Monday Monday....so good to ME...just like this last week was...

Hey There,
This week has been a great week. As you all know we had transfers on Tuesday and that went really well. We all met together at one of the stake centers here and got to meet the greenies! Oh, to be a greenie again. Anyway…the trainers got to guess who their greenie was….most were way off but a few toward the end got it right! We also got a chance to hear from President McCracken, and that is always good…..oh and we got to hear the testimonies of the outgoing missionaries…that was kinda sad to know that some good friends were going home. But their time was up and now they are going back to the farm…sadly. But transfers really did go smooth…..I got to see some elders I hadn’t seen in forever and some I hadn't ever seen. No check that - most I had never seen before. There are so many new missionaries that I don’t know and it is really weird….oh and so are they…but that’s cool most of them are greenies and they will grow out of it! But anyway I still haven’t gotten to my new companion….as you all know he is also an Elder Taylor, he is from Ohio, a small farm town that I can't remember right now….but he as been out 6 weeks less then me and we have had a great time so far. We’ve been working hard and seeing success come our way…I will get more into that later. This week has been pretty busy and it doesn’t look like it will slow down any time soon.

So kind of an interesting situation has been brewing here in my area…..we have a part-member family in our area….and if you don’t know what that is just look at my family and if you didn’t know my dad isn’t a member - don’t feel left out - most new people don’t. (Oh and you can join the club of bugging him until he becomes one….love you Dad!) Anyway a "part-member family" is when there is a non-member of our church in the family….and so we have quite a few of those as most areas do. There is this lovely sister who joined the church 13 years ago and wanted her husband to join. Well, that didn’t work out as he was a truck driver and even worse…he had a huge smoking problem. So that stopped the idea of baptism for a while…he has tried to stop before but just can't do it at all…he had really struggled with it. So anyway…flash forward to a week ago Friday, we got a message from this lovely sister stating that her husband now had a desire to be baptized….small problem…he is dying of cancer. So that kinda throws a wrench into the whole thing. I really had no idea what to do…so who ya gonna call????? No, not Ghostbusters this time….President McCraken!! Well, I chatted with him and we came to the conclusion that we needed to go and visit with the man. His name is C.W. Wyatt by the by. Well President McCracken came and picked Elder Russell and me up last Sunday….we went to the Wyatt’s home and talked with them….now again he is dying from cancer, ironically not lung cancer but stomach cancer and it is spreading everywhere. He only has about five weeks or so left…..and let me tell you watching someone lay in bed in more pain then I have felt anytime recently was really quite humbling. It made me really grateful for my health and my family's health. We got to talk with him and then President talked with him alone….and they had a great talk. Unfortunately Mr. Wyatt said he couldn’t quit smoking. President talked with him about that and got him to agree to try for this last week and if he was able to quit for that week he could then get baptized….well you would think that if someone gave you the option of quiting smoking for a week and then you would get your sins washed away and be able to go into the next life clean….you would do it right? Well he tried - he really did….he only smoked 4 cigarettes last week….which is a huge improvement…but still 4 too many. It was the hardest thing to tell his wife he couldn’t get baptized last Saturday…but she is such an awesome lady and she totally understood the rules and regulations the whole way…so she wasn’t too surprised. Now we are just hoping that he can go a whole week without smoking and then boom…or should I say "splash"…he could get baptized…so please keep him in your prayers…please.

On a happier note we were visiting a less-active lady and turns out that she has a daughter who is 9 and wants to get baptized….the rule for baptism’s in the church is….if you are over 9 and you are a convert baptism and the missionaries teach and baptize you…if you are 8 and your parent(s) are members then you are under the bishop….well she is 9 so we get to baptize her… so that is really cool! We talked with her and she wants to get baptized on Saturday the 12th of April….and the cool thing is we already have someone who is getting baptized that day….and then yesterday we found out that two sisters we have been working with want to get baptized that day and well…so 4 baptisms that day!! Holy cow will we be busy…but we now have a car so it really makes it a lot easier…and less sweaty!

Another cool thing we did this week was while tracting we stopped and offered help to these guys putting in turf grass….they let us help and that was a lot of fun…..never knew how to do that but now I do…Well, I hope that you all have a great week and that everyone stays safe….it was cool to get a message from President McCracken yesterday saying he had talked to Grandma and Grandpa Siple! Happy belated 85th birthday to you Grandpa and everyone else who had birthdays this past week. I just want you all to know that I love you and I hope that you continue to do those things which are right….I know it is hard to do all the time…trust me…but in the end it is always worth it….I love you all.

Love,
Elder Taylor

The Color this week is Red....and Free

Hey Hey…again….
This week has been pretty cool…..not a ton of crazy new stuff…and no one got sick this week either so that made things a whole lot better. Well, I bet you're all wondering about transfers and such: I will be staying and my companion, Elder Russell is leaving for Sparks. I will be getting a new companion and his name is……actually it rhymes with my name which is pretty cool…oh wait…turns out it is my name….it's Elder Taylor!! The only other Elder Taylor in our mission and I get put with him….it is really going to be pretty funny. Anytime someone says Elder Taylor they will get us both!

Other then transfers we have been up to the normal stuff pretty much…it was hard here though because it has been spring break this past week so…lots of appointments have been missed so I hope that it all works out this week….we have a lot going this week so I hope it all goes smooth with that also. One of things that I have done this past week to break up the same ol’ same ol’ of missionary work: last night…another missionary I live with and I took all of our blankets and made huge fort/tent thing in our living room. It was so amazing and we slept in it and everything. Man good times. Another cool thing that happened to us this week: we went out to lunch as a zone and we went to Red Robin. We all order…and when it came time for us to get the check the waiter brought us milkshakes instead and told us that someone wanted to pick up the tab and buy us milkshakes…..now there were 14 of us….we all got a 10 dollar burger and then milkshakes on top of that….it came to about 200 dollars…I don’t know who paid for us…but man was I so grateful for the love that they showed to us…I know that they will be blessed for sure. It was a really cool experience.

Well I know that Chanel is dying for this so here it goes…

What did you have for dinner last night and where did you have it?
We had some kind of Alaskan fish with one of our Bishops…it was really good.

What was the funniest thing that happened this week?
Um I don’t know….maybe the fort???

What tie do you wear most often?
I try and rotate it is hard though…I have a mint green on I got with Wyatt and Hale. I like to wear that the most

What's the one thing that has surprised you the most about Las Vegas?
Um…how dirty it really is here.

Which former companion do you still have the most contact with?
Dixon…or Sanderson

Who's talk are you most excited to hear in Conference in a few weeks?
Well….I really like President Monson…but who doesn’t…would say next would be Elder Holland

Where will you watch General Conference in a few weeks?
At one of the stake buildings down here

Today's p-day will include:
Hanging out with our zone and eating Pizza.

Now that you've been out a year, what is your advice about being a new missionary?
Be nice to your trainer and love the people you serve….

Can you believe you've been a missionary for almost 13 months?
No I can't..

How many ties do you have now?
In the realm of 80…I have been giving them away and I still have tons….

What is your favorite thing about your current apartment?
The Fort…or the patio

What are you reading in the scriptures right now?
All over the place…mostly Mosiah

Please give three random facts about Elder Russell.
He likes Super Smash Brothers Brawl….He has a sister on a mission….and he has lived in Japan and Hawaii…

Well I hope that everyone has a great week this week and I love you all so much.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Well this week started off great....the ending...not so much the same

Hello to one and all,

This week has been one of many interesting moments. First I guess I will start with last P-day….we ended up playing football just down the street from our apartment. There are some turf football fields for public use...since nothing that is plant like lives for more then a day around here it is turf….which is fun to play on anyway. Well we played for like two hours…and lets just say this…not to be boastful…..but I could have beaten Payton Manning that day…..it was awesome! My team won 8-3 it was amazing…we tore the other zone apart! Some kids from the high school came and played with us too and they were pretty good…it was nice to have two golden hands to go with my golden arm I guess….ok that sounded way too prideful…but it was pretty sweet.

Well I guess now the missionary work side of things…..we are working with a number of families….still with the family that we have to pull the kids teeth to talk but things have really gotten better. I think that we might try some new stuff this week to see how they like it…but it really is fun teaching them. We are also working with this guy named Jerry….really he reminds me of Uncle Bud…he looks a lot like him and he was in the Marines so he has that same hard exterior but soft loving inside. I really like teaching the guy, especially because of the last appointment we had with him this past week. We were talking about how he needed to quit smoking and how it is bad for him and his 2 month old baby. Well he was flipping through Alma and found that people should not "procrastinate the day of your repentance" And oddly enough when we had left the time before, I started thinking of how I would bring that scripture up to him. I didn’t have to - the Spirit kicked him in the stomach for me. It was quite the appointment and he has committed to cut back his smoking…and then of course quit and get baptized.

We also had a baptism last Saturday….and the sad part is I was out with the stomach flu and had to go on splits so Elder Russell could be there. Thankfully we were in no way involved so I didn’t let anyone down by not being there. It did however stink to be sick and throwing up knowing I could be at a baptism…but she was baptized and confirmed at the baptism because we had Stake conference this past weekend, too. That was also pretty cool.
Well this weekend is transfer calls….as for this time I really have no idea what could be happening. I would love to stay here for a little while as I love the wards and love the investigators. But it isn’t my choice - it is the Lord's choice and where he needs me to be. Well I love you all so much and can’t wait to hear from you all next week.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Man I Love This Stuff...

Elder Taylor will teach anything that stands still long enough, even if they are carrying weapons!

Well Hello Again,
I hope that all have had a great week….it really sounds like everyone has been busy….except Dad….I think his stuff is more behind the scenes rather than in the lime light any way. This week has been totally awesome and even more fun! I have really had so much stuff going on this week. We had a baptism this past Wednesday and that was amazing. I will talk about that later…..then we had Zone conference….actually those were both the same busy day…..Then we have just been bust teaching and doing what missionaries do…..If only they wrote what missionaries do in that song, people would really know what it is like…really!
So like I said, we had Zone Conference and a Baptism on the same day…that was Wednesday, as I said. Zone Conference was in the morning and that was awesome as always…it was the first one with President McCracken and it went well….he did a great job of teaching us teaching skills we need, and how to improve them and it was really good…I really am growing to love him and am grateful for the things he does to help us…then came the Baptism… it was a young woman in the Las Vegas 7th ward…so the ward decided to have her Baptism be the mutual activity for the night…that was the coolest idea ever….I have never seen so many people at someone’s baptism before…there was a count of 63 people in the room but I think there were more than that…lots of people came out to support Carina and her choice to be baptized…the other cool thing is that one of her friends…who is a Priest…got to baptize her…that was so cool to see too, as Elder Russell and I were her witnesses…it was just a cool things overall. I was also asked to speak on the Holy Ghost…and that went well too….I have done it a few times before and I really enjoy it. (Carina is pictured here with Elder Taylor, Ned Meservey, and Elder Russell)

The other thing that I wanted to write about today was the total missionary work boom in this area….we have so much to do I almost don’t know if there is enough time in the day to breath…..but thankfully, I really love it….it is such a cool thing. We have a family that we are working with right now…..really, the dad is less-active and the kids are learning about God and things for the first time…it has really been fun to teach then and get to know them….even though it is like pulling teeth… it is still fun for me to try and get to know them and get them to open up…then we just seem to be finding new people every week to teach and it just makes things so much more fun to do each day….OH, and the other cool thing about that is, we have a baptism again this Saturday and that will be really cool. This lady has been preparing for this moment for a while and I think it is so cool that I will get to see it all happen.

Well, I want to tell you all I love you so much…..you are really a huge help to me each day….I would just ask that you help your local missionaries out….in any way you can….feeding them, teaching with them or finding someone for them to teach…I have really come to love the members in this area because they want to do anything they can to help us…I know that the Elders where ever you are would love the same….it has helped so much to get used to this new area when there are people who want to help you do your best….I was also thinking about how much I love my Savior and how much I love reading the scriptures now…they both just lift me up and start my day with a huge spiritual high that can’t be replaced. Again I love you all so much and have a great week.

Love,
Elder Taylor

Once Upon A Time......20 Miles Is a LONG Way to Walk.......

Hey There Family,

I hope that your week has been just as exciting as mine has; I guess it sounds like a lot of fun was had with the Return of Bobby Peru. Well, I'm glad to hear that the Boland's made it home safe and sound and that Elder…I mean Bob could eat the precious things I eat at least once a week….not really….well kind of. I know Chanel will love this next part…..as yesterday was fast Sunday, we fasted….as usual….so we went to break our fast at a members for dinner and they made us breakfast for dinner….upon my request…as we never get stuff like that…..All you members out there: We love normal food at a normal house….we may be the Lord's servants, but it doesn't mean we need fancy meals all the time…simple stuff is always the best….anyway….they made Pancakes….the size of my Head! Really! I ate two and was stuffed so full I didn't know whether to roll out of my chair or fall, out or just not move. It was so good though….anyway not too sure where this paragraph is going…so I will stop now.
So anyway…like I was saying, this week was interesting-to say the least….on Wednesday we walked around our area. We walked about 20 miles and maybe walked half of it…I couldn't suck up my pride and get on my bike again…I hadn't done it for nine months I wanted to hold out for the car….but that isn't happening any time soon…so I'm now back on my bike…walking around 20 miles takes too long and makes my feet hurt. So that was a fun day to remember….to never do again!
Thursday was awesome! First we had President's interviews in the morning….first one with President McCracken…or Kevin as I've heard some people call him…to me though, he is President. It went really well, though, he had us fill out a questionnaire to start off so he could get to know us. Then we just talked about everything with me and my companion…It was an awesome interview…he made me feel really at home and I loved it….then I talked with Sister McCracken and we talked all about Idaho Falls….it is weird to talk with people that know who I'm talking about….we talked about Tex….good ol' Tex….he loves his fishing….we talked just about people and it was fun….they love Grandma and Grandpa's music and asked me if I had a CD of them….so if you guys have one send it out to me. Then after the interview they had an hour until the next people came so they took us out to lunch….the 4 Elders that live in our apartment…..it was so cool to sit down even longer and get to know and chat with him…so that was a lot of fun.
Well, the rest of this week is really busy… we have Zone Conference on Wednesday and that should be fun. Then that night we are having a Baptism and that should be pretty cool….it is going to be the ward's mutual activity for the week because the person getting baptized is in young women so it should be pretty fun, and I think it is so cool that the ward all wants to be a part of her baptism.

I guess I will end this week the way I used to end….mostly upon request, but I guess I just got out of the habit…..this week has been an eye opening one…..being out a year, realizing all that I have done and all I have yet to do….I am so glad we are given two years for this because one just isn't enough…I love people that I'm working with….I love my Savior…..and if I could give one piece of advice to the whole church….that would be read Preach My Gospel….it is awesome….I love all of you so much have a great week.
Love,
Elder Taylor