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