September 26, 2011

Hello everybody! Another great week! Monday we had a bad p-day. Lots of miscommunication which lead to nothing being played.... that was a little frustrating. We had a good day though. My companion is very good at teaching people when we first talk to them. We did that with 2 people on Monday. We also had our first FHE with the Davis family. They liked it -- I hope they see that it can be something simple and they can figure out a way to include thier little kids.

Tuesday was a good day. We had some appointments but they fell through, I have come to see that there are a lot of flaky people in the world. It is hard to see people who would like to improve their lives but through their own destructive behavior they deny themselves what they really want. It creates sadness and the search to fill that hole with something -- drugs, alcohol, immoral behavior, and many other useless things that the world teaches will bring us happiness. Being a third party, it is easy to see that the so called "happiness" only lasts as long as there is a cigarette to smoke or alcohol in your flask -- as soon as that runs out one gets cranky and depressed. That goes to show that it isn't happiness -- it is just pleasure. That is why the gospel is something that everybody can have. It helps us to enjoy the journey we are all on to get back to living with our Heavenly Father. I love that the gospel can truly bring joy that lasts to our lives. It will last us for eternity, which sounds a lot better than until your flask is empty. I guess that would sum up my entire week. I really just learned about the joy there is in life and God's plan for us helps us find that joy and continue to use it throughout our lives. We had some interesting experences this week with some elders that were not getting along and it was because both were being prideful. That is something that will frustrate God's plan for each and every one of us. He requires us to be humble and trust in Him, not ourselves, which I am glad for because I have seen myself make all the decisions and it wasn't good at all. I testify that Jesus is the Christ, that He loves each and everyone of us. As long as we come to Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit we can enjoy the blessings of the atonement. That requires us to humble ourselves and put our pride away. I love Him and will serve Him until I drop! I love you all and hope you find the same joy in the gospel that I have.

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor

September 19, 2011

So this last week was really good! We were able to teach many people and contact lots of other people that we haven't been able to see in a long time. Just this morning we ran into a young man that we have taught and wants to be baptized! So we are excited for that. We have ran into many people in the library so that is really exciting!

Last Monday we played basketball and it just wasn't the same. There is nobody in the Topeka area that has basketball skills. When I am the best one by far you know that the game is struggling. We had FHE with the Davis family but they cancelled it. Tuesday we went to the Zoo and that was fun. Then we went on exchanges with Kaw Valley elders. I stayed in our area with E. Brilliant. He is different than I am but I like him. He is a good teacher. We were able to find 2 new investigators so that was pretty exciting. The highlight of Tuesday was running into a lady that was baptized into our church when she was younger and now her daughter is looking for a church so we are going to start teaching her.

Wednesday we had district meeting and it went very good. We were able to set some goals and learn how to lesson plan better and why it is important. It was good for lots of us to see and realize the importance. We then didn't see too much happen during the day. We taught Joyce and her son was there. We have seen many strides with him. He is coming around it is really great to see the spirit working with him! 

Thursday we had another good day. We taught this lady on the street. We couldn't decided if she was drunk or just tired. We also question if she is a prostitute or not. I know that those are all harsh things to say but she was a VERY interesting person. We had dinner with the Dawsons and we got to teach her daughter! It was cool because she came to her mom's baptism and was interested in a church tour. We also found 2 new people at Shawnnicka's place. We had to call our mission president to get some guidence on them. Friday was a very slow day. We didn't teach one lesson but we had a couple of member referrals so that is hopeful.

Saturday started off really bad. First off it was raining and I hate the rain. Then we had been asked to help someone move, which I like to do, but it was really far away and we burned TONS of miles. First they weren't there so we had to go to an appointment on the other side of town then we had to go back and it wasn't organized at all. I also got poked with some needle so that is a little scary. Come to find out it is a sewing needle so I will be ok. We had a miracle on team ups that night. We had an appointment with an investigator and we knocked on her door and she didn't answer for a long time. We stood there for a while trying to figure out where to go and she answered! She is looking for a family oriented church! We told her that this church is centered around the family. So we feel like she is very very promising.

Sunday was a regular day at church. We had a miracle with dinner. While we were there. The 17 year old daughter asked us how long we will be there for. She had invited a friend from school over and he was curious about the gospel. We stayed there and he is so GOLDEN! We are excited for him. He also plays football so I am excited because maybe we will be able to go to one of his games.

So that is it. Another week of God putting people into our path. We are so blessed as missionaries and I know that God lives and directs this work. He is happy when we, his children, are happy. He has a plan for each one of us. I love the happiness that comes from him.

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor

September 12, 2011

Hello everybody! So it feels like a really short time since I have emailed you. I am glad to report on an interesting week.

Wednesday after I email you we went to see our baptismal candidate, Joyce and Bradley. It went really well. She studies out of the Gospel Prinicples book taking notes and writing questions down. It is sweet! She is ready for her baptism. Bradley on the other hand is a crazy 9 year old boy so he just has the basics down. We then went and picked up our tire. It was nice to not be driving around on a donut. We had been since the previous Saturday. We then had dinner with our recent convert and broke the news that E. Harmon was leaving. She was very sad. We then taught 2 more of our baptismal candidates, Sayble and Kaelend. Sayble is the grandaughter of a member. We taught her with 2 other girls her age, one a member and one not. The one that isn't wants to be baptized she just needs to come to church. We then were able to say good bye to some more people. I also got a call about my new companion. He has a medical condition that I don't know how to explain and I don't know that it is my place to say. So I was told we would need to drive down to Wichita and be there with him until he got out and then drive back up.

Thursday morning we drove down to Wichita and met him at the hospital and then E. Harmon went to get on the transfer bus. It was sad to see E. Harmon leave because he is a great missionary and this ward and myself will miss him. E. Bryner is my new companion and he is from Sandy Utah. He is really cool and funny. I am going to love serving with him. So at the hospital we just talked a lot. I got hungry so I went down to the cafetiria to get some food. When I came back up 2 sisters were visiting elder bryner. It was cool because one of them goes home with me so I got to talk to her. The doctor told him he could leave as soon as he kept food down. He kept it down since 2 o'clock so he tried to get out that night but they said no. I stayed the night at some other elders place. E. Stapley's place, E. Bryner's old companion and a good friend.

Thursday he got out of the hospital at 2 o'clock so that was really good. While we I was there I just slept that day because I was very tired. We went and E. Bryner packed his stuff and we drove back to Topeka and went to dinner. We had a good dinner and then we went to teach the Davis family and Kaelend. Kaelend is excited about his baptism! He is very ready.

Saturday was a very very very stressful day. We had 4 baptismal interviews for our investigators at 12 and that went pretty good. Then afterwards we had something come up with one of our recent converts where she just got EXTREMELY stressed! She needed someone to talk to so we listened to her and talked about the holy ghost with her. She said she felt better about everything. We then had to go fill the font at the other church building because ours was booked up. We found out the other one was too but we filled the font anyway. So when we got there the small little metal door that is over the faucet for the baptismal font was locked and nobody has a key. So our choices were either to break the door or find another way. I found a screw driver and saw that there were some screws I could take out. So I did and took off the whole door covering frame and all. We needed to get this baptism done so I was willing to do whatever it took. I was also a little stressed at that point. We had the baptisms and they went well. Joyce was good. We thought it would be difficult with her because she is always in a wheel chair but everything worked out. We just had E. Harmon and I there and I baptized her. Bradley was all over the place and wanted to stay in the font for everyone else's baptisms. E. Harmon got to come back to the baptism so that was really cool! So we had 4 people baptized on Saturday and it was amazing to be part of that miracle.

Sunday was good! The confirmations went well and the ward handled the fact that Joyce couldn't get up to the stage well by having them in front of the stage. We had lunch with our baptist minister investigator and then did numbers. They took FOREVER because we have 2 new district leaders. We then went to dinner. It was really good. After we saw one of our district leaders and went over his responsibilities with him. He is very stressed and his motor runs a little tighter than most. It will be a good learning experience for him. This morning we all got hair cuts so that was very nice go get.

Well I love my mission and I love you all!

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor

September 7, 2011

Hello everybody! So I couldn't email on Monday because it was Labor Day and Tuesday we had too much going on so today is the first day we had some free time. This week was really good! We had lots of things to do. On Monday night some recent converts threw a birthday party for me and made cake. It was really really good.

Tuesday we had that appointment with the girl we keep running into at the library and she didn't show up. It was a little disappointing but it is her choice. We then went to teach our RLDS investigator. It went pretty well. She hadn't seen E. Harmon in our last couple of visits so she was happy to see him. We then went to get our oil changed. It took FOREVER!!!!!! We ended up getting a rotation, oil change, and 2 tires replaced. It took about 2 hours. I am not looking forward to having down time because I don't know what to do with it. We then had dinner at Cliff's house. It was really simple because we requested that it would be. We just wanted grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was delicious! We then had our appointment fall through so that was disappointing again.

Wednesday was good. We found 3 new investigators! We taught one and her name is Carley and she is really golden. We had dinner with Sis. Dawson and she made hot wings so you know that it was good! We had an appointment with a young lady and while we were there her boyfriend was on the X-Box. It was really annoying because of how distracting it was. She had asked him to turn it off but he wouldn't because he was online. So that lesson wasn't very smooth at all. Then we went and taught Bro. Davis' nephew, Kaelend. He is still very very solid!

Thursday we had Zone Leader Council. It was really good to see all those people again. So in this meeting we talked about musical instruments and if they should be approved or not. The thought is that if someone has one they feel like they can play whatever type of music they want, approved or unapproved, and by doing so it is a double standard. So we came to the conclusion that everyone who currently has an instrument may keep it but only play it on P-day and only play hymns. You are not allowed to buy one if you don't have it already because they are becoming a distraction. We also read the talk by Elder Packer about worthy thoughts and music. We then came home and taught Joyce and we invited her and her grandson to be baptized. They accepted! We have also seen a miracle in her son. He use to just play his game and not show any interest in us but now he listens to us.

Friday we had district meeting and it went well. We went on exchanges and I was with E. Christensen. We taught Carley and she accepted everything we had to say and we invited her for baptism. She accepted! We had Sis. Davis with us and she was very good. We then went to dinner and that was bomb! Then we found a new investigator and she just invited us into her house to teach her. It was really cool. That night we wrote a Declaration of Independence from the mission to the Assistants as a joke. E. Christensen wrote it and it was really good!

Saturday we had a busy day. Which started out with our tire popping.... ugh. So we put the donut on and went on our way. We exchanged back. We had a busy day though. Appointments at 12,1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6:30 it was crazy! A few fell through but 5 held. It was a really busy but fun day. At dinner we met their daughter who had just graduated from the LDS business college. She was a little bit awkward but it was funny. We then we over to our recent converts house and it was drama. After it all cooled down we got to teach their brother and he was a really down to earth guy.

Sunday was a good day. We had 2 investigators at church. We had the 4 baptisms we are suppose to have this Saturday announced and then realized that we hadn't talked to the building scheduler.... After sacrament I quickly walked up to her and first complimented her and offered her some candy I had. She laugh and I am sure that it softened her up so she didn't yell at me. Just kidding she was cool with it but it turns out we have to use the other building. We taught all of our baptismal candidates that day and one said he wanted to wait for his mom to be baptized which is good. We had dinner with the Shields family and their daughter was there. This is the lady who is trying to talk me into dating one of her grandaughters and now the mother of those grandaughters is at her house while we are eating dinner. It was funny cause she told her daughter that she wanted me to date her grandaughters. It was also awkward but whatever the whole mission is awkward.

Monday was a really good day. We had tons of people at basketball because it was Labor Day. We had enough for 5 on 5 on 5! Way fun but very very tiring. We had a good dinner and got to see Cliff afterwards.

Tuesday we had our first 2 appointments cancel on us. We then went to a place to get out tire fixed because our Car Czar was very picky about prices so we went to a member who would help us out. We then went to teach Carley again and we had Sis. Davis with us. Carley didn't want anything to do with us because she had been fed anti [NOTE - Zach is referring to "anti-Mormon" material]. It was really disappointing. We got in the house but she had a huge wall up. We are going to try to stop by again later this week. We had dinner with the Davis' too! It was really really good and we had a quick lesson afterwards. I love them! We then got transfer calls that night. I am staying in the Colly Creek ward but I will be serving with E. Bryner. He was just with one of my favorite missionaries and he says he is really cool so I am excited. It is weird to think he is my last companion.

Well I love you all!

Your Friend,
Elder Zachary Taylor