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