Elder Taylor vs Wild

1. We had another awesome lesson with our main man Cornbread! He is a good guy. We talked about the word of wisdom again and since last week he has given up tea and any caffeine, which is awesome. He is really trying his best. He is having a little trouble with chewing tobacco though, he has been doing it since he was 11! Can you believe that 17 years of chewing and two strangers showed up a few weeks ago and said he can't do it anymore! But he's doing it all in stride we gave him a blessing and know he can get off that, it just might take a little time! We are excited fro him though, he really wants baptism and is ready to change his life for the better! 

2. I started reading the Book of Mormon ten months ago and taking very detailed notes so I could be more familiar with it and just this week I finished it! I love the Book of Mormon so much and I took Moroni's challenge again and guess what!!?!! It's true! I love being able to read over and over and gain that spiritual witness of the truthfulness of it! What a blessing! 

3. I had a great experience 1 hour ago while i emailed! I had a email from a youth I worked a lot with in Marianna. I could tell he was on the fence and needed a push onto the good side rather than the bad. So before i left i wrote my testimony and email in a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read it by the end of the school year. Today he said he wasn't making some good choices but he found that dusty old book I left him and read what I wrote and decided that he is going on a mission. He is putting his life back together and going to finish the Book of Mormon before his 18th birthday! I'm so happy I acted on the prompting to write in that book, because you never really know what effect you could have on those around you when you follow the spirit, it could take six months but there is always a reason for what we do! 

4. I have been struggling with my journal writing this past week but I recommitted after hearing a talk by spencer w kimball. He said "those who keep a book of remembrance in their daily lives are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives, journals are a way of counting our blessings and of leaving an inventory of the blessings of our posterity" It is great looking at a daily journal and seeing the blessings so I'm trying super hard till it just becomes nature! 

5. This Sunday we had a great testimony meeting! So many people bore their testimonies and the spirit was just so strong! It is amazing though how simple a testimony can be but how powerful it is when it is carried by the spirit, I've seen very humble southern people who are not very well educated give wonderful testimonies in a minute or two, that are more powerful than a 40 minute sermon! The power of testimonies amazes me! 

6. Thomas S. Monson gave a wonderful talk on the purpose of obedience which is a favorite for missionaries. In it he said  "there is no need for you to sail uncharted seas or to travel unmarked roads in search for the truth. a loving Heavenly Father has plotted our course and provided an unfailing guide- even obedience!" What a blessing, obedience is the way of true happiness! 

7. We almost got attacked by a dog again! The owner of the dog came out just as the dog started moving toward us growling! We were about to take off running but we were saved at the very last minute! I don't like dogs anymore... I've almost died too many times and these are all pets! 

8. I love the witty baptist churches that have signs all over town. The winner of this week is "God wants full custody not weekend visits! Let's all try to bee everyday Christians!"

 

9. I have now found out it rains pollen here! It has been so bad this last week the mission doctor says i have allergies, same with 80% of the mission! You got to love the south... it rains bugs and pollen! 

10. It also rains poop! This week i got pooped on by a bird while riding a bike... What are the chances of that? Southern nature does not like me!!!! 

I love you all and am grateful for how you bless me! I'm sending my love to you from southern Alabama! I'm excited for the adventures of this week and general conference! 

Elder Taylor

Not allowed on campus cause my guns are too big!

Me and peteyboy with some sweet ties

One Year of Adventures to Come!

1. I have been gone for a whole year now! It is crazy how fast this time has gone and how many lessons I have learned! It is a little scary being on top of the hill of mission life, and looking down the back side! It actually can be stressful! I still have lots and lots to learn and to do before I can finish this hike! So cheers to 1 more year of squirrel, humidity, bugs, and southerners! A couple of those I'm grateful to only have a year left like bugs and humidity! Here they come this summer! :(

2. We had a great lesson with our man Cornbread. We hadn't been able to see him for a while because his daughter who is only 9 months has been very sick! So that is no good. We have been praying that she gets better fast! But we taught him the Word of wisdom! Which is a MAJOR problem for him! But he and his member boss said they would both work extra hard on it in the coming weeks so that they could get him ready! They work together all day everyday so they decided that they could work and keep each other in check, the member has a little bit of a problem with the WOW so it was killing two birds with one stone. Cornbread was studying that pamphlet, talking about it so hard before we even left. I think he really wants it but It will be a long and tough road for him.

3. Mrs. Denson is an older black lady that we are teaching and she is so sweet and funny! She doesn't call us the missionaries but her "Christian brothers" I just think it is so funny every time we go over there she greats us with hello Christian brothers! She is a hoot. I really like here and although she is older she is learning or that is at least what it seems to us!

4. This week we got to drive two hours south and go to Mobile for a stake conference where all the members in the area get together, it was great and there were some awesome talks, Elder Peterson and I got to spend the day with 2 others sets of missionaries and it was just an adventure the whole time! It was a fun weekend full of sleepovers, missionary humor that you would only get if you served a mission, and fun stories! Whenever you get a bunch of missionaries together it will always be an adventure, especially 6 in one apartment!

5. I got to spend the day time with my last companion, Elder Milne! It was so great! So much fun! We also worked in a city called Prichard! If you ever come to Mobile they say its a great city, just avoid Prichard! So it was an adventure! We were the only white people for miles so that can always be an adventure!

6. We heard a talk on President Smith's favorite topic!!! I bet you cant guess! FAMILY HISTORY!!! It was so powerful though! It is amazing how much power that man has when he speaks! He is just amazing when he testifies of truth, especially that those on the other side of the veil want to help us, the spirit is so present it is amazing! It is just so amazing, he said that in a meeting a few weeks ago with church leaders from the south east region of the United States, someone said family history did not work! And our charity filled mission president who also used to be a college linebacker/ fullback stood up and said "You are wrong. I know it and this mission will prove that to you" It works and it has power I can see that now! 

7. I got to spend some time with President Smith in an interview and it is amazing the love that comes from that man! He truly loves it and you know it and feel it whenever he is in the room. It is such a blessing that I am able to know a him and spend this time laboring with him. One of his favorite quotes is "There is no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone!" It is amazing how true that is! I'm grateful I have been in the growth zone for a while and I'm grateful to remain in it a little longer! Growth is the whole reason we are here! So we can grow and return to our loving Heavenly Father!

8. A lady gave a great talk on selling mattresses in stake conference! She talked about how she is a great salesmen and really wants to sell all these mattresses she can! The reason she wants to do it so much and she is so successful is because she really wants that mattress! She likes it a lot and wants to buy it, she is convinced that is is worth its price. So that is why she can sell so many! She related that to the gospel! It was a beautiful analogy about how we can not sell anything we do not believe in! We must work on our own conversion before we can convert anyone else! We must know and be actively living the gospel before we can do anything as far as missionary work! To use a cliché, we need to practice what we preach!

9. Sister Smith gave a sermon on how we must spring clean our hearts! I have never thought about that before. She said when we are in this time of trashing garbage why not let go of a few grudges and say a few sorries to the Lord or other of his imperfect children! I know we all fall short and have a little smudge or two but that is alright because of Christ we can all be forgiven and can have a clean heart again! The Lord says in the doctrine and covenants that he requires a pure heart! So I hope you all can do a little spring cleaning this week even the best for y'all!

10. I'll end with a prophetic statement to all us! When dedicating the Birmingham Alabama temple, a man from Mobile was there and president Hinckley was then the president of the church. He called that man and asked how far away Mobile was. He said 4 and 1/2 hours president response was oh that is too long! He then said" if you want a temple in mobile then you need to wear yourself out in this one (referring to the Brigham temple)" We need to wear ourselves out in service and then we will receive our own "temples" or refuges of life!

I love you all and cant wait to see what adventures are a head in this year!

Elder Taylor

1 year mark shirt burning! 

The aftermath of stake conference week

Happy St Patrick's Day!

First off you must read this whole email in an Irish accent! That is how you truly celebrate Saint Patrick's Day!

 

1. We had an awesome busy week! I think we taught about 14 lessons which is a TON for this area and us! Elder peterson and I were very happy about it and despite the rain this week we had some good success! We were very excited but we were sure not to boast in our own strength and recognize this is all blessings from Heavenly Father! 

2. I learned a lesson this week that the gospel is for service and work and not entertainment. It is so true. We do all we do not necessarily to entertain ourselves but to serve other children of  God. We don't come to church to listen to cool music for 3 hours or talk with friends like some of the other churches but we do it to be nourished so we can defend ourselves from the firey darts of the adversary in the next week! Living a gospel life can be hard but it is so worth it! 

3. Brother Brewer is a member of the branch who we spent a good amount of time with yesterday. He is so humble and so nice you probably couldn't find a man better than him. He is constantly looking for way to help others and most of the time you find him at church entertaining a crazy group of kids, he loves children even though all his are grown and moved away, he always looks for the best in them. This week he gave a talking telling the branch to lovingly repent! This guy is so great! 

  

4. Us missionaries had a meeting with the branch president this week about how we could be most effective. He told us that we need to be bold with the members because we are so transitive. we need to challenge the active member to change and become better. That it is our job to show them what they can become and try to help them achieve that. 

5. There is a wonderful scripture that was shown to me this week. It is D&c 78:18 it says "Andye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along." It is amazing the Lord's counsel there. We can't do all things ourself, there is no way we ever could do all things ourself! But we have the opportunity to be happy chose to be happy! And as we do that we feel the spirit more in our life and the Lord will lead us! Don't worry Be HAPPY!!!!

Now a few funny things, we had a funny week!

6. Yesterday reminded me of a favorite scripture. As we left a house on a huge farm with cows and horses running along. the rain was just so light and everything was so green that it was so beautiful it was amazing! The worda of Alma 30:44 came to my mind "The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the ^bearth, and ^call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its ^dmotion, yea, and also all the ^eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." You can not look at something so beautiful and deny there is a God! It is impossible! The beauty of this earth could not have been created by chance, it all had to come form God! 

7. Last p day i was so tired i decided to take a nap! It was time to get up and get moving so Elder Peterson decided to come wake me up. Which he did but it didn't wake me up all the way, i jumped up and he was in shock cause of my reaction just staring at me... we sat there and I thought he had just been sitting there watching me sleep it scared me pretty bad! It was just one of the many awkward situations you run into as a missionary! 

8. Elder Peterson also had another highlight when we were talking to an old guy, whose dog really liked him. So he wasn't paying attention but this little dog walked right up and peed all over him, I had to do my best not to laugh when we were talking but it was just way too funny to resist! 

9. We were trying to contact a lady that we had talked to a few weeks ago who seemed interested. As we knocked, a little boy about ten, rode up on his bike with training wheels and yelling at us! He told us he lived there and we were never going to get into that home because no one is ever going to get him in church! NO ONE! It was more comical than anything! I really want to get that kid in church just to make him mad!!! haha 

10.Our branch out here is a lot of good people but they are old country folk which means sacrament singing does not sound good at all. It also doesn't help they always pick the songs no one knows... but the branch president stood up and said "remember if you cant carry a note just sing louder" and that's what it sounds like! Nursery normally sounds better but it's good people trying their best and when the snickering laughing stops you can always feel the spirit so strong. 

I love you all,

 

Elder Taylor

these trees are so pretty.. they just smell really bad

Dog Attacks, Indians, and New Beginnings

1. We had a great lesson Tuesday night with Travis "Cornbread" Garrett. It went so awesome! I would have to say it was one of the best lessons I had the opportunity of being a part so far! We taught about recognizing the gentle still small voice of the spirit and we also talked about repentance and how in the Book of Mormon, Alma starts out as a really bad guy but is able to change his life through repentance and the Atonement! He loved it and ate it all up! With love in our hearts we committed him to be baptized April the 12th! Which he said he really wants, he also know that it will be tough now that he has decided to make that choice but he is going to push through all the tools of the adversary and get to that date! We are both very excited about him and his future! Hurray for Cornbread!

2. Gratitude is something I learned a lesson on this week! We have an awesome couple in the branch that has taken in a few grandkids that had troubled parents and they raised them. They just told us how they felt so unappreciated and they had to do all this extra work that no one seems to notice.  They want their grandkids to be active in the gospel so bad they just can't do it..it was really sad. They care so much but don't get any response that is how I feel sometimes as a missionary but I know that all the sweat and tears I shed will be worth it! and I'm sorry mom and Dad if I was ever an ungrateful teenager, I now am truly grateful!

3. We stumbled across and awesome less active and her husband, The Rexroads. They were very funny. We knocked on the door and the husband yelled "come in if you aren't a serial killer or a weirdo!' So we went in and he had the dinner table set and fed us tacos! He is not a member but loves the missionaries! we had a good visit and got to know him better and talk about his family history! He and his wife are awesome and invited us back for dinner!

4. We have had a sad week in the branch. We have been doing so well lately it seems like Satan was just waiting to stick his foot in the door and mess everything up and he got a toe in this week. We had two super messy divorces go down with less-active part-member families this week, that directly affected the branch. One ended in a shot off pinky, and thankfully that was all that was shot! But it is true the adversary does have a little pull! But it is a good/bad thing he is noticing us! Good in the fact we are doing what we are supposed to enough to get noticed, and bad that he is here!

5. Qe almost got attacked by a dog!!!! Tt was not a fun experience! It was a big black dog at a person's house. We went to the door and it was just barking then when we walked back to the car it went attack mode! I knew something was up so I told elder Peterson to not turn his back on it! It would run full speed and come for us and we would have to jump out of the way! That 50 feet back to the car had to be the longest distance ever! But we survived without any dog bites!

6. we did service for the museum in town and we went out to this big Indian festival out on the river. we did a whole lot of random odd jobs they had for us, like parking cars, pushing the cars we pushed out of the mud, selling stuff, eating food! so whatever they needed done did! it was a nice little morning off to be out in nature do some service and learn about the native Americans in the area!

7. Our branch president got to travel to Tallahassee to meet an apostle, M. Russell Ballard, who said something that caught his attention enough to mention to us! He said that Elder Ballard said that in the 12 stakes that were present there were about 3,261 less active men that had been on missions or ordained in the priesthood, so at one point all of these people were active. He said that something big is coming with the hastening of the work, and we need EVERY priesthood holder that we can get back! He didn't say what it would be, just that in these latter days we need the priesthood to be as stronger than ever before!

8. We got to have a fun day on Tuesday and we got to go bowling! I have learned to love bowling! I now consistently break 100 every round I bowl! By the time I get home I will be a pro! Y'all are on when I get home!

9. I have been trying to keep a more regular journal lately and it has helped me by taking the advice of an apostle, Henry B. Eyring, who has written in his journal every day, but to make it more meaningful he writes how he sees the hand of God in his life that day specifically! That is something I try to do and it is amazing how many blessings I miss just by going too fast sometimes!  

10. Me being a history nerd I love the Book of Mormon and how often it talks about this nation! I found a couple articles this week about how God has inspired the constitution. It is amazing his had in this work John Adams said how important religion is to the constitution when he said "our constitution was made only for a moral religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other". I just thought how interesting that was and how many references in 1 Nephi and Ether, books in the book of Mormon, There were to the Lord protecting this nation as long as we were quick to remember him! Interesting things!

I love y'all!

Elder Taylor

I made a pie it was like a big reeses! so good!

Me and Elder Stubbs, my buddy who just went home

I saved a turtle this week!

district picture: Me, elders perterson, payne, parsons, browne and balling (no specific order)-our district

We Ate Dump!!!

1. Travis "cornbread" is doing great! He is so ready and solid. We had two great lessons with him this week! It was awesome! He also came to church! He said it felt good but he was a little uncomfortable at church but he felt like it was still right. Sunday night we sat down and had a powerful lesson at a member's home, once we started to ask questions things started to flow and the spirit came so strong, it was amazing! This big southern man actually had a few tears in his eyes as he talked. He really opened up and the one thing holding him back is he feels like God hasn't answered him directly but he wants the answer so bad! He is so ready it is great! 

2. One day this week we were walking around and trying to talk to a few people and we decided to try one last house! And sure enough we meet a super nice lady, Lashawnda Tucker. It is awesome to see that when we try and are just about to call it quits we are surprised when we actually get someone! But she seemed super interested and said she always saw us riding bikes but never knew what we did so we answered a few questions and set up an appointment! 

3. Elder Peterson was having a rough time missing home this week so I was able to give him a blessing. I'm grateful for the priesthood and the ability we have to get blessings whenever we want or need one! it is just such a humbling gift that we have! I'm grateful for that opportunity and it was a very spiritual experience and I'm just grateful I was able to do it

4. Another day when we were just walking around we ran into an investigator! D'anne Taylor! It was so random we just talked for a few minutes and by the end of our little chat she was so happy we ran into each other and she told us a few times she has been reading the Book of Mormon and wants that answer!  

5. I saw a sign which said "love the life you live and you will live a life of love". I thought about that for a few minutes and I really liked it. I realized how true that statement is. As we have trials that come our way and we say like Elder Whirthlin's mother, "come what man, and love it" We are blessed with so much happiness! We don't always get to chose our life but we can choose our reaction to what happens in our life.

6. We did service for a lady in the branch and it was horrible! The house was so filthy I could almost not stand it! iI had about a foot of garbage on the floor everywhere! And elder Peterson stepped in dog poop twice, inside the house!!! It was horrible I decided right there that my kids would never have to live in a place like that, hopefully! I know I cant provide a mansion but at least I hope to have a nice clean home! It was humbling though to see how others live and how they don't even realize it 

7. Transfers were this week and nothing is changing! and i am very glad. I'm happy to see the work moving and I'm excited for 6 more weeks in Monroe! 

8. The local baptist church this week said "every saint has a past and every sinner has a future" I'm so grateful for this, which is all possible through the atonement of Christ! It is amazing the gift that we have that allows us to put off the natural man and to becometh a saint! It is just so amazing the gift that we have to do that! I'm so very grateful for that knowledge and that gift for Jesus Christ! 

9. Our branch president is on parole! Yess it's true! It's from Facebook but it is still very true! One of the members thought it was the funniest thing ever and decided to tell everyone! Apparently if you add too many people on facebook it will put you on parole! So watch out yourfacebook stalkers out there! 

10. We ate dump! Ya the first time we heard what we were eating we freaked out a little bit also! They told us desert was dump and it only took a few minutes to make... We got super confused but they later told us it is a southern form of cobble! The south can be strange sometimes!

Love you all!

Elder Taylor