May 31, 2011

Hello everybody! How are you all doing? I hope you are doing well and have been safe.

So last week was pretty good just really busy. Monday we had a good time. Elder Harmon wanted to buy some basketball shoes so we went and we got him some. They are Kevin Durant shoes. We then went to a funeral of a man who was a priesthood leader in the Topeka stake for 36 straight years! It was a wonderful service and we were happy we got to go. We then went on exchanges afterwards with the Sherwood elders. I went with E. Powell he is a cool guy. We had a very awkward moment in Walmart but I will just leave it at that. We also got to teach some investigators that they are passing to us. They are GOLDEN! We taught them, the Davis family, and the mother, father, and the 10 year old are all going to be baptized on July 16th! Exciting!

Tuesday was good. We went and did service at the zoo. We had to end it early because there was another storm coming through Topeka. We went to lunch and that was really fun. We then went and taught Karen Dawson and she is so ready to be baptized! We have an appointment set up with her everyday of the week. It was a good lesson we went over the baptismal interview questions with her. We then had a lot of stuff fall through the rest of the day. We had to go to a stake broadcast that night and that was alright. They are trying to help each ward council catch the fire of missionary work. We then switched companions for a little bit because I like sushi and one of the other missionaries doesn't and they were getting taken out for sushi that night. Or at least that is what we thought. It turns out that family changed all their plans so we just had pizza.... oh well maybe we will get sushi another time.

Wednesday we had a good district meeting. We also got to go see Cliff while he was at work. It was good to go see him because he was having a really busy day. He seemed to get much happier while we were there. We then taught a LA (less active) lady's, in our ward, son. He was really interested in the Book of Mormon so we gave one to him and he is going to read it. We then saw Karen Dawson again and she hasn't drank coffee in 2 days! That is really good for her! I was so happy that she was able to put an end to that! We then had a sweet experience on a church tour again. We took Alani Snook and her family on a church tour. The miracle didn't happen until afterwards. It was while Alani was picking songs out for her baptism in the chapel. Sis. Snook just standing there started to tear up. We think she was feeling the Spirit very strongly. The Lord is working with them very slowly but we can see progression. That night we had to get one of our district leaders and one of our trainers to spend the night at our house so we could go to a Leadership meeting in the morning.

We had to wake up at 4:30 to make sure we all had time to shower and drive to Independence by 7:30. It was not cool that we had to get up so early but it was worth it. We were uplifted and taught much about planning and how important it  is. I haven't been the best planner thoughout my mission but I was happy to see that I had been doing some things right.  We had to rush home because we had an appointment at 7 that night with Karen Dawson. Our appointment went well. We actually stayed in a tripod because 1 companionship didn't want to drive all the way home to drive back the next day for district meeting. It was really fun. We then had a church tour scheduled with the Davis'. We got to the church and saw that they were having a recital so we changed it up and just had a lesson. It was really good and they believe in Joseph Smith so it is really amazing to see!

Friday was good we had a district meeting down in Lawrence. We were running low on miles so we were trying to not drive too much. We had a good meeting and the training was on planning so it was good. We have great district leaders who want to see/help the other missionaries succeed. It is good to see. We made it back and tried a couple of people but we had to rush over to the church because Karen Dawson needed to have her baptismal interview done. She passed of course. I also did 2 for other missionaries. We had a month full of miracles. After the interviews we went over to our recent converts house for her birthday party. It was really fun.

Saturday we had to find a ride up to Hiawatha, Kansas. It is an hour plus some drive. We got there and the interview took 15 mins or so and then we drove back down. It was good though. We then had meetings and dinner the rest of the night until 7 P.M. and we were able to see Karen Dawson be baptized! It was probably the most Spiritual baptism I have ever been a part of. She was TERRIFIED of water and she didn't go all the way under the first time. So we had to tell them to do it again. She was a champ and did it! Everyone was SO happy! She is going to be a amazing member of the church.

Sunday was a good day we had the confirmation of Karen. She handled that well too. We then went to class after sacrament and it was sparse. All of our recent converts had to leave after sacrament so there wasn't anybody in there. We still had a good discussion though. After church we had dinner with someone and they cooked us steaks! We have had a lot of steak lately and we LOVE it. We then did numbers. We got a lesson with someone who we didn't expect. We tried to visit an investigator and he wasn't there but his sister in law was and she invited us in. We taught her and she seemed really interested. She invited us back later that week so we are excited!

Monday was.... not cool. We play basketball in the mornings so we were there Monday morning. As we were playing I twisted my ankle. I have done this a lot so I thought if I just sat out I would be good to go in a couple of mins. This ankle twisting was different. I couldn't really move my foot and as I fell I heard a loud popping noise. I called a doctor in one of the wards here in Topeka and he said I should go get it x-rayed. So I begrudgingly went to the hospital. I couldn't put any weight on it so I had to hop everywhere. It was.... embarrassing. I got through with the x-rays and I didn't break it! YAY! I just sprained it about as badly as you can so I have to take it easy for a while. I am on crutches now. I have heard that it may take as long as 6 months to heal...... I would be home by then. Ugh I hate injuries but I am just happy it didn't end my mission.

 

That is the news for the week so I hope you all feel... informed. I love you all!

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor

 Funnel clouds over Topeka

Karen Dawson's baptism

 Hail from the storm

Wall clouds after the tornadoes passed

May 23, 2011

Hello everyone! So this week has been great! We, as a mission, have set a goal to get 100 baptisms in the month of May. There are 12 zones in the mission so if every zone got 9 baptisms then we would easily get 100. Our zone has already had 8 and has 12 more people committed to be baptized! We have 20 people committed to be baptized right now! We are seeing such miracles in the Topeka zone. Every missionary here is working hard and has faith that we can achieve our goal. I have learned a great deal about faith in this time that I have been here. I have learned what a principle of power it truly is. The Lord is waiting for us to have sufficent faith that He may bring mighty miracles to pass. I cannot believe how quickly everything has happened here and it is because of faith and prayers of faith. I have also learned what it means to really pray to God. Not to just say the same thing you say every time but to truly desire that your prayers will be answered and to know that if things don't turn out the way you thought they should, then He has another plan. I love the Plan of Salvation and the comfort it gives us. He has given us every way He could to make it back to Him. I love my Heavenly Father and am eternally grateful for the sacrifice of His son, Jesus Christ.

 

Last Monday we played some basketball and I couldn't make a shot. It was really frustrating. We went on exchanges and I stayed with Elder Young in our area. He had served there right before me so we went to see some of his recent converts. They were really happy to see him. I have not see them that happy ever.

 

Tuesday we taught quite a few lessons but we got to see 2 people that I have wanted to see. One is a lady who is gone all the time and she just sent us a text out of the blue and asked us to come over and teach her because she was in town. It was sweet! She has some really good questions and we were able to answer some of them. We then taught this lady that we street contacted. She was walking by a house while one of our baptismal candidates was getting interviewed. We talked with her and it turns out she had met with missionaries in New Orleans. We had a great lesson with her and she is sincerely interested. We are really excited about her. I answered some questions in that lesson that I know that I couldn't answer without the help of the Holy Ghost. I love being a missionary because it is easy if I just get out of the way of the Spirit. We also had a sweet lesson with a PMF, part-member family. We got their 10 year old daughter committed to be baptized on June 4th! We were so excited. The missionaries here have been working with them for such a long time and now we get to see their daughter be baptized. We are truly blessed as missionaries.

 

Wednesday we went to a SWEET district meeting. Elder Young prepared the most spiritual district meeting that I have ever attended. I loved it! It fired up the missionaries here so much! Later that night we had a church tour with another PMF. This is the lady who feeds us almost every Wednesday night. She has come such a long way and the only thing holding her back from baptism was her fear of water. She is deathly afraid of the water going over her head. So we decided to take her on a church tour and walk down into the baptismal font with her. It was amazing as she was down there she was fairly calm and she basically committed herself. She said I can do this and all we said was how about the 28th of May and she accepted. Missionaries have been praying for this day for years and now we also get to be part of it. See what I mean about being extremely blessed!

 

Thursday we did weekly planning and then we went to see our RLDS investigator. It is always interesting with her because she often tries to pull out anti-Mormon material on us. We just bear our testimonies and then teach her out of the scriptures. It is something that is really hard because I have thought a lot about the RLDS doctrine and have found lots of ways to disprove it. That would do us no good though so we don't. We then had a very cool dinner. It was with a young married couple and she is 20 so that is our age... weird. We then got to see some less active people who do our dry cleaning for us for free :)

 

Friday we had district meeting down in Lawrence. We also played early morning basketball. That was really fun. They play every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and I think we are going to try to make it all three days. I shot 4 three pointers and made 4 three pointers. I felt really good about that. We then went on exchanges after district meeting. It was cool. I went to Lawrence with Elder Chand. He was suppose to go to the Philipines but got sick so they sent him here. We just helped move people all day long but I had fun. I was extremely tired afterwards though.

 

Saturday was sweet! We taught another lady we street contacted. She is prepared for the gospel. I feel so blessed to have met her. She has 5 kids and is separated from her husband right now. I cannot wait to see how quickly she progresses. We then had a lesson with Sister Dawson who is getting baptized on May 28th. Saturday we had some CRAZY weather! We had many funnel clouds show up, none of them touched down but it was crazy. Right as we got to our dinner we had to go to the basment. It was pretty fun. We got hail the size of golf balls or maybe two golf balls combined. We were suppose to teach another PMF but they had to go home to check on their house.

 

Sunday was ok. We were a little disappointed because we expected to have a lot of people at sacrament but none showed up. We were a little sad. We had a good lesson about the Plan of Salvation after church with a PMF. We then got our numbers done that we have to report very quickly. Our dinner that night was with the Jones family. They called us the other night and told us that they were fixing us steaks :) They were really good. We had steaks Saturday night too! So as we were at dinner 2 of the Jones' daughters said that they thought they could beat Elder Harmon and I at basketball. We tried to tell them that wasn't possible and so we just had to settle it on the court. We did and we destroyed them. I wouldn't be so proud of beating 2 high school girls if it wasn't for their trash talking. Oh well it was fun.

 

As you can see I am being blessed out here. I am feeling like I want to do anything I can to keep these blessings coming our way. I love being able to teach people -- I am really never more happy. I love my mission!

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor

May 16, 2011

Hello everyone! This week has been amazing! We have been able to see the Lord blessing us for all of the work we have put in. I am grateful to be out here on my mission so I could put in that work. I have grown so much in putting in that work. I feel like a whole different person. Don't be afraid of a challenge – we are given these challenges to make us stronger. Each challenge we have is meant to teach us something, no matter how dismal it may seem. I promise you that you can grow from all of your adversities and that is what the Lord has intended for us to do.

Last Monday it was pretty fun. We were in Lawrence and we tried to play soccer but.... it was really hot and humid so we went to the church. I felt like I was going to pass out so I took it easy at the church. We then had a lesson with Tammy, who got baptized on Saturday. It was good. We have been sharing John chapter 21 with as many people as possible. It is a great story and tells us of how we need to cast away our nets. Just as Christ asked his apostles to stop fishing even though that was all that they knew.

Tuesday we had a really busy day. We taught 5 lessons and gave a baptismal interview. The woman I interviewed had some prior experiences that weighed on her mind so she felt she wasn't ready to be baptized. I tried to tell her I felt she was but we don't force anyone. We found a new investigator and had a good discussion with him until his family came home. His sister in law was a little argumentative but that is ok. We just bore our testimonies. We got transfer calls that night and we are both staying! I was so happy because we have lots of good stuff going on.

Wednesday was a little long. We had many of our appointments fall through. One of which made it so we will have to put off another baptism but that is ok. He will be baptized. We had dinner with Sis. Dawson, Part member family (PMF), and she had agreed to come on a church tour! We also had a great lesson with the Snooks, another PMF.

Thursday was a very busy day. We had transfers that day. When the bus came we usually get our supply orders. They didn't bring many supplies and we were a little frustrated but we found out why today. I guess because of money problems now we will have to pay for the DVDs we pass out..... it stinks but we will see how it goes. Transfers went well and we got a lot of work done because we didn't have to be there all day. We got interviews done for all 4 of the people we had set to be baptized on Saturday. It was very relieving.

Friday was a good day. We got to weekly plan and I made brownies for this lady in our ward who works at a dry cleaner and is doing our stuff for free! They came out pretty good. We then went to an appointment but it fell through so we went to a less active member's house that was close. I love how the Lord works! We were supposed to go there and give her a blessing. We also got to meet her grandson and now he wants to take the lessons. All of that came from an appointment that fell through.

Saturday was a great day! We got to hear from an apostle, Elder Russell M. Nelson. He was accompanied by Elder Whitney Clayton, Presidency of the Seventy, and Elder Curtis, a Seventy. It was really cool to hear from them. They just thanked us as a mission and told us about our calling. I have a greater respect for the missionary calling now. They told us many things that I cannot tell you because I would not do it justice but I assure you it was amazing! We then had to head back to the church right after to prepare for the baptisms we were having. It was a great service! I felt the spirit very strongly and could see the relief they had from their sins being washed away. I love baptisms because of the Spirit that is there. We then had dinner with a family and their nonmember daughter in law and grandson. It was great! We committed them for the 28th of this month to be baptized!

Sunday was good. We had all four confirmations. It was scary to give another one. I have done 3 on my mission and I still get nervous. I also feel the comfort from the Lord as I say what he wants me to say though. After church we had to gather numbers and that took FOREVER this week for some reason. I didn't like it. We had a good dinner that night and then got to see our recent converts. We just talked with them and shared some scriptures about our bodies being temples.

I love being out here on the mission. I love my trials and what I learn from them!

Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor

 Us Martha, Desarae, Sophia, Hunter, and Martha

 Tammy and her kids

 All whites!!!!

 Topeka District

 Hiawatha District

 E. Decker and I at transfers

May 2, 2011

This will be a quick run down we don't have much time at all.

So we have 4 people set to be baptized. 3 on May 14th and 1 on May 21st. Their names are Sophia Munoz, Martha Tetuan, Tammy Poynter, and Tommy Busom. Could you all please pray for them by name? Could you also pray for Melissa and Donavon Baker? This week has been really good and we are going to play a soccer game soon so I got to be there. I love you all! Oh and we have Elder Nelson, Bishop David A. Burton, and someone from the Presidency of the Quorum of the Seventy and another member of the Quorum of the Seventy coming on May 14th so it should be good! The church is true and the Lord is in control. I love the fact that we have free agency because that shows His immense love.

Sincerely,
Elder Zachary Taylor