Welcoming Aaron home at SLC Airport
December 18, 2008
December 18, 2008
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Dear Family, Friends, and Loved Ones,
By virtue of the twenty-four months (mind boggling isńt it?) accumulated of toil, work, SUN, bug bites and incredible joy in the service of the Lord, the Missionary Committee has decreed that the time has come for these calloused, blistered, tired and DIRTY feet to take a rest. The un-assigned Elder, clothed in out-of-style rags, tanned on his neck from the collar up, but full of love for the gospel, will soon take his place again in the wicked Gentile world.
In making preparation to welcome the aforementioned Elder into the organized society, it is advised to keep in mind the different environment that has influenced his life for the past two years.
One would be advised to stock his kitchen with an abundance of the following: chocolate, ice cream, soft sandwich bread, 2% milk (not 32%), Doritos, salad (with crunchy Chinese noodles and ranch dressing), microwave anything, Big Gulp/Slurpee (anything cold), M&Ḿs, Snickers.... well, I think you get the idea. Dispose of any sign of rice, pasta with tomato sauce, dry hard breads, RICE, greasy soup, hot milk, RICE, and all undistinguishable meats. While you are at it, just dispose of all grease. Try to be understanding when he refuses half cooked eggs or greasy spaghetti. Do not take it personally if he looks through all food for flies, ants or animal hair. Above all, do not ask him to cook native dishes for you for the first few months.
Please do not be disturbed when he wears thongs in the shower, forgets to flush the toilet paper and instead throws it in the trash can, wears the same shirt and tie for a week, and eats with both arms on the table to be polite. Offense should not be taken when he looks for ants in the sugar, washes the dishes in cold water, carries toilet paper wherever he goes, or eats his food in 30 seconds flat to run off to an appointment. This poor exhausted man will probably run and scream should anyone mention Gamma Globulin shots, skin lice, fleas, heat, mud, dog packs, or crowded buses.
For the first few weeks until he finds himself and gets over jetlag and culture shock, be understanding of his broken English. If he slips into Spanish, a simple request for a translation will be sufficient.
Take into consideration his “condition” when he calls you “Elder” or “Hermana” and insists that it is a rule not to tell you his first name. Do not be bothered if he says “permiso” before entering or leaving a room, sticks his arm out to stop a bus and carries his scriptures with extra copies of the Book of Mormon everywhere he goes.
Do not ask why his only topic of conversation is Uruguay and missionary work, or think him a religious fanatic when he preaches to utter strangers in the street. Do not be embarrassed when he says “chao” to everyone he sees, hugs every man he meets, and even kisses the women on the cheek every once in a while.
You are hereby warned and duly cautioned to treat the newly delivered missionary with great care, courtesy, and affection. Humor him in every way. Remain calm when he jumps out of bed at 6:00 am to study and to beat his companion to the shower. Please have the bathtub ready with lots of hot water, bubbles, and a large, soft downy towel for his first bath in two years (also soft toilet paper would be appropriate). He is used to being with a companion 24 hours a day so do not be alarmed if he follows you around and wants to have comp study and prayer together. He will definitely show a great tendency to shake hands when meeting and parting.
He will surely be suffering from “Latinitis” (an extreme love for the Latin people). So please, try to understand when he gets that far-away look in his eyes and tears brim and he quietly excuses himself from the room. He will be thinking of that far-away land and people that he has grown to love, who have changed his life. But, broken hearts can mend with lots of love, hugs, and broiled bagels with cream cheese. And with a little patience, kindness and time, he will once again resemble the pre-mission specimen that you once knew.
Send no more mail to this address, THIS IS IT PEOPLE.........
HÉS COMING HOME!!!
By virtue of the twenty-four months (mind boggling isńt it?) accumulated of toil, work, SUN, bug bites and incredible joy in the service of the Lord, the Missionary Committee has decreed that the time has come for these calloused, blistered, tired and DIRTY feet to take a rest. The un-assigned Elder, clothed in out-of-style rags, tanned on his neck from the collar up, but full of love for the gospel, will soon take his place again in the wicked Gentile world.
In making preparation to welcome the aforementioned Elder into the organized society, it is advised to keep in mind the different environment that has influenced his life for the past two years.
One would be advised to stock his kitchen with an abundance of the following: chocolate, ice cream, soft sandwich bread, 2% milk (not 32%), Doritos, salad (with crunchy Chinese noodles and ranch dressing), microwave anything, Big Gulp/Slurpee (anything cold), M&Ḿs, Snickers.... well, I think you get the idea. Dispose of any sign of rice, pasta with tomato sauce, dry hard breads, RICE, greasy soup, hot milk, RICE, and all undistinguishable meats. While you are at it, just dispose of all grease. Try to be understanding when he refuses half cooked eggs or greasy spaghetti. Do not take it personally if he looks through all food for flies, ants or animal hair. Above all, do not ask him to cook native dishes for you for the first few months.
Please do not be disturbed when he wears thongs in the shower, forgets to flush the toilet paper and instead throws it in the trash can, wears the same shirt and tie for a week, and eats with both arms on the table to be polite. Offense should not be taken when he looks for ants in the sugar, washes the dishes in cold water, carries toilet paper wherever he goes, or eats his food in 30 seconds flat to run off to an appointment. This poor exhausted man will probably run and scream should anyone mention Gamma Globulin shots, skin lice, fleas, heat, mud, dog packs, or crowded buses.
For the first few weeks until he finds himself and gets over jetlag and culture shock, be understanding of his broken English. If he slips into Spanish, a simple request for a translation will be sufficient.
Take into consideration his “condition” when he calls you “Elder” or “Hermana” and insists that it is a rule not to tell you his first name. Do not be bothered if he says “permiso” before entering or leaving a room, sticks his arm out to stop a bus and carries his scriptures with extra copies of the Book of Mormon everywhere he goes.
Do not ask why his only topic of conversation is Uruguay and missionary work, or think him a religious fanatic when he preaches to utter strangers in the street. Do not be embarrassed when he says “chao” to everyone he sees, hugs every man he meets, and even kisses the women on the cheek every once in a while.
You are hereby warned and duly cautioned to treat the newly delivered missionary with great care, courtesy, and affection. Humor him in every way. Remain calm when he jumps out of bed at 6:00 am to study and to beat his companion to the shower. Please have the bathtub ready with lots of hot water, bubbles, and a large, soft downy towel for his first bath in two years (also soft toilet paper would be appropriate). He is used to being with a companion 24 hours a day so do not be alarmed if he follows you around and wants to have comp study and prayer together. He will definitely show a great tendency to shake hands when meeting and parting.
He will surely be suffering from “Latinitis” (an extreme love for the Latin people). So please, try to understand when he gets that far-away look in his eyes and tears brim and he quietly excuses himself from the room. He will be thinking of that far-away land and people that he has grown to love, who have changed his life. But, broken hearts can mend with lots of love, hugs, and broiled bagels with cream cheese. And with a little patience, kindness and time, he will once again resemble the pre-mission specimen that you once knew.
Send no more mail to this address, THIS IS IT PEOPLE.........
HÉS COMING HOME!!!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Wow
Can you believe this is his last letter for a full week as a missionary?
What a memory!
We are looking forward as a family to seeing each of you and sharing the joy
we have of welcoming home our son.
Thanks so much for all your support, prayers, thoughts, it really takes a
village to raise a child.
Thanks for being a part of our family and being the ones that make up the
village.
Liz is decorating the house and getting everything just right.
We are all in for a surprise and the joy of a very special Christmas Season,
may the spirit of Christ be with all of you.
Merry Christmas, with love and respect to each of you.
Craig, Liz, Mary-Anne, Nathanael, Melanie and Megan
Taylor Family and Friends,
I really just don´t even know how to start this letter. It still seems unreal, but everyday it seems to come closer. Haha. Obviously, right? We had interviews with President last week; his first question was, "So is it setting in on you yet?" We just both started laughing. I couldn´t believe that was his first question! But the interview went really well. He told me some of the unknown details for what´s going down next week and everything, but other than that, we were just talking about how Tranqueras is going and what he can expect from the area in the future.
Had a good week last week. This last week and this one are tough because we are out of our area for 2 or 3 days, but what are we gonna do? Tomorrow we have zone conference in Tacuarembó, so that will be fun. It´s the Christmas conference, so everyone´s looking forward to it. It´ll also be cool because the four of us that are ending this change will all be there. Another fun bit of info-my first testimony and my last testimony in a zone conference will have been given from the same pulpit. My first conference was also in T-bó. I can´t believe that was almost two years ago.
It´s good to know that you got a hold of Elder (Tyson) Stoddard! What a punk, I haven´t heard from him at all since he left. Oh well, I´ll have to find a way to forgive him. Haha. I better, because if he´s living that close to me, we might have problems if not. :o)
Anyways, this Friday Nestor Mendez will be baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor! I´m SO excited. He stopped smoking last weekend, and we´re getting everything set up for the baptism on Friday. He was handing out invitations at Church yesterday, and on Saturday, he asked me if I would do the honors of baptizing him. He asked Elder Hughes to be a witness, and President Diaz as well. Victor was also confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. He´s doing great. After his baptism, I gave him one of my favorite ties. Remember the blue, yellow, and white one? Yup, that´s the one. It was hard to part with, but it was his birthday on the 23rd, and he got baptized...c´mon. Haha. President Diaz looked at me right before the confirmation and asked me to do it, so I was blessed to be able to participate.
Other than that, things are just rolling along. Elder Hughes and I are working to prepare a couple of investigators to be baptized Dec. 25th-a white Christmas. It looks like there will be a couple of them. Busy week ahead. Traveling, baptism, and also some goodbyes.
Mom, just so you know, Elder Shupe´s email is tshupe@gmail.com. I emailed him last week to let him know about my homecoming, but you might want to pass him a message just to make sure he got it. Thanks a bunch.
Well, I´m going to print up some address cards and stuff now, so I think that´ll be it for this week. I don´t know if I´ll be writing next week; if I do, I couldn´t really tell you when it will be. Sometime after Sunday and before Wednesday. Haha. So there you go! I love you all, and we´ll see you soon!
Elder Taylor
What a memory!
We are looking forward as a family to seeing each of you and sharing the joy
we have of welcoming home our son.
Thanks so much for all your support, prayers, thoughts, it really takes a
village to raise a child.
Thanks for being a part of our family and being the ones that make up the
village.
Liz is decorating the house and getting everything just right.
We are all in for a surprise and the joy of a very special Christmas Season,
may the spirit of Christ be with all of you.
Merry Christmas, with love and respect to each of you.
Craig, Liz, Mary-Anne, Nathanael, Melanie and Megan
Taylor Family and Friends,
I really just don´t even know how to start this letter. It still seems unreal, but everyday it seems to come closer. Haha. Obviously, right? We had interviews with President last week; his first question was, "So is it setting in on you yet?" We just both started laughing. I couldn´t believe that was his first question! But the interview went really well. He told me some of the unknown details for what´s going down next week and everything, but other than that, we were just talking about how Tranqueras is going and what he can expect from the area in the future.
Had a good week last week. This last week and this one are tough because we are out of our area for 2 or 3 days, but what are we gonna do? Tomorrow we have zone conference in Tacuarembó, so that will be fun. It´s the Christmas conference, so everyone´s looking forward to it. It´ll also be cool because the four of us that are ending this change will all be there. Another fun bit of info-my first testimony and my last testimony in a zone conference will have been given from the same pulpit. My first conference was also in T-bó. I can´t believe that was almost two years ago.
It´s good to know that you got a hold of Elder (Tyson) Stoddard! What a punk, I haven´t heard from him at all since he left. Oh well, I´ll have to find a way to forgive him. Haha. I better, because if he´s living that close to me, we might have problems if not. :o)
Anyways, this Friday Nestor Mendez will be baptized by Elder Aaron Taylor! I´m SO excited. He stopped smoking last weekend, and we´re getting everything set up for the baptism on Friday. He was handing out invitations at Church yesterday, and on Saturday, he asked me if I would do the honors of baptizing him. He asked Elder Hughes to be a witness, and President Diaz as well. Victor was also confirmed yesterday in sacrament meeting. He´s doing great. After his baptism, I gave him one of my favorite ties. Remember the blue, yellow, and white one? Yup, that´s the one. It was hard to part with, but it was his birthday on the 23rd, and he got baptized...c´mon. Haha. President Diaz looked at me right before the confirmation and asked me to do it, so I was blessed to be able to participate.
Other than that, things are just rolling along. Elder Hughes and I are working to prepare a couple of investigators to be baptized Dec. 25th-a white Christmas. It looks like there will be a couple of them. Busy week ahead. Traveling, baptism, and also some goodbyes.
Mom, just so you know, Elder Shupe´s email is tshupe@gmail.com. I emailed him last week to let him know about my homecoming, but you might want to pass him a message just to make sure he got it. Thanks a bunch.
Well, I´m going to print up some address cards and stuff now, so I think that´ll be it for this week. I don´t know if I´ll be writing next week; if I do, I couldn´t really tell you when it will be. Sometime after Sunday and before Wednesday. Haha. So there you go! I love you all, and we´ll see you soon!
Elder Taylor
Monday, December 1, 2008
Pictures!
December...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Man, this last week went by really fast. We had a lot to do this week and it kept us busy. We officially do not live in the chapel anymore! Yay! We moved out on Saturday morning. We could´ve waited until today to move all of our stuff, but we wanted to be out before Sunday. Some of the young men from the ward came to help us move our stuff and clean up the new apartment. It´s nice, we´re happy with it. For right now it´s pretty empty, but they´ll get some furniture in there pretty soon. But then again, we don´t need much-just the beds, a place for our clothes, and the bathroom! Missionaries aren´t too picky.
Victor Barreneche was baptized on Friday night! There was definitely a last minute push by the adversary to try and knock it off course, but it was done. On Tuesday morning, we were heading to Rivera for our district meeting and Victor was on the back of the bus. We waved, and he motioned for me to go back to him. I worked my way back and he told me that he was on his way to the hospital because his dad had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but he said he would be back for sure by Friday for the baptism. For the next couple of days we couldn´t get a hold of him. On Thursday, I was in Rivera to do some interviews and Elder Hughes and Elder Jones found Victor and met his father. He was doing much better, and Victor was as excited as ever. They set the interview for Friday morning, before we switched back from divisions. Elder Johnson and I arrived from Rivera and they still had not had the interview because Victor hadn´t shown up; Elder Johnson and I went over to his house, and he had slept in. Haha. And that´s not the end of it. The baptism was set for 7 PM Friday night, and Jesus Furtado was going to baptize Victor. Turns out that the machine at Jesus´ work broke and they got stuck late trying to fix it. We pushed back the baptism in hopes that he would be back, but he couldn´t make it. Victor asked me to baptize him at the last minute. On Sunday morning, a huge rainstorm came through Tranqueras. Victor lives in one of the farthest neighborhoods here in Tranqueras and the streets are horrible, so he didn´t make it on Sunday for his confirmation. Actually, Elder Hughes and I didn´t even make it to sacrament meeting on Sunday. Ok, let me explain. We were in Sunday School with everyone and we received a message from Nestor and Élida asking for Pres. Diaz´s number because Élida´s house was full of water and they needed help. Pres. Diaz took Marcos, Elder Hughes and I to get changed and we ran over to Élida´s house to help them. The roof is in really bad condition, and we´ve been working on getting materials in order to replace it, but we haven´t been able to do so yet. After the rain stopped and the leaking wasn´t as bad, the four of us headed back to the chapel in our jeans and t-shirts to take the sacrament. That was a first.
Yesterday afternoon we went back over to Élida´s house, but this time in shirts and ties in order to have a lesson with Nestor, Belén and Lorena. We have been teaching Nestor since I got here, and he´s just been struggling with smoking. Belén was invited by Yenifer to come to church two weeks ago, and has come the last two. Lorena is another friend who is also starting to show interest. We talked with all of them about the Restoration and it went REALLY well. The best part about the lesson, though, came at the end when I asked if anyone had any questions or comments; Nestor said yes, and asked me what date I will be leaving. I told him the 15th or the 16th, and he said, "Well, then we´ll have to set my baptismal date for the 13th, won´t we?" We all just kind of looked at him, speechless. Haha. We said yes, and talked about his resolution to stop smoking by this weekend. So Nestor Mendez is going to be getting baptized on December 13th! Super excited!
Tomorrow we have District Mtg, and Wednesday we have interviews with President. It´ll be interesting to see how this interview goes. Haha. I can´t believe it´s going to be my last "missionary work" interview. There´s four of us ending the mission this change: Hermanas Gutierrez and Gonzalez, Elder Temechuk and I. All four of us will be in the same zone conference next week in Tacuarembó, so that´s exciting!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for me this week. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! I was in Rivera on divisions, and we went to a buffet on the Brazilian side of the border. Mmm. No turkey, but plenty of food! Love you all, and we´ll see ya soon!
Elder Taylor
Man, this last week went by really fast. We had a lot to do this week and it kept us busy. We officially do not live in the chapel anymore! Yay! We moved out on Saturday morning. We could´ve waited until today to move all of our stuff, but we wanted to be out before Sunday. Some of the young men from the ward came to help us move our stuff and clean up the new apartment. It´s nice, we´re happy with it. For right now it´s pretty empty, but they´ll get some furniture in there pretty soon. But then again, we don´t need much-just the beds, a place for our clothes, and the bathroom! Missionaries aren´t too picky.
Victor Barreneche was baptized on Friday night! There was definitely a last minute push by the adversary to try and knock it off course, but it was done. On Tuesday morning, we were heading to Rivera for our district meeting and Victor was on the back of the bus. We waved, and he motioned for me to go back to him. I worked my way back and he told me that he was on his way to the hospital because his dad had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but he said he would be back for sure by Friday for the baptism. For the next couple of days we couldn´t get a hold of him. On Thursday, I was in Rivera to do some interviews and Elder Hughes and Elder Jones found Victor and met his father. He was doing much better, and Victor was as excited as ever. They set the interview for Friday morning, before we switched back from divisions. Elder Johnson and I arrived from Rivera and they still had not had the interview because Victor hadn´t shown up; Elder Johnson and I went over to his house, and he had slept in. Haha. And that´s not the end of it. The baptism was set for 7 PM Friday night, and Jesus Furtado was going to baptize Victor. Turns out that the machine at Jesus´ work broke and they got stuck late trying to fix it. We pushed back the baptism in hopes that he would be back, but he couldn´t make it. Victor asked me to baptize him at the last minute. On Sunday morning, a huge rainstorm came through Tranqueras. Victor lives in one of the farthest neighborhoods here in Tranqueras and the streets are horrible, so he didn´t make it on Sunday for his confirmation. Actually, Elder Hughes and I didn´t even make it to sacrament meeting on Sunday. Ok, let me explain. We were in Sunday School with everyone and we received a message from Nestor and Élida asking for Pres. Diaz´s number because Élida´s house was full of water and they needed help. Pres. Diaz took Marcos, Elder Hughes and I to get changed and we ran over to Élida´s house to help them. The roof is in really bad condition, and we´ve been working on getting materials in order to replace it, but we haven´t been able to do so yet. After the rain stopped and the leaking wasn´t as bad, the four of us headed back to the chapel in our jeans and t-shirts to take the sacrament. That was a first.
Yesterday afternoon we went back over to Élida´s house, but this time in shirts and ties in order to have a lesson with Nestor, Belén and Lorena. We have been teaching Nestor since I got here, and he´s just been struggling with smoking. Belén was invited by Yenifer to come to church two weeks ago, and has come the last two. Lorena is another friend who is also starting to show interest. We talked with all of them about the Restoration and it went REALLY well. The best part about the lesson, though, came at the end when I asked if anyone had any questions or comments; Nestor said yes, and asked me what date I will be leaving. I told him the 15th or the 16th, and he said, "Well, then we´ll have to set my baptismal date for the 13th, won´t we?" We all just kind of looked at him, speechless. Haha. We said yes, and talked about his resolution to stop smoking by this weekend. So Nestor Mendez is going to be getting baptized on December 13th! Super excited!
Tomorrow we have District Mtg, and Wednesday we have interviews with President. It´ll be interesting to see how this interview goes. Haha. I can´t believe it´s going to be my last "missionary work" interview. There´s four of us ending the mission this change: Hermanas Gutierrez and Gonzalez, Elder Temechuk and I. All four of us will be in the same zone conference next week in Tacuarembó, so that´s exciting!
Well, I think that´s about going to do it for me this week. I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! I was in Rivera on divisions, and we went to a buffet on the Brazilian side of the border. Mmm. No turkey, but plenty of food! Love you all, and we´ll see ya soon!
Elder Taylor
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