December 28, 2010

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. If it was as half as good as mine then you may have had the best Christmas of your life. Elder Decker and I had such a wonderful Christmas! I loved it! We got to spend time with great Latter Day Saints and with our families, by phone.

Last Monday was pretty good. We got to go over to the less active family's house that we go to most Monday nights for F.H.E. and they exploded a volcano. It is a little less climactic than it sounds. When it "erupted" the soda water just kind of fizzled to the top and then it ran down the sides. Everyone was expecting a little bit more than that. It was funny to see the kids reactions to it though. They were just as disappointed as I was inside but I had to be all mature and act like it was pretty cool. It was a tactic to try to convince them that it was better than it was but it didn't work. Oh well I tried they were just too smart for me or maybe it was their older brother, who is negative about most everything. It is amazing how much one negative person can affect a whole group. I am happy that my family doesn't have a negative attitude about almost everything.

Tuesday was really cool too. We had interviews and that was very uplifting as it always is. I enjoy very much talking to President and Sister Van Komen. I love them and you can tell that they really do love all of us. It was an interesting day of interviews though. We had to combine with the other district because now we only have one other companionship of elders in my district. One of the sisters had to leave because of medical issues so now we have the smallest district in the mission. After interviews we had to find dinner for ourselves. That is ok though because we have been given gift cards so we can when we need to. Then we went over to the Logues' house to teach Mike. He got baptized on Christmas day. It was a good lesson; we just went over all of the baptismal interview questions and finished teaching him the lessons. He is very smart and understands a lot.

Wednesday we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders. I got to go with the cool one. He is from Magna, Utah and his name is Elder Fisher. We had to go meet the other elders because they had an appointment and one of them got food poisoning. So one of us went to teach and the other stayed with the sick elder. I got to stay with the sick elder. It was good though because Elder Fisher had served in that area before and he had also been companions with that Elder. It just worked out very well. When they got back we had lunch at those elder's place. We then had to go to some appointments. Which are weird when I am in that area because it is a Spanish area and I don't know anything that is going on. I like it though because I just sit there and smile.

Thursday we exchanged back. Elder Fisher and I got back to the apartment a little early and the other elders weren't there. When they got there they had to eat so it was cool just to be able to kick back and relax and talk. I like them. So we did that and then tried to visit some of our investigators but none of them answered. It is ok though. We had a meeting with our Ward Mission Leader but he was really busy because of the holidays. So we just texted him the baptism info and he made the program for the baptism.

Friday was Christmas Eve day and we didn't do too much missionary work. We just went over to member's houses and visited them. Can you imagine if missionaries went around knocking on doors during Christmas time. People already don't like us so imagine if we came and knocked during family time. They wouldn't be pleased at all. We also saw a couple of our investigators so that was cool. I love the Christmas season.

Saturday was the big day. It is Christmas!!!! We went to see a lonely less active member and that made him very happy. He asked us to come back later that night if we had time. We then went over to the Kisby's house to make our phone calls home. It was so cool to be able to talk to everybody! I was so happy and it sounds like they are doing really good at home. I also got to talk to Steph, my sister's best friend, which was cool because she is like family to me. I loved talking to them -- that is what I have looked forward to every Christmas. I don't have any more out in the field.... weird. I only have one more phone call home and then I will be seeing them. I cannot believe that! We had dinner with the Riveras. They are really cool. We didn't have a traditional dish either. We had this chicken curry. It was a dish from Guatamala. I loved it! We then headed to our baptism. Mike Logue got baptized and he loved it! It went pretty smooth except one of the speakers forgot about it during all the Christmas excitement so I had to fill in for him. I didn't have long to prepare, actually like 5 mins. I was prompted on what to say so that was good. It was a really good baptism. Then Mike's sisters gave me and Elder Decker these scenes that they made of white Christmas in our home towns. Mine had billboards made out of pipe cleaner. It is so cool! I love it!

Sunday was cool because Mike got confirmed. I think that seeing that is one of the most rewarding things in the whole world. Our dinner fell through that night too but that is our fault. Our ward is good to us so we had left overs to eat. I loved Sunday because of how happy was because of the baptism.

Well that was our week and we loved it. Now you can see why this was the best Christmas ever!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

December 20 2010

Last Monday was pretty fun. Everyone got to the church pretty early for P-day. We actually weren't the first ones there for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. It was fun. We played basketball the whole time. When happy hour started at Sonic Elder McMullin and I went ran out of the doors so we could make it there before it ended. We do it every P-day because you only have to pay a dollar for a 44 ounce slush. I love it and wish I had used it much more in Vegas. Well then we went on exchanges and it was E. MuMullin's birthday. We went to a member of our bishopric's house and they found out it was his birthday and put candles in the cookies that them made for dessert. It was really cool and nice of them. We then went to FHE with the less active family we see every Monday. I was really excited because we were suppose to erupt a volcano with them but they said they didn't realize that they had to mold it first. So they molded it and we are doing it tonight!

Tuesday was really good. We had a return appointment with this young boy named Seth Boles. It was really awkward this time because he was in a bad mood from school. He did however read what we left with him. He said it was boring which I was surprised at because it was the story of the 2,000 Strippling Warriors. I love that story. Someone in our bishopric said that we should read through 1st Nephi with him because there are tons of stories in there that are really interesting. I think that it will work. We then had dinner with some recent converts the Logue family, their son is getting baptized on Christmas Day! It was so cool and was really fun as it always is at the Logues. They have been wanting to play Scrabble with us for a while so we did. I stink at spelling but I was surprised at how well I did. I got second place the first game and then I WON!!!! Yeaaaaaaaaaa I love winning but that was a close one with our investigator with a baptismal date. So that night was really fun.

Wednesday was cool. It was a little bit confusing. We had some of the elders in our zone who were witnesses to a assult so they had to go to Mahattan Kansas for a hearing. One of our Zone Leaders had to drive them so we only had one at district meeting. It was a good meeting though. I had Sister Jenkins give a training and she did a very good job. She said she learned a lot and I was so excited because as I am starting to give out more trainings I am trying to help them learn. I have trained on these things a lot, I am not saying that I know it all, but they may have a different perspective on things. So our other Zone Leader stayed with the other elders all day. They came with us and we took our Christmas picture. Then we came home at 4 15 because our dinner was suppose to pick us up at 4 30 but they didn't end up coming until 7 30. There is a really long story behind it and I don't think I am at liberty to tell it so I'll just say we completely understood.

Thursday was a cool day. We got to see Brother Laudemann again. He is a lonely member and we love going to see him so it was cool. We had dinner that night with a very cool and young family. I love the young families in this ward they are on fire and love missionary work. We then saw one of our investigator's Mary, we are also teaching her grandaughter Jessica but she wasn't there. It was good to be able to talk to Mary. We had team ups that night with Bro. Milward and it was way funny. We went to this referral's house and as we walked up there was two guys standing in the garage with the BBQ going. Smoke was pouring out of the open garage. As we walked up we asked for the referral. She wasn't there and Bro. Milward asked "Are you smoking?" Meaning smoking a meat on the BBQ. They held up the cigars and said "Ummm... ya" Then Bro. Milward said "No not that kind" Their response was "Well we are drinking a beer and smoking cigars but not that kind of stuff." They wern't the sharpest tools in the shed and their next comment went on to make that more clear. They said they were cooking anything on the BBQ they just had a fire going to keep them warm. Now let me lay this out for you. The garage is open, the BBQ is in the garage and going, the garage is filled with smoke from the BBQ and to top it off they are drinking. Not a good idea so kids don't try this at home. Ya so that is the crazy story of the week. We then went and saw Mike, getting baptized on Saturday, and we found out that he is joining the Navy! Way good for him now he has something to keep him busy after high school.

Friday Elder Decker wasn't feeling good so we just stayed inside. Saturday I wasn't feeling so hot so we took it a little bit easier. We did have a appointment that fell through so that wasn't cool. We did get to see Jessica though and that was awkward. She had a bunch of friends over so they all were quite and just looked at us the whole time. We had dinner with our recent converts, the Busheys. It was good.

Sunday was off the cuff all day long. Sacrament meeting was a little bit stressful. The whole meeting didn't go as planned because people were late or they forgot. It almost came down to Elder Decker and I singing with the bishopric to fill some time. I am glad that it didn't. We had a really cool dinner with the Milwards. They are a really funny family and I love going to their house, even though their dogs like to leave their hair all over us. It is ok though because they have lint rollers that we can use so that is cool.

All in all another great week out in Kansas. I still hate the weather but I love the people enough that it makes it ok. Love you all!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

December 6, 2010

Hello everybody! I am doing great out here! How are all of you doing back home? I hope it is really well and that you have seen the Lord's hand in your lives.

So we will start with last Monday. It was pretty cool we went on exchanges and I stayed in our area. We went to our bishop's house for dinner which is always really fun. They have a little boy that is so cute and very excited when the missionaries come over. He just gets all wound up. So we were there and then bishop took us to our next appointment which is a standing Monday night appointment with an inactive family here in the ward. They had planned to set up their Christmas tree this time. It was really fun to be there and help with the tree. I haven't set on of those up since the Christmas before I left.... I think. So we did that and then he brought us home.

Tuesday was really really cold. I had to run to the store to get some stuff to make something for a game I want to play during interviews. It is called states and we play it with a family here every time we eat at their house. So we exchanged back at lunch time and the other elders stayed for lunch. I am glad that we have some other elders who are close so we can hangout at lunch. It makes the day much better and is a good time to relax. We then cleaned out our old garage. We had some bikes and stuff so we got that out of there and now everything is all clean. We then had our standing appointment with the Logues. It was great! We had a team up and when we went we were planning on teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ but they had questions about the Law of Chastity. So we taught the Law of Chastity. It was really good and they said that it was not awkward like when the mother and two other sisters were taught. They were proud of the way that we taught it. We left their son Mike with Mosiah 18, I think that was the chapter, it is about baptism. He read it and said that he is still thinking about baptism.

Wednesday we had our first district meeting of the transfer. It was way good! Our district this transfer has some good chemistry. We all just get along and things flow really well. We had some sweet practices so that was way cool. We then went over and saw brother Laudemann. He is doing pretty good. That night we had team ups with the young men. It was really cool. We were able to see a family I had never met before and Elder Decker was able to go with bishop and with Mike, our investigator. It was really good and we got to see people. That wasn't the highlight of the night though. The highlight was that Mike told Elder Decker that it wasn't IF he was going to be baptized it was WHEN! That was very very cool!

Thursday was really good. We got to see Mary and Jessica again. They are planning on moving this weekend but they said they didn't need our help because Mary has enough grandsons to do it. It was exciting because Jessica said something that we haven't heard her say before. She invited herself to church! She usually gives a flak when we invite her so we were really excited. So she said she would try to come this Sunday because she has to help move this whole weekend. For dinner we had to fend for ourselves but a member gave us money so that was good. We went to Pizza Hut because a recent convert works there. When we were leaving a lady asked us if we had already paid and we told her the money was on the table. Thinking she thought we were leaving without paying. She said to take our money back and she would take care of the bill. We were confused until she told us that she was a member and wanted to pick up our dinner. It was really nice! We get so blessed out here!

Friday we got a text from a sister in one of the other wards asking for our help. It turns out her and her husband are having problems and she was wondering if we could help him move out. We said yes but were very nervous because of the potential awkwardness of the situation. We were right. It was really awkward because she had a friend there and was making all sorts of comments and he was in and out with the stuff. I don't know it was awkward but I was glad we could help. We then had a good dinner. We ate with this family that we had never ate with before. They were way cool! After dinner they took us to Dillions to get a carton of ice cream. She also bought some eclairs for us. We really do get super spoiled in this ward. We also got a text from Kayla, Mike's sister, saying Mike just told them he wants to be baptized but he isn't sure when. So we talked about it and he is going to be baptized on Christmas day at 6:00! It is so cool! I have been luck this year and had a baptism on my birthday, the day after, and now on Christmas. I am the luckiest person ever!

Saturday started out really good. We did a service project over at one of our member's houses. We had to cut down like 5ish trees and then split all the wood. We had 23 people show up so it went super fast. And somebody brought a log splitter so that helped out quite a bit. When we got home we had to shower and then head to the church to start filling the baptismal font. A child of a member who was inactive for 17 years before she moved here was getting baptized. I was asked to confirm him so we had to be there and I have taught the kid a lot. He also has a really cool name, Zachariah nick name is Zach like me, so that is even more reason. It was a great baptism. We then stuck around for the stake Christmas party. It was all musical and Elder Decker sang in our ward's choir. It was really good.

Sunday was cool. We had to help the high priest group leader out by teaching for about 5 to 10 mins in his class. We also got to give a blessing to one of the sisters here so that was cool. We had a good lunch with a member family in our ward who signs up every Fast Sunday. We also got to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with a inactive member in our ward and I helped him balance his money.

All in all a GREAT week! I love being on my mission. The fact that it is halfway over is really quite depressing. I will be homesick for the Missouri Independence Mission when I go home but until then I will live it up out here. I love you all!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

Me waiting for the font to fill

Zach and our ward mission leader

November 29, 2010

Hello everybody! How are you doing? I am doing great out here in the mid-west! I love it in Kansas and Missouri! The people out here are generally so much more polite. It is pretty cool! I found out that the city I am living in has been voted in the top 10 cities in the country to live at least 2 or 3 times, pretty cool fact.

This week was really good! On Monday we had a surprise going away party for an elder that was going home the next day. His name in now Nathan Swapp. I am really sad to see him go because he was such a good example to me. He loved everyone and everybody could tell.

On Tuesday we have a standing appointment with our investigators Mike and Haylee. They are the children of a recent convert. When we went there this Tuesday Mike wasn't there so we were pretty disappointed. We talked to Haylee about baptism because she knows the church is true but she doesn't want to be baptized so I am super confused. I wish she would just tell us what her hold up is but that would be too easy, right? Anyway we weren't successful in getting her to talk. She will be baptized soon we just can't push her.

Wednesday was pretty cool. We had dinner with a family that we haven't eaten with before. They were way cool and they had some Catholic friends there who were way cool. I loved dinner that night because everybody just wanted to have fun and to be friendly. That night we had team ups with brother Biggs. When we got back to our apartment complex to meet him there were 2 fire trucks, a police car, and an ambulance there. I guess one of the apartments in the other building caught on fire. I think everything and everybody was ok though. We then went over to see if we could catch Mike at home. We didn't but we were able to teach their family again so that was good. Bro. Biggs is the man.

Thursday was pretty fun. We went early in the morning to play football with our ward. It was really really cold though. The night before it had  gotten down to the 20s. It warmed up a little bit but not much. We then came home and went and visited Bro. Laudemann and it was pretty good. We had dinner at the Busheys, recent converts, and it was DELICIOUS! He made sweet potatos with Red Hots, the candy, and marshmellows they were the only sweet potatos I have ever liked that much. It was really good to be with them for Thanksgiving because they are like our second family here in Kansas.

Friday we went on exchanges with the other elders. That was really boring because the elder I went with, E. McMullin, had gotten really sick. He had to stay inside all day. I guess it was good his companion got to go out though because he really needed it. Same story for most of Saturday too because we weren't able to exchange back until just before dinner and then we went to dinner. It was way good and cool because this was the first time we had been to this couple's house. Usually they just take us out because they have to drive quiet a ways to come pick us up.

Sunday was pretty cool as well we had 3 investigators at church so that was a good surprise. Jessica was suppose to come but she got strep throat so she couldn't. We did see her after church though and she seemed to be doing better than before so that is good.

Well I love you all and wish you the best!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

November 22, 2010

Hello everybody! I am doing great to answer every body's question of how I am doing. We had transfer calls this week and me and my boy are staying here in Derby, Kansas for the holidays! I was so relieved to hear that!

I will start out with last Monday. We had to work on Monday because we went to the temple that transfer. In our mission you have to make up for the day that you spent at the temple on P-day. It is a little bit weird to me because our goal as missionaries is to get people to go to the temple and when we do get our converts there we have to make up for the day that we spend there with them. Not much happened on P-day. We did have dinner with a family whose daughters and the mother are obsessed with Twilight. They have posters and dolls of the characters in their basement. It was really weird getting stared at by Edward and Jacob and friends. So that was an interesting day/dinner.

Tuesday we had a specialty meeting with President Van Komen and Sister Van Komen. It was really cool. Pres. called and invited all the 15 missionaries there and I was pleasantly surprised. I love them and they have such a great spirit. I have learned so much under their watchful care. After that we went to the zoo with some recent converts, Kayla and Frannie. It was way cool! It was my first time at the zoo in a very, very long time. We went into this rain forest exhibit and it was pretty cool. Kayla said it was her favorite. There are just lots of birds just flying or walking around. Kayla it terrified of birds so I don't understand why she likes the exhibit so much. So there was this bird walking in front of us and I just couldn't help myself. I got in front of it and shooed it back towards Kayla. She screamed and it followed her for a while but she got away. We then kept going through the exhibit and we saw the same bird again. This time my comp, a RM that was with us and myself worked together to get funnel the bird to her. It ended up with her standing on a bench so we scared the bird away. She was kinda mad at us but she thought it was really funny too. She was cool with it. We then had dinner with this inactive family. Neither of us know how they got on the dinner calender but they did and they fed us. It was really cool. I hope they sign up again so we can prepare for them now that we know that they are inactive. We then went over to the Logue's house and had another lesson. We are having some really good progress with the boy and I am so excited for him. He is keeping all of our commitments so things are going really good.

Wednesday was pretty cool. We had a really good district meeting. We were able to learn a lot and everybody was involved. We then went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. E. Swapp is who I went with and he is going home tomorrow so that is really weird. We walked around and couldn't find anybody to teach. It was freezing rain though. Like one moment it was rain then the next it was halfway frozen then back to rain. We were both very cold by the time we got home that night.

The next morning was cool. We planned to go visit brother Laudemann. He is a great guy and I love him very much. He is inactive and is working to become active again. We are trying to get him to help himself but he isn't wanting to yet. We want him to understand that we cannot help him until he wants and is willing to act for himself. After that we went to the funeral of Sis. Kenkaid, some of the elders in the district live in her family's home. It was the best funeral that I have ever been to so I was very happy. I felt like I really knew her after all was said and done. I know that her family had to be proud. Bro. Kenkaid gave an amazing talk and he couldn't have done a better job. I love that family now. We then had dinner with a sweet family that moved into our ward earlier in the week. They are way cool! We then had team ups with the high priest group leader.

Friday was a pretty cool day. We got a call from our new land lord and he said that we could move into the new apartment whenever we wanted. We decided to move in that day. We worked very hard and packed up our whole apartment and got most of it moved over to the new place. Our new land lord is Bro. James. His daughter is the one that married the Ringer boy. [NOTE - the "Ringer boy" is the son of Mont and Melinda Ringer, who are in our ward here in Las Vegas. Kurt]  It was so cool to meet them! They are awesome! So we got everything moved over there and then we went to dinner with Bro. Walker. He is really cool and took us to this pizza shop that was way bomb.

Saturday was the best day of the week. We had an all mission conference and Elder Richard G. Scott came and talked to all of us. Some members of our ward took us there. It was 2 hours away in Topeka, KS. The family that took us is so cool. It was really interesting because he had 4 companionships come up and practice teaching about the Book of Mormon in front of everybody. He then opened it up for questions. There were some great questions and I cannot convey the Spirit that I felt through my words. I will leave it at -- it was one of the best days of my mission. We got home and finished moving stuff into our apartment and then we went to dinner at the Bushey's. It was very good as always. We also found out that we were not getting transfered that night.

Sunday we were able to tell everybody in the ward that both of us were staying so that was cool. We taught Mary and Jessica and got Jessica to pinky promise that she would come to church this next week! Yay! We had dinner with the same family that took us to our all mission conference. They cooked some BOMB fish. We then played this game called states. It was really fun but some of us got a little too into it and just wanted to hit each other. It was still fun though. They gave us a bucket of cookie dough and a loaf of Zucini bread. It was way cool.

So this week was way good! My new address is 1603 Walnut Grove Derby, KS 67037. Love you all!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

November 15, 2010

Hello everybody out there! How are you doing? I wrote in a previous email that if it wasn't going good then there is something you can do to change it. Now the challenge is finding that something and doing it. Go find and do!

So this week was pretty good. Monday we saw a small mercy from the Lord. After we had played basketball, which was really fun. I can never seem to get enough of it. We had our dinner dropped off and it was very very good. Then we have a standing appointment with a less active family in the ward. We saw him at Walmart earlier that night and he cancelled it. We were really disappointed because we didn't know what we would do instead. The thought came to mind to visit some of our investigators, Jessica and Mary. We hadn't been able to see them in a very long time. We were beginning to worry about them. We stopped by their house and they were home! We got to go in and talk to them for a little while but Jessica had homework to do so we left pretty quickly. We set up a time for a return appointment on Wednesday.

So this Tuesday was AMAZING! We were going to have lunch with our recent converts but they had to cancel because the mother just had some surgery. She wasn't up to it. That was ok because we had been helping this new family, from New York, move into their house since 9 o'clock that morning. The move was really quite fun and we got everything in except for a safe and for a piano, bedcause we were waiting on a ramp. I reallly liked helping them because they are a really cool family. We got to know them much better. The father of the house wasn't able to be there because he had to stay in New York to work for an extra week. Both of us were really sore. We went and tried to visit some people for the rest of the day but no luck. We went back over to the new family's home and we helped them with their safe and piano because they got a ramp. We then had dinner with a really cool family and our recent convert Kayla was there so that was really fun. We have a standing appointment with her and her family on Tuesday nights so we got to see her twice that day. We went from dinner to her house with a team-up. Our team up was a newly ordained elder so that was good for him. First I will tell you that in that house there are two kids who are not baptized. The 11 year old girl has been coming to church consistently so she will be getting baptized soon but her older brother has not come. He sat in on our lesson and it was really cool. I was inspired to tell about my life before my testimony. I was told to share a lot more than I had with any other investigator. He really took to it and he promised to come to church next Sunday! When we left we also got a text message. Oh by the way our whole mission can text now! Crazy right and before my boy, the missionary I am training, leaves they will be able to get to have missionary facebooks! Anyway we got a text from Kayla saying I don't know what you said but he is all excited about coming to church. He decided to go to seminary in the morning and he was reading a Gospel Principles book. He went to seminary Wednesday and Friday, not Thursday because there wasn't any, and he loved it! He has decided to go every day now! Wow the Spirit is so strong it turned him, who was against the church in any way because his whole family went besides him, and now he is interested in listening to us! Miracles!

So the rest of this week wasn't really anything more exciting than that. We were just trying to find more people to teach and to contact our current investigators. We are seeing miracles and now transfers are coming up. I hope that I don't leave because that would mean I would be in a new area for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It wouldn't be cool at all. Well I am in the Lord's hands. I love you all!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

November 8, 2010

Hello everybody out there! How are you!? I honestly hope you are all doing well.

This week was pretty slow for us. I really don't have to much to report on... sorry to disappoint. I have been doing a lot of thinking on how we can get this area up and running. It has had some pretty lazy people in the past and I am not quite sure what to do to get it back to a "good" area, for lack of a better term. I am still loving the work I am just running into some trouble and that is ok because if there is one thing that I came to appreciate on my mission it is a challenge. I love being challenged now and I have seen many people including myself grow immensely while going through challenges.

I will tell you about the good things that are happening. We have set up a time with a awesome recent convert family to meet with them weekly. We are excited for this because two of the kids are not yet members and this is the only way we will get to teach them. I am so excited for this! I feel like we will be able to make such a big difference while we are teaching there! We went of there to give a blessing yesterday and we were able to have a little lesson before and it was really good. The 11 year old girl is going to church most of the time and really likes it while the brother, a senior, is not attending our church. I believe he will warm up as we continue to teach him. The 19 year old girl, who recently got baptized, is AMAZING!!! She has 2 people at work who want to meet with us and talk. I am so excited for that it looks like we will be working with their family in the future so yay!

Elder Decker and I have been getting along pretty good. We have no problems. I have been blessed and have gotten along with most of my companions. I love it because we are all united in the same cause so it is great. Well I would encourage you all to consider one way you can all get closer to the Lord this week and do it. It is one thing to recognize it and another to do it! Love yo all sorry it is so short.

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

Me, E. Decker, and the Logues

E. McMullin and E. Decker wrestling

Oklahoma City temple

Me and Elder Decker

Me, Elder Shepherd, and Elder Terrasas

Me and my "halfway" stuff. (super white legs)

November 1, 2010

Hello everybody!!! How is it going? I am doing great and life here in Derby Kansas is.... slower than life in Vegas but it is great. I love it out here and we are seeing miracles.

So last monday was pretty fun. We actually played b-ball all day long. Instead of jumping to volleyball or some other dumb game haha. Well maybe I just love basketball too much. It was fun and we laid a trap for the Zone Leaders and the other elders. Us and two other elders had air soft guns and when they came into the gym we attacked them. It was way funny and nobody got mad so that was chill. After P-day was over we had dinner with a really cool couple. They fixed steaks and they were REALLY good ones. They were huge and had lots of seasonings and then we had these balsamic veggies and so the whole meal was delicious! I was so full because he kept pushing us to get more and who could say no to delicious steak - I mean I had no hope. So that was really good and we were able to give his wife a blessing. We had another appointment planned that night but it fell through because he and his son went to a taekwondo tournament and was really tired so we are going over today.

Tuesday we had Zone Conference and it was really cool! I got to see 4 of my MTC district members there so that was way cool! We learned a lot and had some very good discussions. When lunch time came I saw that it was our ward that was providing it so that was really cool. I love the Park Hill ward they are the best! We went on exchanges after that and I stayed in my area with Elder McMullin, he is from the Spanish Fork area. It was really fun because he is a really funny guy. We taught our dinner, a recent convert, about temples. Oh speaking of temples my companion and I get to go to the temple with our youth this Saturday. YAY!!!! I am so excited! Someone from my last ward in Kearney wanted me to come back and go to the temple with him but that is way too far away.

Wednesday we didn't find much success except that we were able to talk to a family that had been taught by missionaries before. The missionaries had stopped by and had just visited with them before. We talked with the mother for quiet a while and she was really nice and willing to talk to us. She says she is good where she is at right now but that we are more than welcome to come by and say hello and talk with her! So we will see where that goes.

Thursday was cool because we got to see the other elders after a doctor's appointment. One of them thought that he had got bit by a bunch of brown recluses but it turned out that it was just poisin ivy. Then we went to work in a city called Mulvane. It was pretty good except we forgot our list of people we wanted to visit but luckily we had our ward roster so we were able to visit less active members. We went to this part member family and they didn't answer. I really wanted to get back into the car but something told me to knock next door. I have not had much success from knocking doors on my mission so I am a little reluctant at times but we did it. Our door approach was horrible but to our surprise the guy said "yes I am interested". I was awe struck. My companion, who is new, looked at me and mouthed "what do we do?" both of us were in shock. We taught him of the restoration and of prophets. It was so good and he understood everything. I felt so good that we were sensitive enough to hear the Holy Ghost telling us of someone who was prepared. We are going to meet with him tomorrow so I'll keep you updated.

Friday we went on exchanges again and I went to my area with elder McMullin. It was good and we had a lot of fun. The people they live with have a huge dog. Its name is Nephi and it is an English Mastiff. It weighs 140 lbs!!!! It was HUGE and it was really depressed because his owners went to the temple so he moped around the whole time.

Saturday was cool. We got to go to the trunk-or-treat. Our mission pres said not to be out proselyting after 6 P.M. on Saturday or Sunday because of Halloween. So we went to that and then someone needed a blessing so we did that. I was happy I got to use my priesthood. Sunday we gave talks on Hope. They went well but I was way tired and during my testimony I said that I knew Jesus Christ restored the gospel to the earth in this dispensation. I laugh at myself then corrected myself. Oh well life is funny. Last night our recent converts brought us some Halloween candy because they felt bad we couldn't go trick or treating. We played Monopoly all night with the other elders. It was way fun!

Well I love you all and hope you had a great Halloween!!!!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

October 25, 2010

Hello everybody!

 

So this last week was pretty cool. It is really hot for how late in the year it is. It is still reaching high 70s or mid to low 80s. I can't believe it! We were told that it would be significantly cooler by this time of year. Weird this thought just popped into my head.... I have less than a year left not much less but less. That is so crazy that this time actually is here now. It has always been so far ahead in the future so I have always looked forward to it now.... I guess I got to start to look forward to each month and maybe that will slow time down. I wish I could control time it would be really cool. Anyway, this week was a cool week.

 

Monday we got to finally play some b-ball!!!!! I was so happy but then the sisters came and wanted to play volleyball which I stink/am horrible at so I got slightly frustrated because of my lack of skill in that particular area. Well we did get to play sports though so that was the best thing. We then went to dinner that night with a member of our bishopric and that was really cool. It was the first time I had been over to their house and they have the cutest little boy. After that we went over to the family's house that we always have Family Home Evening at and that was pretty fun. Crazy as always but fun. They told us that next time we come over we will be carving pumpkins so that will be tonight and I am pretty excited.

 

Tuesday was fun we tried to walk and visit lots of people. We didn't get into any houses but we still had a good day. We went to lunch with the other elders. We went to the great B-Dubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) it is the best on Tuesdays because of their wing deal. We then had a good lesson with our investigators Jessica and Mary. We watched the Restoration video with them they liked it and I felt the Spirit prompt me to bear my testimony about why we were there. It was really cool and I am glad that I acted on the Spirit that time. We then had an amazing dinner with the Logues. They are a recent convert/investigating family. The mom, and two of the three daughters has been baptized, we are working on the youngest who is 11. They are SO cool and were very prepared by the Lord. They are way entertaining to talk to and they want to take us to the Zoo in about 2 weeks so that should be really fun. We also got to get into a less active family's house that is hard to catch. So we were blessed on Tuesday.

 

Wednesday was district meeting and it went pretty smoothly. It is really cool to see how people's feelings against each other can really affect the Spirit, even if they are not acting on their distaste for a person at that moment or even in the whole meeting. I really now understand why good feelings must be present for the Spirit to exist. We then went on exchanges after the meeting. It was weird because both of the elders that were newer to their areas stayed there and the people that kinda had an idea of the area left. I went to the Harrison Park ward with Elder Fisher. It was really fun he is a way cool missionary. I am glad that we got a good Zone Leader in place of E. Riley. We had dinner at the Corcoran's house because it was sister Corcoran's birthday. She is the "mother" of all the missionaries in the area. She is in a different ward but is way cool and loves to have the missionaries over at her house. She has this really cool castle in her back yard which was way cool. We all climbed on it and took pictures but I didn't get any because I didn't have my camera. The rest of the exchange was good and nothing too exciting happened. Except I did take this color code test. It tells you what color your personality is and each color represents something. Me and E. Fisher both got white as our primary and blue as our secondary. White is a passive more laid back color and blue is kinda funny because it is a romantic color. I don't know it was weird but fun to take.

 

Thursday we switched back it was all good. I got my year mark package. That was way funny! I loved it! Thank you family you are the best ever! Oh and p.s. Brittany looked very pretty in her pictures. We had dinner at the bishop's house that night but nothing really went on that day.

 

Friday was interesting. I got to give a baptismal interview which was pretty cool. She was so ready to be baptized and it was way fun to interview her. She was really nervous about it. I hate it when people are nervous to get interviewed by me so I usually just say something really dumb/dorky and then they loosen up. It took a couple of really dumb jokes but then she loosened up and it was awesome! We then got to talk to Jessica outside for a while and we got dinner dropped off so all in all a good day.

 

Saturday was pretty cool because I actually got to have a meeting with my ward mission leader. He has just been really busy lately so things haven't worked out. It was cool because he got to update me on the ward mission plan and tell me we were going to have to make a new one for the new year. We also got to help Bro. Laudemann with his house for a little bit and then we got to mow this lady's lawn whose husband is deployed. I loved it because Saturday was basically all service and then we got to go to my recent convert's house and give a new member lesson and eat dinner. He made his lasagna and it was GOOD!

 

Sunday was good. Church was fun and we found out we are speaking on hope next week. So any thoughts would be helpful. We had a nice day. We ran into some people that an elder from Vegas had taught 2 years ago so that was way cool and we got invited back next Sunday. YAY!

 

So I am see miracles and loving it out here!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

October 18, 2010

Hello everybody!!!

I hope that everyone is doing well and paying attention to those small miracles you can and will see if you just look for them. So this last week was pretty cool. Monday we did frisbee golf... again. It was alright but I would have rather played something that was an actually workout like basketball. It is all good though because this Monday we are going to be playing basketball. Monday was cool -- we were supposes to have F.H.E. with this less active family but he called and said that we would have to wait for next week because kids and he got sick. We then were able to go see Jessica and Mary so that was really cool.

Tuesday was the day.... the day we found out about this next transfer. My companion E. Aydelotte kept telling me pres. was going to call because I was going to be called to be a Zone Leader. I wasn't sure about that at all. I actually thought that me and him would be staying together. Well during the day we did get a call from pres. but it wasn't because I was going ZL but because I was called to be a TRAINER!!!!!! Yay!!!! I have wanted to train a missionary for so long and now I have the opportunity too! His name is Elder Decker and he is from.... yes Utah. He is from North Ogden Utah so ya! He is really cool. He was a runner and was big into ultimate frisbee before he came out. So E. Aydelotte was transferred up to Platte City, Missouri. It is right close to where I served in Kearney. He is going to love it up there. He will probably die there (end mission there) because he only has 2 transfers left. He was excited and disappointed to leave.

Wednesday was a lot of packing and saying goodbye to people for E. Aydelotte. It was a pretty cool and chill day. We did however share a message with people when we went to say goodbye so it wasn't a complete waist of our time. That day we went to dinner at Pizza Hut because some recent converts, Kayla and Frannie, work there. It was really fun to talk to Kayla as she was our waitress. We wanted to play a joke on the new elder but one that wouldn't be too mean. So Kayla suggested that we come in for dinner on Thursday and she would pretend like she didn't know us and I would act like I didn't know her. We would then leave a pass along card with our tip at the table. She would call us the next day and say that she wants to meet with us. It was a great idea and I told her we should do it. So we finished up saying goodbye to her and that ended our night for Wednesday.

Thursday was transfer day. We had to go up to Wichita so I thought I would take advantage of it and go to a sports store so I could buy a Camelbak. I found one but they are more expensive than I thought. I am very thankful for it though -- it has already saved my life. Anyway, I also bought a sweet frisbee. So we went to the church and shortly thereafter the sisters showed up. We were all throwing the frisbee around for a while. The sisters decided that I have a Brad Pitt smile.... I hope that is a good thing. While we were throwing the frisbee around this guy came walking through our parking lot. I waited until he had walked past me and threw the frisbee. He then yelled at me "Why don't you wait until I get past you, you little ______" So I just smiled at him and turned back to our game. He then continued to yell at me about how much he despises Mormons. He kept yelling so I told him to chill out and he kept going for a little while but he realized I wasn't responding besides telling him to chill so he just left. I think it was the worst cussing out I have ever been through. It made me extremely mad and I really wanted to punch him in the mouth but I didn't. I told one of the other elders about it and I guess he just cusses any missionary out that he sees. Oh well let him be unhappy and unpleasent. So I met my greenie, a.k.a. my boy, that day. I also got to see a bunch of elders I haven't seen in a while so it was sweet! We did go to dinner at Pizza Hut and everything went as planned. We left a card with Kayla and so now the plan had been put in action.

Friday was a good day we had to run to the store to get a couple of things and while we were there. Kayla called and said she wanted to meet with us. She talked to E. Decker and he handled it very well. I was surprised at how calmly he handled it. So we taught her and she did a great job but acting like she didn't know anything. It was really hard for me to keep a straight face but I was kinda able to do it. It is a good thing that I smile a lot or else I bet he wouldn've caught on that something wasn't right. He did such a good job!!! I couldn't believe how well he did! It was great! Later that day we just tried to visit some people but no luck that I can remember. We visited all of the referrals we had recieved and not much came from those.

Saturday was cool though. We went the whole day trying to find new people to teach by street contacting because there is a new focus this month on finding people to teach. We were able to find this new family. The missionaries had tracted into them before and they said we could come back. So we went there and talked to the wife for a little bit at the door but she was about to sit down and feed her little boy. Right as we were about to walk away her husband came around the corner and said hello. We let her go and then her husband knew some LDS people so he wanted to talk to us. We went and talked to him and he had some GREAT questions. We are going to go back and teach him later this week! We have been really blessed this week! Sunday was good as always so that was fun.

So the mission is going great! I hit my yearmark this Thursday! CRAZY!!!!!! I am pretty much halfway done and I still feel like a greenie. Well I guess that is good because if I felt like I knew everything I would be proud and we learned in conference that pride is the foundation of all sin. I love you all and please stay humble!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

October 4, 2010

Hey everyone! How is it going? I am doing great, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout my entire mission. I am really being blessed with an increased positive outlook on things. Well how about General Conference!!!!!!! It was way good wasn't it! I couldn't believe the things I was able to learn.

 

So this last week was pretty good! It was our week with the car so that is always nice. Except the first part of this week we couldn't drive the car because we had no miles so there it sat so lonely in our driveway. But with the new month we now have a new set of miles so it should be good for a while. We went on exchanges with the elders out in Haysville and it was pretty cool. I went with Elder Ashcraft and he is from the LA area. I am not sure exactly where but I know it is LA proper. That was pretty cool because I have felt like I don't really know those elders and know I feel more unified with them. I now know why they do exchanges! We are supposed to be one unified force and how can we be unified if we don't know the other elders? It is kinda like how we can't trust the Lord until we know him, right? Well need-less-to say it was really cool and I now will gain a lot more from exchanges.

 

We didn't have much going on until Thursday night. We had 2 SWEET appointments set up! One of them was a church tour with Mary and Jessica. While we were setting up for that we got a call from our next appointment. It was the member husband calling and he said "It is nothing against you or the church but me and my wife have been talking and thinking a lot and we feel that Mormon isn't right for us. We just feel it wouldn't be fair with me being Mormon and her being Baptist. We are going to a non-denominational church." I was crushed! We felt like our last lesson went so well and I couldn't understand what had happened. I do understand where that thinking came from but at the same time if one's eternal life is at stake you would think that "being fair" wouldn't play such a large factor in their decision. Don't worry Mom I didn't say anything to them that was sarcastic or out of impulse, I wanted to but I held back... you would be proud. . . ha ha. I am glad though that they still want to attend any church for the time being. Well I hope that the missionaries in the future look them up because they were golden. The church tour went GREAT though! We had our bishop there with us and he is the best! It worked just as the church tours are designed to work out. We had a great spiritual feast and then we got to the baptismal font, where we sat and talked about baptism. I got a really quiet thought in my head to invite them for baptism. And from past experience I am not ever going to ignore a prompting from the Holy Ghost again. So I invited them both to be baptized. Mary, the Grandmother, said "I have already been baptized." I didn't address that issue right there because Jessica had not yet answered. She said "I am scared". I was relieved to hear that answer opposed to no. She went on to tell her grandma that she had already told her she wants to be baptized. So it is SWEET!!!!!!! We are now going to teach them over at our bishop's house because Jessica and bishop's daughter know each other. I am so excited for them and I love being able to bring youth into the church because I know that if a certain youth hadn't been baptized, I probably wouldn't be on my mission, (cough cough Raul). Thanks Raul for having such an impact on me!

 

Well this weekend with conference was GREAT! We got a call Saturday morning from an inactive member and he needed our help with some cleaning. We told him we could help him but General Conference was going to be playing and we want to watch it. He said we could watch it there! He had such a great spiritual experience and he found that the spirit touched him and moved him to improve. He was so happy throughout the entire thing and was sad when it was over. He thanked us so much for getting him to watch it and he told us that it was the first time in over 20 years that he had watched it! I was so happy to see him wanting to make changes!

 

Well as you can see I am being blessed beyond belief out here in Kansas! I love you all and keep your eyes open for those who just need a kind word!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

September 27, 2010

Greetings from Kansas (the flattest state in the union)!

So this last week was pretty good. Last Monday we had a great lesson with this 16 year old girl, Jessica, and her Grandmother, Mary. It was so cool to see how much the Spirit does really help in letting you know that it is ok to open up to this person. We heard that Jessica was usually shy and didn't like to talk too much but while we were there I would've never guessed. My companion and I both made a fool of ourselves at the time but that is ok because it helped lighten up the mood. I could really feel the Spirit there and I felt a great concern for those two people. I just want them to be able to see the joy that comes from membership in Christ's church. I think that our appointment today will go very well and that we will see some progress.

Tuesday we had interviews with our president. It felt like we haven't talked to him in a long time, probably because we haven't. It has been weird because we have Zone Conference and then Interviews every other transfer. So it has been close to 3 months since our last interviews. I really was excited to talk with Pres. and Sis Van Komen but they were in a hurry because they had to do Wichita Zone's interviews that day too. It is a good 3 to 4 hour drive to get out here so President tries to do all the interviews for this area in one or 2 days and there is 3 Zones so it would take a long time.

Wednesday was the down day of our week. We had everything fall through and I mean everything. We had 3 appointments set up for the evening. They all cancelled 30 mins before our ride got there. Our dinner also cancelled and we had walked around all day long so we weren't feeling as clean as we could either. It was a challenge but then at the end of the day we were able to see a family that is struggling so that was really good. Who knows -- maybe that family needed to know that somebody was thinking of them. The Lord truly does work in mysterious ways.

Thursday was pretty cool because I got to really get to know these really cool recent converts. They were all baptized after the 19 year old girl, Kayla, got baptized and now they rock! They were both preparing for a talk so that was really cool. Unfortunately the mother, Frannie, wasn't able to give it on account of one of her daughters being sick. Kayla gave her talk and it was AWESOME!!! Good job Elder Fullmer! So meeting them was great! Also on Thursday we got to meet with a part member family. The husband has been inactive his entire life and the wife has investigated for a long time. She has a few hangups that were able to come out this last meeting. We also had the best team up ever! That member's name is Bro. Rodriguez and he is a pilot in the Air Force which works out perfectly because both of them are in the Air Force too. I just felt really good when we left that lesson and know that the Lord was with us while we were there.

Friday was pretty cool. I don't remember much of anything exciting happening. Lots of the days just melt together out here. Saturday was cool though because we got to go to the airshow. We were supposed to meet our recent converts there, Busheys, but they had something come up and called to tell us that they couldn't go as we were already parking there. So we decided to go with the members that brought us there. It was way cool and jets are very amazing. We had to leave early which was a bummer because that meant we were going to miss the Thunderbirds, the highlight of the whole show. As we were in the parking lot we found out that a storm was headed our way and the Thunderbirds weren't flying that day because of it. So we got lucky and got to our car before everyone else. Which it still took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot so that wasn't cool.

All in all a good week. I love it and love the work! Everybody keep the faith!
--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

September 20, 2010

Hello everybody! How are you doing?

I am doing very well! This last week was pretty good. Not the best week that I have ever had but it was still good. I know that it was good though because I was able to recognize the Lord's hand in my life. I feel like  that is a good way to measure a successful week. If we were able to notice the small miracles that the Lord blesses us with. We are blessed every day but sometimes, most of the time, we are too "busy" (a.k.a. selfish) to see them. With my district I have been trying to emphasize this idea. It has helped them find more joy in their missionary work. If it can help missionaries find more joy in their work, which is hard and taxing, then it can help all of you that are at home. In your lives you get blessed daily which are these small miracles I am talking about. As you learn to recognize those miracles and then begin to be thankful for them, your life will begin to become a rich and enlightening experience. You will be able to find true joy, which is what our goal was to do when we came to earth.

Anyway I had to focus on that this week because it was a pretty slow week. We did however find 2 new investigators. One is a former investigator and the wife of a less-active member. They are both in the Air Force and so they are pretty busy. We went over there and they were very nice and she seems like she wants to know the truth so that is good. We have a appointment with them this next week. The next new investigator came from a potential investigator. We went to visit this couple that had told past missionaries to come back. We found out that they moved and now there is another lady living there. She was heading out to her grandson's football game but she said we could come back this Tuesday. I am so excited for that!!!! So this week was slow as far as teaching but we were able to find more people to teach. I hope that this last week sets us up for the rest of the transfer as far as investigators go. We also have an appointment with another investigator tonight. So we are getting blessed -- we have just had to be patient with our blessings.

That is one more thing that I have learned on my mission -- that if we want blessings we have to first be willing to acknowledge prior blessings and then be willing to wait for blessings. When we do the first we usually find it easier to do the second. As we recognize we have been blessed, we should know that blessings will come -- we just need to be patient.

So for some more exciting news. We were almost right in the middle of a tornado!!!!! It was way crazy! We went to dinner in the outskirts of this city called Mulvane. After dinner was over the members we were with started getting phone calls warning them of tornados in the area. So my companion, Elder Aydelotte, and I went for our cameras in our bags and ran outside. We got some cool pictures of the clouds outside and video. The clouds right above the house were swirling but they weren't forming a funnel cloud yet. Then the phone calls became more urgent so we went to their basement for a short time. The radio gave us the all clear and we went right back outside. I guess in some parts of Wichita they had HUGE hail. There were 9 tornados that touched down and some of them were in the city of Mulvane. Nobody from the ward was hurt so that is good. I thought I wanted to steer clear of tornados but now I really really want to see one in person. Maybe another time I still have one more tornado season.

Well that is it. I love you all and remember to count your blessings! 
--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

Picture of the clouds during the storm.

Pictures of after the storm.

Pic of me by a cool sign in a Lutheran church parking lot

September 13, 2010

Hello everyone!

So last week I had a surprise baptism and this week we had a surprise baptism too! We were going to just baptize Bonnie Bushey but Billy Bushey was approved by the Stake President to be baptized the same Saturday! It was so cool!

I'll tell more about that later. As for the week it was one of the slowest if not the slowest week I have ever had on my mission. That is ok though because that is just the way things go sometimes. I know that the Lord was pleased especially with the Bushey's baptisms. The rest of Tuesday was cool. Nothing super exciting happened but it was still cool.

Wednesday I had my first district meeting of this transfer and it was really good! We had a good discussion on prayer and why it is so important to our investigators and to us as missionaries. The Zone Leaders also had been asked to practice teaching the first lesson as a example. With this new curriculum Pres. Van Komen was nervous that some personal beliefs and not pure doctrine would be thrown into the teaching appointments. The practice was so so so good. They practiced with a sister from the district and when it started out she was pretending to be someone else and it turned into her at the end. She said Satan had been working on her very hard and that this practice helped her become even more converted. I was so happy that me and the Zone Leaders decided she would be the best one to practice with! We found out from the Zone Leaders that the Stake Pres felt like Billy should be baptized on the same day as his wife, so we were way excited! I went on exchanges with the Zone Leaders afterwards. I went with E. Riley to his area. It was really cool and he filled me in on everybody and the situations in the district.

Thursday was pretty cool we switched back and then me and E. Aydelotte worked in our area. We got to see Billy and Bonnie and that was cool. We showed them the Between Heaven and Earth DVD, it is about temples. They are so excited to be able to go be sealed in the temple! I am so happy for them. We then tried to visit a lot of people that day but without any luck. That night we had to spend at another set of elders apartments because I had a leadership counsel the next morning and I was to ride with one of those elders.

The leadership counsel was so amazing. It was just like the one in Olathe Kansas that I just went to last month. They are going to be holding one each month so we can get accustomed to the new curriculum as a mission. I received a lot of revelation on how to improve the work here in the area and how to keep me and E. Aydelotte getting along. It was so cool! I also got to meet a lot of people I didn't know because I have been in Missouri for me entire mission before this transfer. I am so greatful to be blessed enough to partake in amazing trainings like that.

On Saturday was the big day of the baptisms. We went over the church first thing in the morning because Billy and Bonnie were getting interviewed. They passed of course! Then we went and mowed a lady's lawn for her and had to come back to fill the font for them. It took over 2 hours to fill it! When you fill the font you have to be in the building the whole time so we did that until the baptism. The baptism was so cool. E. Aydelotte got to baptize both of them but I got to be in the font for Bonnie's because she is usually in the wheelchair and she has a hard time walking so she needed extra help. She was so brave because she had to take her glasses off and then rely completely on us. She did great. We were just nervous because we wanted to get her done the first time. We did and then E. Aydelotte baptized Billy and that went very smoothly. After the baptism the last person in that family who isn't baptized is Billy Jr. and he said he wants to be baptized so that should be coming up soon!

As you can see I am being very blessed on my mission. I am seeing miracles like I was told I would and I am so very thankful for them. Thank you all for the support you are giving me and will give me. I love you!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

  

This is Billy and Bonnie and their family. The girl has been baptized but the boy in the yellow shirt is the one who wants to be baptized.

Us and the Busheys

September 7, 2010

Hello everybody!

So this last week was quite an exciting one! It was the week of transfers, which is always exciting. As we were waiting for our calls on Tuesday I got a call from another missionary who found out where I was going because I was getting transfered with him. So I got to find out who and where much earlier than most people. Elder Gustafson had to wait until 9:30 P.M. because nobody knew who his companion was.

We were getting ice cream with the Lawters when we got the transfer calls. Elder Gustafson's new companion was somebody he really knew well and was very excited to have gotten transfered with him. He was yelling in the car, it was pretty funny. I was very very sad that I had to leave Kearney 3rd ward. I hope to serve there again someday. I am now out in Derby Kansas in the Park Hill ward with Elder Guy Aydelotte. He is from Boise and has been out for about 21 months. He is really funny and cool. I am excited to be able to serve with him. I am still the district leader.

Derby seems to be a cool place and the work here has picked up in the last couple months so I got to come in at a good time. We are having a baptism this Saturday at 5 and her husband will be getting baptized the week after. He has some stuff he had to work through but he is doing it. I missed a baptism in Kearney. It happened the Saturday after I left. I cannot believe how well things are going right now I am being so blessed and sometimes I feel like I don't deserve it but never-the-less I am thankful for it.

I cannot wait to be able to see that lady and her husband get baptized. She asked me and E. Aydelotte to baptize her. She has some medical conditions that require a little bit more attention so that is why we are both doing it. I'm not sure who is going to baptize her husband but it will be so exciting. The story of this family is really cool. It all started with their friends being reactivated and then the investigating family's daughter got baptized and now her parents are getting baptized and then we are teaching her little brother who is 13. See what an example you are to all of your friends! It is amazing! Have you ever considered that each friendship you have could have eternal consequences? Sweet huh?

I am just so blessed to be out on a mission and to see miracles everyday. I cannot express the love that I have for the Lord and for his work. I love you all!
--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

Elder Gustafson's and my last moments together

Elder Aydelotte and I

Elder Gustafson, Alberto Kang, and I

Alberto and his fiancee, Meagan

Elders Lesuma, Gustafson, Chance Rogers(in white), Bro. and Sis. Rogers, and I 

August 30, 2010

Hello everyone!

 

So this week must have been the best week of my entire mission! We have been preparing for Alberto to be baptized on my birthday for a very long time and it went very smoothly. While I was on exchanges is when the most surprising news came. I got a call from Elder Gustafson and he said that Chance was going to get baptized in a week from this Sunday. I was so excited and nervous at the same time because transfers were coming up and I wanted to be there. Then he called back and said that they changed it to this Sunday! Yes a day after my birthday! I couldn't believe how lucky and blessed I was. Now here is the reason that it is so amazing. Chance was adopted into the Rogers family about a month or two ago and when an adoption takes place you usually have to wait until the adoption is final to have them baptized. That usually takes 4 to 6 months. So we were teaching him so he would be prepared when that time came. Then we talked about it a week ago and now he got baptized yesterday! The best birthday I have ever had!

 

Now I will back track a little, on Saturday night Patti had a birthday dinner for me. She invited all her family and the bishop. It was great! She cooked roast beef and I love that stuff. It was so cool to be able to see all the people around me and the weren't even members of the church. They didn't just like me because I was a missionary but because I am me, yay! Sometimes that is confusing. Anyway. Thank you all for the cards. Thank you mom and dad for the present I love it!

 

I love my mission and transfer calls are coming tomorrow.... scary. I will be a year out at the end of this next transfer.... scary again! Well I love you all!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

August 16, 2010

Hello everybody!!! I would just like to say that this past week has been the best week of my entire mission! I hope everybody else had a good week too. Remember that it still can be good even if it was busy.

So I forgot to tell you all last email that I had to go to a Leadership conference this past week. I left Monday night and came back Friday morning. I was pretty nervous about it because I would have to leave my area for a whole week. We were lucky though because the other DLC, District Leader Companion. Came up to our place for half of the time so it worked. They found a brand new investigator while I was gone!

So this week was cool. I was scared because it will bring big changes in all the missions in the whole world. The missionary board came out and said that missionaries are not using Preach My Gospel effectively. They want to start a brand new simplified MTC curriculum. So I thought it was going to change so much that it would throw us off.

When I went there it was the best thing I have ever done! I was so thankful for the opportunity to go and to learn these things early on in my mission. I was able to change my whole outlook on missionary work. The funny thing is that they didn't teach us anything new. It was all on feeling the Spirit. It was interesting that I was able to have that experience with the minister before I went. During this last week I really learned how the Spirit speaks and how to tell what it is that he is saying. I was able to see that the Spirit doesn't just prompt you in a direction but will tell you exactly what to say and do. I have never felt the Spirit work through me like I did in this last week! I am so excited to be able to use it in my teaching!

We then came home and then I did a baptismal interview. I was so bless to be able to do the interview. I couldn't believe how prepared this man was. He had been taught by missionaries for 7 years but he just got baptized this last Saturday. He had such an amazing testimony and Spirit about him. I was honored to do his interview.

We then got to go to the temple the next day. It was SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Patti was so excited and happy that we all got to be there. We went to the distribution center. It was a cool experience because 2 of Elder Gustafson's recent converts were there preparing to do baptisms. They saw him and came to say hi. He was so happy. He also got to go down and do their confirmations! He was so happy and full of joy. Then we went through with Patti and she was so happy and had pure joy on her face. I have never before been as happy as I was that day!

It was the most peaceful and tiring week of my life. I grew so much and really figured out how to keep growing. I love the Lord and I love the blessing of the Holy Ghost. I also love you all! Wow filled with lots of love but that is a product of what I learned!

--
Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

The Four Elders

 We couldn't help it!

  Patti after the temple. With Me, Elder Gustafson, Elder Lesuma, and Elder Childs

  Us again

The elders we stayed with for the leadership meeting

The elders from my MTC district that were at the leadership meeting