1. Brenda, Christian and Tyler were all baptized this week and it was a super big blessing! One of the most spiritual and uplifting meetings I have been too-- it was a great experience! It was a blessing! The ward showed up in full force. we normally have baptisms in a small 12x12 room but that wasn't big enough, neither was the relief society room so we did it in the chapel! It was a way good experience, very powerful!
2. So here is a rundown of that day! Super good start was giving Mark the authority to be a priest! He was a deacon and had the priesthood but now he's a priest! His dad who is Joe, a recently activated member got to give him the priesthood! Joe was super nervous and tried to give me the card and tell me to do it right as we were about to start but I said no! So he did it as me and Elder Peel stood in and held a card with the words he needed to say! And joe gave a beautiful father's blessing to his son. It was a great experience!
3. Later on that day as they were getting in the water I stuck my head in the hallway and said you guys know I love you right? Christian the teenager just laughed and said we love you too Elder Taylor! It was just a good day! They all made it and it was awesome seeing a family of four being activated and baptized... no experience like it!
4. I gave a talk on baptism because Brenda, now my Florida mom, asked me to! I was super grateful. I talked about how much that family meant to me and about the gift of the holy ghost! I might have cried a little bit but thats alright; tough guys cry don't they???
5. President Smith talked to me after the baptism because they were there and he said it was one of the spiritual highlights of his missions! He said it was amazing and he was just so happy to be there. I introduced him to the whole Clements family and he told them it was amazing I got sent back and it must have been for a reason!
6. Mark closed the meeting with saying thanks to everyone and talked about me and Elder Peel a lot during it! He talked about the first meeting they had with the missionaries I was on of the missionaries and how after the meeting Brenda said "Oh that Elder Taylor such a cute kid, I really like him!" Do that was way cool! So here we go now! Now I'm her redheaded stepchild!
7. In my interview with president he just was talking to me and was so proud about the man that I have become. He said it was so amazing how much growth I have had it was just a really big blessing! I love that man! Oh and I gave him a Taylor traditional orange tie signed by me and he loved it and is letting me pick out one of his own ties! Also when I saw him at zone conference this week he said that he was going to miss me a lot!
8. Speaking of that zone conference, it was super good! We had a good time and now we have black boxes in our car that tell us when we drive too fast... not cool but oh well! Our drive to the meeting was 1:30 the drive home with the box was 1:50 so it slows us down but it's a good safe thing!
9. Learned a lot like this: "Greatness is a lot of small things done everyday." -President Smith. The craziest thing was going up with my buddy Elder Beckstrom and bearing our final testimonies in a missionary meeting! It's a tradition of the departing missionaries to do it at zone conference. And as me and Elder Beckstrom were sitting up there I put my arm around him and ask "can you believe it's over"? All he said was I can't believe it at all! And it's true, it has gone by fast but I have loved it all!
10. We got to do service for President Akuma who is a member of the mission presidency. He owns a huge dairy! But I'll just have to say cow poop is not the life for me! I love the guy though! It was fun!
11. We helped another member plant some potatoes and it was the funniest little thing. As one missionary dug the whole and anther planted the potato, their pitbull would walk behind us and bury the potato with her nose. It was adorable! Crazy dog!
Love you all!
Elder Taylor
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