Happy Birthday Mom!!

Merry Christmas to y'all! I hope you had a good Christ and family filled week! I love all y'all and you mean so much to me! And if you see my mom tell her happy birthday number 25!!! I love her and am so grateful for her! I am like Nephi and have been raised by goodly parents! And I am like the sons of Heleman and do good just cause I have been taught in my youth by my mother! I love you mom! 

1. The highlight was the opportunity to talk with my family on Christmas! It was such an awesome time especially since i got the chance to Skype! I love my family and I love the support they give me on my mission! 

2. I got to have an interesting experience this week. There is a missionary that I was not a big fan of and I was praying that I would have the chance to grow in my ability to like him. So I got a chance. On the 23rd I got the worst feeling; a feeling that he had not received anything from his family for Christmas and I thought how bad that would be if that happened to me. His family supports him and all but they are just in a tough time with 3 kids on missions and 1 sister getting married. But i had the opportunity to call up the mission president's wife and tell her and she was so happy I did. She then called a senior couple who went out and got a few things for him. A few days later I was talking to his companion and he was telling me how much he loved and cherished those gifts that he had received. He told me about him ripping them open with joy on Christmas and I was so happy to be able to help him have a good Christmas. It was such a blessing to help someone out and not asking for any credit in return. Service is just so great! 

3. On christmas we spent a good part of the day with the Johnson family who opened their home to us so that we could skype our families! It was great! they are such a great family. Last night we had the chance to have dinner with them again and we got to talk a little. We talked about their conversion and how Jason, the dad, had been totally in active for 23 years. He had then decided to come back to church at the call of his uncle that told him "you need to help this branch and you need to lead your family back" so he did and there have been about 10 baptisms in his family since he has returned including his wife, Dale (who is the sweetest lady with a southern accent ask my family). Looking at the family today you could never tell they were inactive and Jason is probably one of the strongest members of the branch. ( i think i have told this story before but y'all are lucky to hear it again!)

 

4. Chance is Jason's step grandson. He is an awesome kid and we got to spend a good amount of time with him. He is one of the nicest and most friendly kids you will ever meet in your life. He has deshanes which is a type of muscular dystrophy. He also is a little slower mentally but he one of the sweetest kids you will ever meet. We became good buddies with him this week, it is just amazing how much love this guy has even though he was dealt such hard cards. But he plays them and he plays them with a smile. 

5. On christmas I decided to study both of the Christmas stories in the Book of Mormon and in the Bible. I came across something very interesting. The angels in Luke 2 tell the shepherds "PEACE on earth good will to men" Then i looked at the Book of Mormon account and it talks about the Nephite believers that are being threatened to death if the sign of Christ's birth does not appear. The sign appears and and the believers were not killed. Many of the wicked repented and were baptized then it says in 3 Nephi 1:23 "The people began again to have PEACE in the land." We then looked at the titles of Christ one of them being the prince of peace! Peace was truly on earth and in the land again! That is because the son of God the man who would bring peace to every soul was born and laying in a manger in Bethlehem! I hope you all can find peace in Christ this Christmas season! 

6. We had the opportunity to go to the Rogers who are a family in the branch, and spend christmas eve with them. They were so nice to us it was amazing! They went out and bought all four of the missionaries stockings and presents and they just did so much for us! They truly love the missionaries and they said they wanted it to be easy because being away from home in the holidays is not fun. it was just very kind of them. 

7. We had the opportunity to go out Saturday and it was drizzling so I gave Elder Milne my umbrella and I put on my rain coat and we went out to work. It rained on us sooooo much it was crazy! My legs and backpack were soaked to the bone! But we had the chance to give someone a Book of Mormon! So it was a successful day! The whole time we walked I was humming and singing, not even the weather can damper my spirits! I wish i was like that every day! I just have to say that "today is the best day of my life"

8. I have a new favorite scripture in the book of Joshua 3:5 " And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you." and 15-17 "And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)16That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. 

I just love these scriptures and talking about faith and that as we get our feet a little wet and as we show the Lord that we are willing to do a little work and get dirty he will do miracles and mighty works among us if we just simply obey him! 

9. Me and Elder Milne and I got to teach sunday school and it was a really good lesson! We talked about building Zion up! It was amazing, we got the silent sunday school class to speak up and it was such a blessing! We only had about 10 minutes to prepare and only got through about a paragraph in the book. What a blessing and what a good thing it was ! 

10. Brother John Booker is a less active that we ran into on Saturday night, a random name we picked because he lived close. When we knocked he let us in, gave us dinner and talked to us for an hour. He then came to church the next day and was a totally active member. He just jumped right in and he is even helping out in the upcoming New Year's day breakfast! It was just cool to see a member just jump back in after being gone for 4 years and how well he worked with us, we just happened to catch him at home and talk with him!  Blessings!!! 

Hope you all have a great New Year, may we start this new year of 2014 with greater love for Christ and our fellowmen! 

Elder Taylor

Merry Christmas!

So i forgot my list so i will try my best to remember the blessings of this week. Sorry if it is a little less informative

1. Half mission conference was great! it was so awesome! i guess i should explain! Our mission is so darn spread out that we couldn't get together as a whole mission for Christmas, but instead we got to see this half of the mission, but thats alright. Plenty of friends were there! It is always so cool getting to see friends and missionaries i love so much! it is a true blessing! we had some great musical numbers and then we all brought stockings for a specific missionary and got to exchange them! it was a cool and fun experience! It was also good to be back in Florida for a few hours!! 

2. President Smith gave a beautiful talk on obedience. He talked about so much great stuff! I wish all y'all could have been there and felt of his love for the missionaries and the Lord! He is just a man i look up too so much! he talked about trials! he talked about when he brought his sweetheart of a wife to meet his parents when they were first engaged that his mother turned around and stormed off because she didn't like her. He then related that to missionary work. that people we work so hard and love so much will just turn and walk away from something else we love so much. we cant force them. we can't make them, it will hurt but we will do out best. 

3. Our mission has been putting a video together for a few months now! This is the kind of final product. If you ever wondered what the day in the life of a missionary is like, here it is! I just love seeing this and watching this!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TeauEyd6ek 

4. We got to go cut a tree down! the age old question of if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound has been answered! YES it sounds like a bomb blowing up.. it is darn crazy!! We chopped some wood for brother Joe Gregson who got in an accident a few weeks ago and is recovering, just very very slowly! 

5. Mrs. White is a nice elderly lady we ran into the other day! it was so cool experience, she was just so impressed about what we go out doing! She was just so proud that in a day when the world has low to none morals that we would sacrifice so much time to go preach about Christ! It gave here hope in this world. Then she told us how much she loved "that old Mormon boy Romney". It was pretty funny! She said he stood up for Christ when others didn't! She said he won in the eyes of God which was a cool thing to think about. She also said something to us about the work we were doing and Romney did! "you'll get your pay just on a later day"! love it! eternal life is the pay we should all be shooting for! 

 

6. We had an interesting talk in priesthood that I thought could go for a lot of ward and branches out there. We talked about missionary work, they said why would the Lord give us new members when we can't even go see our home teaching families! They talked about the potential this area has but how nothing really happens and they blamed it on home teaching, which makes sense. They all rededicated to working hard to do home teaching next month and year! I think if we can strengthen this branch many converts will come and stay and then it will be a ward! 

7. There is a quote i loved by Gordon B. Hinckley this week! It talks about what really makes a successful missionary. It says "do your best, your very best. say your prayers and work hard and leave the harvest to the Lord"  I just love that!

8. I have been working on that quote above this week and I think I'm getting the hang of it. I think I can see myself slowly losing myself and turning my heart to the Lird. As I do this it is amazing to see the change that is taking place. I love it, i love seeing me become the person that i have the potential to be! It is a blessing and I hope to be as great of a missionary that God gave me the potential to be. I think I still have lots and lots of room for improvement! 

9. It is kind of weird how a mission changes you, I have noticed this week. We had a lesson on building zion in sunday school and its odd how my desires for my life have changed. We had to make a top five for our bucket list and i thought how different that list was from 9 months ago!  There wasn't much about rugby or doing crazy stuff with friends. It was about the important things God gave us. The important things like family , missionary work and fulfilling callings. It is amazing how I have focused on things that I thought were way too far off to even consider but now i can see them clearly in the not so far distant but that are more important than some temporal things i used to focus on!

10. Baptist churches out here have the best marquee signs in front of their buildings. My favorite of the week made me laugh! It said, "Remember stop, drop and roll don't work in hell!" I hope none of you need that advice but it made me laugh a little bit! 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! And remember Christ's atoning sacrifice in this Christmas season! Love all y'all!

Elder Taylor

PHOTOS: 

1. This is Elder Preston Davis! He is the first missionary I met in the field! he sat next to me on the transfer van from tally to marianna! He is a stud and a great friend now! He took care of me when i was a shellshocked newbie! He still laughs at me for that

2. Our car

3. Merry christmas to yall! Here is my virtual christmas card! im in the court house they filmed to kill a mocking bird! but i love you all and hope you are having a christ-centered christmas! i also hope you are having a southern Alabama christmas! fattening and full of family!

with love

elder taylor!!!

ftm, Follow Thou Me

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

1. We had a sad start of the week. A good pioneer of the Monroe branch, Alfred McKinley, passed away so we went to his service this Saturday. we were blessed with the chance to give him the sacrament just a few days before he passed and he could tell his time was getting close but he was still being the goofy guy that everyone remembered. It was a beautiful service and the church had the wonderful opportunity to testify of the gospel and the plan of salvation to plenty of non-members and less-actives. I'm so grateful of the knowledge the gospel has given me about what happens after this life!

2. On a brighter and more happy note, one of the other missionaries serving in the area got transferred so we decided to have a good send off for him. Elder Milne and I purchased some shaving cream and then walked into his apartment and ambushed him! it was great and a lot of fun! We got picture of the aftermath. 2 sets of elders across the street from each other is great! So if any of you have some good pranks don't be afraid to share them!

3. We got a car!!! WHAT A BLESSING THAT IS A NEW '14 CAROLLA!! Oh man it has been so great especially with these freezing temperatures, the new rule of no riding bikes after dark, also with limited miles we save a lot more driving only one car to a meeting we both go to! What a blessing! I do love the new heater also!  blessings for working hard i guess!!!

4. So I had a really big reading week! I finished the book Jesus the Christ, I read it from cover to cover. I have been reading for a few months but it is such a good book and explains it so well! James E Talmage, the author, knew his stuff. I just had to read it with a dictionary cause i think he makes up a few words in there cause they are pretty big! But i made it through and man did that enlighten me so much on the life of Christ and his mission and I am grateful for that book! I am also half done with the book our heritage, talking about the trials that the early saints went through! Man did the Lord sure send them through a refiners fire! I also have started the old testament and have read Genesis and half of Exodus and all i can say is, man there are some weird stories in the Old Testament. Good but super weird, I can see why some aren't taught in primary! My favorite verse of the old testament has been in genesis talking about how Jacob worked for his wife Rachel! it says " And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her." I know I'm a missionary but all i can saw is aww that is darn cute! I also finished my first journal and am getting really good at writing nightly!

5. We we able to go to mutual this week and had a party for a youth in the ward who is the nicest kid you ever will meet. He has deshanees disease which is a very aggressive form of muscular dystrophy, but he is still one of the most smiling kids you have ever meet! We played white elephant with all the youth and me and Elder Milne scored a sweet mini fooseball table! We totally got the best present out of them all!

6. We went to see our good friend Brother Siezmore in the nursing home and had a good talk with him. He was so bored he was wheeling himself in circles. He was happy to see us and we gave him a "ride" he was so happy to be out and about! IT just brightened his day when we were able to bring him out and show him around for a bit. he was very grateful and wanted to make sure we would be back soon enough to give him another ride!

7. We had another slow week till Saturday! We had some awesome success! We walked around and in an hour gave out 5 Book of Mormons and taught a bunch of lessons! It was so cool! and such a blessing to see all these people and as we talked to them they grew in interest! The Lord has seen us working hard and is slowly giving us more work to do!

8. After that successful walk in the park we went to an investigator, Peaches ( Lorea is her real name) ,and her husband Arthur who are an older black couple. Peaches just had a surgery so we just wanted to stop by and it turned in to a 45 minute discussion on trials but i was guided in the conversation as i turned to 1 peter 4: 12-13 a new favorite of mine it reads "12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery atrial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 13 But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." I love what peter says here. He is saying that we should be happy with the fact we have trials becasue we get to partake of the suffering that Christ went through and as we do this we feel as he did and we become closer to him! trials are blessings! Something i have learned so much on my mission!

9. We were able to go and talk with the young men about missions which is always a blessing! It really opened my eyes and I told them that our job was to save lives and do this wonderful work! WE ARE DOING THE MOST IMPORTANT WORK THAT THERE IS, PERIOD!  We are in the business of saving souls! I know that God loves all his children and wants us to go find them! He helps us and guides us to these loved ones that means oh so much to him! it is such a blessing to be a part of this work!

10. Sunday a brother told us of a story.. He watched on tv about a football player that gave up a lot and ended up in jail after a lot of bad choices. The boy who recently changed and saved his own life said something that I love. He said " show me your friends and I will show you your future!" It is amazing how much of an influence that friends have on us. So I am so grateful for all of my friends! I have been blessed to have so many great friends who I love so much! it is such a blessing!

I am eternally grateful for all those who even had the slightest influence on me over the years. I love you all

Elder Taylor

T

Squirrel is the best tasting rat I ever done eat

1. So the other day I was a little discouraged, I received a letter from my last area saying they have 2 baptisms coming up and they are both people that Elder Farris and I met and taught but they weren't there yet. But now they are ready and primed fro baptism so it was a little bit of a bummer to do all the work but get no result. But President Smith made me feel better about all this, he told me to read D&C 18:15 "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" He then told me that nowhere does it say we must baptize these people, but as long as we help their conversion we did our job! So that made me feel a lot better about that!

2. The weather has been crazy bi polar! It was in the 80s then it rained for a bit, then it was super humid, then it got to freezing! Oh man it was so darn crazy! The weather can't make up its own mind! One day we were out biking and we were triyng to find some people but then it started to sprinkle. It was hot so we were in short sleeves, it started to pour and pour so we decided to bike home. It turned out it was a flash flood and just starting as we got back on our bikes! It poured and poured and we were soaked to the bone by the time we got home, but it was a fun adventure!

3. We had a tough week and all our appointments feel through, it was a really big bummer! But as we were riding one day I was a little sad but then people started to ask us what we do! So we got three new investigators and they all came up to us!

4. We had a morning surprise this week! We woke up and went out side and there was a big parade coming by right outside! It was a little funny good morning thing! No one told us Monroe has a Christmas parade but we got front row seats!

5. I got to eat squirrel! A member decided to fry us some squirrel, which ended up being really good! It tasted almost exactly like chicken but a little tough. I encourage you all to go out in your backyard with your 22 and get a squirrel then fry it up! It's a tasty little snack!

6. I heard a great analogy about hogs! So people are like hogs, they will eat acorns all day long but they will never look up to see where these acorns came from. Just some words of wisdom from a ward member! I really like that because we need to be grateful and we aren't very grateful very often. We need to look up to our source of acorns more and more often!

7. I loved the Christmas devotional on BYU TV last night! It was the first presidency of the church talking about the true meaning of Christmas. The best part was when Elder Nelson talked about the little children and they all sat around him and sang "I'm trying to be like Jesus!" If you watch closely there is one little boy who winks at a girl during a closeup of that song, I almost died! It was so darn funny! But kids really do capture the essence of Christmas! So y'all should to!

8. So we have some celebrated celebrities from this small town of Monroeville who include Harper Lee and Truman Capote, both are from here but we got one more awesome famous celebrity person to add to that list! The fruitcake lady from Jay Leno!  A random guy decided to show us some videos of that, that was a fun awkward experience!

9. So i will be staying in Monroeville for the next six weeks! I will be great, I am very excited to see what will happen and where things will go! I also get to spend Christmas here! So I'm excited for a blue and orange Christmas! go Auburn!

-------10. This is the negative ten of the week! So to start off the week we were walking home last Monday and I saw a kitty in this big abandoned field so I ran after it cause it kept meowing. After a while it wouldn't come to us but it would follow us. So Elder Milne named him after Troy Bolton from High School Musical and he kept following us onto the street, so I tried to scare him back into the bushes and he ran all the way around and back into the middle of the street and missed a car then got nailed by the second car. Our kitty was murdered right in front of us! It was on a road that we walk on daily so we have to walk by his body every day! Ann if that wasn't bad enough, three days later we were riding bikes and Elder Milne named a cat Troy Bolton Jr. and it too got nailed by a car right in front of us! Elder Milne agreed to not name any more cats and I think that is a very good thing!

Pictures!

Riding in the rain

Robert E Lee Street

I cook! Our apartment used to be a sisters apartment so it has all this cooking stuff here

War Eagles

We had a great week this week! and we learned a lot. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving and you all remembered what you are grateful for and what God has blessed you with! I know there is a lot that he did bless all y'all with! 

1. We had a zone training where we got to spend time as a zone and with the stake president. The stake president is an awesome guy! He is just different and he told us to be different! That is how you get people interested .He said that when he would go tracting or knocking on doors in his mission he had a different approach than any other elder in the mission. He said he would knock and ask " do you know me?" They would respond "NO!" they had never seen him before he would then quickly reply " well do you know Jesus Christ" they would say "yes!" and his final reply would be " well Christ sent me as a representative to your home today and he wants you to get to know me!" He said people would be shocked when he would do that but because he was different people liked him! He was still himself when he was in missionary mode, so I am trying to apply that to myself even more!

2. He then told us a story about prayer! As a kid he was very poor and had no money. One winter they had no food to eat so his dad, a city slicker, decided he would go hunting! So he buys a gun and a license and says a prayer with faith that God would provide meat for him and his family to eat, and off into the woods he heads! After hours he sees something moving along a ridge above his head which he climbs up to! There was just a few torn up trees nothing else but then he heard a roar and looked up and about 50 yards away was a bear and he was in between the bear and his honey tree! So he gets his gun as the bear stares him down and decides to charge! He fires and hits it while falling back on his butt in the mud! The bear fell down the hill, he thought he had just scared it off but as he reached the base he saw the bear sitting straight up against a tree stump the bullet which he thought had missed went down the bear's throat and down his spine and out his belly button; a perfect shot! The moral of this story is have a specific prayer because God answers specific prayers and non specific prayers! He said his dad after that experience never prayed for just meat but a dear! So be careful when praying you will get your answer, just not in a way you expect it!

3. The zone leaders then talked about finding people to teach and they talked about pools where we can "fish"; there are ways to find that are more effective and less effective. Less effective would be tracting, more effective would be member referrals and part-member families! But he then said there is one pool that is locked from us right now. That pool is the spirit world! They then said that the church has sent 12 missionaries to go work in that field this year alone, which is a sad but humbling fact. It is our job on this side to find those who need to accept the gospel so that their deceased families can have their ordinances done for them! It was such an interesting concept that as we work through family history we will have the spirit on helping us and encouragement given to our investigators from the other side of the veil by deceased family that is eagerly waiting to accept this gospel! Family history is real and does work!

4. There was a quote by David A. Bednar that helped me this week and I hope will help you! He is talking about revelation and when we do receive a prompting and how we can discern that from our own thoughts! His answer to this was "everything that invites and entices us to do good and be good is from God" I really like that we don't know when our thoughts persuade us to do something but if it is good and is moral, then it is from God!

5. Oh man, Iron Bowl! I envy all you who got to watch that! But boy was that a weird thing! The city was a ghost town during that game! You could see tumble weeds brushing through town! It was crazy! We had to come back home 'cause no one wanted to talk and there was no one to even talk to! But it was a good game! The second counselor in our branch presidency is the only Auburn fan in the Branch and boy I had never see that guy smile so much in his life! People in Alabama love their football! War eagle!  ( that means go auburn! mom) The quote of the day came from Bro Fralick, the guy I was just talking about. He said "God must be an Auburn fan cause he made the sun orange and the sky blue!"

6. Thanksgiving was a crazy day! We had 3 dinners! The first was at Kenny Roy Johnson's at noon and consisted of boiled peanut (YUM), coon and sweet tators (gross) deep fried turkey (yum) and the best Pecan pie you ever did have! I was missing something great when I didn't eat pecan pie at home it is so good! It is also awesome, pecan trees are everywhere they fall and you just grab a few and crack them and man those are the sweetest snack you can get! Dinner two was at the Cosper's (a family in the ward) we had turkey and dumpling which was so good and chocolate pie! Then we had a huge feast at Marion Johnson's and by the end of the night you couldn't pay me to take another spoon full of anything! I have never been so full in my life, it was great!

7. We did a service project for a member of the ward , Joe Gregson, who hurt himself a few weeks ago. We helped pull all his corn! It was a good little job, the weeds were as high as the corn stalks so we were all scratched up when we were climbing through the weeds to get that corn! It was good hard work! I'm grateful for machines who do that work now and weed killers! That was some good work but so much fun! It was great service, I have truly learned that when you are in the service of your fellow man you are also in the service of your God! Joe was so grateful but on Sunday he said he could tell some city slickers were helping because there were a few pieces of corn stock in the big bin of corn!

8. We got to spend Sunday with some members, one was buck lane! He is the funniest guy you will ever meet. We sad around with some of his family for a hour or so and he was laughing telling us stories and having a good time! He is so positive and always looks at the bright side. It is great to see this positive recent convert that wants to do anything he can to help this church! He also has the cutest 8 month old ever! babies are the best!

9. Things missionaries are grateful for! Mail, members who feed us! Members who drive us, members at all, referrals, food, tracting, jackets, bug spray, ties, friends, sweedish fish, did i say mail yet ;) awesome families, teaching, the opportunity to serve, the gospel, The Book of Mormon, Most importantly Christ!  Without him we would have nothing! Just a few things I was grateful for this Thanksgiving season.

10. This is my challenge to you all in this busy time of the year! Take time to watch this video and remember the true reason of Christmas! It might not be the day Christ was actually born but we celebrate the fact he was born! Remember Christ as you get busy! And give a gift to someone this season like these kids, a gift without a price tag! I promise you will have a happier and more joyful season! 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2874125972001

I love you all and grateful for you!

Elder Taylor

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Tide or Tigers?

I'm am grateful for all of you! And for this awesome opportunity to be a missionary! Happy Birthday to my awesome Grandpa Larry!  Life is good! I do not have much to complain about! 

I'm sad to hear that a good friend of mine, Ginger, (who I mentioned a few weeks ago) passed on. Oh how great is the knowledge of the plan of salvation and how much it blesses us knowing it! (and teaching it to others!) She has returned to her father in heaven and is now in a great place! I also just heard for my last companion that 2 of the people we were teaching will be baptized on Christmas day!  I'm also grateful for this great week and a pretty good top 10, if i do say so myself!

1. We had an awesome lesson with a single mother, Katrina! we just dove in and the first thing she asked was where hell was. So instead of teaching the restoration lesson we answered a lot of her questions about what the purpose of life is! So we talked for almost 2 hours! She had some pretty good questions and she seemed really receptive. she is our only really solid investigator! But it went well, we taught a lot but it was hard to avoid some deeper stuff that she was talking about! It went well we are excited to meet with her again soon!

2. Mary Thames is a lady that the sisters we replaced were teaching! We met with her last Monday and talked to her for a while. She found the missionaries because she just flagged them down one day and said "I need to talk with you guys!" So that is cool and we hope to see her progress soon!

3. Ralph chambers is a less active member that we have seen a few times. He loves the missionaries but has a little bit of a word of wisdom problem! and a little bit is an understatement! But that is alright, we can still work with that! He is a great guy, he always tells us that our missions are so great and we learn and grow so much from them. It's like he went on a mission but so far we have no idea if that is true!

4. Brother Siezmore is an old branch president that we see often! He has parkisons and is in a nursing home but he loves it when we come and visit him! It has been kind of amazing how much he has gotten better since he has been getting visitors! It is like a life change! He is a different man! But whenever we come in he plays and jokes with us and then has us read him scriptures because his eyes are bad! But he is so sweet and so nice and he just loves the gospel so much!

5. On Sunday we had branch Thanksgiving dinner! You would have thought there was a turkey for every person there! There was so much food! It was crazy, we ate for an hour and that food disappeared fast! But it was a good little social for being a small branch. A lot of people showed up and a lot of people but man i was stuffed! I also decided i need to marry a southern girl that can make me chicken and dumplings! Boy is that stuff good. I love my dumplings!

6. Elder Milne and I were reading in preach my gospel this week and stumbled across something that i loved! it says "heaven is the continuation of the ideal home"! I really liked that! To know we can still have heaven on this earth but it all starts in the home! It is amazing how everything goes back to families. That is what god wants for us, to be happy in our families! Families are awesome! I have a pretty darn good one!

7. Brother Marion Johnson, the branch patriarch was telling a story and said something that he has applied since he was little and it is a great example of diligence! He said,  "Its alright to try and fail. Try and fail but never fail to try again" It was great and goes so well with the gospel! Sadly God only has us imperfect mortals to work with so I'm glad he is forgiving! He doesn't care how much we fail or how often, all he cares is that we keep going instead of sitting in the dirt and waiting for something to change!

8. The other day we were looking for a less active's home and thought we found it . It was 530, so dark, and we knocked and saw a dog that was pretty big that sketched me out then an even bigger dog came out of a dog house! It was more of a horse than anything else! Elder Milne said "oh... big dog time to go!' So we jumped on our bikes and ran ! Luckily the dog was chained but we aren't huge fans of ginormous dogs!

9.There are two members I talked about last week, Joe and Kenny Roy, they are cousins but act like little kids together. Joe just broke his back so he sat out in the foyer during sacrament and as the talks went out, kenny roy stole candy out of his wife's purse and threw it to his wounded comrade out it the hall! It was pretty funny especially since they are both in their 60's and looked more like 6.

10. The most awkward moment of the week was when Elder Milne told a member that for his talk he should talk on the law of chastity. So we go t there on Sunday and he gave a 45 minute talk on chastity... oh boy it was tough! The branch president told him to wrap it up! So we all blamed Elder Milne for the awkward sacrament!

Saturday will be a long day for us. Alabama is playing the Auburn Tigers and boy the town will clear out for that! It's better than Christmas, especially this year! A few members have invited us to come watch it!  My vote is for Auburn cause who really likes Alabama?

Love you all,

Elder Taylor

A Week of Surprises!

I would  just like to say sorry to everyone to the lame letter last week! I hope this one will be a lot better!!!

1. First off this transfer is going to be hard! Not because we are whitewashing! or in a super huge area! BUT CAUSE my comp is a diabetic! So with that he always has candy! And because he always has candy I have candy! So my work outs have gone down and the amount of junk has gone way up!  It is pretty funny actually I have eaten more lollipops and suckers in the last 3 weeks than my whole life! So that is something I'm trying to work on ! Eat healthy!!! Let;s hope it works, but I doubt it....

2 The other day we were off biking around in a smaller satellite city in our area. As we started to bike, a lady pulled out of a parking lot and pulled right next to us. Usually when this happens it is a bad thing.. so I was a little worried that Elder Milne was about to get into a nice Bible bash! The lady rolled down the window and told us to go into smokQuess that we were in front of! She ended up owning the restaurant and had a cousin that was a member of the church and had gone on a mission! She missed her cousin so much so she decided to help us out and buy us lunch! That day we were driving with the other missionaries in the area and they had biked the other way! So they were surprised when we showed up an hour later with full stomachs and a box of leftovers! 

3. So last week I complained it was cold but I lied! It turned out a real cold front came through and man was it cold! One day we biked to a city, Excel, nearby, which was about 7 miles. We left in long sleeve shirts cause it was in the 60's by the time we had made the ride it was in the 50's with about 15 degree windchill! Oh man that was no fun, it was a cold few days! It is crazy how cold it can get with the moisture in the air! It will bite right to the bone! But today its 75 and sunny! Just the funny weather in the south!

4. That night we had biked out to that city, Excel, it was about 5:30 the sun was down and it was freezing! We found a family that lived in the area and was that a relief! We went into the warm house and talked for a while! The mom called us silly for not bring jackets! So we haven't forgotten them since that! That was when we heard about the Typhoon in the Philippines! That was scary hearing about how the missionaries were still scattered all over the place! So my thoughts and prayers go out to them because i know if i was out there my mom would have swam out there and fought off some sharks if i was a missing missionary! So i hope they have all been found by now! Scary stuff! instead of those members making us bike back in the now 30's with 20 degree wind chill they gave us a ride home! Oh how great it is to have friends!

5. Kenny Roy Johnson is our ward mission leader and he is as country as a man can get! He has a 7th grade education but you could never really tell that if you didn't ask. He is just a poor old country boy that loves hunting. He goes down to farms and hunts wild boar for a living! Coolest kind of pest control i have ever heard about! But the only thing he loves more than hunting is the gospel! He is awesome. After church he took us to go see a bunch of the ward. He drove his beat up hunting truck that had at the very least 3 guns we could see! Much less than those that we could not! He was just a fun guy that showed us where he grew up and how much it had meant to him to grow up out in the sticks! They don't come much nicer than Kenny Roy. His joke is this, "in the bible you know john in the wilderness. well I'm a john-son in the wilderness" 

6. Jason and Dale Johnson ( the main family in the branch is Johnson if you haven't caught on yet!) They are an awesome family that we had lunch with the other night. Jason was less active from 16 to 40 which was just 2 years ago. He said he was just doing bad stuff with bad people and one day Kenny Roy gave him a talk and told him he needed to do his work and preside over his family, and like that he changed! The Jason today is impossible to look at and see what he said he was! It is amazing, he has to be the strongest member in the ward and most likely the next Branch president! He is just awesome and in the last 2 years he has baptized about 10 of his grandchildren and a bunch of them live with them! It is amazing, he treats those kids like they are his own and most of them are his step-grand youngins. He is just a great guy and his wife made us a turkey for lunch just cause we came over! 

7. Joe Gregson is a member of the branch that had a really bad accident. They were doing some country engineering and he fell 20 feet right on his back off a fork lift. The whole ward says the only reason he is alive is because the second it happened he got a blessing! He is in pretty bad shape, he broke his back in 2 places and all his ribs, but he is still alive. He is a great guy right now though, he is just sad because he thinks he will never be able to do what he used to! It is really sad seeing a man so outdoorsmen being confined to a recliner is really tough on him. But it is amazing that in 3 weeks he as come so far so that is a blessing for Joe.

8. The other day we were out trying to find people that had been taught 3 years ago and stumbled across a nice lady. She was so excited when we told her about the Book of Mormon and all, she even told us to visit all her friends who were also very receptive! It was just so great seeing how be talking to one person you can meet a bunch of people that are really open! It was a blessin for us when we have no one to teach right now.

9. So yesterday we got to church and about 5 minutes before sacrament started I was told I was speaking. The person who was supposed to speak and his back up both were sick. So I had 5 minutes to prepare a talk! So I went by the spirit and gave a 20 minute talk on covenants! it is amazing, I could have never done that before my mission but now I did it easy! It is a blessing to see how confident I now am and how well I know the gospel. I was throwing out scriptures and stories like crazy, it shocked me. I'm grateful for that experience no matter how nervous i was!

10. I'll end with a quote I love by Ezra Taft Benson about Jesus Christ and how He makes us better. " The Lord works inside out. The world works outside in. The world would take the people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of the people and they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment, Christ changes men who then change their environment. The world would mold human behavior but Christ can change the human nature" Christ wants us to change! That is the great thing about him!

Love you all and praying for you,

Elder Taylor 

PHOTOS: 

1. One cold night looking out over a dark cotton filed! field is white already to harvest and the hour of darkness where no labor can be performed is close at hand! Jacob 5 :71 best describes this picture

2. The nelsons, an awesome less active family I love in Marianna! 

3. Me and Elder Milne!

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It's cold in the south!

We had a good long week but we didn't have too much success which is tough! But we are learning a lot, about the area and ourselves!

1. We met what seem to be some super solid investigators. They are really receptive and seem to enjoy our visits so that is good. We always like when people like us! So we are happy to have them. the wife's name is "peaches" I thought that was pretty funny but we will see what happens with them! 

2. I got to see President and Sister smith again! They came to interview everyone else! So that was cool i got to talk with them. It is amazing how much they love us and how comfortable we are with them! WHEN YOU MEET THEM YOU know that they love you which is so great! President Smith said that he trusts me 100 % and although I'm not in any leadership he knows I'm a leader. He really likes buttering us all up! But we enjoy it 

3. So p-day is way better when you have other elders. We get to do a lot more fun stuff! We actually  are able to go out and do fu stuff like sports that sisters never wanted to! So we have been doing soccer and basketball on Mondays! Oh I also learned how to cut hair so did Elder Garn! we cut each other's and it actually looks pretty good! Elders are more fun!

4. I CAN COOK! Yes y'all are reading that right, it is true!! The other night I made teriyaki chicken and rice! And it tasted good! Yes i used an oven and all! I'm actually learning how to cook since them members live so much [not sure what that sentence means but Elder Taylor told us that they don't usually eat with members in this area]! It is going to be a good learning experience! I  actually like it so if anyone has good cheap recipes send them my way!!!

5. Y'all might not believe this but it is darn cool! It has been so cold lately! YOU MIGHT SAY OH THERE IS NO SNOW but i promise it's true! It's been in the 40's most nights and it feels colder than Rexburg! It is because of the humidity! It doesn't matter how bundled you are it is still humid and way cold! You need to experience it to know what it feels like.

6. We did a big service project and a place way up in our area. It is owned by a museum and they did pioneer days. So we went up there on Saturday and helped them move things and do stuff, it was pretty interesting stuff! I'm just glad I'm not a pioneer that settled in the south that would be a rough life!!!

7. We did some awesome random service last week, it was great! We saw a wedding at a random church and out appointment canceled so we ran in and started to help in the clean up! It was great, they loved it! I helped the pastor vacuum and do a few other thing then they gave us all the left over food! We are proving that mormons aren't crazy one pastor at a time!

8. So i started a new thing. Everyday I write down a quote of the day, usually a funny quote! But darn it has been really cool. I stole the idea from a sister who served with me in Marianna! And it has been cool! I have enjoyed it and got some good funny quotes! My favorite so far is " God gave us the sunshine and we give them the moonshine!"

9. We are at a members emailing because they have a son on a mission! They knew that everything would be closed and they have a son on a mission so they decide to look out for us. They provided 3 computers and a lot of food, which we appreciate! great people and really funny!

10 So i have to cut this letter short being at a members and all but i love you all and am grateful for you and you love so keep praying for me and i will keep praying for all yall! 

Elder Taylor

Sweet Home Alabama!

WOW has it been an eventful week! My first transfer! New area new comp! New everything! Here is my week!

1. So the other day we found that we are now a pilot mission for Salt Lake! Our mission president has been hitting family history hard! And really wants us pushing that for teaching and re-activations and even finding! So we have caught the eye of Salt lake! So everything we do relating to family history is being reported back to Salt Lake to see if they want to do this WORLD wide!  So it is exciting times in the Florida Tallahassee mission!  

2. We have an district activity every 6 weeks were we get to go do something fun! So this week we got to go bowling again which I won again! Ya im really good, I know! I think I'll just give up on this whole college thing and be a professional bowler! I like that! after that we went and had my last lunch in Marianna we got some soul food! That was good, I got some deep fried ribs! Oh man oh man were those good! Never thought of that one before but that was great! Try it if y'all ever get a chance!

3. Transfer day was Wednesday and that was a crazy crazy day! I rode all the way out to Pensacola, Florida ready to go to Mobile, this big city! Instead the zone leader directs me to Monroeville Alabama! It was a totally change up of what I was expecting! Going from big city to a Podunk town!  Man that was a huge adjustment! It is similar to Marianna but it is way more spread out! Well, that was unexpected. So we get in with a member, Brother Fralic, and we drive for about 2 hours to his house, oh we replaced sister missionaries by the way. And we helped him out till he could take us back to the church to meet the branch president and all. During that time we helped him cut off dear antlers, I got a chunk of deer brain flung at my eye! Not very fun stuff! Then we helped him worm cattle he gave the medicine and stuff . Tt was quiet an odd day ending with the tiny trunk or treat meeting half of the ward in the parking lot of the church. Most interesting transfer that I have been on!  

4. So now a little about Monroeville! If you are from this town you don't say Monroeville it is Morovlll that is how everyone says it! It's like they start talking and they finish with a mouth full of something! It is so funny! But it is a huge area, twice the size of Marianna and we only have one car! So I will be biking a lot! The other day we biked about 20 miles and man was that a work out! But we do have a sweet mission truck cause there are so many dirt roads! Crazy little town of morovll!

5. History of the town this is one of the oldest towns in the great state of Alabama! It is also the home to two famous writers! Harper Lee and Truman Capote! It is way crazy how much they love those two writers! This town is where the book To Kill A Mockingbird was placed, just under a different name! They have a huge museum in the center of town and they have the court house will they filmed that movie! So To Kill A Mocking Bird is the pride and joy of this little town!

6. Elder Milne is my new comp! He has been out for about 6 weeks! so he is still a little green but that is alright! He is an awesome kid! Super goofy so we get along just great, we don't get too stressed, we just laugh a lot! He is from Logan Utah (im sorry for him) and just graduated! He has some sweet super man and batman sheet that he sleeps with every night and man I'm jealous they are cool! He is also a diabetic and has Asthma! so he has a lot of health stuff but he takes it fine! He has a scholarship to play corner at Dixie so he is a solid little athlete!

7.  We had a solid week for being so out of it! We taught a ton of new people so I am grateful that things are working out and that we are getting off to running start. We got 5 new investigators this week so that was a totally blessing! Let's hope it continues that way! The lord has work for US to do!!!

8. Whitewashing is hard! Sometimes I have no idea what I am doing! actually a lot of times, but that is alright, it is learning! It is also hard to be training under these circumstances but it is alright, I am learning and growing The Lord and President Smith must trust me a lot to let me do this! So lets pray that I come through with this!

9. We have two super solid elders helping us getting started and man is that a blessing but it is super weird! I am the oldest time wise,  I have been on my mission the longest of them all! It was weird to find that out! They are way cool, Elder Garn and Elder Parsons! So we have been rolling around town in a group of 4 as we learn the area! It is really nice of them! They are really good missionaries! And super helpful I am grateful for them!

10. In the little branch of Monroeville there are about 50 people that come every week. Of those 50 about 10 are redheads so I fit in perfectly! Man everyone loved me cause of my hair so it was a good start! The branch building is super small it is crazy there are about 8 rows of pews and that is it! And it was barely full! So we have a lot of work to be doing.. I'm excited!

Elder Taylor

New Adventures Are Out There!

First I would like to say I love you all! And ask for you all to pray for a dear friend of mine! Ginger Menin is a sweet lady from my homeward who recently joined our church.  I ask you all to pray for her that she will feel the love of us all at this time! We love you Ginger!

1. Last Monday we went to the bishop's house and talked to two couples one married one almost married! One has a recent convert husband, the other the guy has a recent convert fiancee. We had to give a lesson on temple blessings so I read a talk by Elder Quentin L Cook about peace. We related that to the temple and how peaceful they are and how much peace we obtain from temples! It was just so awesome the spirit that was felt as we talked about the temple and what we can get from them!  

2. We have been doing service at a local habitat for humanity thrift store for the last few months and we have had a really good time working with them! The manager was always so nice. She told me as i said it would be our last time there that she was very impressed how I represented my church! She was a good friend me and her would always joke with each other and tease each other in a loving and friendly way though! So she always made morning service fun! Doing this service hasn't opened teaching opportunities yet but i think it will eventually. The whole community knows that those mormon boys help out and they love us for it!

3. Emmanuel is an investigator that we have been teaching and we taught him an awesome lesson the other day it was so good! We talked about the restoration and how important it was, and I thought he was kind of zoned out but when we finished he gave the most sincere prayer blessing us on our journey and praying to know if these things were true so that was really great! I think it went over really well!

4. Casey is another guy we taught a lesson to. We were looking for his wife and he answered the door and let us in. We talked about the plan of salvation! He being a new father it was great! He really liked what we said and we really got him to really think about things. He was pretty sure that he would read the Book Of Mormon and that we could come back and teach him and his wife so we are excited!

5. We had an awesome missionary fireside Saturday night! It was great, we had musical numbers by Sister Nelson and Elder Farris! Picture should be on this email! It was so great and spiritual! Then we had a little talk about Peter which was good! We had a huge dinner! BBQ homemade root beer and ice cream! It was really good stuff! Some of the best BBQ i have had! Man i loved it! 

6. The missionary fireside went great there were two super interested couples there and it was good to see them have a little fun! They seemed super receptive and we gave them a Book Of Mormon and i think they will read it! It is good to see fruits from our hard work!

7. Training has been the biggest blessing of my mission! I am so grateful for it and I have learned so much about myself, missionary work, and dealing with others. President Smith told me the other day that I was doing the best marriage prep! ha but that is nothing I need to worry about yet! I have grown so much as i have been pushed out of my comfort zone and I am so grateful for that I can only imagine the missionary and person I would be if i did not get the chance to train! It has been tough but we learn the most when we go through trials and hard times! So i think in self-examination I have grown a lot but i still have quiet a way to go! Always room to grow!

8. It was really hard to know that I was leaving and go to church on Sunday, especially in a ward that I had been serving in for so long! It was bitter sweet. It was good saying bye to so many people that I loved! I really have enjoyed my time here. I did not bring the most success or anything but I hope I helped some people come closer to Christ, which is my job. Member, non-member, and in active members, it does not matter.

9. The Bishop of Marianna is Bishop Sims and man will he miss me! Not to sound prideful but he was so sad when I told him I was leaving. He actually announced it from the pulpit on sunday that i would be leaving and how great it was for me to be in this ward. He then said it was like a son of his was leaving and he was sad to see me go! After church he made a comment that ill have to bring my wife through Marianna when i take her on a honey moon to Disney world! He also gave me his cell phone so i could "surprise him and give him a call". He is a great man and a good friend and it was hard saying bye to him but I'm grateful I got to know a man as great as him!

10. Last, it looks like i will be a crimson tide fan the next few months! I am being shipped off to Mobile, Alabama! It will be a big and new adventure that I am really excited for. It is sad to leave all these people. but i know the lord needs me in Mobile right now! So it is time to put my shoulder to the wheel and get to work! I'll be opening a new area in a ward with 2 sets of missionaries already but I'm excited to see what will happen! And from what i understand my new comp has been out for 6 weeks so I have quiet a bit of responsibility now! But i am very excited to see what will happen over the next few months! The Lord has work for us to do!!! 

 1. Me and Christine, the manager at a thrift store we did a lot of service at

2. Marianna sign with a couple bullet holes

3. Relaxing, taking a glamour shot after a long day of walking

4. Sister Nelson, Sister King, Elder Farris and me on our last sunday

5. Me, bishop and his wife! He is a great man

6. Me and bishop at church

Families Bring Joy!

Oh man was it a great week in Mariana! One of those weeks that makes you realize why you are a missionary and do what you do! So i was very blessed this week, most likely from all the prayers I receive from you at home so thank you so much!

1. Randy Whitman is our Scientology friend and we had a super good lesson with him! We talked a lot about the atonement, something that he doesn't really believe in. We talked about how through the atonement Christ picks us up dusts us off and sends us back on our way, but we will keep falling and he will keep picking us up! Randy said he could believe that and that he feels that a lot in his life, he just doesn't know who that would be that is picking him up, that it could very well be Jesus Christ and that he thinks that it is Jesus Christ who provides that for him! That was just a huge break through with him! So he is progressing but baby steps, but that is alright!

2. Mark and Brenda Clements came to church! It was so great. They have been hesitant in deciding to go or not but they finally decided it was something that they thought they had to do! A little back story before i get too deep, Mark's mom is super active, Karen Clements,her husband hasn't been active for about 30 years and her son Mark hasn't been active for about 20! They all decided to come to church together! I have never seen a woman so happy as her walking into the chapel giving us a big thumbs up with a smile on her face and two grandchildren in her arms! That was such a great experience. They loved church and luckily most of the talks were on temple and how they bless families! They loved church! So that is just so great. I heard a guy ask Mark if he was a visitor he said no but I think we will be here full time now! It was just such an awesome experience! Families bring joy! Ask Karen Clements about that one! she beamed all day!

3. I got to have interviews with President Smith which was so great! I really love that man and his wife so much, they are blessings to me and all other missionaries. Ae talked a while about my mission and my companionship. He told me that i was the perfect companion for Elder Farris. That he knows I grew so much from this experience, which I really think I did! I told him that training was such a blessing and that I learned so much from it and i grew so much from it! He said that from our last interview I was a changed person. Ihat i was now humbly confident with myself, I really liked the way he worded it. I used to think people calling me humble was a cop out since they had nothing better but as I study the humility i realized how great it is to be called humble, so i am grateful for that amazing compliment from President Smith! 

4. A few days after the interview I was talking with the sisters and they said that President Smith was talking me up in their interviews! They both told me that he said that he was so proud of me and the great missionary I have become and that i would do great things! I thought it was totally random but great to think that he thinks so highly of me! 

5. President Smith told me some really sad news though. He told me after my now 7 months in Marianna I will be transferred... I told him that it would be like leaving home and he said that the Lord has many things out there to help me to learn and grow!  That the next thing would be another great adventure and that I would grow even more! He then told me he would look up where I was going but it would "ruin the excitement!" Oh man he likes to be a tease!! He really does! But i am excited for the next big challenge ahead of me! New people, place, and ward to love!

6. We taught Rachelle a great lesson this week. She is an investigator that we have been working a lot with lately. We taught her about Joseph Smith and it was a super spiritual lesson! But for some reason during the lesson I had the feeling to ask her to be baptized the whole time! I knew she was no where close to baptism and she had said no before so I was super hesitant. But as I did it the spirit filled the room, she said she is still not ready but she said it was because her own fault that she had not been reading the Book of Mormon like she should be! That she needed to do that and then she would know what to do. So it was great she re-committed herself to reading the Book of Mormon so she can know if this is what she is supposed to do! 

7. I got to go on a tradeoff to Bainbrige, Georgia! That is a cool little town there! (don't judge me for the next comment) It reminded me of Gilmore Girls-- the town they lived in had a city square park with a big gazebo, the only thing missing was Luke's diner! And the only reason i know all this is Hannah, my sister, always watched it and i would happen to be in the room but it was a great little town what you think a country southern town would look like. A lot of brick buildings and trees overhanging the streets. The only down side is I was with Elder Kapp who is the craziest driver ever! I am grateful for the spirit of protection because he almost killed me in that car 8 times! Oh man, prayer works! I am alive and in one piece!

8.  Cameron is a  guy we meet, man does this kid have an interesting story. He has been through a tough life, drugged parents, friends die, being homeless. But through these trials he has come full round and to Christ. As we talked with him i read him 1 Ne20:10 "For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." He said that it was so true that after all his trials his one thing he had left was his relationship with God that he rediscovered I just thought it was such of a great example of learning from trials! 

9. We talked about our spiritual backpack in church and it got me thinking. We talked about how we put all our responsibility and work into this backpack and sometimes it is too heavy even for the best of us! Sometimes it can pull us over backward! We then talked about how we rely on Christ AFTER all we can do! We have to look at it differently, we need to work with Christ every step, not just the end! We need to realize we are yoked with Christ the whole journey, not just at the end when we need him! But home much further can we go if we have his help the whole way! We then went back to the backpack! We should have one arm in it and christ should have his arm in the other side and as we do this we will be so much stronger and it will be so much easier.  

10. One of the other highlights of my week was we got to teach the few young men in the ward about mission prep! More temporal stuff like tying a tie and stuff but it was great. We then talked about how essential the Book of Mormon is in missionary work! But the best part is I got to break out my rugby ball and show them how to play! And man did it feel good breaking that ball out and throwing it around! I had to explain the game to a young men's president and the bishop! They thought it was strange. oh Americans...

Love you all and hope you had a week as great as mine! 

Praying always for you,

Elder Taylor

Sacrament sounds better in southern

1. One of the highlights of the week for me was when an investigator, Rachelle, came to conference and then again to church. She was super busy that week so we didn't get to have  a lesson with her but at church she told us how much she had loved conference and that a speaker spoke on baptism and she just started to cry and felt good. So we are really excited to get back with her and teach her, and hopefully ill thing will work out!

2. Mary Johnson is a very nice black lady that we met the other day. She is a single mother and we talked about Jesus Christ and she invited us back! We taught her the restoration and then gave her a Book of Moron and you would have thought we gave her a million dollars. Turns out that she had a Book of Mormon years ago and loved it and lost it one day! She was so sad but so happy to get it back finally after all these years! She then invited us back for weekly visits! So we are very excited to see where this all goes!

3. We had a challenge from our district leader, Elder Cooper, to Open our Mouth to 30 people with our whole district combined! So Elder Farris and I wanted to 1 up it so we wanted to have 20 OYM's as we call them by the end of the week! We talked to everyone and ended up with 25! We almost made the goal for the whole district! So that was awesome and we realized how easy it is to talk to people in the Bible belt about Jesus Christ! 

4. We worked hard as I said before and were able to double our investigators! So that was way cool. We went from about 4 investigators to 9! So it was a week of a lot of hard work but it was so worth it! The Lord knows when you work hard and he has been helping us out a lot! The mission is not about numbers at all! But it was good to meet all our goals this week! The first time that has happened for me! 

5. There is a quote by L. Tom Perry that I totally loved! He was in an elevator with a mission president and some strangers and said " We are members of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints and we are the happiest people around!" I loved this! Cause we should be the happiest people around! We have such an awesome church and gospel and leaders! We need to take a page out of Elder Perry's book and just be happy no matter where we go!!!  

6. I got to go on a trade-off with Elder Cooper, our district leader, this week and man was that great! First off he is just an awesome kid so we had a blast we spent a day together and are already talking about rooming together at college! He also taught me how simple sharing this gospel is! How you can walk down a street and talk to everyone about the church, man it was just so easy! So that really helped with Elder Farris and I in learning how to work smarter, not harder!

7. Brother McDaniels who i have mentioned a few times spoke at church! He gave a beautiful talk he with no notes at all! He was doing it as a challenge from the stake president who told him to just speak on what the spirit wanted him to speak on. So he did it, being a military man he told us about the "last Role Call" they do for MIA or KIA soldiers. That there is a tribute and a sergeant major yells off all the names of the people in his group they all respond but one. He then repeats it and then he realizes that person is MIA. Brother McDaniels related this to the gospel by saying one day the Lord will do this he will call everyones name but it will be our responsibility as members of this church to make sure that they will be at the role call ready to shout back "here Sir". 

8. President Bess who is the stake president spoke to us after and just talked about loving people to the gospel. He told us and then challenged the members to each week invite 1 person to church each week and to see what happens. Just imagine if we invited 1 person to church and 25% accepted that invitation! Each week we would have hundreds of people coming to each ward! Sometimes all we have to do is reach out and ask but we are too afraid to do that! No one will stop being our friends because we invite them to church but they might not be happy when we run into them after this life and they say "why didn't you share this thing you knew so well with me"! I don't want to have anyone come up to me and say why didn't you tell me all this! 

9. There was a great talk I read this week that i challenge all you who are about to go on a mission or who have been home for a while or for a little longer than a while! (I'm not calling anyone old here) http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/the-opportunity-of-a-lifetime I read this talk this week and it really talked to me how great a mission is and how i will be able to apply it after these two years! I am just so very grateful for this opportunity of a lifetime to do this great work that I love so much! 

10. Last off, Elder Farris got bored the other day and remixed Ice Ice baby to missionary references! I do not have a copy of the words yet but i told him he has to write it down and give it to me and i also have to record him doing it! It was so funny and awesome! He is a very funny kid!

 I love you all and am so grateful for you! 

Elder Taylor

PICTURES

1. me on friend street with out any friends... 

2. me and my zone leaders elder olsen and call doing the 1st presidency pose ( thats how they sit in all their pictures)