Subject: It's getting HOT HOT HOT!!!!!!!

Hey there,

Man has this been one crazy week! Its has been like at least 100 degrees each day this week. Plus we had a lot to do and not as much time as we would like to get it done in. I guess that there have been a lot of fires down here - we don’t really know to much about them. All we know is where there is smoke, there is FIRE!!!!! When we left for church yesterday there was a thick layer of smoke in the air. We didn’t know where it came from. Last night I called Elder Filter to check up on how things have been going and he said that there was around 10,000 acres of land on fire in that area. They did get evacuated from their apartment for a few hours but were allowed back in. I guess most of Northern Nevada has like 12 fires going right now. So that’s pretty crazy.

Lots of other cool things have happened this week as well. We had a Baptism on Saturday! The young man's name is Conan; I believe I talked about him last week. He is amazing. He asked me to talk on the Holy Ghost at the baptism. It went well and the Baptism was fun to be a part of. One thing I have noticed about going to baptisms is that you wonder how strong the convert's testimony is. I guess that thought just sits in the back of my head, but then they always get up and bear a very powerful testimony. It’s kind of cool to think that you were apart of that. Yesterday Conan gave us a giant watermelon in thanks for helping him along the way. It was a really big watermelon, let me tell you, and I don’t really know where were going to put it. It’s way to big for the fridge.


Well Chanel had some questions and so did Dad so I will try and answer them:

What did you have for dinner last night
and where did you have it?

We had Ravioli, which was given to us by a member and we ate in the apartment.

What was the funniest thing that happened this week?

Well we went to dinner with some members and they were telling us embarrassing stories about their 17 year old daughter. That was really funny.

What tie do you wear most often?

All of them. They are in a rotation and I wear one and pick up the next one the next day.

What's the one thing that has surprised you the most about Reno?

Nothing really, it is a nice place and the work is the same as anywhere. Maybe the Fires though now that I think about it.

Dad asked what we do for P-days. Well, in the morning we shop and lay around. Then we email, and then we get together with the rest of the Zone and play sports of something. Next week will be a combined Zone p-day and we will be playing some softball and having a BBQ. So it is fun.

Well back to our busy week. We had 4th of July on Wednesday, which meant "in" by 6pm, so we just played Monopoly all night. It isn’t as much fun with two people but it is fun, I will say that. We tried to watch fireworks, but of all the nice things our apartment has, a good view isn’t one of them. So we just hung out and played around all night. It was like we were almost normal again, but not.

Yesterday was busy as always. Then to add on to the day we had to do a Fireside last minute, so that was fun. As missionaries we have a lot of things pop up last minute. Like Friday night the young men’s president called and asked us to do it. The nice thing was: it went amazing. We received 8 referrals! Let me tell you what, that’s a lot of referrals! It was fun though - we got to roll-play with the youth and show them how they can use the media program with their friends. One funny story really quick, well Taylor Family quick. The bishop in that ward has like 4 young men and women of his own. We were doing the roll playing and they volunteered, Elder Sanderson gave them to situation of being on a Date. Now remember they are Brother and Sister. Now that’s just weird on its own, plus you have to talk about the church and then you have to pretend to be on a date. It was quite funny I must say. At first they didn’t know what to do or say, so I decided they needed a little help and if you eating dinner in a restaurant, who would be the one to help you? That's right - the waiter would help you out!! So I pretended to be a waiter and get them water, and then had to help make conversation. So I asked about there religious beliefs and it was still going slow, so I then I turned in the Holy Ghost and gave them promptings on what to say. To make this very long story short, it was really funny and they ended up having a great time doing role plays from then on and the whole night was really fun and even more successful.

This week has really been fun and very fruitful. We have been finding new people to teach and that makes me really happy and excited. The only problem is Saturday will bring transfer calls. I may be staying, I may be going. It is crazy how time flies when you are having fun. I do hope I stay here though. I love the area and we have a lot of work we are doing. We have just as of late gotten 2 of 3 bishops on fire with missionary work and the media program, it is amazing to see their fire. I love this work so much. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of home and what else I could be doing, but then I think of how much more I would miss this amazing work. We had two missionaries come home to 2 of our wards this week, and that was crazy to see, but they both said how much they miss the work and how much they envy us. I would too, this work is amazing. I love to see the happiness on people’s faces when they know this gospel is true. My testimony grows each day, I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the Earth today, I know that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ and that they called him to be the Prophet of the Restoration. These things I know are true, I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love,
Elder Taylor