Elder Huber...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
This morning the zone got together to play soccer and basketball at the chapel in front of my house. Elder Centurión took me off to the side before we started and told me the news of Pres. Hinckley´s passing. President Peterson had called the Assistants at 3 AM and let them know. The Assistants called the Zone Leader´s this morning. We started our P-Day by singing "Praise to the Man" and a prayer often by Elder Acuña. It is a sad time, but what a blessing it is to know that this is the Lord´s work. What a blessing we have had to receive the counsel from this servant of the Lord. The best way to honor his memory is to live according to what he taught us.
I don´t know if I ever told you while I was in the MTC, but Elder Richard G. Hinckley came and spoke to us. One thing that has always stuck with me is something he mentioned in his talk. He told us that his father was doing very well with his health, but he told us to keep in mind that he was almost 97 years old (at that time). He said, "I´m not making a prophecy, but I believe that you will all see a change of prophets while in the mission field." I have never forgotten that, and now I know I never will. May we all move forward and work in the way that he always encouraged us to do. What a blessing it has been to serve under his direction and counsel.
While speaking of changes, I had a big one this last week. My new companion is Elder Daniel Lee Huber, from Bainbridge, Indiana. Just to give you an idea, he is 6´5", 230 lbs. No one will touch me in the streets. Haha. He is SUCH a stud! We get along really well. He has just hit the ground running this last week and seems to be loving it. His vocabulary is limited, obviously, but his accent is super good and he is doing very well with grammar. More important than that, he just has the desires to be a great missionary and he´s anxious to work. He´s the oldest of 3 kids; has a brother who´s 13, and a little sister who´s 4. His mother has been a member her whole life, but his dad was baptized a little over 2 years...by Elder Huber. What a stud. We´ve had a great time getting to know each other and trying to start this change off the way the Lord wants us to.
I am officially the smallest Elder in our house. Haha. Elder Johanson is 6´7", Elder Huber is 6´5", and Elder Roper is like 6´2". Ridiculous. I´m the youngest, as well, but I´m the oldest on the mission. "The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first....!" :o)
Mom, you said that Pete Lundberg is in the bishopric?! That´s SO cool! I love that man! Who else is in the bishopric? I don´t even know. Crazy. How´s the ward doing, anyways. I heard from Sister Mangum a little while ago, but that´s about it. Besides from the Mays, obviously. And when I say the Mays, I mean Jewels. I believe Skyler has still not written me a letter....! How are the other missionaries from our ward/stake doing? My Zone Leader here in Cerro is Elder Ludlow, who I graduated with from Bingham. This morning we were talking about people we know and where they are at. He said his stake sends them all like a newsletter every 3 months letting them know where everyone is at....Dad, you should bring that up in High Council. :o)
The attendance in our ward here is probably about 60 or 70. I´ve never really asked, but I imagine it´s about there. By far the hardest-working and best-organized ward I have been in here in Uruguay. The Bishopric is awesome and the members are super cool. They don´t feed us a lot, but that´s the downfall to being in a ward in ´Deo. Oh well. I still love them. Nope, no new Uruguayan (how do you say that in English?) mother. She´s still kickin´ up in Artigas: it´ll be difficult for anyone to replace the Hma. Martinez. You should send them a hello for me. Tell them I´m in Susana Mendez´s ward down here in ´Deo. They´ll probly go crazy.
Dad, thanks for sending me that thing about that book in Bulgaria...that´s pretty sweet.
The work´s going well. We had our first real lesson with Liber on Saturday night. The employment office had given him the pamphlet that talks about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He read it, and when I asked him if he had a question or a doubt, he told us he didn´t really understand repentance. So, in order to give him a base, we talked about faith and then went on to repentance. Super good lesson. He was so focused and was just anxious to learn. At the end of the lesson, asked him how his plans were for going to church on Sunday. He said, "At 9:00, I´m there!" So I told him, "Well, we probly won´t be there til about 9:15, but if you want to go early, that´s fine. Haha. He showed up about 9:20. But after I asked him about his plans, he said, "I would also like to talk to you guys about baptism...I would like to get baptized." No problem, Liber; no problem at all. He has a long ways to go before his baptism, but he has the desires, and that is where it must start. We left him with 2 Nephi chapter 31, which we will go over with him tomorrow night in our lesson!
Do you remember me telling you about Juan and Patricia-the family that went to church my first Sunday here? They moved to Salto last week. I got their new direction and called the Elders in that area...we´re anxious to see what happens.
Anyways, that´s about it for this week. I am just loving the opportunity I have to be here and serve others. It really is such a blessing. Know that I love you all, and I can´t wait to hear from you all!
Elder Taylor

P.S. Your package is being put in the mail tomorrow...which means I will probly be pulling out some money today...Love you!

Changes!

Taylor Family and Friends, 
This week has just been anAMAZING week! That´s all I can say.
 I know that that statement might raise questions, but I´ll try to
 explain the best I can in the short time I have to write this letter.
 But I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! For those of you who have
 served, you will understand this type of feeling.
For those of you who haven´t...it´s basically undescribable. Sorry.
Haha. 
 So apparently I do have an accent...Mary-Anne was just
the only one who had enough guts to tell me. Haha. I asked all the
other Elders in our house this week what they thought, but we came to
the conclusion that their opinions don´t count because they don´t know
how I sounded before the mission. Anyways, just an interesting note;
now to the important stuff...
 So last week I was kind of
frustrated because I just felt like we had been working like crazy and
we weren´t seeing the kind of "fruits" we expected. But, God never
forgets to bless us for our efforts, we just need to be patient and
trust Him. We had an AMAZING weekend! We gave the son of one of the
recent converts a baptismal date, we talked to a guy on Saturday night
who then went to church on Sunday morning without ever having received
a single lesson (who LOVED church), and we also just taught some of the
sweetest lessons of my life. 
 We have been teaching a young
couple named Gabriel and Sandra: I believe I have mentioned them in a
past email. Anyways, had a great lesson on Sunday afternoon with them.
We had previously left them to read Alma 32 in the Book of Mormon. We
had arranged to go by on Thursday afternoon, but they had to run an
errand, so they were not there. Anyways, long story short, we decided
to go by on Sunday afternoon. We got to their house, and the Book of
Mormon was sitting on top of the kitchen table, waiting for us. We
sang, prayed, and I asked them if they had read the part we left them.
Gabriel said, “ALGO leí.” or “I read SOMETHING.” Which usually means
that the people forgot to read, or just read a couple of verses. That
made me nervous...until he finished the thought. “I only had time to
read it throught twice.” WHAT?! That´s so sick! Haha. Again, long story
short, they LOVED the reading. They ate it up. And then Sandra proceeds
to tell us about how she was never a person that prayed until we
started coming. During the week, they had a little problem with the
payment from Gabriel´s work, they didn´t want to pay him. Sandra said
that she said a prayer just asking God to help them have the funds
necessary to put food on the table for their 4 kids. The next day,
Gabriel got a call from his work and the payment came through. She
hasn´t stopped praying since. After that awesome story, they started to
tell us about the complete change they have noticed in their lives
since we started visiting them. They said that their relationship is
better, they are happier, their house is more tranquil, and there´s
just a feeling that they´ve never had before. As they were telling us
this, I think there were 4 pairs of wet eyes in that little kitchen.
God really does hear our prayers. We are His children, and He loves
each one of us SO much! 
 Ok, next cool story. We are teaching
a man named Ricardo who lived in the States for like three years. Just
a super nice, cool guy. He turned 61 yesterday, which was also Elder
Larsen´s birthday! Elder Larsen turned 20. Ricardo invited the four of
us Elders to his house last night to have birthday dinner with him and
his family. We had stroganoff with rice, and a cake with peaches and
ice cream for dessert. Super good. Anyways, Ricardo has a son who is 23
years old named Liber. We´ve talked to him casually a couple of times,
but as he is coming or going. A couple of weeks ago, we gave him the
direction and the phone number to the LDS employment office here in
´Deo. We went over to teach his dad on Saturday night, and he greeted
us with a huge smile. He thanked us for giving him that information; he
went to the office last week and LOVED it. He was just super excited
about everything that goes on in that office. Haha. He started taking a
course/workshop there yesterday that takes place 3 days a week.
Anyways, so we invited him to take part in the lesson with us, but he
had just arrived from work, so he had to shower and whatnot. It was
late, so we had to haev the lesson without him. At the end of the
lesson, we invited his father to come to church; he had a previous
engagement, so he told us he would not be able to make it, but then HE
extended the invitation to his son and told him he wanted him to go.
Liber said, “Ok, I´m there. No problem.” Sunday morning at 9:30 he was
sitting next to me in opening Priesthood Meeting singing the first hymn
of his life. After Gospel Principles, on our way to Sacrament Meeting,
he asked me if we have the meetings every week-I told him yes. “Oh
good,” he says, “because I want to start coming.” No problem, Liber.
:o) I gave him a pamphlet about the Restoration and told him to read
it. With pleasure, was the answer. I love being a missionary. Haha. 

Anyways, this letter is getting long, and I haven´t even arrived to
some of the most important news for this week. As I told you all last
week, this week is change week. I have been living with 4 Elders this
change, and it has been a fantastic change. Elder Larsen and I REALLY
wanted to stay together for this next change...but the Lord has other
plans. Elder Larsen is headed to Salto to open an area and be Senior
Comp. I am SO excited for him! He is going to tear it up. Out of the
four Elders in our house, I´m the only one who is staying. They
white-washed the other area in our ward, meaning they took out the two
missionaries who were there, and brought in two others. As for Elder
Taylor...are you ready?.....ELDER TAYLOR IS TRAINING! I am SOOOOOOOO
excited! I can´t even describe how stoked I am to train again. I was
told that all of the Elders who are coming this change are gringos, so
that is SWEET! I really enjoyed this last change with Elder Larsen, and
I would have LOVED to stay with him, but this is the next best thing.
Training is just such an awesome learning and growing experience, for
both the trainer and the trainee. I´m stoked. I´ll meet my second
“hijo” tomorrow morning...! 
 Anyways, so I think that´s all the super intense news for this week. Haha. 
Now a couple ofquestions/comments. Dad, I want to know if you knew an
Elder Garns on your mission. There is an Elder in my zone whose father
served in a mission in the 70´s that included Georgia, Florida, and
Alabama. I´m pretty sure that´s yours. What years did you serve?
Rack your brain and your journals and let me know. We found that cool
“could-be” fact while we were on divisions last week. The Elder Garns here
is from Mesa,Arizona...I´m not sure if that´s where his dad is from as well. 

Mary-Anne won the contest from a couple of weeks ago...the
“¿mmm´Howdy?” question. That´s what dad always says when he answers
the phone. I don´t know why it came to my head, but it did. Mary-Anne, I
don´t really have any specific requests for music, but I just want
music. Haha. I will love you forever. Well, I already do.... but you
understand! 
 Dad, that´s a pretty sweet missionary opportunity
you had. That´s how it all starts; just a simple comment that turns
into a simple conversation. Pretty soon it will lead to simple
questions and simple answers. It´s just so easy to be a missionary! It
doesn´t require any huge efforts or opportunities. It just consists in
having the ability to recognize the opportunities that God gives us
every day to share His plan with His children. 
 Melanie and Megan, this is the start of a new quarter...just do all you can to
stayon top of your homework and grades! You will both tear it up. Just work
like crazy first, and then you can enjoy everything else! 

Dad, did you get your new truck yet? :o) Mary-Anne got a new digital
camera, so that means you get to get a new toy, too. Haha. No, I
haven´t sent the pictures off yet, but I´ll send it on Thursday, no
worries. The box is almost ready, so I´m pretty sure I´ll finish it
today. Mary-Anne, are you still making a list of songs and movies that
are must-sees and must-hears? If I come home “weird” and don´t snap out
of it quick because I don´t know what´s cool, it´ll be your fault.
Haha. Love ya, sis! 
 Alright, I think that´s going to be all
for today. I love you all so much! I think about you often, and you´re
in my prayers even more! Take care, be safe, and write me. :o) Love ya!

 Elder Taylor

Well hey there...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
So, 13 months and 1 day, uh? That´s pretty sweet. To be honest, I didn´t even realize it was my ´anniversary´ until after church yesterday when we were in a lesson getting ready to set our next appointment. But when finally realized it, it was a pretty sweet moment. Haha. Oh before I forget, changes are next week, so I will be writing on Tuesday. Just so ya´ll know!
I have a question...did anyone else notice any weird accent when called for Christmas. Mary-Anne claims that I have a thick accent and a lisp-type thing going on; but she was the only one that mentioned anything, so I´m wondering if she´s still ´all there.´ Just kidding, love ya, M-A! But of course I could understand having an accent...after talking Spanish for over a year, what do you expect? Haha.
It´s kind of interesting to recognize changes in yourself on the mission, though. Some of them (obviously) aren´t as blatant to you as they are to others, because the life you are living is completely different from that of before; but there are still quite a few that are fun to recognize. For example, I´ve noticed that I´m just a more patient person than I was before. It´s interesting to meet someone in the street and afterwards talk about how you might have reacted differently before the mission. It´s quite the learning experience. You meet people from all different walks of life. That is another thing I´ve noticed... I really just like meeting people. I was a pretty social person before the mission, but I think that has grown. I still have no idea for sure what I´m going to study after the mission, but I´m basically positive that it´s going to have to be something where I have contact with the people. So we´ll see. I still have a long time to think about it. :o)
So I´m kind of depressed about that package that Mary-Anne sent me. It got through all good...except for the Detroit Lions stocking. That would have been SOOO sweet! Even the beef jerky got through untouched, which is very rare. Why people would steal a Lions stocking, I´m not sure. They probly just have no idea about how good my favorite team is...! :o) Oh well, I´ll just be depressed for a little while. Haha.
Mom, you asked about our food/laundry arrangements here in ´Deo. Well, the ward I´m in is split between the two companionships in our house; and, as luck would have it, I got put on the side where most of the less-active members live. Which means if we want more lunches with members, we have to do some missionary work and reactivate them first. Haha. But it´s giving me a chance to practice my cooking skills. Although the cooking is very different here, because all we have is a microwave and a gas can with a frying pan on top. Good times. As for laundry, the lady that lives behind us (who owns the house we live in) does our laundry. She charges 70 pesos a load, which isn´t super cheap, but not super expensive. They´re not members, but they´re really good people. Nice old couple.
No, I didn´t get my package sent off last week, but I did get the pictures copied onto a CD. I just have to make sure I have enough stuff in the box to make it worth it to send. Maybe if I buy some stuff today I´ll send it tomorrow when we go to District Meeting, which is close by the post office.
Megan´s giving a talk in church this week? That´s so cool! What is the topic, Goose? Don´t mess up. Haha. Just kidding.You´ll do great, kid!
Finding in Montevideo isn´t as bad as I thought it would be. But finding people who progress has been the challenge. We can find people and have a couple lessons with them, but it´s harder to find people here who really progress. They are here, we just have to find them, and it makes it all the sweeter when we do.
For example, we are teaching Gabriel and Sandra, who are 26 and 34. Really nice young couple. Gabriel´s parents used to be members of the Church, but for a problem of which I´m not sure of all the details, they left the Church. That was over 20 years ago, so when he was about 6. As a result, he knows basically nothing about the church; heard a couple of things here and there, but nothing for sure. Anyways, we started teaching them and the change has been amazing. At first, they “just wanted to talked” but now the desire has changed. We gave them a Book of Mormon yesterday. At the end of the lesson, Sandra prayed for the first time with us. After she got done saying an awesome prayer, she looked up, put her hand on her chest and said to us, “This is that feeling that you were describing.” I asked her if she remembered what it was. She nodded, “The Spirit.” Exactly. “When you read this chapter in the Book of Mormon and ask God if it´s true, you will feel that same feeling.” God truly does prepare His children. I have no doubt that the message of the restored gospel is a message that God has prepared for the happiness of His children. Eternal happiness.
Mary-Anne, you put my song online?! You didn´t even tell me! I got a letter from Alison last week, who told me that she had heard my song and explained that she found it on the blog, or something like that. Just make sure you copyright it. Haha. I really need to take advantage of the piano in our house here. Maybe next week I´ll just stay inside all p-day and write music. I started another song a couple of weeks ago, but I just can´t find the time to work on it. Hmmm. Taking a theory class would have helped speed up the process, as well. Oh well, next semester!
Anyways, I think that´s going to be all for today. I think there was some other stuff I had written, but with the power going out (twice), I can´t remember all I had written. My bad. Can´t wait to hear from all of you! Take care of yourselves and have a great week! Love ya!
Elder Taylor

No interesting title...Sorry... :o)

Taylor Fam and Friends,
Who am I?... "M´Howdy?" Ten points for anyone that can tell me. Haha.
That just came to my head, so I figured I´d put it down! But anyways...how
are you all?! Hope you all had a good New Years! We just hung out in our
house, playing chess and Uno between the four of us...it was a lot of fun.
New Years morning we played basketball and just hung around. Good day.
Haha.

Good week last week; trying to get back into the missionary mode after
all the holidays! It wasn´t too tough...my comp is a stud! It was a little
difficult because a lot of our investigators went out of town for the
holidays, so we´re excited to have them back this week!

This morning, we (about 8 from the zone) went to La Ciudad Vieja...the
Old City. It´s the touristic part of ´Deo. Or one of them, at least. It
was a lot of fun. Just picture taking and window shopping. Good times. Oh,
tambian, there was a cruise liner here, so there were a LOT of people from
the States down here...we were able to talk to quite a few of them. Taking
pictures, helping with directions, etc. We also talked to a member of the
Church and his wife in McDonald´s that are from Logan! When I went to Utah
State, I lived like 4 blocks from my house. They gave me an update on good
ole´ Aggie Basketball: I love Americans. Haha.

Last Friday, I witnessed a wedding for the first time in my life. The
other Elders in our ward had an investigator get married to her husband,
who is a member of the church. They invited the 4 of us to the wedding, so
we all went to give our support. It was pretty cool, actually. Then on
Saturday evening, she was baptized. It´s just amazing to see how the
Gospel can make a happy family, happier. We talk with many people who care
about their families A TON, and when we tell them that the message that we
share is something that will only make our families stronger, and that the
foundation of the church IS the family, it catches their attention. A lot
of them already have their beliefs, and that´s fine, but they are always
grateful for the time we took to share with them what has strengthened our
families. How can people say no to 5 minutes or 30 seconds of time that
could bless their family for eternity? Not very easily. The message we
share is a message of happiness and a message to bless the
family...there´s no mystery to what "the Mormons" share!

Anyways, my comp was robbed last week. Haha. New Year´s Eve, actually.
We were walking down the street, and some guy came up and just grabbed his
scripture case. As he ran off, the Book of Mormon and the picture of his
family fell out, so we just picked those up and went on to the rest of our
lessons. When we went home that night, a member of the ward called to say
that one of his neighbors had brought him Elder Larsen´s stuff. Haha.
Someone tried to sell it to him for 20 pesos! (about 1 dollar) The guy told
him to quit being dumb and took it from him; he then took it to his
neighbor and good friend, who is the Young Men´s President in our ward. So
we got it all back very quickly. Maybe it would have been better if the guy
had kept the Bible he stole and read it...just a thought. :o) But, it makes
for a good story!
Anyways, that´s about it for this week. The day is ending too quickly,
and I've got to go copy my pictures onto a CD, so I can send it to all you
guys! Sorry it´s taken my so long to do it, but...there´s not a lot you
can do about it. :o) Just kidding. But there´s good pictures, so it´s
worth the wait! Know that I love you and that I´m looking forward to
hearing from you! Sister Mangum, thanks for your letter! It was really nice
to hear how you and the family are doing! Send my best to your husband and
the kids! Anyways, take care, and have a good one!
Elder Taylor

Last day of 2007...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
So it´s the last day of the year...how cool is that?! I´m pretty excited. I expect you to all behave yourselves well tonight and watch the ball drop for me! I think this will be one of the first times where I won´t watch the ball drop...weird. But it´s all good. I think the four of us are just going to hang out at home tonight. We have permission to go and chill with a member until 12:30, but I think we´re just going to kick it at home. We´re going to make that banana cream pie and whatever else we can find to whip up. :o) For my birthday/Christmas present to me, I bought a blender; it was/is a very good investment. Fruit is really cheap, and a fruity milkshake or smoothie really helps to cool down during afternoon studies!Anyways, talked to the family on Tuesday; that was fun. Mary-Anne said I sounded WAY different, why is that? I don´t think that I sound that different, but I guess I can´t really notice the difference. Why do I sound so different? Mary-Anne asked if it was weird to talk to you all on Christmas. That´s a tough question. It´s not weird, it was just difficult to know what to talk about. My first call, in May, it was easy, because I just had to talk about the country, culture, people, work, etc. but now you guys know what it is I´m doing, how I´m doing, and all that jazz. It kind of felt just like my weekly email, but instead of typing, talking. Elder Maughan and I both felt the same way; Elder Maughan goes home the week after Mother´s Day, so he has one call left. But it was the first call for Elder Larsen and Elder Roxas, so it was fun to see how excited they were and to see how much they just talked and talked. So yeah, not weird, just different. It was a lot of fun to hear everyone´s voice, though. I´m glad to hear that you guys had a fun week. Christmas is just a lot different here in the ´Guay. They don´t put as much emphasis on it as we do in the States. New Year and El Día de Los Reyes, which is January 6th, are a lot bigger. The Day of the Kings(?) is basically like our Christmas, but instead of waiting for Santa Clause, they are waiting for the Three Wise Men. Kinda different, but fun anyways. Had a cool experience this last week. We received a reference from one of our investigators, Daniela. She told us to go and visit her daughter, Laura, and her boyfriend/husband, Juan. She knew the name of the streets that make the corner, but she didn´t know the number of the house. So we decided to go and try and find the house. As we turned on to one of the streets, we passed a younger guy, and the thought came to my head, "That´s Juan." But I didn´t stop him to ask or anything; instead, we just went to the neighbor and knocked. When the lady came out, I asked her if she knew a young couple named Juan and Laura; she said she had lived in that house for years, and she didn´t know them. She told us to go and ask at the neighborhood almacén, because they would probly know. We thanked her for her help and left. But instead of going to the almacén, we walked over to the house where I had seen the man go inside. I had previously made the comment to Elder Larsen that I thought it was him. We knocked, and the guy came to the door. We told him we were looking for Juan and Laura, and he asked why. I told him that Laura´s mother had told us to pass by and such. He told us to wait for just a second, went inside to ask his wife, and then let us in. They are a young couple with a daughter of about a 1 and a half. A while ago they were studying with the Jehovah´s Witnesses, but they stopped because...well, because. They asked us a bunch of questions about what it is that we believe and the Church in general. It was a sweet "charla." We shared a part of the proclamation of the family with them and they were very interested in learning more. We have a return appointment for later this week. When we at first don´t pay attention to the whisperings of the Spirit, don´t be scared to correct that decision and do it...NOW. Haha. That was a very good lesson for me. Anyways, I hope you all have a Happy New Year! I´m excited to set some sweet New Year´s resolutions and even more excited to put them in practice. I hope you all feel the same. :o) As they say here... "¡Que terminen el año bien y que lo empiecen mejor!" I would love to hear how all of you are doing, and your activities during this holiday season.
Take care!
Elder Taylor

!Cerro!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! So I´m writing my email from the middle of Montevideo-that´s so cool. Arrived safe and sound, and I am LOVING this city! It´s just unbelievable. It´s completely different than my other areas, obviously, but I´m definitely enjoying. First of all, living with four gringos is a dream. Haha. We make an extra emphasis on obedience, but we have a great time together. For example, last night we had P-Eve. (Peeve) That´s where we pull out our four mattresses into the big middle room, of course in bed by 10:30, and then we just chat about life. It was way fun. Not to mention, the house is awesome! Right in front of the chapel, right on the edge of our areas, and pretty spacey. Oh, and another AWESOME fact...WE HAVE A PIANO! It´s old-school, and the b-flat in the lower octave is way out of tune, but it´s SO nice. I love it. If anyone has any sweet music they want to share...I´d be willing to wake up half an hour early. :o) My companion, Elder Larsen, and I are getting along SO well. He is a really quiet guy, usually, but we hit it off really well. He is from Boise, but his family moved to Wyoming while he was in the MTC...he´s still kind of touchy when we tell him he´s really from Wyoming. Haha. He´s a few inches taller than me, and loves working out. It´s pretty funny, actually. He goes crazy if he can´t work out. He speaks Spanish very well, a fact that I was very pleased with! Like I´ve said before, being with a gringo is just a very different experience than being with a Latino; for those of you who have experienced it, you understand what I mean. We live with Elder Maughan, from Mt. Home, Idaho (who I knew previously from Salto) and Elder Roxas from Concord, California. We all get along super well, and have a lot of good laughs. This morning we spent the morning doing our "spring cleaning." We got a strict command last week in the announcements that every house in the mission would be cleaning this morning. Haha. I was planning on doing a pretty intense cleaning anyway. That is one change I have seen on the mission that I am grateful for. I don´t mind cleaning and I LOVE living in a clean house. Don´t get any ideas, Mom and Dad...I have my apartment to clean. Haha. Just playing. I don´t know, I just enjoy cleaning and living clean. I don´t know why it changed, but I´m sure grateful it did! I left Bella Union Tuesday night at 8:30, got to Salto at 10:30. Left Salto at 12:30 and arrived in ´Deo about 6:30. It wasn´t too bad. The sleep was terrible, but that´s to be expected. So anyway, the work is going GREAT here! I´m in the 16th ward, which we share with the other Elders. Our part of the ward is called Nueva París. On the map it looked kind of small, but it´s actually pretty good sized. It has a wide-variety of neighborhoods and classes of people. I love it. Anyways, Elder Larsen and his old comp had a baptism last week, so that´s cool, but means that finding is necessary. I got here and we just found like crazy the last 5 days. The Lord is really blessing us. They had previously been teaching a family who had never been to the Church, and we had a very powerful with them on Saturday afternoon about the Sabbath Day. The Spirit was felt, and they said they would go to church the next morning if Juan didn´t get called into work. He works on the drug team for the police department, and he was told they were leaving on a bust that night, but still hadn´t received confirmation. We told him we would call him on Sunday morning just to verify, which we did. We called about 8:45 on Sunday morning, and he was still home, which meant they were coming! He told us just to wait for them at the chapel, and we said ok. I was at the door waiting anxiously when I see Juan and Patricia walking up the street with their two youngest boys Rogelio and Brian! (12 and 8) That was a GREAT sight, and to top it off...Juan, Rogelio, and Brian were all in shirts and ties, accompanied by Patricia in a skirt! It was just the icing on the cake. I was a little nervous about how things would go, because I had never been in the ward, but the members worked fantastically! After Relief Society, I was waiting outside the door to take Patricia to Gospel Principles, and she came out with her face just beaming. At the end of the block, the Da Costa family and two gringos were all smiles. I got the two packages last Thursday; it appears that they didn´t even get touched! Mary-Anne, that shirt is AWESOME! Haha. It´s so much cooler in real-life instead of in a drawing. :o) Thanks a ton. I´m guessing Mom and Dad sent the new, sweet tie. And the American goodies...well I´ll just say that you have made four Americans very grateful for the blessings we enjoy. :o) Mary-Anne, I also got your card last Thursday. Dad, you said the internet shows a lighthouse and fort on the Cerro, I´m a tad-bit more north, but yeah, that´s the zona. Our Zone Leaders live right up there by the fort. The chapel is on Luis Battle Berres and Camino de Las Tropas, right about La Ruta 5 (Highway 5) I don´t know if that information will help you locate it. We then live right in front of the chapel.Sorry to disappoint you all, but I didn´t do a whole lot to celebrate the birthday or the year-mark. Just missionary work. But the Lord blessed us for that and I couldn´t have received a better present! We had lunch with a member on Saturday for my first time, and it was super good. It was red peppers filled with meat. Never heard of it or eaten it before, but it was great. We then started a fast as a mission, so there was no cake or pizza or anything at night. But hey, fasting is good!The fast was because we finished our reading of the Gospels on Sunday morning. We started reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John as a mission in November, and we finished it Sunday morning. It was a great opportunity to think about what we have learned about the earthly ministry of Christ, and strengthen our testimony of the mission He came to fulfill. On Christmas, I don´t know what we will do to celebrate yet. Christmas Eve, the zone is getting together and we´re going to take a Christmas message to the local prison. I´m really excited for that, it will be a great service opportunity, Christmas Eve we are allowed to stay out with members until 12:30 AM, because at midnight the tradition is fireworks and stuff like that. I am way glad I´m here in ´Deo for the fireworks, ´cause I´ve heard they´re way bigger and better here. :o) And then Christmas Day is our P-Day, as well. Now to a very key part...the call. Dun, dun, dun....Alright, so here´s the deal. I believe we are five hours ahead of you guys. I am living in a house of 4, so it was fun trying to figure out when all of us are going to call this morning. Haha. I will be calling at 1 PM, Montevideo time, which I believe is 8 AM where you guys are at. I hope that is correct. If not, know that i WILL BE CALLING THE HOUSE AT 1 PM MY TIME, OR A FEW MINUTES BEFORE. I will call the house number, and THEN YOU GUYS WILL CALL ME just like you did on Mother´s Day. That way you guys can choose the phone you want to use. I do not know the country code for Uruguay, but here is my number. (02) is the area code for ´Deo. My house number is 315-2052. So YOU WILL CALL (02)315-2052. I will explain any miscommunication when I call on Christmas. I hope you guys will find the country code before hand, or remember it from Mother´s Day, because I do not. Ok, I hope that was clear, because it´s the only time I´ll have to explain. Haha. It´s hard to believe that we will be talking next week. Crazy. Because of the telephone call, I will not be writing a letter next week. Our p-day is Christmas, and everything will be closed, for one reason. For another, we will be talking on the phone, so there is no need. I hope that´s not a problem. If it is...talk to the Prophet. Haha. Dad, who is Brother Rice? That´s pretty cool, I´ll be looking forward to his letter. Well, I hope all is going well back at home! Enjoy the snow for me! Melanie, sounds like you had a good time with the musical and CONGRATS ON YOUR LEAD PART IN THE WINTER PLAY! That´s so cool! I wish I could see it. You´ll be awesome. Work your tail off, kid. :o) And keep me updated on the dates! I want ot hear about the first kiss. Who, when, where, address, age, mother´s maiden name, etc. Just kidding, no worries. It´s just hard to think that my little sister it dating and driving. Wow. Alright, time to bounce. Know that all is going SUPER WELL and that Elder Taylor is a very excited kid this Christmas. I´m stoked for this new change and this new opportunity. I hope you are all enjoying this holiday season! I would love to hear from all of you-send me a shout! ¡MERRY CHRISTMAS y FELIZ NAVIDAD! Elder Taylor

Changes...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! I hope that this letter finds you all well and happy in this special time of year. It´s still kind of weird for me to think that you are all in various inches of snow and trying to stay warm while I am worrying about getting fried in the sun. Cool, uh? Haha.
So anyway...changes are today. Right before the birthday and Christmas...that´s cool. Makes it easier to stay focused. :o) Elder Taylor is being moved to his third area here in beautiful Uruguay! I am headed to Montevideo. A part of Montevideo that is called Cerro (which means hill) Why is it called Cerro? Because that´s exactly what it is. It´s just a big hill right on the outside of Montevideo. I can´t remember exactly what neighborhood or ward I will be in, but yeah, I´m headed to ´Deo! I´m pretty stoked! It´s going to be a VERY radical change from my area here in Bella Union. Bella Union is tiny and very slow-paced; so basically the opposite of what I´m headed for. Haha.
And another cool thing...I´m going to be with a gringo!! As a matter of fact, with three of them. I was informed that I will be living in a house of 4 missionaries, and we are all American. Sweet! After 4 1/2 months straight with a Latin, I´m super excited. Elder Larsen is my new companion´s name. I heard he is from Idaho, so that´s a good thing, I think. :o) He will be headed into his fifth change, which means he has been in Uruguay for 6 months. I´m kind of anxious to see how he speaks. But in any case, I have heard that he´s a stud.
Elder Marroquín is staying here in Bella Union and Elder Vallejos (from Paraguay) is coming. I think Elder Marroquín is a little nervous, but he will do really well. He will still be junior companion, which is fine. He is really excited, however, to stay and work with our investigators here. This last week, we had a very successful week-the most successful since we´ve been together, probly. We are very excited about the new people that we found this last week, and I will be looking forward to a lot of good reports from my little Peruvian! Haha.
As I said last week, I am actually pretty excited to be heading to a new area. New area, new people, and a very different experience. Changes are like a new year every six weeks-you get to set new goals and make new commitments with your Heavenly Father in how you are going to help Him carry out His work among His children. I will miss Bella Union and how tranquilo it is, but I have always enjoyed big cities, so I´m not worried. It´ll been interesting to see how different missionary work is in a big city like ´Deo, though; everything moving very quickly and people who keep to themselves. I´m trying not to take any prejudgments into my new area, because I have heard a fair share. I´m just focusing on the fact that I have been called to serve the people in that area with all my heart, might, mind, and strength, and that´s what I plan on doing.
Mary-Anne, those were some pretty intense pictures that you set of that storm. Thanks for letting me know before some Uruguayan told me about it and I started to worry! :o) So Nathanael´s motorcycle got a little messed up, but everything else is all good? No damage to the apartment or anything like that? Sounds like you all were very blessed. Sorry about forgetting to forward my letter to your address last week, I just forgot. My bad. I did get your card just this last week. Thanks a lot! It´s a lot of fun to get stuff like that.
So Nathanael is finished with his first semester of law school, uh? How´d you do, Swift? Still keeping your head above water? Haha. I´ve always heard that the first year is the hardest so they can weed out the slackers...how ya doin? :o) Could it be that way with the mission too? Hmmm. I can´t believe that I´ve been out a year. Well, ok, I still haven´t. Only 363 days...ish. I hit my year-mark on Thursday...that´s weird.
Dad, sounds like things went pretty well with the interview, thanks for letting me know. I hope that things work out. So the static firing was pretty sweet, uh? What did the Lt. Col say when you gave him a high five? ¿Mansa? Haha. That´s what all the little kids say here in Bella Union. A thumbs-up with, "Mansa!" Kind of random, but hey, it´s Bella Union.
Melanie, how did your tryouts go? How did the school musical end up, anyway? You never let me know....! I expect a one-page report, due by next Sunday night. :o) Have you had any hot dates lately?
Megan, how you doin, Goose?! What have you been up to these last couple of weeks; I haven´t heard from you. Keepin´ up on your schoolwork, kid? How is SoJo, anyways? I never went there...just had to deal with the aftermath at Bingham! Just kidding, Snow Leopards, settle down. Go Wapitis! :o)
Anyways, I think that´s going to be about it for this week. I hope you are all having a great holiday season and keeping in focus the meaning of it all! Know that you are in my thoughts and prayers often. Elder May, I´m glad to hear that you are doing all right. I saw all the articles in the Church News and stuff-pretty intense. I kept my eyes open for pictures of you, but no luck. Take care of yourself, Boykid. :o) Alright everyone, have a good one! ¡Chao!
Elder Taylor

Wait...December?!

Taylor Family and Friends,
So it´s crazy to think that we´re in December! You are all up there
enjoying the cold weather and the snow, while we are down here looking for
ANY shade that we can find. It´s been pretty ridiculously hot this last
week. Dad just sent me a few pictures of the piles of snow on the deck and
trees and stuff...that´d be nice. All I can do is take a COLD shower at
night after planning. And no worries, we do that just about every day.
Haha.
So things are going really well here. This could quite possibly be my
last full week in Bella Union. Changes are next week. Which means I will be
writing my letter on Tuesday next week, just so you know. I have been here
in Bella Union for 4 1/2 months, and with Elder Marroqua­n for 3, so it
would be REALLY rare if we stayed together. I´m pretty sure that I will be
heading out. I´m not gonna lie, I kind of want to. Not that I don´t love
Bella Union, but I´ve been out a year and I´ve had two areas. That´s a
long time in each area. Haha.
That´s another crazy thought-I pass my year mark next week. I´ve been
trying to keep it out of my head, but Elder Marroqua­n kindly reminds
me about every 15 minutes. Haha. He is a really funny kid. He´s got some
interesting quirks, but it´s been a great learning experience with him in
these last 3 months.
Oh, Mom, you asked about the telephone call on Christmas. We received an
announcement last week that we should start arranging that through our
emails, but I really have NO idea where I am going to be, so it is hard for
me to say. If by some crazy chance I am still here in Bella Union, it would
be great if I could call about mid-day here. (9AM your time) That would
just work well for the short time we have to proselyte. But, as I said. I
have NO idea where I will be, so I can´t really say anything for certain.
Do you guys still remember the process you used to call me on Mother´s
Day? I´m thinking we could just do the same. As soon as I get the number
for where I´ll be, I´ll let you know!
As for the packages you sent; after they arrive at the mission office,
the office elders send them to us with the bolsa. It will be interesting to
see if they get here without being opened or anything. Letters and packages
get opened very frequently here. A lot of times they won´t take things,
but I think they just open it for fun. Haha.
The Christmas Season is just a lot different feeling here. Yesterday we
sang "Away in a Manger" in sacrament meeting and it just kind of surprised
me. It doesn´t feel like Christmas to me at all. But I guess that could be
a good thing, too, right? Haha. No trunky feelings for Elder Taylor!
So my birthday´s next week. I´m with Mary-Anne on this one- "Is that
even right?!" I´m no longer going to be a teenager...sad. It will be an
interesting birthday, like last year, in many ways: a few days before I
will be headed to a place where I know absolutely nobody. But hey, it´s
all good. Elder Marroqua­n´s birthday is December 16th-I can´t remember
if I told you that. But yeah, he turns 20, as well. He´s my first
companion that has been younger than me...and he´s younger by about 24
hours!
As for a Nativity scene, mom, I haven´t seen any, but I will keep my
eyes open!
The traditions for the holidays here are different. The big deal is
fireworks at midnight on the 24th/25th. We´re starting to see and hear
fireworks pretty often; it´s pretty fun. No, Mom, I haven´t bought
any...yet! :o)
Anyways, now to the most important part of this letter...the missionary
news. Haha. There´s not a lot to report in means of big news. Elder
Marroqua­n have been focusing on having the faith necessary to drop those
investigators that aren´t progressing and putting that faith in knowing
that the Lord will bless us in order to find those who are prepared. That
might means more time in the sun, but it will be worth it. We have become
very used to just opening our mouths in any situation and offering a small
invitation. When we buy bus tickets, give them a pamphlet in return for the
receipt, and just little things like that. It´s not something huge, but
the important thing is to open your mouth and plant the seed. Just show the
Lord that you are willing to be an instrument in His hands. And at this
time of year, it is SO easy for ALL of us to be missionaries. We are
putting a lot of emphasis in getting the members involved in our work here
in Bella Union. The ward in that regard has been kind of difficult, but we
are starting to see the changes. Take the time to let the missionaries know
that you have half an hour during the week to help them out, I know that
they would really appreciate it.
Just remember to always be open and looking for opportunities to share
the knowledge you have about our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Alright, well that´s gonna be it for this week, I believe. Don´t forget
that next week I´ll be writing on Tuesday! I love you all! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Buen dia...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! How are you all doing this week? I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and ate plenty of banana cream pie for me. :o) I missed that more than the turkey. Haha.
So I woke up here Thursday morning, did my exercises and what not, got showered, studied and was getting ready to head out the door at 9:00, when I looked at the awesome calendar that I have on my wall and saw that it was Thanksgiving Day. That was weird. I had kind of thought about it during the week, but seeing as how I´m at least 2 hours away from any gringo, there wasn´t really any thing to catch my attention about it. We stopped by a member´s house that morning to see how they were doing, and I made the comment that it was Thanksgiving; the Hermana asked me what that meant. I didn´t know whether to laugh or cry for her. Haha. I then explained to her the whole deal about Thanksgiving and what we do and what not. It was a good cultural experience for her.
On Thursday we ate lunch with the Hermana Alvez, who is probably the oldest active member in Bella Union. I think she´s like 88 or something, and she´s in church every single week. It´s very admirable. She´s been a widow for about 10 years, but she loves the missionaries and looks out for us; her husband was the ward mission leader for about 10 years, she said. Anyways, I didn´t make any comments about Thanksgiving at lunch, obviously. We had a really good stew with peaches for dessert. To be honest, I don´t think I´ve even seen a turkey here in Uruguay. I know there are, but I haven´t seen one. Pretty crazy, uh? Anyways, so that was my Thanksgiving. When Elder Bankhead, my district leader, caled on Thursday night, we said Happy Thanksgiving to each other and got back to work. Haha.
It sounds like you guys had a great Thanksgiving with the family. And even had a good missionary opportunity! That´s so cool. Way to be, Aunt Trina. Did you guys have the chance to mention to them anything about the gospel? That´s pretty sweet that they saw the sign and showed up to hang out with you guys. Did Nathanael get his football game in? Did the Lions win their Thanksgiving game? :o) Yesterday there was a big game here in the ´Guay...Nacional and Peñarol played, which are the two most popular soccer teams here. Neither of them are doing very well this year, but still. They ended up tying, so there weren´t any riots or anything. Haha.
Speaking of riots, it´s possible we could see some tonight. No, just playing Mom. But yeah, the President of Uruguay is coming to Bella Union today! Presidente Tabaré will be giving a speech at 8 PM in the Plaza 25 de Agosto, which is the plaza right across the street from our house. Pretty sweet, uh? We are having a Family Home Evening with a less-active family tonight, so I doubt we´ll even pass by, but maybe on the way home we´ll walk around the block. The Plaza has been taped off since yesterday with two policemen keeping an eye on things. There is a little stage set up with a bunch of speakers. It´ll be interesting to see how this little city reacts to having the President of the country here. Anyways, thought that was pretty cool.
Oh, mom, you asked me if there was anything that Elder Wall would want or need here in the ´Guay; I was thinking about it a little this week and one thing that I´ve been really grateful for is my Leatherman. In the houses here in the ´Guay, it´s something that´s VERY handy to have. Next to my scriptures and my shoes, it´s probably what I´ve used most.
Hey Dad, that letter from NASA was pretty sweet; thanks for sharing it with me! Doesn´t surprise me at all; just reaffirms what a stud my old man is. :o)
This week was a pretty normal week, just trying to do the things the Lord wants us to do here in Bella Union. Elder Bankhead was up here with me on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday, doing divisions. That was a lot of fun. It´s been a LONG time since I could talk English with my companion; it was really nice. Elder Bankhead is from Mt. Sterling, Cache Valley. Really good guy. He´s been on the mission one more change than I have, so we´ll be kickin´ it here together for another year or so.
We had an awesome lesson with Roberto Albarenga and his family on Saturday night. They had read 3 Nephi 11, so we reviewed some of the key parts and went on to explain more about the Book of Mormon. Jessica, his daughter, set it up perfectly with the question "Where does it talk about Joseph Smith in the Bible?" We explained to her that his name isn´t found in the Bible, but prophecies about what he would do can be found, such as Ezekiel 37:15-17. It was like a light turned on for the whole family. They understood really well, and Roberto even got teary-eyed. The family is going through a trial right now. They have been working on the papers to be able to go back to the US for about a year, and they just barely found a way to be able to do it, but they have to come up with the money for the visa´s before January. Here in the ´Guay, that´s not something that can be done very easily, if at all. He´s trying to sell his car, their moto´s, clothes, anything, in order to be able to come up with the money. He always tells us, "We are finally SO close, and yet so far." We told him that God knows that this is a hard time for the family, and for that reason, He has sent this message of hope and truth to his family. Things are going well with them, to say the least.
This week is going to be another week with a lot of time away from our area. We have our district meeting tomorrow in Salto and then we have interviews with President Peterson on Wednesday, so we will be staying there on Tuesday night. We´ll either get back here Wednesday night at about 12:30, or Thursday morning at about 10:15. Well I guess it´s Thursday morning either way, technically. Haha. So that´s a little rough, but it´s all good.
Anyways, I think that´s about it for me this week. I hope everything is going well for all of you, and that you are enjoying this special time of year. I hope that we can all take advantage of the special opportunities we will have to help others feel of the spirit of the season, and especially the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Just take that extra 20 seconds to share the blessings that we all enjoy, you never know when someone´s heart is ready to receive. ¡Cuídense y pórtense bien!
Con Cariño,
Elder Taylor

Another Week...

Taylor Family and Friends,
So another week has gone boy. *Sigh* I'm glad that this week is just
going to be a normal week. We were running around the country last week.
You know those stories that are in the Ensign and stuff that talk about the
wards that make crazy trips just to get to meetings in crammed busses in
110 degree weather? I always read those stories and wondered what it would
be like. I guess I thought too loudly, because the Lord put me in that
situation yesterday! Haha. The bus wasn't too crowded, but I'm almost
positive that yesterday was one of the most humid days I've had in Uruguay
yet. We left here (Bella Union) at like 7:30 yesterday morning and got to
the chapel in Salto at about 9:30; had an AWESOME general session of
conference until noon; and we got back here to Bella Union about 3 in the
afternoon. Elder Marroquan and I got off the bus, changed out of our
suits, and headed back out into the heat. What a great idea. Haha. It was a
good day.
Sounds like Megan had a great birthday; I hope she could understand the
Happy Birthday that Elder Marroquan and I sang to her during our studies
on Saturday.
So the musical is in the middle of it's run; well, I guess it would be
at the end. Tonight would be the closing show, right? Man, those were some
good memories. Melanie, just tear it up tonight! Do it like you麓ve never
done it before! And tell the boys to do some yelling and jumping for me.
:o) Stephen Nelson is home?! Holy cow, I remember when he left. That麓s
crazy. Tell him I want one of the first copies of his cd when he puts it
out! Seriously. And a signed copy would be appreciated...haha.
Francisco is doing well, Mom. It麓s funny you asked about the old guy in
the plaza whose mother and sister we were teaching...because that麓s
Francisco! Haha. We went to our next lesson with his mother and sister and
afterwards took about 15 steps to the back patio and had an amazing lesson
with him. Since that time, we have stopped teaching his mother and sister;
they are great people, but lack the desires to act according to the
knowledge that they receive. Francisco, on the other hand, reads and prays
like crazy. The only thing that麓s holding him back are little doubts and
concerns that he has; the biggest one being that about 7 years ago, he was
baptized in another church and afterwards found out that it was all a
fraud. He had done it really believing and with true intent, so it really
shook him when he found out it was all just a scam. It hurt me so much
when he told us that; for the selfish and lucrative actions of some, this
amazing son of God is hesitating to accept the truth. It's just unreal to
think that people take the hopes and dreams of people and twist them to
accomplish their own desires. So what I have told Francisco is that despite
all of his little questions and doubts, he can still know that the Church
has been restored on the earth; he just needs to ask our Heavenly Father
with faith and true intent. If he continues to do that, I have no doubt
that one day he will take that ever-so-important step of faith. He always
says that maybe it's just not us who needs to baptize him, which is true.
But it doesn't matter if I'm here when he gets baptized right, just as
long as he takes that step. Maybe the next Elder that gets here will say
the magic word and the next day is the water. I hope that that's what goes
down.
So ya'll are headed to Moses Lake for Thanksgiving, uh? Well, tell one
of our old Assistants hello for me! He was actually a friend of the
Boyce's: Caleb Stones. Maybe Matt or Meredith will remember him. He was a
machine of a missionary. Unbelievable. Tell all of the family that I say
hello! How long has it been since I went to Moses Lake? A few years. I
think the last time you guys went up I didn't go because I was working.
Hmmm, that's too bad.
So Pops, you're on the missionary committee. Do you deal with the
missionaries directly? 26,000 spanish speakers moved into SL county last
year?! Wow! That麓s awesome! So are the missionaries there bilingual, or
only a few? I'm going to be able to keep my Spanish up, it sounds like. I
love this language SO much. I was never a big fan of Spanish before the
mission, but now I just LOVE it. It's just such a pretty language. For
those of you who understand it, you know what I mean. When you don't
understand, it just sounds like a bunch of "s"; or at least that's what I
always thought.
Sweet, well I think that's about it for this week. We are going to head
to our lunch appointment now! I love you all and I hope you have a
fantastic Thanksgiving this week! Eat some turkey and banana cream pie for
me! I don't think these people even know what Thanksgiving is. Haha. Oh,
Mom, I thought of something I would like in my package, if you haven't
sent it yet. Lemonade mix! I am craving my good ol' lemonade from the
states. Mmmm. Thanks! :o) Love you all!
Love Always,
Elder Taylor

Beautiful Day...!

Taylor Family and Friends,
Mom, to give you an answer right away to your first question, I have gotten a few of the letters through the mission address; I don´t know if you´re sending them through the mission address every week, so I don´t know if I have gotten every single one of them. But no worries, even if I don´t get a hard copy of them, it´s ok. I can print them off here in the cyber if there´s something really important that I want. Mary-Anne got a job! YAY! That´s awesome. But don´t stop looking for other opportunities, especially if it´s only a temporary spot, or if you don´t know for how long it will last. But I´m way stoked for you; way to be, kid. :o) Just recently the bishop here in Bella Union was looking for a job because he was without work, and when he finally got a job, his father-in-law stood up in testimony meeting and said that Heavenly Father must have gotten tired of hearing all of us praying for the bishop, so that´s when he finally sent the blessing. Haha. I thought that was an interesting outlook. Maybe blasphemy, but it was funny igual. Mom, you asked if we have eaten anything weird lately-not really. We ate pigeon the other day, as well as a thing that looks like a groundhog with Jimmy Pio and his family, but that´s about it. I watched him skin the groundhog thing a couple of days before, so that was pretty...interesting. Haha. And justamente (I don´t know if there´s a word in English that has that definition, and that´s the one I want to use, so look it up in a dictionary..haha) that day I didn´t have my camera. Incredible. We are fed the same types of food VERY often. When there´s some type of meat, we eat rice with it. And the other days we eat noodles with some type of sauce. We probably eat that 5-6 times a week is my guess. I still haven´t gotten super bored of it, but variety is nice every once in a while. But we usually get our variety meal when we eat with Jimmy and his family-they always cook something weird so we can try it-they know how the system works. Jimmy and his wife are preparing to go to the temple here in the next couple of months, so that´s cool. They were baptized the 3rd of December last year, so it´s coming up. They are just an amazing family-have two kids- Juan Ignacio, 10, and Silvia Selena, 4. But yeah, that´s the food plan. Our apartment is 1/2 a block down the street headed south, on the east side of the street. The vivienda is pretty old, and kind of deteriorating, but it´s still pretty nice. It´s a lot bigger than my house in Artigas, so that´s good, I guess. It doesn´t need to be big, because we as missionaries don´t have a lot of stuff, but still. The sink in the bathroom is broken, but we make do. We´ve only seen a couple of cockroaches, every once in a while, but spiders are pretty frequent visitors. Not to mention our dog. Did I ever tell you guys about Negro? He is our dog. Haha. Mom, you never let me have a dog in the house...who would´ve that my first dog I would have on the mission?! From what everyone tells us, Negro has been around for quite a few years with the Elders. I guess his old owner used to live where we are living, and passed away. So when the Elders moved in, the dog just stuck around, because (of course) the Elders started giving him food! Haha. Not dog food, mind you, rather left-over pizza, rice and noodles. Not the healthiest diet for a dog, but he seems to be doing just fine! Haha. When we leave the house, he usually follows us for about 2 blocks in any direction and then heads back home to do his thing. We we come home every afternoon and every night, there he is waiting for us. What a great feeling. Haha. So we had an interesting experience yesterday. We had a lesson with Francisco, and when we got there, he was talking with another man. We all said our hello´s and Francisco said, "If you guys don´t mind, he´s gonna sit in and listen today." Nope, not a problem at all. Come to find out, Delsito is some kind of professor of philosophy-what luck! Haha. He teaches in an institution called Gnosis. I had never heard of it before getting here to Bella Union, and I still know basically nothing. It´s not a religion, but they conduct studies of the Bible, and help people be good people. Sweet. So anyway, justamente (that word again) we had planned on talking about the last past of the Plan of Salvation-what happens to us after we die. So we started talking about the Resurrection-a great topic for a charla with a philosopher, right? Haha, could have fooled me. No sooner had the word come off my lips than Delsito began to talk...and talk...and talk. It was a really enlightening experience, to be honest. It really helped me understand and simple and perfect God´s plan for us really is. Delsito went off on tangents about reincarnation and dual personalities and all this crazy stuff, with some probing questions from Elder Marroquín and I. It was cool, because Francisco would ask a question, we would give a simple 2 sentence answer, and Delsito would start to go off on some crazy tangent with words that none of us had ever heard (not only the gringo. Haha) Francisco would finally stop him and say that either he did not agree, or he wasn´t answering the question. So at the end of the charla, we set up an appointment to visit Francisco again, and I gave Delsito a folleto about the Plan of Salvation. It is amazing how simple the truth really is.This week we have a really busy, traveling week. Tonight we leave for Salto and tomorrow the whole zone leaves for our sector conference in Paysandú with Elder Claudio M. Zivic, from the Area Presidency. That´ll be cool. We´ll get back to Bella Union wednesday afternoon. Sunday morning we go to Salto with the members here because we have Stake Conference. That´ll be cool. I believe Elder Zivic is going to be there, as well. A long week, with little time here in our area, which is really sad. Hard to help your investigators when you´re not there. But that´s where the power of prayer and faith comes in. Anyways, that´s about it for this week. I love you guys! Can´t wait to hear from each and every one. ¡Cuídense y pórtense bien, por favor! :o)Love, Elder Taylor

Hey There...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey, what´s up? How are things going over there in the beautiful
United States of America? Everyone here keeps asking me if I´ve heard
about some huge fire in California or something, so you don´t need to tell
me about that!
Anyways, so it´s now November; how crazy is that? Time is such an
interesting thing. But we´ll leave that subject right there. Haha. Things
are going REALLY well here in Bella Union. Elder Marroquín and I had a
fantastic week last week! Now the test is to prove that it wasn´t just
some random fluke. But we have really stepped it up a notch...or at least
that´s what Elder Taylor says. Haha. I know that we both feel a lot more
satisfied with the work we are doing. Not that we weren´t working before,
but it´s just that once you REALLY push yourself and you go beyond what
you thought you could, you ask yourself why you didn´t just step it up and
do it before. That was last week. Found a lot last week, and we´re really
looking forward to the opportunities we´ll have this week.
We had one of those lessons that missionaries always dream about on
Saturday night. We taught Roberto, his wife, and his two kids ALL together!
It was amazing. We went over on Friday night to set up the lesson and asked
him if 8 on Saturday was ok. Yeah sure, he says, and we´ll bring the whole
family together and talk. That was the best answer ever! Haha. We went over
and he was just finishing up working on the muffler of his car. Washed his
hands, we had a glass of soda, and then we all went into the front room to
talk about how prayer can really bring us together in our families. At the
end of the lesson, we invited them to kneel down every night and say a
prayer together, and they accepted! Then I told them that we would like to
be a part of the first one...we kneeled down and I asked Roberto if he
would say the prayer...he did, and it was amazing how much the Spirit could
be felt in that home! We have another lesson tomorrow night with them and
we are super excited. Oh, forgot to mention, this is a family that lived in
West Palm Beach for 9 years...so all of them speak at least a little
English! So that is exciting!
Anyways, I think that´s going to be about it for this week. Sorry for
the short letter, but if you want a couple of other bits of info, ask
Mary-Anne for parts of her letter! Haha. Know that I love each and every
one of you! Take care!
Elder Taylor

Another Week

Taylor Family and Friends,
I don´t know if you all feel the same way, but these last six weeks have
just flown by. I can´t believe we´re already at the end/beginning of
another change.
But more important than that, I got to give a shout out to Pops! Happy
Birthday Dad! I don´t know if you heard me singing this morning bright and
early, but it sure was taken care of. :o) I hope you have a FANTASTIC day!
I thought it was cool that I get to have a p-day on your birthday-i­t´s
almost like I got invited to a party...I guess? Haha.
Anyways, so about changes...any guesses? Alright, I´ll just tell you:
I´m staying here in Bella Union with Elder Marroquín. I pretty much
figured that´s what was going to happen. Elder Marroquín is only my
second companion here in Uruguay that I´ll have been with for more than
one change. I was with Elder Stoddard (trainer) for two changes, but after
that it´s been one after the other. Pretty crazy, uh? I´m not gonna lie,
there was a part of me that wanted to bounce to another area, but I know
that this is where the Lord wants me. There´s people here that need to
hear the gospel from Elder Marroquín and Elder Taylor. I think I just
wanted to go to get to know other parts of the country. I´ve been out
almost 11 months and I´ve had two areas. I know Elders who´ve been out 4
months and they´ve had more areas than me. But hey, I´m grateful to know
that this work is directed by our Heavenly Father and so we don´t need to
question or doubt anything.
This last week was awesome. Well, weather-wise it was ridiculous. I think
the weather is more unstable and unpredictable here than in any other place
I have been in my entire life. We have had days of almost unbearable heat
and then two hours later it is POURING rain. Pretty intense stuff.
Yesterday is rained ALL day and today it is still overcast and drizzling
off and on. Not the most beautiful p-day in the world, but prolly not the
worst, either!
Last weekend, I had a special visit that made me SUPER trunky; but not
trunky for home. What am I talking about? Saturday night, Elder Marroquín
and I were planning and at about 9:15 somebody burst in our front door and
yelled , "HEY GRINGO!" Elder Marroquín and I just looked at each other,
not knowing exactly what to do; yeah, basically just freaked out. After a
couple of seconds of silence, I stood up and headed out of the room to go
to the front door. As I got close to rounding the corner, I heard footsteps
in the front room. Right as I rounded the corner, so did a huge
silhouette...Hermano Juan Carlos Martinez from Artigas, Rama 5! We both
just kind of yelled and laughed as we hugged. Hmo Martinez used to live
here in Bella Union a long time ago, but is now living in Artigas. He had
come on Saturday afternoon for work (he drives a bus/taxi) and was going to
be heading back to Artigas late Sat night. He had called tons of the
members here throughout the afternoon trying to locate those darn
missionaries, but to no avail. But one thing about those darn Mormons in
shirts and ties-everyone knows when they´re going to be inside. Haha. The
members told him where we were living and he came to visit. We chatted
about the Rama 5 and what has been going on in the 3 months since I left.
It was SO good to see him. He stayed for about 20 minutes or so and then
had to head out. When he left, my companion looked at me and said, "You´re
trunky now, aren´t you?!" And I said, "Yes, but only for Artigas." Haha.
It was so weird. If I could´ve, I would have gotten on a bus and headed to
Artigas right then. It was a lot of fun to get news about people with whom
I lived and worked for 6 months. So that was my special visit from Saturday
night!
Anyways, now about the whole missionary work thing...! Things are going
really well for Elder Marroquín and I. We are teaching a lot, but the
investigators haven´t been progressing much, so what do we have to do?
Find those who are going to progress! It may mean that we are going to
spend more time in the rain, but if we put our confidence in the Lord, He
will bless us. This last week, we decided to do just that. We stopped
passing by some of our "old" investigators (explaining why beforehand) and
started knocking. The Lord really does bless us if we put our trust in Him.
We were able to find more people to teach last week than in any other week
of the change. Only time will tell if they are those who the Lord has
prepared, but it was definitely a testimony to us.
The other day, I was doing my morning study and I read a scripture that
I´ve decided to put as my ´theme for this change. Philippians 4:13. I´m
not going to tell you what it says, because that would deprive all of you
of the opportunity to open your own scriptures and mark it for yourselves!
:o) But it´s a good one. It´s in the New Testament, for those of you who
forgot. Open it up and think about how each one of you can apply it as we
begin this new change...! Send me thoughts and ideas, I would love to hear
what ya´ll think!
So anyways, that´s what´s going on in the life of Elder Taylor. The
mission is fantastic. It´s hard, for sure, but I love it. This last week
we have had a couple of Family Home Evenings with members here in the ward,
trying to spark some excitement here in Bella Union. We have been reading
with them in Alma 24, about the Anti-Nephi-Lehites, verses 21-27. In these
short verses, it gives us as children of our Heavenly Father an idea of
just how powerful our example can be. So far, it has gone really well. I
hope that it helps the members catch a little of the vision that we have.
Melanie and Megan, how did the quarter end up? I hope that you both
stayed up on your studies. It is amazing the difference that can be seen
here between the people that have taken advantage of the opportunity to
study, and those who didn´t.
Mom and Mary-Anne, what did ya´ll end up doing last weekend? Did
Nathanael get to spend any time with you, too, or was he in the library all
week?
Swift, how are the studies going? Are we going to have another lawyer in
the world, or not? How are things looking in Salem? Should I head up there
and study with you? Haha. Yeah right. I have NO idea what I´m going to do
with my life. But I´ve still got time to think, right?
Dad, what is this new position you´re looking at? I hope all goes well.
Keep me udpated. How are things going with the calling? You should take a
picture from our deck and send it to me. Or should I wait and just be blown
away when I come home? Hmmm. You guys decide.
So what have you guys decided to send me for my birthday? Haha. One of
the members here is telling me to ask for peanut butter, so if you guys
could manage a bit of that, that´d be good. Just an idea. I´m not picky.
I´ve thought of new English scriptures...big ones like my spanish
set...what are your thoughts?
Anyways, it´s about that time. I love each and every one of you, and
I´m looking forward to hearing from you! Take care!
Elder Taylor

I´m healthy. Haven´t bought new shoes yet. My feet got SOAKED yesterday. I
think next week I´ll buy some.  I hope that things are going well. But hey,
I
think we´re going to head out and try to go to Brazil before the end our of
Day. I love you, Mom, more than anything. Give Dad a big hug and kiss for me
today! Take care of yourselves!


(The last little bit was a quick couple of emails back and forth between Liz
and Aaron.)

Another Week...

Taylor Family and Friends,
Well hey there! How ya´ll doin? Things are going well here in beautiful Uruguay! Before I forget, changes are next week, which means that I will be writing on Tuesday, I think. Haha. They changed the day that the new Elders arrived and what-not last change, and I´m pretty sure it´s the same now, so I´m pretty sure we´ll be writing Tuesday. About 95%. Just so ya´ll know and don´t worry!
Things are starting to heat up in Bella Union; we´ve busted out the short sleeves and sunscreen. It´s still not "HOT," but it´s well on it´s way. And then that brings us to last Saturday-woke up in the morning to a BEAUTIFUL day; did service in the morning for a member in the ward and took fifteen minutes to play soccer with their grandkids. Then we went to lunch and as we left to go home, huge, dark clouds started to gather. Clouds were just coming together for about 3 hours. Then, right as we finished the closing prayer in the first lesson of the afternoon, it hit. It reminded me of one of those crazy Utah summer storms. It was SO cool. We were outside on the patio of this investigator, and that was where we stayed. Haha. No way were we going to leave...and even less when it started to HAIL! It was sweet. Good egg-sized balls of ice. Everyone says that that was the biggest hail they´ve ever seen here in Bella Union. The wind was so strong that the rain was coming "down" sideways. It was cool because this investigator has a big front yard (VERY rare) with huge trees-so that was entertaining! It lasted for about 20 or 25 minutes, and then just stopped. After a couple of hours, the clouds were gone and the sun was hot. Pretty sweet day. Reminded me of the weather at home.
I don´t think I have told you guys yet about Francisco. If so, oh well. Elder Gee and I were on divisions in Bella Union and as we were walking across the plaza, we did a contact with an older man seating on one of the benches. We presented ourselves and our message, and asked him if he would like to hear more. He said, "Yes. As a matter of fact, I have the Book of Mormon already." We asked him what he thought of it... "Well, just like it says on the cover: it´s Another Testament of Jesus Christ." We got pretty excited when he said that. Haha. A lot of people have Books of Mormon, either because they´re ex-investigators, or members gave them one, or whatever, but nobody has ever said that when I asked them what they thought! Then Elder Gee asked him where he lived, so we could pass by. When he told us the address, I realized that we were already teaching someone at that address! We were teaching his mother, and his two sisters! Ambrosia is probably about 88 years old, and his sisters Berta and Benta are like 60ish. We had invited everyone in the house to join us in the lessons with them, but he kind of lives apart in the back. So anyways, I made the connection and asked him about it. Yeah, he says, you have passed by to talk to my sisters, but I would like to talk to you guys by myself. Ok...not a problem!
This man is amazing. In our first lesson, we talked about the Book of Mormon and how we can know it´s true. I say amazing because he was quoting to US scriptures from the Book of Mormon. HE knew the "story" and who was talking in Moroni 10 (It´s Moroni, right, the son of Mormon? Yup, that´s right!) Every morning Francisco STUDIES the scriptures, prays, and just takes time to think. He is FULL of questions. As we began to explain the Plan of Salvation he asks us what we believe about ´original sin´ because he doesn´t think that it´s right for everyone to be judged for what Adam did. I flipped to the 2nd Article of Faith. After reading it and talking about it, he looked at me and Elder Marroquín and thanked us for answering a question/doubt that he had had for years.
He has asked about what happens to children that aren´t baptized and pass away, he´s asked about the difference between the spirit and the soul, and a ton of other questions that you only expect to hear in a practice lesson between missionaries in a district meeting. It´s great because our lessons are not us trying to pack information into his head; he asks questions and is eager to learn and accept the answers. On Saturday, we went to a lesson with him. As we finished the opening prayer, I asked if he had any questions he wanted to start with. He said, "No, I just want you two to teach me today. I´m not going to take you out of your ´routine.´" Elder Marroquín and I had decided previously that we wanted to talk about the Book of Mormon and invite him to get baptized. So we did. We talked about how once we have a testimony of the scriptures, we need to act; that part of understanding the scriptures is shown through the application in our lives. We then invited him to accept the Savior´s invitation and be baptized in His church. Francisco looked at us and said, "The only thing I ask you is to not rush me." He said, "I can´t give you a specific date, yet, but I can say that I will get baptized."
So that´s Francisco! He is an amazing example of how we all should be in our search for more understanding. Man, I love meeting awesome people!
Mom, you asked if the people are Bella Union are better off than the people in Artigas...I would say as a whole, no. The part of Artigas where I lived wasn´t amazing, but it was a very nice part. And the living is different as well. There´s a lot more people in Artigas, so there´s more apartments and condos and whatnot. In the center part of Bella Union there are some really nice houses, but as you move farther away from the center, you start to see how the majority of the people live. Yesterday we taught a lesson in a house about as big as our kitchen, made of mostly cardboard, to a family of 8. It really helps you have an appreciation for the blessings we enjoy.
The plaza about 5 blocks from the river is right across the street from me. From the southwest corner of the plaza, cross the street going south and half a block is our house.
We haven´t gone all the way to the community over by the Brazilian border to do proseltying, yet. We went to do service one day with the ward, but yeah. We have gone to the little branches of Bella Union that head out that way, though. Like yesterday, we walked about 45 minutes to get to that lesson...
Bishop Molina passed all the tests to get in to the firefighter training. He was the only one out of four guys from Bella Union that passed. He is back here with us, waiting for them to tell him when he needs to go down to ´Deo to start the training.
Mom, when you see Mary-Anne this week, give her a HUGE hug for me! And hit Nathanael for me. Haha.
Melanie and Megan, how´s school going? It´s weird to think you guys just started when everyone here is getting ready to end. Mel, what´s happening with the musical? Have you gone on any hot dates recently? :o) Goose, you just focus on your studies...you don´t need to think about boys yet! Haha.
Alright, well I think that´s about it for this week. Know that I love each and every one of you and that you´re in my prayers often! Don´t forget to write me. Haha. Just in case ya´ll forgot, you can write to the mission email address (urugoest@gmail.com) and they print it off and send it to me! So it´s a lot easier and free to keep in contact. What a blessing. :o) Well....see ya later!
Elder Taylor

Letter from Salto

Taylor Family and Friends,
 Well hey there. How ya´ll doin this beautiful day? Things are going well
here in Uruguay. It´s about 10:30 in the morning and I´ve already been up
for about 5 1/2 hours. Pretty intense, eh? We woke up this morning and
hopped on a bus to come down and hang out with some of the zone today.
We´re going to go play GOLF! I´m WAY excited. Can you believe that? I,
Elder Taylor, am crazy excited to play GOLF. Haha. The things that change
on the mission. This is probably the one and only time we will come down
here on a Preparation Day, because it takes up our day and money, but it´s
all good. We got special permission to do divisions here tonight, so we
won´t have to head back to Bella Union for our three hours of proselyting
tonight. We have interviews with President Peterson tomorrow morning and
then tomorrow about noonish we have our district meetings like every week;
then we´ll head back to Bella Union.
 So that´s what´s going on today. Sounds like fun, eh? I sure thought
so. Last week was a pretty long week, but it was great at the same time. A
couple of years ago, Elder Ballard gave a challenge, or better said, a
commandment for the missionaries to do at least 10 contacts a day; that
means 70 per week. Over the last year in the mission, the average has been
39.8 per missionary, per week. That´s barely over 50%. Wow. The President
really pushed this topic in our Zone Conference that we had like two weeks
ago, so Elder Marroquín and I decided last week that we were going to quit
being dumb as I put it. Haha. We both got our contacts last week. I
ended up with 73 and he got 71. We were both really happy and felt good.
Ten contacts a day doesn´t sound like a lot, and it´s not, but sometimes
it´s not as easy as it sounds. Especially when it rains for three days
STRAIGHT like it did last week, and no one is in the street. But when the
Lord gives a commandment, He provides the way. Even if it means we have to
walk into corner stores and invite His children, He will provide the way:
we just have to be willing to do what is required! So Elder Marroquín and
I decided we were going to do what is required. I´m not going to say that
we saw any AMAZING miracles last week for being obedient, but I can
honestly say that we feel a lot better and we are VERY optimistic for this
week. As Brother Matt Sellers told me this week, the Lord will bless us as
fast as we are able to receive it. I believe we showed the Lord that we
really do want to invite His children to learn more about Him this last
week, and we are willing to do what it takes! It´s going to be a great
week.
 Got my first dog bite this last weekend. Saturday night, I think. No
worries, it was just a quick grab-and-release on the ankle. Only bled a
little bit. But it was kinda funny. :o)
 My cold´s pretty much gone. I haven´t checked my tonsils in the last
couple of days, but I´m feeling ok. I told the Hermana Peterson at the
Zone Conference and she gave me a paper that said the medicine I needed, but I haven´t stopped by to get it yet. Up ´til now, I´ve
been ok. Haha.
 Investigators are doing well. The hard part of the work in Bella Union
is different than the hard part in Artigas. In Artigas, it was hard for us
to find people to teach, but once we found them, they usually progressed.
In Bella Union, it is easy to find people, but they don´t progress:
mostly because they don´t go to church on Sunday. We are really focusing
in on that area. Ricardo was working like 12 hours yesterday, so he didn´t
go to church, but his wife and 3-year old daughter went. It was GREAT to
see them there. She is the returned-missionary that went inactive. But it
can be seen she has the desires to come back. We were talking with her, and
she said that Ricardo has been asking a lot more questions about the
church, the temple, and the priesthood in this last week. We are pretty
excited about that! Questions are always good. We are having lunch with
them on Wednesday, so that´ll be fun.
 Things with Elder Marroquín are going really well. He is a lot different
than Elder Huaman, but at the same time, they are very similar. It is just
a lot different to be with a Latin. Not better or worse, just different.
Out of my 5 companions in the field, 3 of them have been Latins, and 2 of
those 3 have been Peruvians. I think that I´m supposed to head to Peru at
some point in my life. Elder Marroquín says that I´m going to have each
one of the Peruvians in the mission as a companion. Oh boy. I think that
would mean a Peruvian for the rest of my mission. I think I would go crazy.
Haha. He is a great Elder and he knows why he is here. It is very easy to
work with him. His birthday is December 16th. What a coincidence, eh? The
day after mine. I doubt I´ll still be here for our birthdays, but who
knows?
 People always comment on how young we are, right? And usually they ask us
how old we are, so we ask them to guess first. With Elder Marroquín they
always say 19 or 20, but with me it´s always 23 or 24. Yesterday, one guy
said 29! I almost died. I don´t mind looking older at all, but 29?!
Sheesh. I guess need to do some more intense exercises in the morning.
Anybody have some kind of age remedy? Haha.
 Mom, you noticed his tie, too?! Haha. That´s awesome! I was in the room
all by myself, right? Oh, but don´t worry, I still commented on the tie
OUT LOUD. Haha. After I realized what I had just done, I couldn´t help but
laugh at myself. That´s what happens when you´re with a Latin for 3
straight months, I guess!
 As for things I need in a package, I´m not sure. Those Pilot gel pens
that you sent last time work REALLY well for contacts, because I can click
them open and shut quickly. Dumb little thing, but hey. Haha. I don´t know
if I have told you yet, but I have officially put a hole in my Ecco´s,
too. Just in the left foot. I have no idea what happened, to be competely
honest. I´m thinking about buying another pair of shoes from Brazil like
the ones I bought a couple of months ago. I like them a lot, and they only
cost like 700 pesos. I think that´s like 30 bucks. Not too bad. I don´t
know-what do you think? I think shoes are too risky to send in a package. I
don´t know if I´m really going to buy new shoes yet, but the thought has
crossed my mind. What else do I need in a package, or want? I don´t know.
Give me some ideas, and if it sparks any ideas, I´ll let you know. Oh, one
thing. Tell my best friend to write me! Haha. I know I wasn´t the best
writer to him while he was gone, but that´s because he told me NOT to
write emails! He can write me emails, at the mission address. C´mon
Skyler, I know you´re not stock full of dates...nice try! :o)
 If you can´t tell, I´m just trying to buy a little bit of time. Haha. I
wrote quickly today. Maybe I´ll try and send some pics. Good idea, Elder
Taylor.
 Ok, know that I love you all. Take care of yourselves and do your
scripture studies! The scriptures really have helped me have the desires
and motivation to do this work even on the hardest of days. There really is
a power to be found there. Look for it! And I would love to hear insights
and thoughts from all of you. Thanks Bro. Sellers for your thoughts-I
REALLY enjoyed it! ¡Cuídense y pórtense bien!
Elder Taylor

300 days

Taylor Family and Friends,
Just so everyone knows, the subject line is NOT because I am counting days! My mom and sister both kindly informed me that today is my 300 day mark, so I thought I´d comment on it. That´s a pretty crazy thought. 300 seems like a lot, but at the same time, it´s not; time is a pretty confusing thing on the mission.
So Conference is over. Sad. But what an amazing conference it was! We witnessed history, you guys. I thought it was very impressive the way that President Hinckley did not make any show or presentation when he read the sustainings of Pres. Eyring and Elder Cook. They are callings that come from our Heavenly Father and any earthly presentation would not be sufficient. Very well done.
We received a lot of very impressive counsels this weekend from our Heavenly Father. A lot about being member-missionaries and studying Preach My Gospel; I hope that we were ALL listening to that counsel given to us from our Father in Heaven. He wants us to reach out to His children; Preach My Gospel is here to help us do so effectively. I loved the first two talks on Sunday morning by Elder Hales and Elder Scott about personal revelation and finding truth, respectively. They were both very impressive talks packed with insights and invitations.
Was anyone picking out their favorite ties like I was? Haha. I say that Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Kopischke win for this conference. If you want ideas for ties to send me...look at pictures of those two! There were many impressive ties this weekend. Haha
You may be wondering what Elder Taylor was doing while watching conference if he was so interested in the ties of the General Authorities; if so, I´ll tell you. There´s not much else to do when you´re sitting by yourself in a little room for eight hours! Haha. I had my own private "suite" for conference this weekend, seeing as how I´m probably the only person in at least 2 hours in any direction who speaks English. It made for a different experience, but I enjoyed it. I say 8 hours because Sunday morning my companion and I watched the recording of the Priesthood Session together...in Spanish. I could understand everything in Spanish just fine, but it´s just a different experience to watch it in English. The translators do an AMAZING job at what they do, but, as hard as they may try, they cannot translate the emotion and love in their words. And that´s one of the best parts of watching conference, isn´t it? We can all read the counsels in a month´s time, but this was our chance to hear the counsels with the love and the emotion that the Lord´s servants put in to them. What a blessing!
I didn´t get waffles and ice cream arranged for this conference. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Last week was a crazy week. District meeting in Salto on Tuesday, divisions here with Elder Gee on Wednesday, Sector Conference in Paysandú on Thursday and General Conference on Saturday and Sunday. A very long, but amazing week. I had the opportunity to receive many counsels from my leaders and to have many prayers answered. A great week.
Family, I got the package this last week. Thanks! The second I opened the package, I put the hat on. Mmm. Haha. It was great. I took a couple of recordings of Uruguayan´s eating Warheads-that was pretty funny! It was really nice to hear from the cousins and what not on the tape. I don´t know if you guys realized, but the tape had a couple of problems as well. Anyways, I was informed of some super exciting news- Greg and Ann Jones were sealed! I can´t believe you guys didn´t tell me beforehand! That is SO cool! I don´t know if you are sending these letters to them, but send them my love and congratulations! Man, that was a good piece of news to receive!
Melanie, tell Ms. Hatch that I dig the new hair-do. Haha. It was pretty fun to see her during conference. She´s the first person I´ve seen from home "live" in ten months. An interesting thought. Haha. Oh, and Ms. Beus from Elk Ridge.
Dad, what happened with the Sentra? You broke it again? Haha. Good to hear you got it fixed. What´d you decide to do with the Dodge?
So Robby, Troy, and Tommy are all in Brazil, huh? Crazy! I could be in Brazil too in about 15 minutes. Haha. That´s cool. When you see their families, tell them I send my best!
You guys are gonna head to Oregon to see Mary-Anne and Nathanael? That´s cool. I´ll head up that way in a "few" months. Haha.
Dad, thanks for sending me the tease on the Indians series. Haha. Did they pull it out and beat the Yankees? I sure hope so! If they go to the Series, you guys had better buy LOTS of souvenirs and record the Series so I can watch it! Thanks, love ya. Haha.
Well, I think that´s about it for this week. An interesting thought: President Hinckley spoke for just a couple of minutes in the last session, and what was his invitation? To read and discuss the proceedings of General Conference in our Family Home Evenings-think it might be a good idea? I sure think so! I´m so grateful that I have a "mother who knows" and parents who were always willing to spend one-on-one time with me! Those are moments that I will never forget.
I love you all, and I can´t wait to hear from ya! Send a shout, eh? Take care!
Elder Taylor