A HO HO HO....OH and getting stuck in the Snow

Happy New Year,

Well I hope that everyone had a great Christmas and had a great time talking with family or visiting family….or just anything to do with their family. I will let all of you know that I had a great time talking to my family and finding that all is going well with them. I had just a great time talking to them and hearing their voices. But I must say that this week has been one of total craziness….now Chanel told me that I say "this week was so crazy" every week….but this week really was crazy. But I will start with the most important news first: Transfers. Yes, I am leaving…..I’m going to Gardnerville, Nevada. It should be fun…I will be just a nice normal missionary…and let me tell you how happy that makes me: well it makes me very happy to say the least. My new companion will be Elder Tubb and I don’t really know him too well but I am excited for the new change and no leadership. I hope that all will go well.

Now to the Crazy part of the week. Other then talking to my family, I had some good times this week. So as I said last week, we went to North Tahoe to do a baptism interview for some little kids….and by little I mean 8 and 10. Anyway their baptism was on Thursday night. So I wanted to go back up there and see them get baptized…so we hopped in the car and rode up with the Spanish Missionaries. As we were getting closer and closer the snow started to fall more and more and more and more….and more…well you get the point….we made it to the church and were there for the baptism. But now it was time to drive home….and we couldn’t…they were requiring chains on all cars or snow tires…well as missionaries we aren’t supposed to be driving in weather conditions like that. Thankfully some very nice members were willing to have us come and stay at their home for the evening….we were so grateful. They gave us a ride back to their house and we were able to stay the night and come back to Reno the next morning when the roads had been cleared. We made it back nice and safe and no animals were harmed by our driving…or humans. The people we stayed with were the Jones’ and they have an amazing house. It is like my perfect dream winter home up by Lake Tahoe….they live in Truckee so their not too close to Tahoe…but just close enough. It was an amazing home…I will include a picture of us in their home. They were so nice that they said we could come back today and go sledding in their backyard…they have a sled track that he dug out of the snow and it is so cool…I’m very excited to go back up there and see them again.

Well like I said transfers calls were Saturday night…and yes, I really am leaving for Gardnerville….I am actually pretty excited about the new area….I hear that it is a really pretty place to live and there are lots of nice people there. I will be covering only a 1 ward and 1 branch so that will be a nice change….I just seem to be covering smaller and smaller areas now….it is actually quite nice. It will be another Double Transfer though…every time but one that I have been transferred in it has been a double transfer…so I don’t really like them very much…but life goes on….right??

Well I hope that everyone has a great New Year and if 2008 goes by as fast as 2007 then I just won't know what to do with myself…I have spent most of this year either on my mission or preparing for my mission….and I must say that if there is anyone who is thinking about going on a mission and not quite sure if they should do it…..go for it! This has easily been one of the best years of my life. I have had so much and grown so much that I can’t wait for 2008 to get here. It is going to be so much fun to see what the New Year holds, I hope it holds many blessings for me and also for all of you. Again I hope that all of you had a great Christmas…and I hope you have a great 2008.

Love,
Elder Taylor

HO...HO...HO.....

Well Hey,
As I will be talking to you tomorrow…I won't make this too long….but I do have a few highlights I would like to cover….First was on Friday - Santa came Early…some missionaries in my district dressed up as Santa and one of his elves and went to visit investigators and they came by our apartment all dressed up and it was so funny…probably one of the best things I could have asked for this holiday season. Then yesterday I got to go and interview two kids for baptism….it was so cool to interview these little kids who now had the gospel in their lives…..their Mom was a less active member and wanted her two sons to get baptized and so they had the missionaries come and teach the family and it was so cool to be apart of the process…even in a small little way. They were nice little kids and it was fun…the only problem was they live in California up by Lake Tahoe…so we had to drive and hour each way just to do this interview…..but it was worth the drive. Also we saw this way crazy big icicle. It was bigger then me…..it was so crazy…then we made Elder Fechser run through the snow…well he wanted to do it, so we just strongly encouraged it. It was very funny to see him running through thigh high snow in his suit pants….nothing gets better right?????

Well as this is my first Christmas away from home and I haven’t been able to enjoy the family traditions this year, but it has given me some time to think about the true meaning of Christmas and think about what a wonderful gift we have all been given….A Savior….it is truly a pleasure to be His representative and do the work He would do if He were here himself…..I love my Father in Heaven and thank him everyday for my wonderful family….and even more for a Savior. I hope that everyone has a fabulous Christmas…I know I will….I hope all you dreams come true. I Love You all.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Well...it's cold....really cold....but this week was good anyways.....

Happy Holidays,

Well I hope that this past week has gone by as fast for all of you as it has for me. We had last P-day and that was fun….We had dinner with the Simpson’s and you got the picture from that…..Sister Simpson does that because she hasn’t gotten pictures from her son who is on a mission yet…he has only been out like 2 months….but I don’t mind and I know you guys don’t either. (No, we don't mind at all!)
Then Tuesday we had District meeting and other stuff to do. Then Wednesday was the big day….we had interviews with President Andrus. He has changed the way he does them now….he used to do interviews the day of Zone Conference but that was too crazy…now he does them on their own day so he can spend more time with each missionary and talk about stuff….so, it was a nice interview. Most of them have been like 2 or 3 minutes….this time it was like ten or fifteen….it was really cool. Then later that night we had what we call “The Christmas Blessing”….which translated to normal English means: dinner, talent show and MOVIE…..movie is extra big because we got to watch Elf which turns out to be one of President's favorite Christmas movies….so that was pleasant surprise! We had a great dinner and we had a funny talent show….the highlight was Elder Dixon dancing around in a Banana Suit…dancing to the song "Peanut Butter Jelly Time." For those of you who love The Family Guy know why that is very funny….for others: Google the name of the song and you will see why he was in a Banana Suit. Overall it was a really good time….especially watching Elf, more so a real movie….

Then Thursday rolled around and that was actually kind of a nice because it was a nice easy day…..then came Friday and that meant Zone conference and that was a story unto itself. So we had to get there at 8:30 in the morning which was just fine…..except last week it didn’t hit 30 degrees outside until about 2 in the afternoon…..so we were standing outside inspecting our cars at 8:30 a.m. and it was about 18 degrees or so outside. Let's just say that is too cold to be outside doing anything….but that wasn’t the half of it! Then inside I learn the training that I was supposed to do was actually a workshop and that I was to do it and also Elder Fechser was to be apart of it as well. What I was originally told it was to be a ten minute training in the Zone conference. The workshop is when everyone brakes into groups and is trained by zone leaders. This time they added one district leader from each zone as well….so Elder Fechser and I pulled a something together in the 15 minutes we had to plan and went to it! Let's just say that after the third group we had a good plan set forth and it went well…that was good because President Andrus walked in the with the very next group….so we did a good training with him in the room…..I was still a little nervous though…but it went well and he said we did a really good job.

Well it sounds like everyone had a great and festive week…and I hope that all of you have a good rest of the week…know that I love you and can't wait until next week. Know I love you and I hope that you all keep the true meaning of Christmas in mind this year….The best gift anyone could ever receive…A Savior. I am so grateful to have this gift in my life…I gain even more love for Him every day as I go and serve Him and bring people into His true and everlasting gospel…it is one of the many other gifts that I enjoy because of a Father in Heaven who loves me and because of my loving Savior, Jesus Christ. Again know that I love all of you very much….have a great holiday season.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful.......

Hello There Everyone,

This week has been a wild one….we have seen a little of everything this week. We had perfect 60 degree weather early in the week and then this past weekend we got a few inches of snow that are still hanging around and really helping to get people into the holiday spirit. It really has been quite nice to see all the snow…hasn’t been fun on missionary work though. The roads have been pretty clear so that we can drive but Friday we really couldn't drive for too much time…lots of walking around. We were able to have a nice snow ball fight with most of our zone….so that was pretty fun.

We did have a baptism this past Saturday and it was pretty cool….with the snow on the ground it really made the baptism special…..more because we had a pretty good turn out despite the weather….there were a lot of people there to support them and it was really nice……The best part was I just got to sit there and enjoy. I didn’t have to do anything and it was nice….the only thing I was in charge of was making sure the font was full of water….and that proved to be quite the task. The “Special” plug thing kinda leaked water so I had to run and add some more water before they were baptized…but it all worked out great. The two who were baptized are Ruben and Analyn Toledo…..he is from Mexico and she is from the Philippines. He doesn’t want to go the Spanish branch because his wife speaks English. I forgot my camera today so I will have to send the pictures from the baptism next week. They were confirmed in church yesterday and given an amazing blessing and guidance to listen to. They wanted the bishop to baptize them and the his counselors to confirm them and they all did a great job and it was so cool to see a ward get so involved in a baptism……

This week will be a crazy busy one - we have something big going everyday….today being p-day then tomorrow district meeting….Wednesday is what we call the Christmas blessing…..where we all get together (the missionaries up north) and have a dinner and talent show and watch a movie…then we have interviews with President Andrus that morning too…then Zone Conference on Friday….then Saturday will be back to normal….so I will be looking forward to that…..Well, I hope that all is going well for everyone…Know I love you all and thank you for your prayers and love.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Getting festive...

So - click here to see the Elder Taylor district share some of their holiday cheer! Funny, no?

Some new pictures!

Elder Taylor with his District...I think they have to wear matching ties within their companionship...or maybe it just worked out that way.

Elder Taylor dancing in front of one of the new billboards created by the LDS Church. He's a big fan.

From the prank war: on the other side of that cardboard is over 40 bags of popcorn. On the other side of the popcorn is the front door of the sister missionaries.

Missionaries celebrating something...birthday? Being awesome? Could be both.

Elder Taylor loves hats. And being a missionary. And wearing a hat while being a missionary. This was taken at the new Reno Cabelas store...fyi

Holiday Cheer All Around...

Hey Hey,
I must say it seems like this week has gone by very fast. We have had a lot go on and then the change of the month, to now be in December is a little weird I must say. All the holiday lights are up and all the fancy decorations and investigators not being available really makes missionary life feel awesome. Well, for the most part all that is awesome. We have really struggled with our investigators and trying to get them to commit to do anything…mostly just sit down and meet with us…..always a struggle. It makes me think of a song I once heard…..The Endless Battle of the Fork and Spoon…more like the Endless Battle of the Right and Wrong (that’s my new missionary title).

Well anyway this week still has been very fruitful for us. We set two of our investigators with a baptism date for the 8th, and yes, that is this Saturday. We are going by to finish up the teaching this week and then they will be all ready for baptism. I’m so excited. It is a husband and wife who has decided that now is the time to get baptized. They are a nice little family who have a young daughter who is 2 years old….side note…..I think I know what Chanel was like at that age now that I met this girl….she is wild and crazy….but has a great little spirit about her. That has really been the most exciting thing to happen this week…oh the wife hadn’t come to church very much….so I told her I really wanted her to come to church this week and she got off work and came as a family…..it was so cool to see them sitting there and enjoying the blessings of the gospel as a family. It was so cool. Also this week we started teaching a less-active lady who wants to start coming to church again. Her husband who wasn’t a member just passed away and she knows that the gospel will bless her as she comes back to church…she has been a member her whole life and just fell away for a while…her husband wasn’t a member and she kinda used that as an excuse not to do anything with the gospel….But she has resolved to come back and embrace the gospel in her life…it is really cool to see the change.

In other news we got snow this week. That was a really fun day…it snowed most of the morning and gave us a little white holiday cheer…then we did some service in the snow for a member who is struggling with physical problems and needed some weeds pulled. It was really nice to be in the cold working that hard….kept me cool! The member that we helped said…”I'm going to write your Dad and tell him what a good job you're doing”…..so that was nice. Other than that, I hope that all are finding the holiday spirit this time of year….I had a chance to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night….it was awesome…really got me in the holiday mood…..we need to remember to give of ourselves, not only gifts….but time and talents as well…..I hope all have a great rest of the week and continue to spread the Holiday Cheer.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Gobble Gobble Gobble......

Hello,
A great big hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I hope you all got a chance to eat as much turkey and pumpkin pie as I did. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to have a dinner with a great family from Denmark. They have been in the states for over 30 years so, yes, they know what Thanksgiving is. I was worried when they signed up that I wasn’t going to get turkey this year. But they cooked some very good turkey and let us enjoy in all the normal thanksgiving traditions. It was nice. We then went to another family's house for the evening….they called in the morning to make sure we had plans for the day and so we went over after dinner to hang out and enjoy Thanksgiving.

Let me tell you about this family really quick though….the husband is a fertility doctor….when I asked what he did for work his words were….”I make celebrities pregnant.” He is one of the top 5 doctors in his field in the nation…..which means……they are crazy loaded. I haven’t seen so many pies and food and just stuff in all my years of Thanksgiving….it was amazing. We basically went and played in their game room with the family the whole night and then their kids played some music for us….their son is in band at BYU and the other son is taking drum lessons so they jammed for like 30 minutes….it was really fun to watch. They are a great family and love to have……..oh and I forgot to say the Dad loves Lord of the Rings….so much that he had a actual hobbit sized house built in his back yard….I’m serious - it is amazing….pictures will come soon….of me with the Frodo cut out in the hobbit house. Oh man it is so cool…..they said we could live in it if the mission president would let us. I don’t think that will be happening any time soon. But I can dream anyway…..Other than that we had a great day….We played a missionary turkey bowl in the morning….my team went 2-0 and won the whole thing….with me as QB….I wasn’t great…we just won and that’s what counts…

Well the rest of the week was pretty slow…we had transfers on Tuesday night…now we have 3 greenies being trained in a zone of 12 people….lots of new missionaries. It makes it fun to learn things all over again though and look back to the time I was being trained….like only 6 months ago. Well, I love all of you and hope that you all had a great turkey day and that the rest of the holiday season treats all of you right. May each of you continue to be blessed for the service you do each and everyday…I love you all and hope that you week goes well…..talk to you in December.

Love,
Elder Taylor

The WEEK that Was............Amazing!!!

Hello,

Hey happy hello to one and all. Well, this has been an eventful week to say the least. I have a lot to talk about and not much time to do it in. First I will start with transfers…..nothing is changing for me and my companion…we will have a few new missionaries in the zone though which is good and bad….I’m starting to be one of the old missionaries now and it is a different change for me. We will have two more brand new out of the box missionaries from the MTC on Tuesday night….one is a sister and the other is a Spanish missionary. So that’s all the news from transfers.

On to more spiritual things: I had one of the greatest tracting experiences of my mission on Saturday. Let me start by saying I don’t like tracting very much, mainly because I hate bugging people in their homes. I was on splits with another missionary in my zone and we were tracting in our zone leader’s area. They (the zone leaders) weren’t there because they were at the hospital get X-rays done. Don't worry, everything is ok with them. So we pick some streets and started to tract….we got to about the 3rd or 4th door and a very nice lady answered the door….the first thing she said to us was…”hey, come in!" Now those of you who are missionaries or served missions know that doesn’t happen….ever. So we went in and she started talking about how she had had LDS neighbors before and how they had been so amazing and stuff like that. Well,we started talking to her and she said missionaries had come by and taught her before. We asked why she hadn’t joined the church after the missionaries had taught her. She said she wasn’t good enough to be a Mormon - that we were called to be better then her….I then told her that she is a daughter of God…we then kept teaching her talking about a lot of different things and answering questions….it got to the point where the companion I was with committed her for baptism…she wasn’t quite sure still what to do…..so I asked “Would you like to pray right now for an answer?” Now, I have never done or said that to an investigator in my whole mission…it was scary waiting for a response. I had to ask her three times if she wanted to pray and had to read through Joseph Smith History about his prayer to get her to realize it was a prayer that would help to know what to do. She finally agreed….we all knelt down and each said a prayer, with us two going first and then her going last….by the time it got to her she could barely pray…the tears were flowing down her face. It was so amazing. The Spirit was there and it was cool. She thought that we had been sent by a member but really it was the Spirit guiding us. It was so cool.

Then early in the week Elder Zwick from the Seventy came and trained us on how to be better people and missionaries….mostly missionaries though. He talked about not limiting our capacity and striving to be the best we can. It was very inspiring to meet him and his wife, we were able to shake their hands and talk for a minute. His wife gave a great training on being able to talk to everyone. This story I think is inspiring for everyone. Their oldest son has handicaps and had seen his little brothers and sisters go on missions. He would always ask when he was going to get to serve a mission. When they were going to pick up their son who was finishing his mission in Thailand. They were able to get their son set apart by an apostle and he was able to serve for 10 days with his brother as his companion. He was able to share his small and simple testimony that he loves Jesus and Jesus love everyone and he wanted everyone to know that. It was so cool to hear that he was willing to share his small and simple testimony with people. Then he was on a plane by himself and he started talking to the guy next to him and asked him where he was from. The man told him where he was from and he said that there was nice temple there…and the he asked if he was member and then why he wasn’t…he told the man to read the Book of Mormon because it made him feel good….oh yeah their son can't read or write….so know that all you need to share with people is your testimony of feelings and it will touch people's hearts.

Know that I love all of you very much and I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and eat a lot of turkey and watch lots of football. Again, I know that the Gospel is true and will bless you lives if you live by its precepts…again I love you all.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Well Here We Are Again...

Well Hey There,
This week has been a pretty slow week for us. We haven’t had too much crazy stuff happen this week. We had P-day yesterday, but as it was Veteran's Day and the libraries were closed, so here we are on Tuesday e-mailing. We had Stake conference last week and it was weird…only going to church for 2 hours is kinda crazy….I am used to between 6-9 hours and two just flew by like nothing. It was nice and very uplifting, always fun to go to conferences and stuff like that. Speaking of stuff like that: We have Elder Zwick from the Quorum of the Seventy coming to talk and train us tomorrow morning and afternoon. It should be really fun.

Speaking of fun things….the pranks war has kinda continued….when I had last told you all about it the sisters had just gotten us really bad….so we needed to get them back….The thing is it had to be classy. So we took cardboard and taped it to their front door….then we filled the space that was left in between the door and cardboard with popcorn….so when they opened the door the next morning it was all over the place. Well it worked out perfect and when they opened the door the plan worked perfectly and the next day they were laughing pretty hard about it. It was probably one of the best pranks I’ve been apart of.

Now to answer some questions…The weather is on its way down to the colder side…..it is very different from home….the sun is always out here and I’m not used to that at the beginning of the Winter….but it is really nice weather during the day and cold at night…Transfer calls are coming up this weekend….but I have it on good authority that I will be here another 6 weeks so no need to worry…when you're training you usually do it for 3 months or 2 transfers. Well Elder Fechser is doing pretty well - he is still a greenie and most of you know that that means but all it sill going well with him. Oh, yes, the ZL’s are still staying with us…it is really fun but sometimes it isn’t….

Well this coming week will be a pretty crazy one. I will have a lot more to talk about next week…..I hope that all of you continue to have a good week and that you all stay safe…..Thanks to all of you for your letters and other stuff like that. I really enjoy getting them even though I might stink at writing back. I love them and hope that you all are doing well. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Well What a week.......

Well Hello There,
I hope that everyone has had a really good week and that your headaches from eating too much Halloween candy are gone. Well, speaking of Halloween: this year was alright. Not too exciting. We went and took Sister Smith to the airport and sent her back to Temple Square in the morning and then the new sister came out a little later in the afternoon. She is really cool, Her name is sister Nilsson and she is from Sweden…..really that’s all I know. So anyway, back to Halloween: we then went and did some missionary work….really, holidays aren’t too effective because people are so stressed out they just want it to be the next day. So it was kind of a hard day. But we had a good time anyway….

One thing I should say is that last week the Zone Leaders got into a car accident and so they still don’t have their car back. So we have spent pretty much every day together this week. We are basically in a foursome with them, which is cool….they are two way cool guys…one of them is Elder Wells (if you look at the temple pictures, he is on Dixon’s left). So we drive them around and help them do stuff….just thought I would throw that in there so you understand all that happened this week.

Well, we had Zone Conference this week, so that was way cool. It seems like I hadn’t seen President Andrus in like years. I had a good interview with him. It is a little different being a trainer and district leader. So it went a little longer then normal but it was good. He gave me words of encouragement and a little glimpse into what the future holds for me a little bit down the road…after training and stuff. It was weird to hear him say stuff like that. Then he gave a great training on how missionaries need to work with members more and also better. Start with the bishops and work your way down from there. So the word I have for the Bishops or Stake Presidents who read this letter…..Help the missionaries out….and then get people to teach in your home….you are the example to many…if you lead they will follow….

Well, I look back and this was a good week. We have a good week ahead and then the transfer is almost over and then who knows what will happen next. Well I hope you have a good week and that all goes well. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Dont Hold Your Breath....Here It is

Well Hello To Everyone,
Sorry that this is coming to all of you a day late. But when you hear about the crazy week that it was well, then you might just get a glimpse of the week that was the craziest so far. This past week we had District meeting…this was my first as a District leader. That went pretty well and I felt pretty good. Then we had another good one today….but that is beside the point. The one last week was good and I wasn’t too nervous about being up there training other missionaries. It was kind of a fun day. Right after District meeting we got a call to go give someone a blessing. So we went to this nursing home slash horse pistol….a.k.a. hospital. We gave this very nice older lady a blessing to get better and so that was really well. It was Elder Fechser’s first time being able to do so. He was a little nervous when she asked him to give the blessing. He did just fine. Nothing to worry about.

Pretty much from there it has been crazy. I would say that my title has turned a little more from missionary to chauffeur. We have some sisters in our Zone and they don’t have a car right now. And their area is really big and so they have trouble getting around sometimes, so we have been helping out a lot and giving them rides. The cool thing is that they are two of the best sisters in our mission. The sad thing is that one of them is from Temple Square and is leaving tomorrow to go back there to finish out her mission. So it has been fun getting to know her and also being able get to know them. Anyway, back to driving people around. Our ZL’s got into a wreck yesterday, so we have been driving them around as well now, so our time is filled with a lot of driving around and then we fill in the rest of the time with teaching and other missionary work. It has been kind of tough because I want to work in our area but they do need to do work, too. It has been fun to get to know the other missionaries in the Zone.

Well to add to some of the craziness, our zone has gotten into a bit of a prank war…let's just put it this way….it has been a lot of fun and if you want to know what has gone down just send me an e-mail and I will write you back. But it has been a lot of fun the last few days….especially with the sister that is going back to Temple Square….The reason why I didn’t e-mail is because we took her and the Zone to Virginia City…and took an old western photo up there. It was a lot of fun to be up there with the Zone and still only have it be a few people. This Zone is really growing on me. Especially since we have been doing all the pranks/bonding.

Well I hope that all have had a good week and that you are doing well. I want you all to know I think and pray for you often. I love you and please keep me updated all on the goings on. I would love emails or snail mail too….your choice. Again I love you.

Love,
Elder Taylor

From last week...

One of the cool things that happened last week was an e-mail we got from a family in Elder Taylor's new area, The Simpsons. They had the missionaries to dinner last week, and took their picture and sent it to us! Awesome!! So, here is Elder Taylor and Elder Fechser - as of last week.

Update...

For those who check each Monday - with or without a reminder - we have not yet gotten an e-mail or letter from our Elder Taylor this week. I know...right? We will let you know as soon as we hear something...anything...we promise.

All I Can See Is Green

Hello To Everyone,
Well this week has been a mixture of things again. I have really enjoyed this area so far. It is a lot like my last area with a lot of older rich people….but some cool young couples-oh and some cool old ones-too. My area is in the older part of Reno, where my last area was mostly built in like the last 5 years. Some of these home are older than some shoes I own….I don’t really have old shoes so why did I say that….they are older than me I guess…yeah that will work. Well, as I said last week, my new companion is Elder Fechser. It really gets me how people can easily get my name, then they totally stare at his for a a good few seconds and still get it wrong everytime, without fail. The only lady to get his name right was this German lady, and that’s because his name is German.

Well I guess on to what we did this week. It has still been slow pickins as far as appointments go, so that gives us plenty of time to tract and street contact. I love to street contact. It is one of the greatest times to be a missionary. We talk to all kinds of people and gets all sorts of stories. One thing we can do as messengers of Jesus Christ is promise people in the parking lot of the mall or Wal-Mart or any other place, that if they pray to know about the Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith that they will get an answer. The spirit you feel when you do that is like no other I have ever felt in my life. Anyway, back to the week. We met with this guy named Brian. He and his fiancé are very nice. She is a member and he is looking into the church….They are actually in Boise right now visiting family and getting married. So Connie, if you go to any weddings this week…it might be in Eagle some where…that is the guy we are teaching…his last name is Rapp……so anyway, he is a great guy and is really excited about the church.

Well some other things we did this week: We had dinner with an Area Seventy-that was scary-but not really, he was a super nice guy. His name is Elder Timothy Dyches….in case you want to look up people I have been eating with. We had a good evening with him and got some good insight into a lot of really cool things. We have really just been plugging along trying to find time to meet with our investigators and helping them progress….the nice thing is they all like to come to church so we just need to teach them more and hope that they feel the spirit. Oh, on a quick side note….really this is just for Elder Boland....I had dinner the other night with an Elder Russell who just came home from your mission about six months ago. He said he knew you and that you were in his zone when you got to the field; he even showed me a picture of you as well. That was pretty funny. You were like the tallest in your zone.

Iit really sounds like everyone back home has had a busy week. Mom, know that I am very proud of you for having a dog in the house for more than a few minutes or really even at all. I really liked that Penny would always lick your hand though…that made me laugh out loud. Sounds like Seth had his dream come true with getting the Nike grand tour….that was always my favorite thing.

So Chanel, you had a laundry list of questions you asked and here are the answers…include them in the blog or not:

What is your new address?
3300 Skyline Blvd Apt. 208
Reno NV, 89509
Did you get a cell phone?
No, but I will be checking into see how I can get one.
Will you be moving in with members soon?
Not that I have heard of, but you never really know.
As of today, what is the hardest thing about being a District Leader?
Nothing yet really...Well maybe planning what I will be doing for District meeting tomorrow.
As of today, what is the easiest thing about being a District Leader?
Calling in stats every night. My District is small and that makes it quick and easy.
What is one thing you miss about Elder Dixon?
Well he would always try and scare me by making loud noises, it stopped working after awhile.
What is your advice to Elder Fescher about being a new missionary?
BE YOURSELF.
Can you believe you've been a missionary for EIGHT months?
Yes…but more no…it doesn’t seem that long ago I was home.
How many ties do you have?
Still at about 80 or so…
How many ties does Elder Fechser have?
6…it is really so sad when greenies come in unprepared like that.
What were your meals last week? (ALL SEVEN DUDE!)
Ham and stuff. Soup and Stuff. Pasta and Stuff. Casserole thing and Stuff. Roast Beast and stuff. Had a Sandwich Saturday, we didn’t eat with members. Last night was the best….Baked Chicken and stuff. The Baked chicken had the same taste and ingredients as fried chicken…just baked…it was way good.
What is your new apartment like?
Really it feels like a summer camp cabin on the outside. There are some trees and stuff and weird glass doors. The inside is nice. We have a fireplace and that is pretty cool. Otherwise it is your standard one bedroom, one bath apartment.
How are you getting to know your new area?
It is getting better….not looking at the map that much anymore…but I still use it more then I used to.
What was the funniest thing your saw/did in the last week?
We had lunch after zone meeting with the whole zone and sat around and told funny old stories to each other. It was fun because our zone leaders were in the same stake back home so they know each other pretty well. It is way fun to be around them.
What are you reading in the scriptures right now?
Well I have slowed down but right now I'm in Exodus….it is really slow reading…I just learned how to build the old Tabernacle…problem is I don’t know how big a cubit is.
What is your new favorite spiritual message that you leave with members/investigators?
Well I left the best spiritual thought ever when we were eating with that Area Seventy. It was about the gifts of God and how we are blessed….The scriptures I used are in Malachi and then Moroni 10 where it talks about the gifts of God. It was by far my best one yet.
Please give three random facts about Elder Fescher.
His feet stink at night.
He was a wrestler.
And he is terrible at foosball…..we play during lunch at our apartment office….he STINKS.

Well, as I am running out of time and I don’t have much more to say….oh Chanel those 3 Jamba Juice water bottles were from this Jamba that closed down in my last area and I took one of each water bottle. So that’s that….I just sent that box to get rid of some stuff….I’m sending my memory card today so you will get to see a lot the craziness that was me and Dixon. Well, I love you guys and hope that this letter was much better then last week. Know that I love you and keep you all in my thoughts and prayers…..

Love,
Elder Taylor

So I got my Greenie...

Hey All,
Well, so, this week has been pretty crazy. We started with transfers on Tuesday night.....which went to Wednesday morning..... See what happened is the bus from Vegas broke down and my Greenie didn't get to Reno until 3am Wednesday morning......I was really tired and we had to go meet the bus with the Zone Leaders and it totally sucked. I know that sounds harsh but, give me a break, it was 3 in the morning! So that was a rocky start. Then we were double transferred into the area so we had to spend a few days learning the area and meeting some of the ward leadership. I cover the Skyline and Lakeside wards in the Reno stake....I'm very close to my old area....like, one ward boundary is between my new and old areas...also the members here know a lot of members in the other area. Well anyways, I just realized I wrote all of that and didn't tell you my companion's name yet. His name is Elder Fechser. So, you say it with an X for the chs, somehow it makes and x sound, I guess it is German or something.

He is from Fort Collins Colorado, and, yes, he did know Elder Thompson, my MTC companion, so that was pretty cool. He pretty cool. He is a Greenie though....and most of you know what I mean, but so was I once so I try and put myself in his shoes....it is hard though....but I guess with the Lord on my side I can do anything....right????

Well time is short this week and I know that Chanel and Mom are going to kill me for a lack of details but, again time is short. I love you guys. Send me some questions next week.....and I will try and answer them for you. I love you and hope that you all have a good week and I will keep you in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Well I guess you want to know.....

Well Hello There,
Well - I will start first with the big news that everyone has been waiting for. So I guess that all the training of playing “Do you love your Neighbor?“ up in Cascade really helped. Why??? Because that is the game we played for transfer call on Saturday…I won the first round - so I got to find out my assignment first. Well, I guess you want to know what is happening….I am being transferred…the nice thing it isn’t too far away. I going to South Reno. Also, I will be training a new missionary, and I will be a district leader for the first time as well, so that will also make this next transfer very interesting. I’m kinda nervous because it is a lot of new things all at once, but I guess there is a reason that I have been given this challenge. So that is the big news. I’m leaving North Reno for South Reno.

Also this past weekend was general conference. It was so cool to see an new member of the First Presidency get called, and a new Apostle a well. I was so glad to hear that Elder Eyring is now President Eyring. He has really started to grow on me, and now we will get to hear from him more and more. It was so nice to have a chance to go and hear form the general authorities of the church. I can’t wait until all the talks come out in the Ensign so that we can read them, that’s really when I understand more what they were saying. It is hard to say which talk was my favorite, so don’t ask. But I did enjoy a lot of them.

One cool missionary thing that happened this week was that we started to teach this mother and daughter who have started coming to church. As a missionary if you can get people to church they have a great chance to feel the Spirit and then a greater chance to get baptized. Well they have been coming for about a month now and that hard part is over. They love the church and really have felt the Spirit. We finally were able to start teaching them: we had two lessons this week and they both went really well. And last night Elder Dixon was sick. So we showed them the movie The Restoration. It is one of my favorite church movies. They are really cool people and have talked about baptism as something they really want to do. They just have to set a date. So I’m glad that I will be in Reno still to be there for their baptism.

Well we also went to the Temple on Wednesday. That was a really a great day. Other then that we didn’t really have much else happened. Well I want everyone to know that I love you and hope that you all have a great week. Know that I will keep you all in my prayers. I hope you do the same for me. Well, have a good one. I love you.

Love,
Elder Taylor

P.S The pictures are from the Rapps.

A visit to the Reno, Nevada Temple

Well so what happened.....

Well Hey There,
This week has been an interesting one. We had it ended kind slow: our car was low on miles and we really don’t want to go over because then we have to park our car and that isn’t fun at all. Plus it makes it hard to get work done when you cover a huge area, but we ended up getting exactly 1000 miles, and that’s the number of miles that we are given by the mission! So that was pretty crazy. Then in less fun news, we were playing a little basketball at one the of the churches up here and I was playing in church shoes and...well you can all see how this is going to end...I rolled my ankle and it really hurt. Have no fear, I am walking around almost normal now. It is still a little tender and also, don’t worry - I wont be playing basketball soon. But again, for my mom, I’m doing okay and don’t worry...the members are taking care of me very well.

We had a pretty slow week, like I said, so not to much to report on this week. But I forgot about something, we did a mini mission with some priests in the Sparks stake, last Saturday. It was fun to be out with some people who have no idea what you are talking about. It was a good morning, they had some good experiences and some not so good. One kid was told while tracting, that he was being trained to kill people. As many of you know, that’s not true. It was just a very funny day. Well, we then sent them with some other missionaries because we had to do some boring district leader stuff, so they didn’t want to do that.

Well we are getting down to the end of the transfer and so that means two things…..First: Temple day on Wednesday. I’m so happy about that….always a good time to reflect on the transfer and and look ahead to next……..then we have Saturday which is transfer calls, that’s the part that I’m scared about…I have really come to love this area a lot and really want to stay here more but I have this feeling that I may be have to make a move a little farther South….but such is life and we must all move on and look to positive things that we can do to help other people be better and better ourselves at the same time. Speaking of helping people, we helped an investigator move on Saturday. She is one of the biggest pack rats I have ever seen in person. I know that my mother is one, but this lady had so much old stuff if was crazy. It worked out okay, we have to go back and help her again tomorrow and I hope that soon this whole thing will be over soon. It is just unreal how some people live these days.

Well know that I love all of you and hope that you keep the faith and have a great week. Again I love you. I feel your prayers every day and know that I love the support.

Love,
Elder Taylor

The Book is Blue, The Church is True, and I love you!

Some pictures from p-day...

Elder Taylor went to Virginia City on his preparation day - here are some of the pictures from the day!

Elder Taylor and the traffic manager

Lunch with the other Elderos and an investigator - the waitress took the picture

Elder "Racoony" Taylor and Elder "Moosey" Dixon

Sorry for the lateness...today was just way cool....

Hey Everybody,
Sorry that this is coming in so late, but we had a really fun day. We went with the Zone Leaders and one of their investigators to Virginia City. It was so cool. It is a really small little tourist town up in the mountains outside of Reno. Some of you may have heard of it before, but I really hadn’t. It was originally a mining town for silver. It was such cool trip and nice to just get out of the city and go and walk around a little tourist spot. Normally I hated when my parents made me do it, but this time it was really fun.

This week was an eventful one. First, I will start something I forgot to mention. Last Sunday I was given the chance to give a convert the Aaronic priesthood. His name is Conan, and he is a really cool kid. I was shocked when he asked me to do it. Now I know how nervous Grandpa Siple was when he gave me the Priesthood. It was a very special opportunity that I had.

Next we had Zone Conference. That is always a pleasure, a chance to hear from our mission president, and also sit down and talk with him about life and other missionary things. It was a nice, spiritually uplifting day. We learned a lot. Our mission has set a goal of having 1000 baptisms this year, and our AP’s talked with us and told us that if we keep going at the rate we are, we will hit that goal. Last year there were 738 baptisms - so that is a pretty good goal . We know that we can get it. We just have to work really hard and keep and doing the things that we know the Lord would have us do.

Well the was some more stuff that happened, but in this short time I can't think of it all. I will just close and say that I love all of you. I hope that everyone is having a good week and that your weather is better then ours. It has dropped like 30 degrees in like a week and it is hard to get used to right away. Well, anyway, I love you.

Love,
Elder Taylor

{blogmistress note: this week marks seven months in the mission for Elder Taylor - and this is the 50th post! HOORAY!}

The Race is on....

Hello All,

Well this week was a pretty fun week. We had some fun this past weekend. We had a chance to go and watch the Reno National Championship Air Races. It was so cool. They were flying low and fast. They are fun to watch, only when there are two planes battling it out for the win. You know it is hard to race cars and pass each other…now imagine doing that in a plane…it was really fun to watch. Then the Canadian SnowBirds were there too. They are like the Blue Angels, for those who have no idea what I’m talking about….I didn’t until Saturday either…..so don’t feel bad. They did some amazing tricks, and plane stunt things….it was really amazing to watch. We got in for free, because some other missionaries were doing service and let us in for free, so we sat and watched for a little bit and had some good times. I hope to send some video and pics home soon so you can all see the amazing stuff.

On the missionary front, we were at church yesterday and it was toward the end of the day….like hour 8 of church….and a member told us that they had brought some investigators to church…..they want to meet with missionaries, but they are going out of town…actually to Portland….small world! They didn’t want us to forget about them so they wanted to set up an appointment with us right then….It was so cool to just have people come to us…As a missionary that doesn’t happen all to often. So that was really cool too. It is a mom and daughter that want to take the lessons. They are really nice people that have been going to a different ward for a while now, and now want to take the lessons. It made me really excited.

We had a good week overall…..it is really weird to think that zone conference is coming up this Friday and that is also my 7 month mark…time goes by so fast. And to have so many missionaries from the two wards back home and to see all of them go out and also get ready to come home...it is cool to be right in the middle of it all. I love the letter that Bishop Wilson send out…I look forward to it every week. It is nice to hear that all of the other missionaries are having fun and good success helping bring souls unto Christ. I love this work so much and can't think of anything else I would rather be doing right now. I’m really looking forward to this week and can't wait to tell all of you about it. I hope that all have a good week and can't wait to hear from you soon.

Love,
Elder Taylor

The book is blue, The church is true, and I love you…….

In the mail...

Just Rolling Along...Singing A Song

Hey everyone,
Well here we are again...another week...one that seemed to move by very slow. Some very interesting things happened too. It still just seemed like the week dragged on and on and on. I had a really cool chance this week to see someone I know. Well, let me set the stage. Elder Dixon and I were tracting and we really weren’t having much success and so we just kept knocking. Then to my surprise a door opens and a familiar face opened it up. No, it wasn’t a ward member, but a member of the Church. It was Dave Boland! Now I hadn’t seen Dave in quite some time. But I still remembered him and after telling him who I was and where I had met him, he knew who I was…."the kid who ate all the little smokies." Hey, I still hold the record…38 baby! Anyway he had just gotten back from a trip and was not at his home either. But he did give me his number and told me to call and set up a time to come by and have dinner. So that was the highlight of the day for sure. Also about tracting: we have started to try an spice up a bit. We got scooters and we "scooter tract" from door to door. It is a lot of fun and we can cover more ground much faster...and really, it is a lot of fun. Then the other night we went to dinner and the mom make the elders sing to get dessert, and we did, it was a fun tradition to be apart of and it didn't sound too bad!

Well we did find out that one of our best investigators is moving out of our ward and into another ward in south Reno. That’s ok though, the Lord always blesses us when things seem dim. I think that's true in real life too, not just as missionaries. When life seems to getting you down and you really think that all is lost, we are blessed and things seem to turn around for the better. God won't ever leave you out hangin as long as you are trying to do your best.

Yesterday, being Sunday, we got to teach a Sunday school class during one of our wards. It was fun and it was only going to like a 6 kids which then turned into 14 as two other teachers had to help with the Primary program practice. So we had a class full of kids and it was fun to teach kids. The lesson was on how God it no respecter of persons, meaning he doesn’t think highly of anyone over anyone else, he loves all of us equally.

Well I love all of you very much and hope that this week goes well, for people starting school or having an interview for a new job, or just going through the motions. Know I think about all of you often and hope you are well and happy. I love you.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Crisis Averted....Oh, and some good stuff too...

Hello Family and Friends,
This week has been a little up and down. It was a Good week in the End. Well, the worst part of the week was that on Tuesday afternoon we got a call from our Zone Leaders. They called to let us know that a companionship in our district was being split up because they couldn’t get along…that’s a whole other story I won’t tell…anyway as you may have read in past letters we just had transfers and they weren’t going to get split. They then told the Zone Leaders there feelings about the situation, and the ZL’s said they would talk to the AP’s and President Andrus to see what they could do. Well, we got the call that they were indeed going to get split up now, the only problem was that they were going to split up our companionship as well. I was a little upset, to say the least. Well, we ended up not being transferred, because after I talked to the ZL’s, I called president Andrus and talked with him about the whole thing and he was willing to keep things the same. We talked with the missionaries involved and worked out the situation. So that crisis was averted.

Now for the cool news that brought the week back up. We got a new car….well a new car to us…it is a 2006 Mazda 3.…it is silver and really nice. We talked with the vehicle coordinator and asked if we could have the car the AP’s were bringing up to Reno. He asked why we wanted it and we told him because it was cool. Then he asked if Elder Dixon was the District Leader, he said yes, so he told us we could have the car and it was way cool. So now we have nice car….oh, and it’s pretty fast too- but I’ve just heard that-I don’t know for sure…

We also had a cool missionary experience this past Friday, actually we had two. First came with a lady named Devi. You may remember the name because I’ve talked about her before. Anyway, she has had two baptism dates. We went by and visited her and she was doing well, and then she said needed to be baptized, which as a missionary is always nice to hear. Then we went by and visited a part member family. The husband is not a member. His name is Larry. He is really nice and we had a good chat with him. He had somewhere to be at 5:30 and that’s when we showed up, but he let us come and talk until about 6:00. It was such a cool talk. He got to know us better and as he did so he said, “”You are the missionaries that I have been waiting for.” Now, again, as a missionary you really love to hear that. It was a really good day and we had some really good success.

That conversation with Larry really got me thinking. How many people are waiting for the right missionaries? And how will we know we’re the right one? Well, as you have the chance to serve a mission, you know that there are those people you just need to talk to and they are waiting for you to say something. It is so cool to know that you are in the right place at the right time. We just need to keep on talking to people and hope that they will be ready to hear our message. I love being a missionary and all the blessings that come from it. I want to let everyone know that I love them. I hope that you all have good a week. I hope that all goes well and can’t wait to hear from you next week.

Love
Elder Taylor

Well I guess some of you are wondering.....

Hey Everyone,
Well, to start off the letter we had transfer calls. And the good news is I will be staying in Reno and in the same area and have the same companion. So I’m glad to have that happen. We always play a game to find out about our transfer calls. We played musical chairs and it was way fun. We played outside and we had so much fun - I was in the middle of the pack at the end of the game.

Also Monday was my birthday and that was really fun. The Rapp’s, a very cool family, took us out to Red Robin and that was way fun. They got me a tie and a funny LDS comic book. Then the best part was when we went back to their house and they had a cake. They had gone to Deseret Book store and got Mini Missionaries to put on the cake, the even better thing was one was white and the other was black...just like me and Elder Dixon! That was a really funny cake and the pictures we took are really funny.

So the rest of the week was kinda slow - we didn’t really do much. We did have the chance to go to the temple. It is nice, like I have said before, that we live so close to the temple. It is always such a great time to go to the temple. Then I think the best part of the week was on Saturday: we had a baptism! Kyle Yates did get baptized which has been in the works for a while and it was nice to finally have that happen and we are so happy for him. Also, it's great because we are both staying we get to teach him and help him along.

This week had a lot of milestones. One was my birthday, but also my sixth month mark. That was the craziest thing. I can't believe that the last six months have gone by so fast and I hope that the rest goes by slower, I know that sounds weird and crazy but I really do love the chance that I have to serve the Lord. I wish I could just do this all the time. But I guess that’s why they have senior couple missions. I really want to serve one, but I still have a long way to go. And I’m glad that I am. Well I love you guys so much and I hope that you will all have a good week and I hope that I will have more to talk to you about next week.

Love,
Elder Taylor

I looked out the window and what did I see........I'm 20!

Well Hello Everyone,
It is so cool to have your birthday on a P-day, you get to have like almost a real birthday. Today has been a good day. This week however, has been somewhat slow for me. But this next week will go by fast. We have the temple day on Wednesday and then transfer calls are on Saturday night, so this week will be a fast one. It is really nice to have the temple in our area because we don’t have to drive that far. In fact, when we workout in the morning I can see the temple from the weight room. It is way cool.
So this week we saw some crazy stuff. So the other night we were out talking to people at the Wal-Mart parking lot and we saw this guy totally get hit by a car. It was crazy. We were on splits with the Spanish missionaries and we were getting ready to leave. I was walking to the car where Elder Dixon was waiting and then BOOM, this guy totally got smoked by the car. Now let me say it was his (the biker’s) fault. He was wearing dark clothes and going about 25mph in a parking lot. No one was hurt and that’s why I can laugh at it now. The funny part about it is, we totally saw it coming but you can’t react in enough time. Elder Dixon saw it too, and was like, “OOOOOOOOOH, BOOM” when it happened and I totally heard him, and it was really funny to hear.
Then on Wednesday we saw a scary sight. We did service for a lady who is legally blind and can’t really do much. Her yard was bad. There were weeds on the side of her house that went up almost to my arm pits. That is high for those of you who don’t know how tall I am. In the end, we got it all taken care of and now you can walk back there with no problem.
I know the note is short this week and so is my time. I want to thank everyone for their birthday notes and cards. I really do love all of you very much and you are all in my prayers at night. This week will be a crazy one, temple on Wednesday and then we have Transfer calls on Saturday night.

I hope I stay in this area a little longer, but from the things I’ve heard, I may be in a little warmer climate soon, if you know what I mean. So keep me in your prayers this week. I love everyone so much and can’t wait to see what happens to you all this week.

Love
Elder Taylor

Totally Awesome DUDE!!!!!!!!!!!

Well Hi There,
Why, hello there everybody. I hope that all is continuing to go well for everyone. This week was a little long, but it is crazy to think that I’m here typing away again. I hope that Chanél’s Birthday wasn’t too boring without me there. It is weird that Dad’s birthday is the only one I haven’t missed yet. Well anyway, this week was way awesome. We did have Zone Conference and I will talk a little more about that towards the end of my letter.
I do however have a great story I would like to share with all of you. It happened just yesterday. Well, is starts Saturday. We were at dinner with one of our ward mission leaders and he gave us a referral. It had a little background about the lady and that is always nice. We went by yesterday after church and tried to talk to her. She was home, but she is legally blind. It’s ok though-we were told before hand in the background. She is able to see our shapes but that is as far as it goes. Any who, she was talking about how her yard is a mess and that she can’t do it on her own. Well, we’ve been looking for service to do during the day, so we offered to come back and mow her lawn and gather leaves. She was so happy that she started to cry. And she then told us that she had been praying for help to come along for a few days and she thought that her prayers weren’t being answered at all. And then, Knock, Knock, Knock. Here are to handsome young men to clean her yard. I know, I said Handsome. So we set up a time to go back and clean her yard and she started to cry again. Let’s just say that God doesn’t leave us hanging out to dry when we really need him most. We also need to realize that people and things get put in our way to really help us out, like Missionaries.

So we had Zone Conference Friday morning and afternoon. It was awesome as always. We learned a lot of cool things and I’m really excited to start to put them into good use. We also learned about the passing of President Faust and that was truly sad to hear. The great thing about it though, is that our church is set up in a way that there is no need to panic or fret over who will be called next. We know that God has a plan and that the Prophet and Apostles will call the right man. No voting or anything-its God’s will and we have to understand that. But back to what we learned, we were talking a lot about being ourselves-not missionary robots. I started to look back and see that I was kinda doing that. I wasn’t being me. I realized that there are skills that I have, and that is why I was sent to this area. I’ve been sent to help the people in the areas I serve, that I’m supposed to touch someone, and help them accept the gospel, and to do that I need to be ME. This is great because my companion is really helping me do that. Right out of the MTC you have to do everything by the book, and sometimes the book is good. But as it says in Pirates of the Caribbean, “They’re more Guidelines then Rules.” We do need to follow them, but have fun while doing so. If you can’t have fun as a missionary, then that’s just too bad for you. This is the best thing I could have ever done to help me later in life. You learn so many life skills, and with Sister Andrus talking about the importance of Eternal Marriage every Zone Conference you really do get to develop skills for life. Anyway, we also got to go to an Investigator Fireside by President Andrus after Zone Conference. It was in our area, because we have all the big houses in our ward. It is kinda like the houses up Weir Road. They are nice and really, really big. So we went and had a great time doing so. We took Kyle with us; he is getting baptized on the 25th, so not too far off. He had a great time. The whole thing was way cool. All the missionaries there sang Called to Serve and it was totally awesome. Then he taught a first lesson, as always, and it was great too.

All in all this was a great week. Next week will be sweet too. I will have been out 6 months next Tuesday and then My Birthday is the Day before. How much better can it get???? I don’t know. I want all of you to know I love you very much. Hope everyone has a great week and can’t wait to here about it next week.

Love
Elder Taylor

(Note: Miss Five is out on the Deschutes River, so I am posting Elder Taylor's letter...sorry, no frills this week...just makes you appreciate her style, doesn't it??)

Subject: I think that syrup moves faster than this week

Hello everyone,
This week was good. Not too much stuff happened, so I'm afraid this letter may end up being short but maybe not. You can tell at the bottom. Well, on Wednesday day we had dinner with one of our investigators. It was nice. He had promised to do BBQ but he hurt his back and his knee looked like a cantaloupe, which is really big seeing as how he is only like 5'2 at the most. So we had pizza, then we had a great lesson with him. The "he" or "him" I keep referring to is Bruce. Has been looking into the church now for a little bit and the only thing holding him back is his family. Well anyway we gave him a blessing and he is doing OK.

Then later in the week we set a kid with a baptism date. His name is Kyle, and he is a nice kid. We are excited for him to get baptized. He is a foster kid with a Tongan family in our area. There are a lot of Tongan peoples in Reno, they even have there own ward. He had to get permission from his mom who is in jail to get baptized. He did and now we are on our way. His date is on the 25^th of August. So for Kyle we are really happy. He has gone through a lot and the gospel really will bless him a lot later in life.

Yesterday was another long day at church. Fast Sundays are never fast, especially when you have to go to 3 wards and you have meetings that start at 7:30 in the morning. Now I have a lot of respect for bishops and councilors and stuff. It is a hard job to be able to go to all of the meetings and then have to stay awake in sacrament meeting. They all seem to do it well.

Well, like I said it has been a slow week, but this next week will be pretty crazy. We have zone conference and lots of other good things to do this week. Zone Conference is always one of my favorite things. We get to hear from our wonderful mission president and get pumped up to go out and work for the last two weeks of the transfer. Well I do have to get going - I love you all very much. I hope that Chanel has a Happy Happy Birthday tomorrow and that all goes well for every one else. Glad to here that everyone had fun in Boise this past weekend, can't wait to see pictures and other such goodies.

Love,

Elder Taylor

Subject: So that happend

Hey,

So everyone calm down - I’m not dead. I still love you, even though I haven’t seen cookies in a while, all is well. Our P-day got moved just for this week. The reason for this one week change was a very special one and I will talk more about that in a minute or just a few lines down. This week has been a good one. We had a lot of missionary meetings and the last four days have been crazy.

I guess I will start with Friday: Elder Dixon is the district leader and there was a big leadership training, so he had to go to that. So, I went on splits with some other missionaries so that was fine. That took most of the day, and so there wasn’t much time to do anything else in our area that day. Then on Saturday President Andrus was still in Reno and so he had his companion call us (Sister Andrus) and ask if he could come to District Tract. Quick side note: District Tract is when a whole district gets together in one companionship's area and go tract part of it out. Back to the story, so he came out with our district and that was really cool. Now when I say cool I mean, I am glad he didn’t go tracting with me. The one cool thing to see is that he not only talks the talk, but walks the walk, literally. He tells us to do something and he does it to. He loves to go tracting from what I hear, and he even goes out and talks to 10 people every day also. That is something that he has been telling missionaries to do since he came out. Then he took us out to lunch and did like a mini zone conference with us, so that was really cool to have him go out with us, and hey free lunch right??????

Then comes Sunday. As I have said before, Sunday is a long day, but this one was just a little bit longer then normal. We, (and by me I mean Elder Dixon and myself) were asked to speak on missionary work in a Sacrament meeting. It went well and we talked about how to be better member missionaries. Then President Andrus was asked to speak in the third hour of that ward. I sure do love 5th Sundays. So we went and listened to that. Now let me run back just a second. He invited Mr. Richard Heaton to come to the ward meetings that day. President couldn’t be there so Mr. Heaton came. Now the only reason I even bring up his name is because he is the Director of the MTC. Yeah - and he is really big in the Missionary department of the Church. So let’s just say that when someone comes to your sacrament meeting like that and you’re speaking on Missionary work, you get a little scared. And by a little I mean a lot. The talks went well and he told us later we did a good jerb, so that’s always nice to hear you know a little about what you’re talking about. Then later that night we went to a training on phase two of the media program. Brother Heaton did that, and let me tell you what, the LDS church is really trying something very new here. It is really an honor to be a part of this pilot for the program. They really are trying to make people think about what they believe. We got to see a sneak peak at the new commercials that start today; they are amazing, and really powerful.

So now to why P-day was moved. Yesterday we had another special training by Brother Heaton, It was so cool. He trained us on how to be better missionaries and how to allow the Spirit guide us in our missionary work. That may not seem like an amazing reason to move p-day, but it was so worth it. It made me look at the way I do things and as a companionship, we do things. Do really allow the Spirit to direct us all the time? I pose that question to all of those who read it. I know it is often hard to know what the Spirit is saying and what is wants you to do. Sometimes we feel like we need to talk to people, but what do we say to them? Well has members we have the gift of the Holy Ghost to prompt us on what to say, we just need to ask for it. Now read back and see how easy that last statement really is. All we have to do is ask Heavenly Father what our friends or neighbors or the guy in line at Haggen (I know I’m shameless)need to hear and then we just need to show our willingness to serve and we will be blessed to help others receive the blessing we have and love. We have a gift that we need to share with people as much as possible and most of the time we don’t realize the missionary opportunities we pass up everyday. We just need to pray and ask for the guidance to do what is needed of us. I love you all very much, my time is running out, I’m so glad that all is well. Have fun in Boise this week and say hi for me. Also glad to hear the wedding went well. Dad, stay out of Victoria's Secret, and don’t give mom ideas any more. I love you guys and will talk to you next week, normal day, normal time.

Love,
Elder Taylor