o)
So it sounds like the family has been kept pretty busy. I don´t know if I´m gonna recognize the house without that huge bush in front! Haha. That bush has been there FOREVER. Any other drastic changes I should be ready for? How´s the weather there right now, anywho? The garden coming along well? That was a worthless question, but hey, it´s all good.
And Melanie had her debut on national television, uh?! That´s awesome! How did this Archuleta kid do? Did he win it all Who was the other finalist? Sweet stuff. How did Pops Concert go? What was the best part of the performance? Where´s Hatch headed, again? Is she just going back to study, or is she going somewhere else to teach?
Mary-Anne had her hands full with her first full week of school. That´s so crazy. But I would advise you to be grateful you don´t have to teach in the schools here....WOW. That´s all that can and should be said. It´s crazy. Every child in the country got a new laptop this last week, though. Some humanitarian thing or something that Bill Gates did? I don´t know, you guys all probly know more than I do. They´re pretty nice, considering EVERY kid got one, and they´re FREE, but mine is going to be cooler. :o)
Anyways, this week I really am going to try and send some pictures, so I´m gonna bounce out now. The USB port on the comp last week didn´t work, so I hope the one this week does. I hope you all have a FANTASTIC week! Thanks to those of you who wrote me, it was nice to hear from you! Aunt Kathy, send my love to the family! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Hmmm...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well, another telephone call come and gone. That´s crazy. That may be the last phone call I make home, but I guess only time will tell. Who knows if I´ll be home before Christmas? Any predictions? Haha. But, like Mom said, don´t get trunky.
So Mary-Anne has informed me that I don´t sound as weird as I did the last phone call. Elder Maughan and I decided it´s because the phone connection here is better. :o) If you don´t remember, Elder Maughan was also with me the last time I called home, but not as my companion, just as a housemate...? Haha. But I´m glad that I sounded "normal" this time. I must say, this phone call wasn´t as weird as the last one. On Christmas, it was just kind of awkward. Well, at least I thought so. Yesterday was just normal. Good thing. It was really good to talk to Skyler; sheesh, I can´t believe how long it´s been since I saw that kid. Come to think of it, I haven´t even seen a picture of him since he´s been home...! Hey slacker, get on top of that! :o)
Everyone seemed to be doing pretty good, so that´s always nice to know. After my phone call yesterday, Elder Maughan called his family and basically just said, "Hey, see you in two weeks." He was feeling a little trunky yesterday, needless to say, but I snapped him out of it. Haha. We had a pretty good week this week. Like I´ve been saying, we´ve needed to focus on finding. We had a pretty cool experience on Friday afternoon. We left after lunch focused on just that-finding. We decided to go by a ladies´house whom we had talked to in the street; went by, and no one was there. Knocked a couple of houses down and just talked to them in front of their house-nothing; but while we were there, we saw Leticia (the lady who we had talked with) return to her house. We went over there and just talked to her in front of her house, because she was home alone with her baby. We explained a little bit of the plan of salvation and she seemed to gain interest. At the end of our little chat, we asked her if she had any questions, and she said, "Yeah, I have one, but it´s kind of off the subject...what´s your baptism like?" Elder Maughan and I just kind of looked at each other and then explained that our baptism is like the baptism of Christ, by inmersion and by the priesthood. Then she says, "In the Bible, there´s a scripture that says that when Christ comes again, He will return to His church...how can we know which church that is?" With a smile, we explained that that is exactly what we teach, how people can know with a surety where the true church of Christ is in our day. We set up a return appointment, and we´re excited to head back tomorrow and answer her questions! The Lord is preparing His children, we just have to be willing to open our mouths and help them find what they are looking for!
Mom, you asked what we have been studying in our studies...it really kind of depends. One of those three hours is dedicated to language study, one to personal study, and one to comp study. I rotate between the BoM, the Bible, Patriarchal Blessing, and other books from the missionary library. Right now I´m in the process of re-reading the BoM, I´m in 1 Corinthians in New Testament, and I´m almost done with Moses in the Pearl. A lot of reading. :o)
I haven´t really eaten any "new" foods lately. That´s one thing that I´m not too crazy about in the ´Guay-there´s not a lot of food variety. Every restaurant or store you go to has the same things on their menu. But hey, it´s all good. For zone meetings, we usually take stuff to make sandwiches, or we order a milanesa, hamburger, or pasta, usually. Just depends on the day. :o)
I´ll think about stuff that I need/want and make a list so I can tell you next week. You could also make a list of ideas to help, if you want. Haha.
Well, I´m gonna end this letter and try and send off some pictures. I hope all of you mothers enjoyed your day yesterday! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Asado...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well here I am, tired and worn, but with a full stomach! This morning we had a zone activity with the whole zone. We went over to a member´s house in our ward and had an asado. (BBQ) While the food was cooking, we went over to the nearby field and played ultimate frisbee, soccer, and tossed around the football. It was a lot of fun, but doing a full-out exercise like that just makes me realize how long it´s been since I ran around on a field! I´m looking forward to a nice, warm shower and a little nap before studies. :o)
Last week was a great week. We had the Sector Conference here in Paysandú on Wednesday, so that means Elder Maughan and I were running here and there on Monday and Tuesday making sure everything was ready. Food, tables, chairs, audio, etc. Everything turned out really well, and the conference was a success!
Things are going really well for us here in Barrio Ombú. Elder Maughan and I are working with a couple of families really closely. The Rodriguez family, whose parents are inactive members, and the Zaballos family, where all 5 are nonmembers. The 4 Rodriguez kids who are of baptismal age are excitedly preparing for their baptism on the 24th, where they wil be accompanied by the 3 children of the Zaballos family. Mario and Diva Zaballos, the parents, will follow shortly thereafter, after everything goes through for Diva´s divorce from her husband in Argentina and they get married here in Paysandú. The longest delay will be waiting for the divorce to get through the courts, because the husband is in Argentina and has already remarried there. But they both have very strong testimonies of the Book of Mormon, and seeing their children progress encourages them to continue despite the delay. Their youngest daughter, Belen (9), got up and bore her testimony yesterday in Sacrament Meeting; the look on the faces of her parents said it all. Sweet!
This week will be a week of finding new investigators to keep the work moving forward at this quick pace. The zone of Paysandú is doing better than ever before-20 people have baptismal dates for this month already. The Lord is mindful of His children here in this part of the vineyard!
Mom, all is well with the question of health. I got over the little fever I had in a day or so. Yesterday my comp was fighting with a fever and congestion, but he´s doing better today. Congratulations on your graduation ceremony, Mom! That´s awesome! Don´t forget to send me pictures of you all dressed up in your cute little gown. :o) I´m glad that your concert went well.
Mel and Goose, what happened?! I´m still waiting for my letters...! Mel, how did your solo go in the concert? How are your guys´ grades looking for this last quarter? I hope they´re doing well...if not, I´m gonna drop the cane. :o)
So Mary-Anne´s gonna be subbing at Mom´s school...that should be fun! I want to hear about this wonderful growing experience. Haha. I don´t think I could teach; I like little kids and all, but the lack of focus would kill me! More power to ya.
Nathanael, when do you find out the results from your finals? How was this first year? Am I going to survive through my first year of law school? Haha, yeah right. That´d be interesting!
So Dad, what color is my Tacoma? Is it my metallic silver one, or is it the black one? I´m not feeling too picky. I can always get a paint job later, right?
Well, I think that´s gonna be about it for today! I hope everything is going well for all of you up north! Don´t forget to drop me a line and let me know how things are going...yes, that means you. Have a good one!
Elder Taylor