Hello,
Well this week has been a very interesting one. I think I have said that over that last 100 or so weeks about, well I would say….almost 100 times. Somehow each week though, something seems to really come up and surprise me. You would think that at this point it would all be the same old same old, but oh hecks no…I get a new surprise each week. I guess though you are all dying to know what happened with transfers. I must say it was slightly weird being at my last "transfer calls." I was standing there thinking, "6 weeks from now I won’t care because I will be going home." Not that at any other point in time I have thought about going home, because 6 weeks is a totally long time. Anyway to transfer calls: I will be staying and Elder Degering is leaving. I will then be getting a new companion, his name is Elder Hanson I have no idea pretty much anything about him, as he has only been out for about 4 ½ months. So that will be good, because we have a lot to get done here and I only have a certain amount of time to get it all done. So, things will be different around here and I am happy about that. So should be a really good 6 weeks.
Well, as for other things that are cool in nature, we had a great week spreading the gospel. So this is going to be a long story so please prepare yourselves…but trust me it will be worth it. We have been trying to get in contact with this young man and his name is David. He was a referral from some of the other missionaries. We had talked with him and he kept saying "We'd soon get together." Well this last week we finally were able to meet with him. So last Thursday we met with him and had a great lesson, but sadly he had been attending another ward with the people who are fellowshipping him, which I must say isn’t that “sad,” but any who… we taught him and asked him to come and join us at the ward he belongs to. He said, "Yes!" without any hesitation, so yesterday he came to church. Well, we went around with him through all the meetings. We went to the youth Sunday School class, which takes me back, good old Dave Luman’s class. I so miss the that nice warm bread and butter to start every lesson, mmmmmm…..Well now that I am starving...so we had a great time in class and then went to Priest quorum with him. They didn’t have a teacher so Bishop Johnson said, “Elders, why don't you go ahead and teach a lesson since we are all here?” This being something that I was totally not prepared for, we said, "Of course!" and proceeded to go over some of the things we had taught and he had read since we taught him last Thursday. Well we finished and asked if he had any questions, “Well” he said, “I have this question, but I don’t know how to phrase it.” He then said, “How and when can I get baptized?” Well, as a question that we hear pretty much every day...I slowly collected my jaw from the floor and said that that was a great question. We talked about all things he had to do to get baptized. I thought that Bishop Johnson was going to swallow his tongue, maybe. That ward hasn’t had a convert baptism in over a year. So we are all very excited for this to happen. We told David to think about a date, sooner rather than later, and told him we would talk more about it on Tuesday when we have our next appointment. So that was pretty cool, so like I said, each week has its own little surprises. Also like I said it was going to be a long story, but come on, that was so worth it, right?
Well, this next week should be pretty good, with transfers and all that. We have a lot of teaching that we are going to be doing this week. So it will be nice to keep us busy, sadly we could be busier but we are going to work on it and keep on plugging away. Well I want you to know that I love you all so much and that I hope that you have a great week. Mom, yeah if you want to, you can keep putting info in your email about things, and yes Dad this is the beginning of a lot of “lasts” thanks for that. Chanel was actually the least trunky one this week….let’s see who will win next week. Well again I love you and hope that you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
P.S. Go Cardinals!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Who's the Boss?....Well it sure ain't Tony Danza!
Hello Family,
Well this week was a pretty fun week. Hard for lots of missionary work to get done but still very nice to be able to sort of relax for a day and then kick it into overdrive for the last little bit here. We had quite the time on New Year's Eve and day. But before I forget, I was so surprised to see that the Beacon Hill ward is no longer. The ward of my youth is no longer in existence. I must say I was a little shocked and saddened, but the church moves on and the gospel is still true. Moving on...on New Year's Eve we had an all day service day. We helped build on our apartment out back. We had about 11 other missionaries here to help us. It was a really fun day. We had a lot to do and have a lot to still be done, but we really got a dent into a lot of different things. And I think the best part of the day was that I kind of got to help play boss for the day. As I knew Brother Stringer and the missionaries there it was easy for me to communicate with both sides and get things done, so I guess bossiness runs in the family…right Chanel? Just kidding…well maybe not. Anyway we had to get siding put on the house and we had to get a dryer vent installed in the attic, we had electrical to run, holes to drill and just tons of stuff to get done. The sad thing is none of us really had much of any construction experience but the Stringers said they were so grateful to have all the extra hands to get things moving. They were so grateful that they fed us a big pizza lunch and then for those that didn’t have dinner they did dinner, too and then we all stayed and played games. It was great. A very fun evening, we played Risk and other games that take hours upon hours. So it was a great way to ring in the New Year….even if they all had to be home well before the new year was rung in. Still a fun day. New Year's Day brought a much needed all day rest. We had a no proselyte day. It was nice - we went bowling in the morning and then just rested up the rest of the day. So really it was sort of a lame day….but it was nice.
Yesterday I had a great chance to go into the Deer Springs ward primary. They asked me to come and speak in there. This year's Primary theme is "My Eternal Family," so you guessed it - I was asked to speak about how so my family will be an eternal family. I must say it was hilarious being in Primary...I forgot what little inhibition those children have, they will say or do anything at any time, but the leaders did a great job and just letting in roll on. I got to tell the whole story about my soon to be eternal family and the kids just seemed to look at me with slight amazement and slight "who-the-heck is this guy?" It was a great time. The kids were overall very good. It was a little crazy with all the changes going on at the beginning of the year but all worked out great. Oh I almost left of the best part. All the adults said I did a great job, and the Primary President said that all the part members in the room were crying, so needless to say….I am amazing. But you already knew that.
I did forget to talk last week about my dinner with the Craigs. It was so nice. We had a nice little Indian dish (middle east not native) and it was so good. We talked about everything. The kids had all just gone through chicken pox, so we talked about that. I asked Tanner how he was doing, and with out missing a beat he pulled up his shirt to show off the last remaining pox, Ken then said “I don’t know where he learned that.” So it was a great little evening.
Well I hope that you all have a great week this week and have a Happy New Year! Time seems to fly like and arrow and boy does a fruit fly like a banana. Well anyway I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Well this week was a pretty fun week. Hard for lots of missionary work to get done but still very nice to be able to sort of relax for a day and then kick it into overdrive for the last little bit here. We had quite the time on New Year's Eve and day. But before I forget, I was so surprised to see that the Beacon Hill ward is no longer. The ward of my youth is no longer in existence. I must say I was a little shocked and saddened, but the church moves on and the gospel is still true. Moving on...on New Year's Eve we had an all day service day. We helped build on our apartment out back. We had about 11 other missionaries here to help us. It was a really fun day. We had a lot to do and have a lot to still be done, but we really got a dent into a lot of different things. And I think the best part of the day was that I kind of got to help play boss for the day. As I knew Brother Stringer and the missionaries there it was easy for me to communicate with both sides and get things done, so I guess bossiness runs in the family…right Chanel? Just kidding…well maybe not. Anyway we had to get siding put on the house and we had to get a dryer vent installed in the attic, we had electrical to run, holes to drill and just tons of stuff to get done. The sad thing is none of us really had much of any construction experience but the Stringers said they were so grateful to have all the extra hands to get things moving. They were so grateful that they fed us a big pizza lunch and then for those that didn’t have dinner they did dinner, too and then we all stayed and played games. It was great. A very fun evening, we played Risk and other games that take hours upon hours. So it was a great way to ring in the New Year….even if they all had to be home well before the new year was rung in. Still a fun day. New Year's Day brought a much needed all day rest. We had a no proselyte day. It was nice - we went bowling in the morning and then just rested up the rest of the day. So really it was sort of a lame day….but it was nice.
Yesterday I had a great chance to go into the Deer Springs ward primary. They asked me to come and speak in there. This year's Primary theme is "My Eternal Family," so you guessed it - I was asked to speak about how so my family will be an eternal family. I must say it was hilarious being in Primary...I forgot what little inhibition those children have, they will say or do anything at any time, but the leaders did a great job and just letting in roll on. I got to tell the whole story about my soon to be eternal family and the kids just seemed to look at me with slight amazement and slight "who-the-heck is this guy?" It was a great time. The kids were overall very good. It was a little crazy with all the changes going on at the beginning of the year but all worked out great. Oh I almost left of the best part. All the adults said I did a great job, and the Primary President said that all the part members in the room were crying, so needless to say….I am amazing. But you already knew that.
I did forget to talk last week about my dinner with the Craigs. It was so nice. We had a nice little Indian dish (middle east not native) and it was so good. We talked about everything. The kids had all just gone through chicken pox, so we talked about that. I asked Tanner how he was doing, and with out missing a beat he pulled up his shirt to show off the last remaining pox, Ken then said “I don’t know where he learned that.” So it was a great little evening.
Well I hope that you all have a great week this week and have a Happy New Year! Time seems to fly like and arrow and boy does a fruit fly like a banana. Well anyway I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Monday, December 29, 2008
Well, Take One Down, Then Past it Around to 2009!
Hidee Ho Family Unit,
Well, I think that Chanel really did hit the nail right on the head: not too much has happened between now and last Wednesday, but I think that I can make up a few things that will fill this letter out, I hope. I really must say that it was quite a delight to be able to talk with all of you on the phone and have a great time. Christmas was really a nice day. Though at times it seemed a little different. First, the members that we live with had a family gathering at their home and so there were more people then normal here. Most of them thought it was odd that we were here all day, then when they found out that we were living in the home they had that sort of "Oh, duh!" moment. So that was funny. They had quite the spread of snacks and treats and goodies and all sorts of things for people to nibble on - which ended up being good as Sister Stringer put the turkey in the oven and then turned on the wrong oven. She came home from picking people up to find the turkey just sitting there...with the other oven nice and toasty. Still dinner was great and it made for nice time to be around everyone and have a fun time. It was almost normal, expect we don’t ever really have people come by and visit the house on Christmas, it is normally just us. It was a nice day though. The Stringers gave us each some really nice gifts and it was a really fun, wonderful day.
The next few days saw us trying to play catch up and try and get things back in order. That was hard because people are still in their holiday stupor, and so it made trying to converse with anyone a difficult thing. Yet it all worked out and we were still able to come up with a few new potential investigators. Sad thing is everyone is so busy with family and trips or both that they just don’t seem to have much time to really be doing much of anything else. So most good things will start happening toward the end of next week, sadly, and yet it makes us look forward to that. Quick side note: was anybody else surprised that this past weekend was the last of 2008? To me that is just craziness. I mean where the heck did the year go? I mean I feel like just yesterday that we started this thing and now poof it is a sandwich…I mean gone. Well It has been a great year full of fullness and stuff. I mean really great memories and times that I can really look back on and see how the Lord has shaped me to become who I am. Sorry, that wasn’t much a quick side note. Anywho, the year 2009 should be very good.
I must say it time for reflections on a year past and a time of resolutions for the year to come. People are often spending time thinking of how much weight they are going to try and lose or what fun new hobby they want to try out. I think that this should be a time of personal gospel review. What I have I done in the gospel this year? What do I want to try and get out of it this year? How can I help bring someone to the gospel this year? So at this wonderful time of goal setting and deal making, make some for our Father in Heaven. He won't let you down like some of those diets will. Well I hope that you all have a great week and well a happy new year as well. Man it is still weird to think that this year is pretty much over and that my black out year is gone away. Its seems like just yesterday I started this whole thing, where did it go? I guess some time I will have to sit down and think about it….right now I’m too busy, the Lord has plans. Well I love you all, have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Well, I think that Chanel really did hit the nail right on the head: not too much has happened between now and last Wednesday, but I think that I can make up a few things that will fill this letter out, I hope. I really must say that it was quite a delight to be able to talk with all of you on the phone and have a great time. Christmas was really a nice day. Though at times it seemed a little different. First, the members that we live with had a family gathering at their home and so there were more people then normal here. Most of them thought it was odd that we were here all day, then when they found out that we were living in the home they had that sort of "Oh, duh!" moment. So that was funny. They had quite the spread of snacks and treats and goodies and all sorts of things for people to nibble on - which ended up being good as Sister Stringer put the turkey in the oven and then turned on the wrong oven. She came home from picking people up to find the turkey just sitting there...with the other oven nice and toasty. Still dinner was great and it made for nice time to be around everyone and have a fun time. It was almost normal, expect we don’t ever really have people come by and visit the house on Christmas, it is normally just us. It was a nice day though. The Stringers gave us each some really nice gifts and it was a really fun, wonderful day.
The next few days saw us trying to play catch up and try and get things back in order. That was hard because people are still in their holiday stupor, and so it made trying to converse with anyone a difficult thing. Yet it all worked out and we were still able to come up with a few new potential investigators. Sad thing is everyone is so busy with family and trips or both that they just don’t seem to have much time to really be doing much of anything else. So most good things will start happening toward the end of next week, sadly, and yet it makes us look forward to that. Quick side note: was anybody else surprised that this past weekend was the last of 2008? To me that is just craziness. I mean where the heck did the year go? I mean I feel like just yesterday that we started this thing and now poof it is a sandwich…I mean gone. Well It has been a great year full of fullness and stuff. I mean really great memories and times that I can really look back on and see how the Lord has shaped me to become who I am. Sorry, that wasn’t much a quick side note. Anywho, the year 2009 should be very good.
I must say it time for reflections on a year past and a time of resolutions for the year to come. People are often spending time thinking of how much weight they are going to try and lose or what fun new hobby they want to try out. I think that this should be a time of personal gospel review. What I have I done in the gospel this year? What do I want to try and get out of it this year? How can I help bring someone to the gospel this year? So at this wonderful time of goal setting and deal making, make some for our Father in Heaven. He won't let you down like some of those diets will. Well I hope that you all have a great week and well a happy new year as well. Man it is still weird to think that this year is pretty much over and that my black out year is gone away. Its seems like just yesterday I started this whole thing, where did it go? I guess some time I will have to sit down and think about it….right now I’m too busy, the Lord has plans. Well I love you all, have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is to Sing Loud for All to Hear....Then Hit Them With a Snow Ball!
Well hello you frozen people,
Man, it was weird to hear about all the snow up there….like you said Chanel that never happens….and to have two big snow storms in a weeks time! Where is Global warming? Just kidding…it is here in Vegas in the summer time. Anyway….speaking of Las Vegas weather: last week I said that we had a little snow storm on Monday and thought that would be the most amazing thing to ever happen in Las Vegas ever. Boy, was I wrong. On Wednesday we had our Christmas conference. That was really good, and I will talk more about it in a second, but we had the biggest snow storm in the Las Vegas valley that day since 1979! That is a long time ago, right Chanel? But really it was so cool to see all the snow on the ground.
Question: What happens when you get 4 inches of snow and 80 or so missionaries together in a parking lot?
Answer: SNOWBALL FIGHT!
It was awesome….but very cold. None of us were wearing coats or gloves or any sort of cold weather gear. It just doesn’t do that here. Needless to say, when I was done with the fight my hands were freezing. Like if you hit them with a hammer they would have shattered into a million pieces. So to warm up, what would you do? Well me: I stuck my head out the window of the van I was riding in and sang Christmas carols at the top of my lungs and so all that would hear. Man, that was really a lot of fun and helped make this a Christmas that I won't soon forget. I guess I could talk about the rest of that day. We had a wonderful day of meetings. We had some really good trainings, some really good music and then we went to watch the Emma Smith movie. I recommend you all see it….and for you haters out there, Emma Smith was an amazing women and well, I won't get on my soap box right now…but she is amazing. The whole day of zone conference and snowball fight and everything….it was a wonderful day and I couldn’t have hoped for any better.
Then later on this week we had a little ward party…it was supposed to be a thing where people could invite there friends but really no one did. Still it was a great night of music. The whole night was about Christmas music and celebrating the Christmas season. It was a really good night and the people that we talked to afterward and in the days later said they had a great time and that they would try harder to get their friends out the party next year. Also we have been doing the living Christmas cards this past week. We have had quite a few people thank us and tell us how brave we are to just do this - just the two of us. Really I thought that I would never do anything like this ever. Me and one other person singing at the door step? Still it has been great fun and seems to be bringing the Christmas Spirit all around….even though the snow beat us to it. Yesterday we had the chance to sing in the ward choir….well Sister Stringer is the ward choir director…and also fills our pantry…so we sang with the biggest smiles ever yesterday!
Like was said in all your emails - I think Christmas might be around the corner….and I regret to inform you that President McCracken said that we won't be able to call home this year, because we might not reach our baptism goal for the year so he wants us out talking to people all day Christmas. I think my pants just caught on fire…..because I am totally kidding about not being able to call home….we can and I will. Sometime Thursday I will be calling home. I can’t wait….last call home as a missionary! It should be pretty cool. So speaking of last things: As yesterday was my 22 month mark in the mission field….it seems that everyone is starting to find out that I have not very much time left….and so I have noticed that all the standard questions change….they get the “how long have you been out” question out….which I always let Elder Degering answer first….since he has been out about 18 months people are always like….”Oh you go home really soon!” and I just laugh and then they ask me and I say how long I have been out and they are like “WOW, you go home SO soon!” It really is quite funny and as I sit here thinking about what I am saying - only those who have served missions will really understand what I am trying to say - but really it has started to be weird and scary. One of my really good mission buddies goes home on Tuesday and we have been talking about stuff and I am so glad that I have two months left….it is really quite nerve wracking to think that it is almost 2009 and that means I will be home soon enough. Well that is my trunky moment of the week….stay tuned for next week's! Just kidding.
Well I love you all and hope that you have a great holiday season and a wonderful Christmas day. For those I won't get to talk to have a great New Year and I will talk to you all soon enough…I love you all so much, have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Man, it was weird to hear about all the snow up there….like you said Chanel that never happens….and to have two big snow storms in a weeks time! Where is Global warming? Just kidding…it is here in Vegas in the summer time. Anyway….speaking of Las Vegas weather: last week I said that we had a little snow storm on Monday and thought that would be the most amazing thing to ever happen in Las Vegas ever. Boy, was I wrong. On Wednesday we had our Christmas conference. That was really good, and I will talk more about it in a second, but we had the biggest snow storm in the Las Vegas valley that day since 1979! That is a long time ago, right Chanel? But really it was so cool to see all the snow on the ground.
Question: What happens when you get 4 inches of snow and 80 or so missionaries together in a parking lot?
Answer: SNOWBALL FIGHT!
It was awesome….but very cold. None of us were wearing coats or gloves or any sort of cold weather gear. It just doesn’t do that here. Needless to say, when I was done with the fight my hands were freezing. Like if you hit them with a hammer they would have shattered into a million pieces. So to warm up, what would you do? Well me: I stuck my head out the window of the van I was riding in and sang Christmas carols at the top of my lungs and so all that would hear. Man, that was really a lot of fun and helped make this a Christmas that I won't soon forget. I guess I could talk about the rest of that day. We had a wonderful day of meetings. We had some really good trainings, some really good music and then we went to watch the Emma Smith movie. I recommend you all see it….and for you haters out there, Emma Smith was an amazing women and well, I won't get on my soap box right now…but she is amazing. The whole day of zone conference and snowball fight and everything….it was a wonderful day and I couldn’t have hoped for any better.
Then later on this week we had a little ward party…it was supposed to be a thing where people could invite there friends but really no one did. Still it was a great night of music. The whole night was about Christmas music and celebrating the Christmas season. It was a really good night and the people that we talked to afterward and in the days later said they had a great time and that they would try harder to get their friends out the party next year. Also we have been doing the living Christmas cards this past week. We have had quite a few people thank us and tell us how brave we are to just do this - just the two of us. Really I thought that I would never do anything like this ever. Me and one other person singing at the door step? Still it has been great fun and seems to be bringing the Christmas Spirit all around….even though the snow beat us to it. Yesterday we had the chance to sing in the ward choir….well Sister Stringer is the ward choir director…and also fills our pantry…so we sang with the biggest smiles ever yesterday!
Like was said in all your emails - I think Christmas might be around the corner….and I regret to inform you that President McCracken said that we won't be able to call home this year, because we might not reach our baptism goal for the year so he wants us out talking to people all day Christmas. I think my pants just caught on fire…..because I am totally kidding about not being able to call home….we can and I will. Sometime Thursday I will be calling home. I can’t wait….last call home as a missionary! It should be pretty cool. So speaking of last things: As yesterday was my 22 month mark in the mission field….it seems that everyone is starting to find out that I have not very much time left….and so I have noticed that all the standard questions change….they get the “how long have you been out” question out….which I always let Elder Degering answer first….since he has been out about 18 months people are always like….”Oh you go home really soon!” and I just laugh and then they ask me and I say how long I have been out and they are like “WOW, you go home SO soon!” It really is quite funny and as I sit here thinking about what I am saying - only those who have served missions will really understand what I am trying to say - but really it has started to be weird and scary. One of my really good mission buddies goes home on Tuesday and we have been talking about stuff and I am so glad that I have two months left….it is really quite nerve wracking to think that it is almost 2009 and that means I will be home soon enough. Well that is my trunky moment of the week….stay tuned for next week's! Just kidding.
Well I love you all and hope that you have a great holiday season and a wonderful Christmas day. For those I won't get to talk to have a great New Year and I will talk to you all soon enough…I love you all so much, have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Monday, December 15, 2008
What has this world come to?
Hidee-Ho Family!
Well, it sounds like things are going pretty well for all of you. A snow day is always a welcome sight! No work, no school….those are the best. Sounds like you have all kept yourselves as busy as possible this week. This next week sounds like more of the same for you. It seems to me as I look back that I have a lot to report on so I guess I better quit stalling. Oh, really quick though….I’m glad you liked the picture card. I forgot got to put a warning in the letter about the “scary” video house tour. Elder Ausmus is hilarious and I love that guy…I am going to talk to president this week about maybe getting to serve with him my last 6 weeks…I hope that maybe it works out….if not….well I will still keep in touch with him after anyway. There have been quite a few missionaries that I have made friendships with and it has been one of the best parts of being a missionary.
Well, as for my week. We had a lot of different things happen here this week. First off, we decided that we wanted to make a picnic for our investigators. So we picked a day and a time and told them to meet us at this park near their house. Well, we couldn’t have picked a worse day. The wind was blowing like two billion miles an hour and it was cold and everything seemed to got wrong. So we made the lunch anyway and packed it up. We RODE our bikes (it may have been faster to walk them) to their house and decided to do the picnic inside. It turned out really well. We had a great time and it was the family's first ever picnic…can you believe it? Well I was glad to be apart of their first picnic. Then later on that night we went to the Deer Springs ward Christmas party. It was a great night and we had some good fun. Then later on that night (I know this night seems to get later and later) anyway…then we helped the Stringers begin delivering the 12 days of Christmas to a family here in the ward. It is like Secret Santa or something. It is really fun and the funny thing is we have dinner tonight with the family that they are doing it to…so it is pretty funny.
Well what else happened this week??? Oh, well, we had a lot of time to do some normal missionary work and so that is always fun. This next week should be pretty busy. We seem to have some sort of something every day this week. Wednesday is our mission Christmas Celebration…quick update as I write this….IT IS SNOWING IN LAS VEGAS
…sadly we all know it won't stick….but still there is snow all over the place and it is raining and slushy mix of stuff. 
Anyway back to the Christmas Celebration. We are meeting as missionaries together and having a big Christmas conference…it should be pretty good. I hope that it is as much fun as last year. Then we have interviews with President McCracken and then it will be Sunday and then Monday again…Holy Cow…I know that this week surely will fly by way to fast.
Well I hope that you all have a great time this week. I hope that the weather works out well and that you are able to have a great time at the Holiday home evening. I hope that you take a lot of pictures and video of each performance….Chanel can you male a DVD like you did before then we can watch it on the Stringers big screen…just like I was there myself. Well, know that I love you and care so much for each of you and that I hope you all have a great holiday season. Oh man! I almost forgot the craziest part of the week. We got asked by one of our bishops to deliver “living” Christmas cards in which we will be singing Christmas carols to neighbors of the members in the ward….So that should be a great experience…got to get my singing voice all tuned up! Oh and I have learned to play the top hand of a few hymns on the piano this week too….it is nice having one in the house you live in. Well like I said, I love all of you so much and hope that you have a great week this week and that everything goes great tonight. Stay warm and safe…and Remember…ITS SNOWING IN VEGAS….what has this world come to?
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Well, it sounds like things are going pretty well for all of you. A snow day is always a welcome sight! No work, no school….those are the best. Sounds like you have all kept yourselves as busy as possible this week. This next week sounds like more of the same for you. It seems to me as I look back that I have a lot to report on so I guess I better quit stalling. Oh, really quick though….I’m glad you liked the picture card. I forgot got to put a warning in the letter about the “scary” video house tour. Elder Ausmus is hilarious and I love that guy…I am going to talk to president this week about maybe getting to serve with him my last 6 weeks…I hope that maybe it works out….if not….well I will still keep in touch with him after anyway. There have been quite a few missionaries that I have made friendships with and it has been one of the best parts of being a missionary.
Well, as for my week. We had a lot of different things happen here this week. First off, we decided that we wanted to make a picnic for our investigators. So we picked a day and a time and told them to meet us at this park near their house. Well, we couldn’t have picked a worse day. The wind was blowing like two billion miles an hour and it was cold and everything seemed to got wrong. So we made the lunch anyway and packed it up. We RODE our bikes (it may have been faster to walk them) to their house and decided to do the picnic inside. It turned out really well. We had a great time and it was the family's first ever picnic…can you believe it? Well I was glad to be apart of their first picnic. Then later on that night we went to the Deer Springs ward Christmas party. It was a great night and we had some good fun. Then later on that night (I know this night seems to get later and later) anyway…then we helped the Stringers begin delivering the 12 days of Christmas to a family here in the ward. It is like Secret Santa or something. It is really fun and the funny thing is we have dinner tonight with the family that they are doing it to…so it is pretty funny.
Well what else happened this week??? Oh, well, we had a lot of time to do some normal missionary work and so that is always fun. This next week should be pretty busy. We seem to have some sort of something every day this week. Wednesday is our mission Christmas Celebration…quick update as I write this….IT IS SNOWING IN LAS VEGAS
…sadly we all know it won't stick….but still there is snow all over the place and it is raining and slushy mix of stuff. 
Anyway back to the Christmas Celebration. We are meeting as missionaries together and having a big Christmas conference…it should be pretty good. I hope that it is as much fun as last year. Then we have interviews with President McCracken and then it will be Sunday and then Monday again…Holy Cow…I know that this week surely will fly by way to fast.Well I hope that you all have a great time this week. I hope that the weather works out well and that you are able to have a great time at the Holiday home evening. I hope that you take a lot of pictures and video of each performance….Chanel can you male a DVD like you did before then we can watch it on the Stringers big screen…just like I was there myself. Well, know that I love you and care so much for each of you and that I hope you all have a great holiday season. Oh man! I almost forgot the craziest part of the week. We got asked by one of our bishops to deliver “living” Christmas cards in which we will be singing Christmas carols to neighbors of the members in the ward….So that should be a great experience…got to get my singing voice all tuned up! Oh and I have learned to play the top hand of a few hymns on the piano this week too….it is nice having one in the house you live in. Well like I said, I love all of you so much and hope that you have a great week this week and that everything goes great tonight. Stay warm and safe…and Remember…ITS SNOWING IN VEGAS….what has this world come to?
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Monday, December 8, 2008
Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful...So Wheres the Snow, Wheres the Snow, Wheres the Snow!?
Hello again,
Well hello to you all! It really has started to feel like December here. This whole week as we have been out tracting, I have had some more "You know you’re in Vegas..." moments. As it is December people are starting to decorate for Christmas. This has made me ask the question to myself: "Why do people here decorate for Christmas?" I mean it looks and feels nothing like winter here. I mean, the high temperatures are in the mid 60’s still. I am a little ashamed to say though…it's cold and I have been wearing sweaters all week. When you are used to like 105 to 115 degrees, the 60's can be cold. It does get cold here at night though with it getting down into the mid 30’s. So really - it does get cold, I am not just a wussy.
Well this week has really been full of lots of excitement around here. We found out last Monday night that Friday would be our temple day as the temple closes for holiday cleaning. So Friday morning we got to go to the temple. It was very nice, and I ended up seeing a few members from the Las Vegas stake where I had served earlier this year. It was nice to see them and then go through the temple. The sad thing is I only have one more chance to go through the Las Vegas Temple as a missionary, and that will be the day before I go home, so that was kind sad to think about. Yet, it was a great time. We had a really nice member in our ward take us and then he took us for Krispy Kreme’s afterward. That was a great way to end temple day.
Then I totally forgot to tell you guys last week that the Tule Springs Stake was being split. So hey, Tule Springs stake was split yesterday. We had stake conference this past weekend. Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy was there to preside over the whole meeting. It was a really good conference. We went to the Saturday night session and it was really good. All the speakers spoke about being economically smart…weird huh? Then Elder Rasband spoke about how the Savior really loves and knows each of us. It was a really good talk and the session was great. Then yesterday was the big general session and that was where they did the split. They did it all at once and they broadcast it into three other buildings and the stake center was packed full. They said in total the number of people watching the conference was 3,021. Elder Rasband said that it was "...about time..." for the stake to be split. Our two wards are the in the same stake, but the Craigs are in the new Elkhorn Springs stake. We are, however, still in the same zone so that means I can still go and eat at their house on the 27th. So really not too much changed. Well, I guess it did since they also called two new stake presidencies. That made the meeting really long. They gave all of them a chance to bear their testimonies. So the meeting became a testimony meeting. It was good at first then it really just dragged on and on and on. In the end, Elder Rasband spoke on The Family and he gave a really good talk. It was pretty cool when we were walking around before the meeting looking for people, and Elder Rasband came around the corner, he shook our hands and asked if we had investigators there, I told him they were are they way, and he said, "Good, they'd better get here." So needless to say I haven’t washed that hand yet!! Just kidding - I’m not that weird.
Saturday was also one of our ward Christmas parties. It was cool, because they set the whole gym up like a marketplace from back in the day. They gave everyone little rocks painted silver and we had to go from place to place buying our food to eat. I thought that it was a really cool idea. Then they did a little nativity play. It was really nice little party. It really made me think about how hard it must have been for the people back in that time. Then last night as we watched the First Presidency's Christmas devotional and President Monson talked about those innkeepers. If they had only known who Joseph and Mary were, how they would have acted so differently, they would have possibly made more room for them or been more caring for them. I had never really thought about the whole thing that way. I had just thought that those guys were really dumb and that they had no other choice. The devotional last night was really good. If you didn’t get to watch it then you really missed out big time. I love to hear the First Presidency speak. These guys are good!
Well I love you all, and hope that you are all having a great and festive holiday season. I hope that you all get to share the Christmas spirit with someone else and make someone’s day a little brighter. Know I think about you often and care for you even more. I love you.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Well hello to you all! It really has started to feel like December here. This whole week as we have been out tracting, I have had some more "You know you’re in Vegas..." moments. As it is December people are starting to decorate for Christmas. This has made me ask the question to myself: "Why do people here decorate for Christmas?" I mean it looks and feels nothing like winter here. I mean, the high temperatures are in the mid 60’s still. I am a little ashamed to say though…it's cold and I have been wearing sweaters all week. When you are used to like 105 to 115 degrees, the 60's can be cold. It does get cold here at night though with it getting down into the mid 30’s. So really - it does get cold, I am not just a wussy.
Well this week has really been full of lots of excitement around here. We found out last Monday night that Friday would be our temple day as the temple closes for holiday cleaning. So Friday morning we got to go to the temple. It was very nice, and I ended up seeing a few members from the Las Vegas stake where I had served earlier this year. It was nice to see them and then go through the temple. The sad thing is I only have one more chance to go through the Las Vegas Temple as a missionary, and that will be the day before I go home, so that was kind sad to think about. Yet, it was a great time. We had a really nice member in our ward take us and then he took us for Krispy Kreme’s afterward. That was a great way to end temple day.
Then I totally forgot to tell you guys last week that the Tule Springs Stake was being split. So hey, Tule Springs stake was split yesterday. We had stake conference this past weekend. Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Presidency of the Seventy was there to preside over the whole meeting. It was a really good conference. We went to the Saturday night session and it was really good. All the speakers spoke about being economically smart…weird huh? Then Elder Rasband spoke about how the Savior really loves and knows each of us. It was a really good talk and the session was great. Then yesterday was the big general session and that was where they did the split. They did it all at once and they broadcast it into three other buildings and the stake center was packed full. They said in total the number of people watching the conference was 3,021. Elder Rasband said that it was "...about time..." for the stake to be split. Our two wards are the in the same stake, but the Craigs are in the new Elkhorn Springs stake. We are, however, still in the same zone so that means I can still go and eat at their house on the 27th. So really not too much changed. Well, I guess it did since they also called two new stake presidencies. That made the meeting really long. They gave all of them a chance to bear their testimonies. So the meeting became a testimony meeting. It was good at first then it really just dragged on and on and on. In the end, Elder Rasband spoke on The Family and he gave a really good talk. It was pretty cool when we were walking around before the meeting looking for people, and Elder Rasband came around the corner, he shook our hands and asked if we had investigators there, I told him they were are they way, and he said, "Good, they'd better get here." So needless to say I haven’t washed that hand yet!! Just kidding - I’m not that weird.
Saturday was also one of our ward Christmas parties. It was cool, because they set the whole gym up like a marketplace from back in the day. They gave everyone little rocks painted silver and we had to go from place to place buying our food to eat. I thought that it was a really cool idea. Then they did a little nativity play. It was really nice little party. It really made me think about how hard it must have been for the people back in that time. Then last night as we watched the First Presidency's Christmas devotional and President Monson talked about those innkeepers. If they had only known who Joseph and Mary were, how they would have acted so differently, they would have possibly made more room for them or been more caring for them. I had never really thought about the whole thing that way. I had just thought that those guys were really dumb and that they had no other choice. The devotional last night was really good. If you didn’t get to watch it then you really missed out big time. I love to hear the First Presidency speak. These guys are good!
Well I love you all, and hope that you are all having a great and festive holiday season. I hope that you all get to share the Christmas spirit with someone else and make someone’s day a little brighter. Know I think about you often and care for you even more. I love you.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Gooble Gooble...Touchdown!
Hey there Family,
Well I was so glad to hear that all is going well for each of you and that you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Sounds like you had quite the crowd for dinner on Thanksgiving, I’m not too sure how all of you fit in that house but, hey, if you were able to do it - more power to you. Well my Thanksgiving was pretty good. This whole story really goes back a few days. It starts on Monday. We had dinner and it was really good - spaghetti, one of my favorites. Well, we were riding home and I just didn’t feel very good whatsoever. So we got home and I went in and laid down right away. To make this long story short I laid there a little longer and then I realized it wasn’t going to be a fun night. The funny thing is I actually said that to myself in my head that night as I was changing my clothes….the way I felt I knew that it wasn’t going to be a good night. Sadly, I was right. I ended up being up the majority of the night, ”taking care of business.” I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t want to be apart of that business ever again. So my week was a very long, slow one. We spent time letting me get back up to speed in the health department. Back to Thanksgiving: well, I had just gotten back to normal…sort of….well I wasn’t really in the mood to play any football and as we had a missionary turkey bowl...
I just went in support…and ended up being the coach! It was really fun and funny. I got to throw my hat around, yell at people and do all the things that coaches do. It really was fun….sadly we only went 1-1 and we lost the championship 2-1...but it was a very close game! We had a chance on the last play of the game to score and tie it all up but the pass was incomplete…so we lost, but hey I had a great time and I know that everyone else did too. I mean, come on! When you get to give a fake pep talk to 30 missionaries…how can you not have a great time, right? As for Thanksgiving itself: it was great. We ended up only going to one of the dinners because I knew that my stomach could only handle so much before it would explode again….so I it took it easy and only ate like a plate full of mashed potatoes. We ate with a really nice family. They are the Todd’s and they are really great people. After dinner we played Pictionary…but it was Pictionary Man and it had these little figures you would draw on and it was really cool….I suggest you look into it as a great party game. So that was our Thanksgiving holiday. Mostly me being sick with a few good times mingled in.
We had transfer calls on Saturday night and Elder Degering and I will be staying here in the area….which in the end I think will be a good thing. We have started to build trust here and then to have had one of us leave so quickly would have had major problems with it. So we will be together through to January! That is so crazy to me! I was filling out my new planner yesterday because I am a big nerd when it comes to them and I was writing in the dates and it was weird to think that after this transfer cycle I will only have one left and then it is all over…but I am trying to not focus on that right now. We have a ton of things to do in this area….starting with getting some investigators and then getting some converts. Hopefully we will be able to do that soon.
This week really has been uneventful for us because of my sickness….I wish it were the other way…but your body is your body and you have to listen to it. I mean it is one of the greatest gifts that we are given from our Heavenly Father so we must really take good care of them otherwise we may make ourselves more miserable while we are here on earth. Well, I hope that you all have a great week and don’t worry, Mom I am doing just fine now and the picture card will be in the mail this week so you should get it soon. Also thank you for letting me know you got my trunky letter. That is always something that brightens my day. Well, I love you all - have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Image via here .
Well I was so glad to hear that all is going well for each of you and that you had a wonderful holiday weekend. Sounds like you had quite the crowd for dinner on Thanksgiving, I’m not too sure how all of you fit in that house but, hey, if you were able to do it - more power to you. Well my Thanksgiving was pretty good. This whole story really goes back a few days. It starts on Monday. We had dinner and it was really good - spaghetti, one of my favorites. Well, we were riding home and I just didn’t feel very good whatsoever. So we got home and I went in and laid down right away. To make this long story short I laid there a little longer and then I realized it wasn’t going to be a fun night. The funny thing is I actually said that to myself in my head that night as I was changing my clothes….the way I felt I knew that it wasn’t going to be a good night. Sadly, I was right. I ended up being up the majority of the night, ”taking care of business.” I don’t know about any of you, but I don’t want to be apart of that business ever again. So my week was a very long, slow one. We spent time letting me get back up to speed in the health department. Back to Thanksgiving: well, I had just gotten back to normal…sort of….well I wasn’t really in the mood to play any football and as we had a missionary turkey bowl...
I just went in support…and ended up being the coach! It was really fun and funny. I got to throw my hat around, yell at people and do all the things that coaches do. It really was fun….sadly we only went 1-1 and we lost the championship 2-1...but it was a very close game! We had a chance on the last play of the game to score and tie it all up but the pass was incomplete…so we lost, but hey I had a great time and I know that everyone else did too. I mean, come on! When you get to give a fake pep talk to 30 missionaries…how can you not have a great time, right? As for Thanksgiving itself: it was great. We ended up only going to one of the dinners because I knew that my stomach could only handle so much before it would explode again….so I it took it easy and only ate like a plate full of mashed potatoes. We ate with a really nice family. They are the Todd’s and they are really great people. After dinner we played Pictionary…but it was Pictionary Man and it had these little figures you would draw on and it was really cool….I suggest you look into it as a great party game. So that was our Thanksgiving holiday. Mostly me being sick with a few good times mingled in.We had transfer calls on Saturday night and Elder Degering and I will be staying here in the area….which in the end I think will be a good thing. We have started to build trust here and then to have had one of us leave so quickly would have had major problems with it. So we will be together through to January! That is so crazy to me! I was filling out my new planner yesterday because I am a big nerd when it comes to them and I was writing in the dates and it was weird to think that after this transfer cycle I will only have one left and then it is all over…but I am trying to not focus on that right now. We have a ton of things to do in this area….starting with getting some investigators and then getting some converts. Hopefully we will be able to do that soon.
This week really has been uneventful for us because of my sickness….I wish it were the other way…but your body is your body and you have to listen to it. I mean it is one of the greatest gifts that we are given from our Heavenly Father so we must really take good care of them otherwise we may make ourselves more miserable while we are here on earth. Well, I hope that you all have a great week and don’t worry, Mom I am doing just fine now and the picture card will be in the mail this week so you should get it soon. Also thank you for letting me know you got my trunky letter. That is always something that brightens my day. Well, I love you all - have a great week.
Love,
Elder Geoff Taylor
Image via here .
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