A High Speed and Toothless Week

1. This week we had transfers and it was an adventure! My companion for the last 12 weeks, Elder Milne, got shipped off to Mobile but we had to drive down to Pensacola Florida and that was an adventure!!! We got half way there and realized that Elder Milne had forgotten his insulin and that is a bit of a problem if you're diabetic! So we had to turn and go all the way back to Monroeville and start are trip about an hour later then we needed to leave.. not a good start. So we didn't want to break any laws being missionaries and all. So we decided to take back country roads.... that don't have speed signs.. so problem solved and we made it on time :) It was an interesting day but we made it safe and sound! 

2. It was a sad day to say bye to my diabetic friend Elder Milne. We have had a lot of good times together and al ot of laughs but he will only be 100 miles away and we will be able to see each other every few weeks so I'm excited and happy about that! 

3. I am now training again. I guess i didn't do a good job the first time so i needed a second chance! Anyways i am training eEder Peterson from Denver area Colorado. He is a cool guy. He is 21 and he;s out here to work which is awesome. He is not shy at all so he will talk to everyone which is always great because that was the polar opposite of me!  But it seems like we will have a good next 6 weeks! I'm excited! It's always great to get some greenie fire! 

4. We taught a nice couple, a very interesting couple though. we had a good lesson about the restoration. But the husband grew up AME which mean he yells, jumps, and shouts when he feels the spirit! So that was interesting little encounter! He gave the closing prayer and he started yelling and saying hallelujah and shouting! Oh man i tried to hide the grin on my face. But he was a very nice guy! It was a good lesson and we are excited to get back there and teach again.

5. There is a random guy, we call him floor guy because he tiles homes, who likes pulling over to stop and talk with us. He is an interesting guy. Almost every other word is a swear but that is alright! We are all God's children. But he likes just talking to us about religious stuff and the bible. He doesn't want to learn but he likes talking. The first time he stopped us he asked what we were since he has seen guys like us all over, he lived in Chicago. We told him we were missionaries and it all made sense to him! He said we were crazy for being out when it was cold then drove off! He will stop again in a few more days and we will talk again.. ha he is a funny guy

6. After that we walked a little further and a guy who I believe had to be drunk stopped us and we talked. He shook our hands like 20 times and gave us a few hugs. we tried to give him anything but he wouldn't take it, he just wanted to talk but then he started praying. After his prayer he said amen and threw our hands in the air and walked away! Elder Peterson and I just stood there a little dumbfounded for a few moments then just walked on... 

7. We met a very interested guy, Kevin Knight, this last week and had a good talk with him. He has had a rough past with a little prison time but he has given his life to God now. He said he walked to the door and thought, "I don't have time for this. But then he heard a voice tell him, open up and just listen to what they have to say!" So that was great. He was super receptive and we set a return appointment kind of far off because he drives trucks but we are excited for when he gets back in town.

8. We got to go home teaching with a ward member because his companion was sick and that is always fun. We went and saw Mrs. Voncile Harrison. I'm not sure if i have spoken about her before but she is the sweetest lady ever. She is the only active black person. She has a way cool conversion story. She said her dad always had dreams about something more, another book of scriptures or something. He would tell Voncile that he had a dream and he would not find that book but she would! About 2 months after his death they knocked on her door with that book! Crazy story, it just shows you that people are being prepared all around you! 

9. Another person we went and home taught was Dean Johnson. He is as Southerner as you can get! but he is a goofy guy. He has a total of 1 tooth and it goes straight up then with a 45 degree angle the other way. He lived in a bus for about 14 years, like a parked school bus... He is also southern in another way. He doesn't let his black cows in the same field as the white ones... He is a goofy guy but those old people just don't let go of silly old traditions. 

10. I have realized that we get noticed. My first companion said that 80% of missionary work is publicity and I never got that. But now I'm realizing that two funny looking white guys dressed all nice walking around get noticed!! Yes they do, especially in the south and if you have red hair! The other missionaries in the area were talking to someone and they asked where the redhead was. It reminded me of a funny story in my last area. We walked a lot and one day the sister missionaries got stopped and asked which one of them is "the redhead's girlfriend" I still think that story is funny! 

Love you all,

Elder Taylor

6 More Weeks of Monroeville Fun!

1. So I decided to start this weeks report with a funny note! I realized I will be a horribly awkward return missionary! Yesterday we were at dinner (lunch in the south) and a grand daughter of a member was sitting on the same bench as me and boy did i feel awkward the whole time, it was no good. I was sitting as far away as i possibly could get myself, it was a little comical. And when she would talk i wouldn't even look at her. The other missionaries made a comment on how awkward I was so it was a great experience! You ladies watch out on in 14 months cause the awkwardRM's are coming

2. We were able to try a southern delicacy yesterday! a member thought it a good idea to fry up some dear heart! So we had deer heart and it was surprisingly good. Tasted like chicken gizzards. I have never heard of those but that's what the member described them as. It did have a faint chicken taste in there.

3. We got to go back and see a lady we met a few weeks ago. Her name was Mrs. White and she was an interesting lady. That is to say the least. She is very funny, she is in her 80's and was constantly yelling and saying hallelujah. I wish y'all could have just seen this lady, she was a riot and made me laugh pretty hard. She was a sweet woman though and hopefully she can accept the gospel!

4. This year our mission is working on being missionaries of uncommon valor! That is the mission wide theme and I love it! Our goal is to do the things that other missionaries won't always do, the things that are hard. It is something i really like and enjoy. We are triyng to stretch as far as possible and become great missionaries! I think it will be great for this mission! 

5.We had a zone training meeting where the zone leaders spoke to us for a good while and they made a scripture connection that I had never realized before; it was amazing. So we know of the story of the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon. How he was a problem solver and asked the Lord to touch the stones, which gave them light. We realize that Jared thought of this himself and that he was probably looking to the best source of inspiration the scriptures  We read in Genesis 6:16 it talks about how Noah built his ship and put windows in them, but if we look at the footnote in the LDS version of the scriptures it says "HEB tsohar; some rabbis believed it was a precious stone that shone in the ark." from this we see that Noah didn't have windows in his ark but actually he had rocks like the brother of jared to glow in his ark! It was a cool little scripture bridge that i had never found before!

6. There is a something our mission president, President Smith said that I love about persistence. He says "success does not come till the second mile" The first part will yield no results but as we keep going and working so hard we will receive what we need! We will get the blessings that we are wanting. This is very comforting to me.

7. Robert Wilson is a great guy we met the other day. We have taught him twice and he seems to be a great guy! He is a baptist but nothing very solid, he just goes to whatever church that is going on at the time. So no solid foundations. But he has been pretty open he has had a pretty rough life. He is a cancer survivor and also a heart attack survivor, which is amazing. He knows that God has a reason for him to still be here and I hope that this gospel is it!  

8. We had a great talk this Sunday on conversion. It was so good and much needed. We talked about the need of conversion over testimony and how important that is. Conversion is so much deeper then testimony. it is so meaningful. When we are converted we live the principles because we know they will bring blessings. You can not be converted to anything you are not living. Also conversion is slow, it does not come over night but is a painstaking process of compounding righteous decisions. We should constantly be striving for a deeper and more meaningful conversion, that is so important to all of us.

9. Last Monday the strangest thing happened. I baked all day, I made about 60 cookies for two elders birthday and then I made dinner. My cooking skills from my younger days are slowly coming back to me and it is amazing! It is so great and we are eating a lot better now because of it! 

10. TRANSFERS came through and it was not what anyone expected! It turns out elder Milne is leaving and I am staying and we will both be training brand new missionaries... So this will be a very interesting experience! I loved training the first time around and now I am excited to see what it will bring this go around! Always exciting things happen here in little Monroeville Alabama!

Elder Taylor

Because of the Prayer of a Young Boy

1. I was reading about Joseph smith the other day and he said something that made me think "god heard and answered the prayer of a young boy and look what has come of it". Just to think about that statement is amazing it shows God's love for us he even hears the simplest prayer from a farm boy. And because of that magnificent answer to the humble prayer look what has come of it!  The church is world wide with 15 million members! Can you believe that? And just to see the personal blessings the lord has poured out on me it is amazing the work he has done because of that prayer!

2. We taught a solid lesson with a lady we met a while ago it was pretty good. She was only half interested but then we brought in the Book of Mormon and how if we read and pray about it we will know. We don't have to take anyone's word! It was like she was hit with a brick; she loved it because she has been in a church where she has to take things on faith and just do whatever the pastor says. She was very surprised when we said she didn't have to do what we said, but it was all up to her to ask and then the spirit would tell her what to do.

3. Sequoia  is a young mother we met the other day and she let us in because it was cold outside! So that was a great start! We just then told her about the Book of Mormon, how it can bless her family and how it supports the bible. She really liked it and seemed interested. She has the funniest little boy who ran up to us and said he would "whip our tails" with his nice plastic sword.

4. I know i have made a lot of comments on the weather but this week was crazy! It started out  with  the first two days not getting out of the teens! Pipes blowing up all over the place and by the end of the week it was 80's and humid! Man it can not make up its mind. It is just funny to see how no one down here is used to this weather so they are all freaking out because of it! 

5. A member decided it was cold enough and bought us all thermal underwear! It was pretty funny! But his wife wanted to make sure we would all be warm in this cold weather. So when this freezing weather comes back next week we will now be prepared! 

6. A theme of this week is what Thomas S. Monson said, "The lord is truly mindful of his servants the missionaries!" I have realized that in so many of the blessings and lessons that have been learned in the last few weeks. It has not been very easy, it has not been all good, but I have realized that the Lord loves me and is always looking out for me. 

7. To go with the thought of above, I was reading and a quote by George Albert Smith about discouragement that helped me this week. It said, "Joseph smith told me I should never get discouraged whatever difficulties might surround me. If i was sunk to the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the rocky mountains piled on top of me. I ought not to be discouraged but hang on, exercise faith and keep up the good courage and I should come out on top of the heap at last" Discouragement is such an effective tool satan uses to keep us in our place and from gaining our full potential.

8. We showed a video to a few members this week about a man named Joseph Millet. He was an early settler of salt lake and in one very tough and cold winter a lot of families did not have flour to make bread. He had very little left himself and was just bagging up the rest when a man came walking in named brother hall and said he was out of bread and had prayed and asked the Lord for flour and the Lord told him he could go to Joseph Millet. With the bag in hand Joseph handed it over with a grateful heart. He later says how grateful he is that the Lord knew that he would be able to help so the lord had sent brother Hall to him. I have made a new resolve to be the kind of man that the lord can trust and send others to in the time of need!

9. Our branch president gave a powerful sermon on the importance of the Resurrection. We know because of revelations and the Book of Mormon that all men will be resurrected at some point and how important that doctrine is to know. How great it is that we will all have perfected bodies with out a loss of a hair ( i know a few people who are grateful for that) but it is just an amazing blessing that as sure as Christ lives all men will live again!

10. So we had an interesting event the other day. When we were walking around we came a cross a group that was standing in our way and they asked us if we had five bucks I had none so i said no. They then asked if we would have it next time we walked through and we said we didn't know and kept moving. They then yelled a good stream of profanities which ended in them calling me spiderman... I have no idea where it came from. Maybe the red hair and the blue sweater. But it was a good laugh and a funny experience.

Love you all,

 

Elder Taylor

To Be Worn Out in Service

1. It is a new year! How great is that! New years are always great for new goals! I'm not going to call them resolutions because if i did i would break them in 5 minutes! That is just how it always happens! But we had a great day taught a few people but we had to be in by 5:37, President is good at coming up with random things but it ended up being alright. I tried my hand at crockpot cooking and made some green chicken verde? I think thats what it was called! A recipe that Sister Smith gave us and I was impressed with myself! I am becoming quite the cook! 

2. The next day I got to go with a trade-off for the day with a zone leader, it was pretty fun!  I learned a lot! He is a great guy, he told me that he would love to serve with me because I have a good balance between doing work and not being so serious that i never say a joke. That was a good thing to hear because it was something I have been working very hard on that lately! It is a balance that i wanted so I wouldn't be too goofy or too serious! I have a lot of respect for those zone leaders now and i have realized that they are just human like us, so i know I' not totally hopeless over here!

3. So with Elder Hadden we got to go to the big city of Mobile! It was odd! I didn't know what to do with so many people! haha it was pretty funny! I barely see about 7 people walking the street daily and there were people walking all over the place! It was an interesting day and we talked to a lot of nice people.

4. We taught a Pentecostal preacher down in Mobile and that was an interesting day. We taught the restoration in a unique way with red solo cups each cup was something different and we built the church of Christ! It was way cool but the lesson felt like 20 minutes and ended up doing 2 hours of just answering questions. It was one the best lessons I have taught in a long while and it was to a preacher! Preachers are tough people to talk to but he was very open it was amazing! He was super nice and friendly also which was a plus you don't see that too much among the clergy in the bible belt. It was a good lesson the spirit was strong and he felt it. Now comes if he will act on it! 

5. We had a branch breakfast new years morning and boy do people in the south know how to make breakfast food! We had two tables filled with food! And it was good! Plates were loaded with biscuits gravy, eggs, 5 types of sausage! Ot was a good but the only problem was I wanted to go to sleep after I was done with it! Just another reason I need to find a southern wife who can make me biscuits and gravy! ( Don't worry mom thats a few years away)

6.The other elders had a baptism this week and it was great! It was an older black man who had ben taking the lessons for about 2 months it was awesome! We had a good service. I spoke on the holy ghost and then he got baptized by another older guy in the branch. It was a close one, they almost both got baptized! But they made it up barely! Calvin came out of the changing room a few minutes later with his whitey tighties in hand and exclaimed " i am a new man!" It was a great spirit filled service! 

7. The next day after Calvin's baptism he came to get confirmed it was so good! he grew up in a holiness church and was saying his amens and hallelujahs during the prayer, it was great! A little comical and a little different but it was great! It was also fast and testimony so a lot of people stood up and greeted him into the branch! He then bore his testimony and it was great! He was just so happy to be baptized and to be so welcomed, it was great and a major step in getting much of his family into the church! 

8. We had an awesome district meeting about the atonement and grace. Elder Kopske of the seventy gave an awesome chart to the zone leaders on 5 ways we apply the atonement! This might be confusing but i hope you can understand it! 

Ways to apply the atonement	Conditions on which we can apply
Resurrection	We all get this because we kept our 1stestate
Forgiveness of our sins	Repentance of our sins
We are the victims of someone else	We must forgive
Sickness and the blows of life	We must accept them and grow
Strength and be enabled or changed	We must have a persona walk with the savior

9. We met another guy out walking and were talking for a while and he was a welder so I brought up a member of the branch and asked if they knew each other. He said yes and got mad he said that guy would be sweet as sugar to your face and go and back bite you and just cause of that he would never join a church someone like that was let into to! It hit me and I thought of that I'm a little bit of a gossiper, not too bad but sometimes i say stuff that i should just forgive and forget! And how much that effected that man. I realized I needed to stop that! So i promised myself that i wouldn't be two faced or a back biter, not that i am very bad at that! It also taught me a lesson on how we are examples for the church, either bad or good! It made me want to always be a good example in all that i do! 

10. This is a quote I just love! It is from President Spencer W. Kimball who was a president of our church. He had a worn out pair of shoes that he would never replace! People would hide them from him and buy him new pairs but he would always find them and put them back on. Someone asked why once and he said "they are a reminder that my life is like my shoes- to be worn out in service" hHw profound is that! Something i am working hard on this transfer is diligence and that was just a perfect story! 

I love you all!  

Elder Taylor

me and elder milne took some selfies please enjoy!