Training, Book of Mormon and Road Trips! Oh and Peanut Pickers!

What a crazy week! I think I drove 800 miles! but it was an adventure!

1. First off, we road tripped to Tallahassee which is about 300 miles one way! It was super fun! It was 4 of us in a mini van named isabelle the harolet! Yeah, missionaries are super crazy!! But it was super fun! And the trip back we got to make a stop in Marianna! 

2. Yeah for Marianna! We got to see good old Bishop Sims! Although he isn't bishop anymore I still call him that! He will always be Bishop Sims of Marianna ward! Even though the current bishop is Bishop Sims, Danny Sim's cousin! Wow, that's just confusing! But he took me on a peanut picker ride! That was way fun and super slow. 1.6 mph but it was good to sit and talk with him for a while! I'm so grateful I got to spend time with him! He also fed us his homegrown burgers, they are the best!

3.  Mission leadership council was why i was in Tallahassee! It was way cool and way fun! The first night we played games it was a nice relaxing evening!~ I brought my rugby ball and we played a good hour long game of two touch rugby! It was so much fun I love it! I miss the sport so much! We ended the night with a bonfire songs and a testimony meeting. The next day we had a big long meeting with a lot of the leaders in the mission! It was so darn good! It's great seeing so many great missionaries

4. We listened to a great talk by President Uchtdorf which very few people have seen. it is a talk from a mission presidents seminar where he talks about Peter and his conversion. He talks about missionaries and what it takes to be a successful missionary! I wish I could tell each and every mission friend i know to look it up but only mission presidents get accesses to it so it's a big deal! He talked about the transforming power of the sacrament and after the Lord instituted the sacrament the apostles remembered what everything meant and remembered what they had to do. the sacrament needs to be a weekly spiritual experience. a little ironic because we went to pick up an investigator and missed the sacrament... but next week! 

5. Another part of this talk he talked about missionaries he knew in England. One was Elder Strong was a good hard working missionary and one of the best elders in the mission. he followed the spirit and did much good! But he was never a zone leader or an assistant, he saw much success though!  Then President Uctdorf made a observation, the thing elder strong did was train many missionaries. after MLC I had an interviews with the mission president. We talked about that talk and Elder Strong. He talked about how much a responsibility training is. Then he asked me how many missionaries i trained which i told him 5. Just then i realized how much the Lord has trusted me and letting me have the privilege if training 5 missionaries. It's the most important responsibility and i feel humbled that the Lord would allow me to do it and think of me to do it

6. Interviews with president were awesome! He said I have his full and complete trust no matter what I do. I asked him what I could do with my last 5 months left. He told me SPRINT give it my all the last little bit and we can see what happens! So here we go! I'm in the straight away on the home stretch! 

7. President said something super crazy about marriage in MLC! He said that many men are not called to leadership positions that could fulfill Them. the reason they aren't is because they did not marry a women as strong in the gospel as them!  Interesting he then talked about how a mission presidents wife's job is a lot harder then it seems. She has to do A LOT which is super true! She is always working! We have a great mission mom! Sister smith is awesome!

8. We went over to our investigators Cody's house and there was a big blow up! His mom is a little crazy and there was a lot of yelling and profanity used! But we were able to sit with Cody outside and read the Book of Mormon with him and you could tell he was feeling the spirit It was so strong and so good! It just calmed him down and it was a total change! There is power in the Book of Mormon!

A top 8 is good enough for this week I love you all!

Elder Taylor

Me with Bishop Sims and the peanut picker

Tradeoffs, Baby Slobber and Jubilee!

1. I got to go on a trade-off with one of the assistants to the president. So those are missionaries that help the mission president run a lot of the mission and they also come on trade-offs with all the zone leaders to make sure we are doing our job! So that is nerve wracking! Elder McPherson was the missionary assigned to be with me, and he is a legend . He was trained as a zone leader, he only spent 4 months not as a zone leader and has been an assistant for the last year! I was expecting him to be super crazy but he's totally down to earth and super cool! He is an awesome missionary and I' glad i got to see him before he goes home in two weeks!

2. We talked a lot about the problems in the mission one of the biggest being just our work ethic. he challenged me to find a way to inspire the missionaries especially those in our zone! So that's something i have been thinking a lot about. I'm trying to find a way where I can show all these great missionaries how important it is to work hard and be diligent! I'm just glad we have a pretty darn good zone!

3. We had a zone training! So once every six weeks all the missionaries in the zone get together and we have a 3 hour meeting and talk about what we need to do or how we can improve. so being a zone leader I was in charge of this meeting! Oh boy it was a big deal! but it was great, as i settled in and the spirit was there everything went just swell! 

4. We started our zone training with what we call a set the tone. we made all the missionaries go out and look at the picture of the Savior in the garden of Gethsemene and then watched the 'Because of Him video!" watch it right now if you havent see it in the last month! http://easter.mormon.org/ there is the link! its sooooo good! then we asked the zone how the Savior could do all he does and we can't simply be obedient, diligent trustworthy... on and on it was super good and brought the spirit super duper well!

5. After the meeting i drove to Pasagoula Mississippi! I have officially slept in every state of the mission:  Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia! That's a big deal! But it was an interesting place! Super duper ghetto! especially compared to Fairhope! It was way bad and way sketchy! But it wasn't the worst i have seen! apparently the city got leveled by Katrina and they just rebuild slowly from there! But it was a good day. I was with Elder Stroupe and it is always an adventure!

6. Gerald dean! so we knocked on this ladies door a few days ago and no one answered so as we were walking away she yelled at us, she was about to get in the shower and told us to come back another day! So we went back and taught her the restoration and she loved it! It was awesome! It's nice to have someone just let you in right off the street!

7. I got to go up to Mobile stake conference! It was pretty good! Besides the blown out speakers it was a good meeting! Elder Munns of the seventy spoke and talked a lot about angles and how mush they influence our life! some are heavenly and some are mortal but we are constantly surrounded by angles! That's the truth! 2 kings 6:16! 

8. I also got to see lots of people form Monroeville, which was super cool! It was good seeing old friends! I actually got to sit by Steven and Desray Coombs, a couple that I taught that got baptized not too long ago! Dessray wiped Michah's slobber all over me and said there you go he loves you now! Steven leaned over and said man you knew this baby before he was even born! Which is weird because I taught here while she was pregnant and never got to meet him!

9. Fairhope jubilee.. interesting thing right there. A jubilee is when all these fish just come to shore and don't swim away. It happens when the water is super low in oxygen and they just can't function so you just reach down and grab fish and crab! Super weird though! It only happens in two places in the world, 1. Fairhope, Alabama, 2. Tokyo bay Japan! 

10. I love you all have a great week!

1. FIrst off- Sam King, the super ready 17 year old, was supposed to get baptized on Saturday... but his dad wants him to wait a little longer so he isn't so impulsive. Which is good, but kind of a bummer. It's been good though since I have gotten to get to know him a lot better. He likes me now so that is good! 

2. We had a lesson with Sam's dad and that was crazy good! Brother King came and told us his concerns and Brother Atwood (the family that has been fellowshipping Sam) answered them great! It was a little crazy in the fact that we were there for 2 hours! They just kept talking and neither me or Elder Miller knew what to do! But it was good and at the end we challenged Mr. King to read and pray about the Book of Mormon because that will be the only way that all his concerns will be resolved! #thatsthetruth!!!

3. Mr.King is reading the Book Of Mormon and wants to meet with us so who knows, we might end up baptizing Sam and his father. That would be so cool! But it's good to have an investigator be sincere and actually put forth the effort needed to progress! 

4. A little on the Atwood family! They are awesome! Because we teach Sam there 3 times a week we are always over there and they always feed us which is super cool!!!! I wont complain at all about food! But they are awesome, Brother Atwood is a scriptorian but has just enough sarcasm to keep you humble! He is great! It's funny because it is what I invision Papa my grandfather,  to be like, so it's been odd! But I think Papa was a lot more humble and soft spoken! But still its odd casue i have this connection with him with out ever knowing him! 

5. I had my first Sunday at the Daphne, Alabama ward and it was pretty good! It's a good size ward with a lot of younger families and a good sized elders quorum, which is really good! It's kind of odd though since we are in Fairhope most members are in Daphne and live a distance so we never get to see them:( Kind of lame but thats alright. I'm still excited to be in this ward!

6. I got to go on a trade off with one of my old companions which was way cool! Elder Bochenck is a great guy and serving in Theodore which is a super tough area, there hasn't been a baptism there in 2 years! So its having a little bit of a dry spell! But Elder Bockenek came with me for the day and it was a good day of memories and a good friend! He told me that I'm moving to Rexburg and living in his basement and dating his sister because I'm the only guy he trusts! "Oh Elder Bochenek," that's all you can say! 

7. Cody Pruett - He is a great kid. He is our second closest to baptism. His mom actually told us this week she would let him be baptized! But crazy thing is he is 12 and the only active investigator in his family. His mom is a little crazy and super ADD and can't ever focus but Cody does so well and learns so much! It is amazing  how well he retain stuff! I was super confused because he normally doesn't show very much emotion but then at the end of the lesson he normally tells us it all back and how awesome it was! So thats super cool! He is a good kid and I'm excited for him!

8. Be happy. I shared this before but my favorite scripture comes from good ole buck lane out in monroeville D&C 78:18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along." BE HAPPY thats what I've been applying! And happiness is a choice!!

9. Brother Atwood said something profound and then related that to families being together forever. He said, "We are not afraid of the dark but we are afraid of being alone in the dark" It's so true though, we are naturally normally alright in the dark when we have someone to rely on, someone to be with us! But it is much more worrisome and scary when we are walking alone!

10. Let's end with a football quote since I'm in the south and missing a great college football season! By good ole Vince Lamardi he said "PERFECTION IS NOT ATTAINABLE, BUT IF WE CHASE PERFECTION WE CAN CATCH EXCELLENCE!" Love it and it is so so true

I love y'all!

Elder Taylor

Me & Elder B! 

That's the Mobile South gang sigh... we are hard core here :) 

Perfection, The Kings, and Old Memories

1. FIrst off- Sam King, the super ready 17 year old, was supposed to get baptized on Saturday... but his dad wants him to wait a little longer so he isn't so impulsive. Which is good, but kind of a bummer. It's been good though since I have gotten to get to know him a lot better. He likes me now so that is good! 

2. We had a lesson with Sam's dad and that was crazy good! Brother King came and told us his concerns and Brother Atwood (the family that has been fellowshipping Sam) answered them great! It was a little crazy in the fact that we were there for 2 hours! They just kept talking and neither me or Elder Miller knew what to do! But it was good and at the end we challenged Mr. King to read and pray about the Book of Mormon because that will be the only way that all his concerns will be resolved! #thatsthetruth!!!

3. Mr.King is reading the Book Of Mormon and wants to meet with us so who knows, we might end up baptizing Sam and his father. That would be so cool! But it's good to have an investigator be sincere and actually put forth the effort needed to progress! 

4. A little on the Atwood family! They are awesome! Because we teach Sam there 3 times a week we are always over there and they always feed us which is super cool!!!! I wont complain at all about food! But they are awesome, Brother Atwood is a scriptorian but has just enough sarcasm to keep you humble! He is great! It's funny because it is what I invision Papa my grandfather,  to be like, so it's been odd! But I think Papa was a lot more humble and soft spoken! But still its odd casue i have this connection with him with out ever knowing him! 

5. I had my first Sunday at the Daphne, Alabama ward and it was pretty good! It's a good size ward with a lot of younger families and a good sized elders quorum, which is really good! It's kind of odd though since we are in Fairhope most members are in Daphne and live a distance so we never get to see them:( Kind of lame but thats alright. I'm still excited to be in this ward!

6. I got to go on a trade off with one of my old companions which was way cool! Elder Bochenck is a great guy and serving in Theodore which is a super tough area, there hasn't been a baptism there in 2 years! So its having a little bit of a dry spell! But Elder Bockenek came with me for the day and it was a good day of memories and a good friend! He told me that I'm moving to Rexburg and living in his basement and dating his sister because I'm the only guy he trusts! "Oh ElderBochenek," that's all you can say! 

7. Cody Pruett - He is a great kid. He is our second closest to baptism. His mom actually told us this week she would let him be baptized! But crazy thing is he is 12 and the only active investigator in his family. His mom is a little crazy and super ADD and can't ever focus but Cody does so well and learns so much! It is amazing  how well he retain stuff! I was super confused because he normally doesn't show very much emotion but then at the end of the lesson he normally tells us it all back and how awesome it was! So thats super cool! He is a good kid and I'm excited for him!

8. Be happy. I shared this before but my favorite scripture comes from good ole buck lane out in monroeville D&C 78:18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along." BE HAPPY thats what I've been applying! And happiness is a choice!!

9. Brother Atwood said something profound and then related that to families being together forever. He said, "We are not afraid of the dark but we are afraid of being alone in the dark" It's so true though, we are naturally normally alright in the dark when we have someone to rely on, someone to be with us! But it is much more worrisome and scary when we are walking alone!

10. Let's end with a football quote since I'm in the south and missing a great college football season! By good ole Vince Lamardi he said "PERFECTION IS NOT ATTAINABLE, BUT IF WE CHASE PERFECTION WE CAN CATCH EXCELLENCE!" Love it and it is so so true

I love y'all!

Elder Taylor

Me & Elder B! 

That's the Mobile South gang sigh... we are hard core here :)