Here's some of the pictures from the CD that
Aaron recently sent home...
Aaron recently sent home...
Monday, February 25, 2008
Getting bored w/ subject lines...!
Taylor Family and Friends,
> Starting these letters is always weird. I know I´ve commented on it before, but just so you guys understand, I´m mentioning it again. Anyone got any good ideas for starting a weekly letter?
> This week was a pretty sweet week. We had Stake Conference yesterday, that was cool. Elder Huber and I had 9 investigators there for the general session. But that wasn´t even the best part; the best part was that President Peterson and his family were there! Pres. got up to speak for only about 5 minutes, but I think even person in that room could feel the power behind that man´s testimony. Pres. Peterson also gave me the chills...when he invited everyone at the conference who wasn´t yet a member of the Church to get baptized! He basically just invited around 20 people to get baptized! It was awesome.
> Nahuel is getting baptized this Friday night, and we´re working with the rest of his family, as well. We are going to invite Rosana, his older sister, with a date this week. We watched the Restoration last night and had an awesome lesson afterwards; mostly because we ate cookies that Elder Huber and I had made. :o) No, just kidding. But we compared the Restoration of the Gospel to cookies. How did we do it? Send me your ideas, and I´ll tell you how close you are!
> Anyways, Rosana got really in to President´s talk, especially when he gave the invitation. Last night, we invited her, along with the rest of the family to pray and ask if the message of the Restoration is true, and upon knowing, to be baptized. They all accepted. The Lord is really pouring out His blessings upon Elder Huber and I, and our investigators. It makes me kind of nervous, because changes are next week...I don´t want to change a good thing. Haha. But, that isn´t really a decision that I make! So, make sure you got that note, NEXT WEEK IS CHANGE WEEK, WHICH MEANS I´LL PROBLY BE WRITING ON TUESDAY. Ok, moving on.
> I don´t think I told you guys about Frederico last week, so I´ll do it now. I got a call from the offices of the mission about a week and a half ago, and they gave me a name and a address of a reference received from a member in Fray Bentos. Anyways, we went and contacted this reference, and it turns out that Frederico´s older brother sent Frederico´s name in as a reference. Frederico went and stayed w/ his older brother for a couple of weeks in Fray Bentos a couple of months ago, went to church w/ his older bro (who is a member of the Church) and he really liked. Frederico is 14, but he´s SUPER smart, and SUPER nice. He made us cake on Thursday or Friday...of course we´re going to like him. :o) The first lesson we had with him, we were just trying to get to know him a little bit, and he told us that he wanted to be sure of what we teach before he gets baptized; Frederico, there is no problem with that. Haha. We gave him a conditional invitation to be baptized, and he accepted. We have a lesson with him tonight, and we are super excited.
> Elder Huber is doing awesome. He understands basically everything, and he´s starting to open up more in lessons and whatnot. The other night he got kind of frustrated because he couldn´t express what he wanted to, but on the way home we had a good chat, and then looked up the words together when we got home. Just an awesome kid with great desires and an even better potential.
> That Spanish translation was pretty funny...all the missionaries got a good laugh at it. Maybe you should just take it to someone who speaks Spanish. ;o)
> Speaking of people who never answer questions...you guys left like all of mine unanswered! C´mon now. I have somewhat of an excuse-I only have one hour to read and write, but you guys have a whole week! Haha. Have you heard from or tried to contact Elder Stoddard? Did you tell Matt Lamunyon hi for me? How is Spring Break looking for next year? Good? Good. Hmmm...can´t remember what the other questions were, but that´s ok.
> Melanie, how was your show?! I was telling people here about it all week last week. Haha. One of our investigators, Ricardo, basically fell in love with one of the pictures I have of you! Mary-Anne sent me one of you sitting in the old computer chair when you had your extensions in, and Ricardo almost didn´t give me the picture back! Haha. Everyone here loves seeing your hair, especially!
> Alright, well I think that might just about cover it for this week. If I missed anything, please forgive me. My bad. Take care of yourselves this week! Next week will be March....weird. Have fun!
> Elder Taylor
> Starting these letters is always weird. I know I´ve commented on it before, but just so you guys understand, I´m mentioning it again. Anyone got any good ideas for starting a weekly letter?
> This week was a pretty sweet week. We had Stake Conference yesterday, that was cool. Elder Huber and I had 9 investigators there for the general session. But that wasn´t even the best part; the best part was that President Peterson and his family were there! Pres. got up to speak for only about 5 minutes, but I think even person in that room could feel the power behind that man´s testimony. Pres. Peterson also gave me the chills...when he invited everyone at the conference who wasn´t yet a member of the Church to get baptized! He basically just invited around 20 people to get baptized! It was awesome.
> Nahuel is getting baptized this Friday night, and we´re working with the rest of his family, as well. We are going to invite Rosana, his older sister, with a date this week. We watched the Restoration last night and had an awesome lesson afterwards; mostly because we ate cookies that Elder Huber and I had made. :o) No, just kidding. But we compared the Restoration of the Gospel to cookies. How did we do it? Send me your ideas, and I´ll tell you how close you are!
> Anyways, Rosana got really in to President´s talk, especially when he gave the invitation. Last night, we invited her, along with the rest of the family to pray and ask if the message of the Restoration is true, and upon knowing, to be baptized. They all accepted. The Lord is really pouring out His blessings upon Elder Huber and I, and our investigators. It makes me kind of nervous, because changes are next week...I don´t want to change a good thing. Haha. But, that isn´t really a decision that I make! So, make sure you got that note, NEXT WEEK IS CHANGE WEEK, WHICH MEANS I´LL PROBLY BE WRITING ON TUESDAY. Ok, moving on.
> I don´t think I told you guys about Frederico last week, so I´ll do it now. I got a call from the offices of the mission about a week and a half ago, and they gave me a name and a address of a reference received from a member in Fray Bentos. Anyways, we went and contacted this reference, and it turns out that Frederico´s older brother sent Frederico´s name in as a reference. Frederico went and stayed w/ his older brother for a couple of weeks in Fray Bentos a couple of months ago, went to church w/ his older bro (who is a member of the Church) and he really liked. Frederico is 14, but he´s SUPER smart, and SUPER nice. He made us cake on Thursday or Friday...of course we´re going to like him. :o) The first lesson we had with him, we were just trying to get to know him a little bit, and he told us that he wanted to be sure of what we teach before he gets baptized; Frederico, there is no problem with that. Haha. We gave him a conditional invitation to be baptized, and he accepted. We have a lesson with him tonight, and we are super excited.
> Elder Huber is doing awesome. He understands basically everything, and he´s starting to open up more in lessons and whatnot. The other night he got kind of frustrated because he couldn´t express what he wanted to, but on the way home we had a good chat, and then looked up the words together when we got home. Just an awesome kid with great desires and an even better potential.
> That Spanish translation was pretty funny...all the missionaries got a good laugh at it. Maybe you should just take it to someone who speaks Spanish. ;o)
> Speaking of people who never answer questions...you guys left like all of mine unanswered! C´mon now. I have somewhat of an excuse-I only have one hour to read and write, but you guys have a whole week! Haha. Have you heard from or tried to contact Elder Stoddard? Did you tell Matt Lamunyon hi for me? How is Spring Break looking for next year? Good? Good. Hmmm...can´t remember what the other questions were, but that´s ok.
> Melanie, how was your show?! I was telling people here about it all week last week. Haha. One of our investigators, Ricardo, basically fell in love with one of the pictures I have of you! Mary-Anne sent me one of you sitting in the old computer chair when you had your extensions in, and Ricardo almost didn´t give me the picture back! Haha. Everyone here loves seeing your hair, especially!
> Alright, well I think that might just about cover it for this week. If I missed anything, please forgive me. My bad. Take care of yourselves this week! Next week will be March....weird. Have fun!
> Elder Taylor
Monday, February 18, 2008
Another Anniversary...!?
Taylor Family and Friends,
Hey! ¿Cómo se están portando todos? Espero que todos anden bien. Quizás debo escribir esta carta en español...¿qué tal? Todavía no lo he hecho, y ¡hace un año que estoy aquí en la misión! ¿Qué lo tiró? El tiempo está pasando muy rápido-no sé lo que dicen los demás, pero para mí, es así. Los que han servido una misión saben cómo me siento. Pero bueno, para que todos puedan disfrutar de esta carta y para que mi madre no me baje la caña...voy a escribir en íngles ahora.
So how many of you could understand that?! I´ve been in the mission over a year, and I´ve never tested your spanish skills, so I figured I would give it a shot. How´d ya´ll do?
I´m super tired. Haha. This morning, the zone got together and we went up to the fort on El Cerro. That was pretty fun. The museum up there was closed, but when Elder Huber and I were taking a picture pretending to knock on the fort door, one of the military guys asked us how big our group was...I told him 14, and he said that they could open it up special for us, if we wanted. Of course we said yes. We went in, saw what there was to see, and left him with a pamphlet as a thank-you. :o)
Elder Huber and I had an AWESOME week this last week. We taught more lessons this week than I have in any other week while here in Cerro. We also found a ton of new people to teach. Some are just alright, but there are some others that we are really excited for. Also, a couple of the less-active families that we have been working with came to church. Overall, una semana exitosa.
Nahuel, Pablo´s son, was supposed to get baptized this next weekend, the 23rd, but we have stake conference, so we are postponing it until the first of March. That whole family is doing really well. We watched "The Testaments" with them last night, and the oldest daughter, Rosana (who has three kids) was really touched, because we had talked extensively about Jesus Christ throughout the week. Before we watched the movie, as we were waiting for something, I told her that when she gets baptized, I´m going to do it; if it means I have to come back from the States, so be it! We both laughed afterwards...but hey, you never know! :o)
Mary-Anne, I got your package last week! I think it got through untouched, too, so that means that you can´t get mad and stop sending packages. Haha. The music is awesome! Thank you SOOOO much. I didn´t expect you to put it all nice in a folder and whatnot, too-what an awesome sister I have. :o) No, Mom, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it a week or so ago, I should probly get it next weekish. I´m glad you all got my package. I tried to send some of the best alfajores with the package, but they told me that it wasn´t permitted. Remember what alfajores are? The SUPER good cookie-type thing that you guys said tasted like a dry alfajor? I still can´t believe that blasphemy. :o) When we come to visit the ´Guay, you will all recognize the beauty of an alfajor.
Speaking of coming to visit the ´Guay...how are those plans coming? Everyone getting next Spring Break set apart? Sure hope so! Elder Ludlow, who also went to Bingham, and I have been talking about coming back next April...if ya´ll care to join us! He´s one of my ZL´s here in Cerro. It´s been a lot of fun.
Megan, you look SOOO good! I´m so stoked for you! How does it feel to have your braces off? Did it feel kind of weird at first? It might have felt weird, but that´s one of the best feelings ever. Haha. Thanks for sending me the pics, Goose!
Melanie, was your play this last weekend, or next? How did it go, or how is it going? What is the play called? I forgot. My bad. Have you gone on any hot dates lately? :o)
Who are Bishop Mangum´s counselors? Bro. Lumberg and...? That sounds like a sweet bishopric! Bishop Mangum is an amazing guy, and I´m basically in love with the Lumberg family! I´m sure the other counselor is a good guy, too. :o)
No, Dad, I haven´t heard from Eduardo in a super long time. The last thing I heard was that he got the Melquisedec (I don´t know how to spell it in English) Priesthood and just doing fantastic. I wrote him another letter a few weeks ago, so I´m hoping to hear from him soon. Who is your home teacher that translated the video? That´s awesome! Quizás debo escribir totalmente en español para que él les pueda servir! ¿Qué le parece? :o) Matt LaMunyon gets home this week?! That´s super weird. Make sure you tell him hello for me!
They don´t really celebrate Valentine´s Day over here, but at least every one knows it´s a holiday. Oh, speaking of the holidays...this week I hit my year-mark in the ´Guay. Pretty sweet, uh? And my comp hits his month-mark. :o) Yeah, you guys are a "tad" behind on the scrapbook...Elder Stoddard was my TRAINER! Haha. Have you guys heard from him, ps? I haven´t heard from him since he left in August-what a punk!
Anyways, so that´s about it. Dad, did you ever look in your journal for an Elder Garns? That´d be pretty sweet! You should probly hop on that. Well, I hope you all had a fantastic week! I can´t wait to hear from ya!
Elder Taylor
Monday, February 11, 2008
Howdy Y'all...
Taylor Family and Friends,
> Yes, Mary-Anne, I did get your email. Sorry for not mentioning it! I thought it was pretty funny that Nathanael had to send your email because you forgot and fell asleep. :o)
> Anyways, today I am writing you all from a cyber in Playa Pascual. We are doing an activity as a zone, so we all got together in this area. We bought like 16 pounds of meat and then 2 sausage-type things for each missionary for lunch. Mmm. Elder Espínola, from Paraguay, volunteered to cook us the asado today, because apparently they make it pretty sweet in Paraguay. I´m super excited to eat. Haha.
> Last week was a really good week. We had Sector/Zone Conference last week, which was fantastic. The mission is really taking on a different look with President Peterson, I love it. Before Pres. and his family arrive at the conferences, they always give us a chapter to study in the scriptures to invite the Spirit before the Conference. This week the study was 1 Corinthians 13 and Moroni 7:33-48. We study for about 15 minutes or so until Pres. gets there. When he gets there and we start the Conference, he chooses and Elder or an Hermana to give a 5-minute talk on the study. We he shook my hand on Thursday, I knew I was going to be called-and sure enough...! It went well. I think it was one of the first times I was nervous to talk in front of missionary´s in my whole mission, or close to. I don´t know why I was kinda nervous, but I was. It went well, though. So that was fun. Elder Huber also had the opportunity to speak, because in every Zone Conference, the new Elders bear their testimony and also those who are ending this change. My comp is just a stud, that´s all that can be said. He´s doing super well.
> Last week, as I said, was a great week. We are working with Nahuel to finish getting him prepared to be baptized. We weren´t going have time to teach him all the principles before this Saturday, so we pushed the baptism back a week. Anyways, last Friday we went over to talk about the Word of Wisdom. As of late, his WHOLE family has been listening and participating with us. That would include his 28-year old sister (Rosana) with her three children, his 20-year old brother (Fabian) and his 18-year old girlfriend/fiancé. So Fabian is a "social-drinker" and his gf, Mariana, smokes, so we knew that this was going to have to be a great lesson. And a great lesson it was. By the end of the lesson, both had committed, by themselves, to stop drinking and smoking. It was amazing. The Spirit definitely testified to the whole family about the truthfulness of the message. At the end of the lesson, we invited all of them to come to Church on Sunday. All of them had been at least once, except for Rosana. She kind of looked away when I invited them all, but I made eye contact with her, and said, "You too, Rosana." She said, "Oh, I don´t know. I might go...some very distant day. We´ll see." So I re-extended the invitation and left it at that. Sunday morning comes around and the whole Godoy family was at Church...including Rosana. She LOVED it; she participated more than almost anyone else in the classes. We are going to have a FHE with them tonight, and we´re super excited to talk about their experience at Church.
> So that was good. Another great thing, Ricardo came to church with his son, Liber. It´s obvious that they both still have their doubts, but getting them to Church was a HUGE step. So basically, Church was a fantastic experience! Well, more than usual, of course...! :o)
> Last week we had a few rainstorms; it was nice to have a break from all of the heat. We only got drenched a couple of times...no big deal. It actually reminded me of Utah rainstorms, because it would be super hard for about 5-10 minutes, and then it would just drizzle for a while. Good times.
> We went to the Leadership Training Broadcast on Saturday night; that was good. The family must be a pretty important subject, eh? A two-hour leadership training on how we can protect and strengthen the family. If only there was an easy, effective way to just let everyone know all at once that THAT is what the Church is all about-providing the questions that we all have about our families. If people could just see past the shirts and ties and listen to the message that we share about the ETERNAL HAPPINESS of THEIR family...things would definitely change. They never said it would be easy, right? Just that it would be worth it.
> So Mary-Anne got a new job, Megan is getting her braces off, and Mom is back in school. A pretty full week. And Melanie...? Haven´t heard from my soul-sister in a while-what´s that all about, kid? :o) Nathanael, thanks for keeping me up-to-date on the important stuff. Haha. I had heard about the outcome, but that´s about it. When I come and live with you guys for a while, it appears we´ll have quite a few games to watch!
> Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it two weeks ago, I´ll either get it tomorrow or next Tuesday...that would be normal. I´ll let you know! I´m wearing the shirt that you sent me today...everyone loves it. Haha. :o)
> Mom, you asked if there´s anything that I want or need. Here´s my Valentine´s Day list...
> -Mother´s Taffy Cookies
> -Pictures of my House (My family would be good, too; Friends, "conocidos", it´s all good!)
> -Maple Extract (so I can make syrup)
> Other than that, I´m not quite sure at the moment. Those are the things I thought of in this last week. So if you can help me out with that...that´d be fantastic.
> Well, I think that´s gonna be about it for this week. Sorry if I left anything out that I should have included...don´t get mad at me. Haha. I hope you´re all doing well and enjoying the cold weather! Have fun, and don´t forget to drop me a line!
> Elder Taylor
> Yes, Mary-Anne, I did get your email. Sorry for not mentioning it! I thought it was pretty funny that Nathanael had to send your email because you forgot and fell asleep. :o)
> Anyways, today I am writing you all from a cyber in Playa Pascual. We are doing an activity as a zone, so we all got together in this area. We bought like 16 pounds of meat and then 2 sausage-type things for each missionary for lunch. Mmm. Elder Espínola, from Paraguay, volunteered to cook us the asado today, because apparently they make it pretty sweet in Paraguay. I´m super excited to eat. Haha.
> Last week was a really good week. We had Sector/Zone Conference last week, which was fantastic. The mission is really taking on a different look with President Peterson, I love it. Before Pres. and his family arrive at the conferences, they always give us a chapter to study in the scriptures to invite the Spirit before the Conference. This week the study was 1 Corinthians 13 and Moroni 7:33-48. We study for about 15 minutes or so until Pres. gets there. When he gets there and we start the Conference, he chooses and Elder or an Hermana to give a 5-minute talk on the study. We he shook my hand on Thursday, I knew I was going to be called-and sure enough...! It went well. I think it was one of the first times I was nervous to talk in front of missionary´s in my whole mission, or close to. I don´t know why I was kinda nervous, but I was. It went well, though. So that was fun. Elder Huber also had the opportunity to speak, because in every Zone Conference, the new Elders bear their testimony and also those who are ending this change. My comp is just a stud, that´s all that can be said. He´s doing super well.
> Last week, as I said, was a great week. We are working with Nahuel to finish getting him prepared to be baptized. We weren´t going have time to teach him all the principles before this Saturday, so we pushed the baptism back a week. Anyways, last Friday we went over to talk about the Word of Wisdom. As of late, his WHOLE family has been listening and participating with us. That would include his 28-year old sister (Rosana) with her three children, his 20-year old brother (Fabian) and his 18-year old girlfriend/fiancé. So Fabian is a "social-drinker" and his gf, Mariana, smokes, so we knew that this was going to have to be a great lesson. And a great lesson it was. By the end of the lesson, both had committed, by themselves, to stop drinking and smoking. It was amazing. The Spirit definitely testified to the whole family about the truthfulness of the message. At the end of the lesson, we invited all of them to come to Church on Sunday. All of them had been at least once, except for Rosana. She kind of looked away when I invited them all, but I made eye contact with her, and said, "You too, Rosana." She said, "Oh, I don´t know. I might go...some very distant day. We´ll see." So I re-extended the invitation and left it at that. Sunday morning comes around and the whole Godoy family was at Church...including Rosana. She LOVED it; she participated more than almost anyone else in the classes. We are going to have a FHE with them tonight, and we´re super excited to talk about their experience at Church.
> So that was good. Another great thing, Ricardo came to church with his son, Liber. It´s obvious that they both still have their doubts, but getting them to Church was a HUGE step. So basically, Church was a fantastic experience! Well, more than usual, of course...! :o)
> Last week we had a few rainstorms; it was nice to have a break from all of the heat. We only got drenched a couple of times...no big deal. It actually reminded me of Utah rainstorms, because it would be super hard for about 5-10 minutes, and then it would just drizzle for a while. Good times.
> We went to the Leadership Training Broadcast on Saturday night; that was good. The family must be a pretty important subject, eh? A two-hour leadership training on how we can protect and strengthen the family. If only there was an easy, effective way to just let everyone know all at once that THAT is what the Church is all about-providing the questions that we all have about our families. If people could just see past the shirts and ties and listen to the message that we share about the ETERNAL HAPPINESS of THEIR family...things would definitely change. They never said it would be easy, right? Just that it would be worth it.
> So Mary-Anne got a new job, Megan is getting her braces off, and Mom is back in school. A pretty full week. And Melanie...? Haven´t heard from my soul-sister in a while-what´s that all about, kid? :o) Nathanael, thanks for keeping me up-to-date on the important stuff. Haha. I had heard about the outcome, but that´s about it. When I come and live with you guys for a while, it appears we´ll have quite a few games to watch!
> Mary-Anne, I haven´t gotten your package yet, but if you just sent it two weeks ago, I´ll either get it tomorrow or next Tuesday...that would be normal. I´ll let you know! I´m wearing the shirt that you sent me today...everyone loves it. Haha. :o)
> Mom, you asked if there´s anything that I want or need. Here´s my Valentine´s Day list...
> -Mother´s Taffy Cookies
> -Pictures of my House (My family would be good, too; Friends, "conocidos", it´s all good!)
> -Maple Extract (so I can make syrup)
> Other than that, I´m not quite sure at the moment. Those are the things I thought of in this last week. So if you can help me out with that...that´d be fantastic.
> Well, I think that´s gonna be about it for this week. Sorry if I left anything out that I should have included...don´t get mad at me. Haha. I hope you´re all doing well and enjoying the cold weather! Have fun, and don´t forget to drop me a line!
> Elder Taylor
Monday, February 4, 2008
Well hey there...
Taylor Family and Friends,
Hmm...where to start? A very interesting week. The main event was the funeral service of President Hinckley. We received permission to go and see the satellite broadcast at the Stake Center. I don´t know how long the program was at home, but we had a four hour broadcast; about 2.5 hours of the funeral and then about 1.5 of documentary type stuff. I did really well emotionally until the last song, "My Shepherd" which was accompanied by the slideshow of Pres. Hinckley. I don´t know if any of you remember, but Bingham´s Acappella choir my junior year sang that song...that was a tender mercy. I don´t know if it´s possible to put into words the feelings that we all have about such an amazing leader and example. I agree with Bishop Burton when he said it´s a especially hard loss for the youth of the Church; Pres. Hinckley was a role-model and an icon for the youth. He will be deeply missed.
Towards the end of last week, Elder Huber was feeling a little under the weather. I think it´s just that his stomach is trying to get used to the different diet. But he´s doing ok now. We´ve been doing really well together; we get along really well, so that´s definitely a good thing! He´s just a cool kid. I say kid...but he´s older and a LOT bigger than me. Haha. He could probly lay me flat with one swing. Needless to say, no one messes with us in the streets. :o)
Yesterday, we ate lunch with one of our investigators, Ricardo. (We are also teaching his 23-year-old son, Liber, if that helps you realize who it is.) Anyways, they couldn´t go to Church because they had family coming in from out of town, but to "make up for it" they invited us to come over and eat with them. We went over and had a very nice meal with them. His sister-in-law, two nieces, and a soon-to-be-nephew were there, along with Ricardo´s wife and son. Right when we sat down at the table before we started eating, the nieces and the nephew starting firing questions. It was an awesome lunch. I just love helping people correct their misconceptions about the Church. Not that they had "misconceptions," they just had NO idea who we are or what we do. They even thought that we were a branch of the Catholic Church....umm, no. It was a lot of fun, because they were kids around our age and it´s usually a more interesting conversation with kids your own age, because it´s easier to relate. Anyways, that was a fun experience.
This week there wasn´t a lot of big events, so I´m running out of things to say. Haha. Oh! One of the Elders that lives in our house, Elder Johanson, (from the Tri Cities, Washington area) hit his year mark on the mission this last week. We made a microwave cake, bought ice cream, and he burnt a tie. It was fun, because he did what I didn´t do at my year mark. :o)
Anyways, it sounds like you guys had a really cool experience at Pres. Hinckley´s viewing. In all, how long were you there? That would have been a really neat experience. I´m super glad that Megan wanted to go. Way to be, Goose.
Ok, so to make up for my short letter, I am sending pictures! There´s one of my son and I, Elder Huber, about 1 minute after we met each other; one of the house where I am living, which I love; one of my Christmas Eve dinner with the Baez family; and one of me with the Peterson family at our Zone Conference in December. Oh, and I´ll throw in one of Elder Larsen and I eating watermelon last change! Mmm. Be jealous. :o)
I hope that makes up for my short letter this week. If not...well... there´s really no other option. I´m excited to hear from you all. Take care of yourselves and drop me a line to give me an update an what´s going on! ¡Chao chao!
Elder Taylor
Hmm...where to start? A very interesting week. The main event was the funeral service of President Hinckley. We received permission to go and see the satellite broadcast at the Stake Center. I don´t know how long the program was at home, but we had a four hour broadcast; about 2.5 hours of the funeral and then about 1.5 of documentary type stuff. I did really well emotionally until the last song, "My Shepherd" which was accompanied by the slideshow of Pres. Hinckley. I don´t know if any of you remember, but Bingham´s Acappella choir my junior year sang that song...that was a tender mercy. I don´t know if it´s possible to put into words the feelings that we all have about such an amazing leader and example. I agree with Bishop Burton when he said it´s a especially hard loss for the youth of the Church; Pres. Hinckley was a role-model and an icon for the youth. He will be deeply missed.
Towards the end of last week, Elder Huber was feeling a little under the weather. I think it´s just that his stomach is trying to get used to the different diet. But he´s doing ok now. We´ve been doing really well together; we get along really well, so that´s definitely a good thing! He´s just a cool kid. I say kid...but he´s older and a LOT bigger than me. Haha. He could probly lay me flat with one swing. Needless to say, no one messes with us in the streets. :o)
Yesterday, we ate lunch with one of our investigators, Ricardo. (We are also teaching his 23-year-old son, Liber, if that helps you realize who it is.) Anyways, they couldn´t go to Church because they had family coming in from out of town, but to "make up for it" they invited us to come over and eat with them. We went over and had a very nice meal with them. His sister-in-law, two nieces, and a soon-to-be-nephew were there, along with Ricardo´s wife and son. Right when we sat down at the table before we started eating, the nieces and the nephew starting firing questions. It was an awesome lunch. I just love helping people correct their misconceptions about the Church. Not that they had "misconceptions," they just had NO idea who we are or what we do. They even thought that we were a branch of the Catholic Church....umm, no. It was a lot of fun, because they were kids around our age and it´s usually a more interesting conversation with kids your own age, because it´s easier to relate. Anyways, that was a fun experience.
This week there wasn´t a lot of big events, so I´m running out of things to say. Haha. Oh! One of the Elders that lives in our house, Elder Johanson, (from the Tri Cities, Washington area) hit his year mark on the mission this last week. We made a microwave cake, bought ice cream, and he burnt a tie. It was fun, because he did what I didn´t do at my year mark. :o)
Anyways, it sounds like you guys had a really cool experience at Pres. Hinckley´s viewing. In all, how long were you there? That would have been a really neat experience. I´m super glad that Megan wanted to go. Way to be, Goose.
Ok, so to make up for my short letter, I am sending pictures! There´s one of my son and I, Elder Huber, about 1 minute after we met each other; one of the house where I am living, which I love; one of my Christmas Eve dinner with the Baez family; and one of me with the Peterson family at our Zone Conference in December. Oh, and I´ll throw in one of Elder Larsen and I eating watermelon last change! Mmm. Be jealous. :o)
I hope that makes up for my short letter this week. If not...well... there´s really no other option. I´m excited to hear from you all. Take care of yourselves and drop me a line to give me an update an what´s going on! ¡Chao chao!
Elder Taylor
Monday, January 28, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
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
Monday, January 14, 2008
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
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
Monday, January 7, 2008
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
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
Monday, December 31, 2007
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
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
Monday, December 17, 2007
!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
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
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
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
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
Monday, December 3, 2007
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
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
Monday, November 26, 2007
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
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
Monday, November 19, 2007
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
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
Monday, November 12, 2007
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
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
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