MERRY CHRISTMAS

Testimonio de Cristo

I really do not know where to begin in the testimony of I have of Christ. When I think of what he would do in every situation I think how unnecessary the commandments would be if we just loved as he did. If we allow him to change our desires to just do good! To do as he would do! When I think of his love for me even when I fail. and when I fail his other children I think of his miraculous power, to compensate and take advantage of our shortcomings and I can know that he LIVES and LOVES me bastante. He is my Savior, and you come to know it more and more by striving to live like Him.

My testimony is simple. Those who keep the commandments will prosper in the land. We keep the commandments in order to have the eternal family and if there is one chance in one hundred billion of having that eternal family it is worth the fight. It is worth these two years to be trained and honed to be able to take care of our families. It is worth it because of the love that we have for Jesus Christ and that which he has for us, this love that the people do not understand and even we don´t understand completely, but we strive to. It is this love that drives everything. That makes the family eternal and by which Christ suffered for us. Though I may feel far from this love at times in these years I know that it will come to me and that I will do my best to make it effective in my life.

Elder Taylor

God Called Me

November 21st Letter

Hola Familia!

Que habo? Do you want me to be unwisely and totally honest as I write this on the 17th of November 2011 - pretty much I can only just think about and be amazed at the fact that Matt already has a year. What in the world? And that I have the same time that my Padre (trainer) had when I got sick with that cursed infection and spent my half birthday (not important) in the Baptist Clinic from the underworld.

So call me trunky if you will but I am here to testify of how fast time flies, and also that I was led, unknowingly to a building, of apartments, without a guard. We entered and there were about eight apartments so we start knocking -- lo and behold in the poopiest (excuse the language, pupi here means like rich) we find a woman with genuine interest! We made an appointment and lo and behold just as I had prophesied she gave us a delicious jugo in fancy looking cups while we taught! Rich investigators rock.

Lo and behold we found another one in the buildings! A "couple" of a member that just died - (she was old and recently underwent heart surgery -- I sang with the relief society at her funeral with my comp on Friday) but the "husband" of her inactive daughter is now our investigator - in the sweet apartments - I fell kind of bad cuz in four months here I never knew the sister that lived there and now it's a little too late. BUT I'll do my best to serve her family.

About two weeks ago I held a special fast for myself and the only thing I fasted for was references - like "Please help the members to create references" and since then I hadn't really thought about and just kept going normal trying to inspire the members to share. I talked to a 14 year old named Wilson and said, "hey we eat lunch at your house tomorrow -- invite your friends over, like three and we'll watch a movie of the church. He invited six and three said they're coming to church today then the referencia from the family of the member that passed away and the referenceias are all in the buildings that we haven't really proselyted in but that we are planning to enter and here is how - super weak and wimpy - but it is all that we got:

The bishop (who is turning us into his slaves - we do him a lot of service, it is awesome!) has a bunch of Liahonas - old ones, in the church still in the plastic and we are going to put a note with the information of the church and the zone leaders phone number (we do not have phones - well in the house but we're never home) in each Liahona - to start we'll leave like 5 to 10 Liahonas in front of a small placard type thing that stands up so that all will see it that invites them to take the Liahona and call to meet with us cause we can't go door to door. (I asked... I have been talking with administrators of these buildings for some time (like two weeks) trying to figure out how to enter) nor are there any members to start working with in the buildings - like each one is its own little island or area. So a lot of this week was trying to figure out the presentations.

These are my 16 stones. I'm hoping that God will somehow make them glow.

If you guys have an ideas or how missionaries enter apartments in the US. Obviously my 16 stones could use some polishing - like putting the stand in the elevator cuz then everyone would see it and, I don't know, we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday (Domingo) I set some appointments with the vigilates de los edifices so we'll see how it goes.

Have I explained to you why I want to enter and teach in these apartments? I will tell you why... there are families there. Beautiful families that are complete and not totally of weird and complex relations one to another. Also the environment to teach will be so much better - without pounding ballerato and alcohol for todospartes. The Spirit will actually be able to be there in the lessons and the rich people will give us juices (already evidenced) and might even have air conditioning or at least a sweet fan.

Because, to put it bluntly, these poor neighborhoods - they have not yielded any fruit that lasted, hardly any, because out of 500 baptisms - 40 ish are currently active. the music and the alcohol and the laziness are just too much for these people and they go inactive. Only the strongest really are remaining in this ward.

So the somewhat rich people, though they may be harder to convert, I believe will definitely last longer. So that's what I've been doing this week and also I got to capitalize more on these opportantidudes de entrar - and work harder at finding them in the street to enter and find this service en Manga, so that this barrio will start to progress. I don't think any missionaries have ever tried, at least in the last years to reach these people, so hopefully there's some good fruit.

I almost feel like I wasted so much time (this is terrible to say) working in a rotten part of the vineyard instead of trying to climb to the top and making an effort to go where the good fruit is - I'm going where I believe the fruit to be good, even if it's hard to reach. I feel super good about my 16 stones. Also the missionaries before had no success in the poor places. I have stopped teaching almost all those who we were teaching before - pretty much all of them. I realized how much time we spent with these people that we basically just entertained. Now I'm here with few investigators and this plan and probably only two weeks left in this area - DANGIT.

I also had my haircut by the sister that lives below us - quite entertaining. Haven't really looked at it yet and of course the power went out so I'm in a wrinkly shirt waiting.

I still don't fit in my bed but I put the blanket at the end and that's enough.

Lilath con Z is progressing fast and will be baptized the 10th of December and ya - the work has been slow but we're in a transfer stage of finding locations - from poor to rich and I have just been planning and scheming how to enter. It is over 3/4 of the population live in these buildings in my area.

I think about Abinadi - he was a great missionary but probably never knew. Could someone else have been more effective in the area of Abinadi? Maybe, but it doesn't matter. God didn't call someone else. God called Abinadi. Could a different missionary have been more effective here? Maybe, but it doesn't matter. God didn't call them. God called me.

Love you all tons!

Love,

Elder Taylor

I have a dream for this area

November 14th Letter

Hola Familia!

I recently completed the second day of being stuck in the house => so totally torturous - and we are doing group studies almost all the day which is sweet but I would so much rather study on my own - BUT it's all good - cuz learning to do things in groups is totally effective. Some things that may be important for you to know that I don't think I ever mentioned before =>

• Also I took out 200 mil pesos => like a hundred bucks - for this week of being stuck in the house, just in case => this next week I'm going to buy some nice things for myself - for example:
  - a sweet bag - whether fanny pack or side bag I'm not sure (back packs make me sweat A LOT => demasrade => so I only use it when I need to and it makes my shirts dirty - don't know if it is fault of the shirts or backpack). My old fanny pack broke - totally died - we had a good four months together.
  - a good pillow - that's not totally nasty
  - and a sweet belt, cus the one I got => not that awesome looking now
  - I'm going to look in this next P-day to see if they'll have socks and shirts my size. If not I'll let you know. I'm doing fine on all this but just so we can have that for future reference
  - and other little things that will make me totally eficaz como missionero

I have had way too much time to think this week, but it has been cool. Most of all I realized that I gotta improve so many things! Most of all I got to know how to focus on people that can actually progress. We have so many that are stuck and are not progressing in marriage, in assistance and now I'm going to find new rich investigators - which will be sweet.

My companion told us this evening, like Friday or Saturday, how even though his family has not written him in nine months, how much he loves them and they are even members and I am just amazed at his strength cuz if you all hadnt written me I'd already be home I think. With the infection and everything, but he's here - a pesar de all that- he's here fighting to help the other families be eternal (and he's had success) so cool -

I think about a lot of people. They really do know Christ and they know Him well, but they don't know, anytime someone conquers sin, chooses the right despite hard consequences, overcomes a trial, an addiction, feels that love, they get to know Christ on some level - they feel the Spirit - something urging them to keep going and getting better themselves but they just don't identify the source. A lot of these people probably know Christ a lot better than I do, just they don't recognize it, and sometimes (a lot of times) don't want to pay the price to recognize Him fully. So I realized the obvious, but it took on a new level. My job never is to tell someone they don't know Christ but to help them realize they know Him better than they imagined.

That's also something I'm realizing, the obvious. You wonder why you don't get results and the answer is always in front of your eyes, but it takes a training, or a zone conference or a cool moment to realize you lack the obvious.

For example, DO SERVICE, they tell me... well duh? Why haven't I been looking for that? And it seems like such a novel idea but it's right there!

You really just need to focus on the basics => and use all of the basics - there are a ton.

Did I tell you in the two days we worked 2 women pretty much asked us to be baptized? So cool. I now have two investigadoras e con fecha that seem pretty solid - (not a fat joke, though one of them is pretty chunky) and I have a dream for this area - investigadores in these sky scrapers.

Because I have been working in the poor parts, where sadly the people's family's are pretty much destroyed a lot of the time and many of the people simply don't seem ready. It is a HARD environment, always, with alcohol and the music so loud but it is where the missionaries have chosen to work all the year long and pretty much nobody has gotten baptized so I'm going to environments where the spirit will more easily thrive so the people can progress.

Apparently there is an entire street and almost everyone is a member and is inactive - totally not awesome - but you remember this sister Ana Claudina, whose husband is way sick and he falls and is stuck and stuff, she and a different menos activa came to church today! along with Sila who we programmed - Cool! and a bunch of members visited Jenys while I was stuck in the house - not awesome - but she's definitely progressing, though we are still "all" con el esposo.

So while we sat in the house studying, first normal with personal, comp, and language, we had a mini CCth where we had "actividades" throughout the day where we studied the 8 principles together and then did something else throughout the day but I just sat talking and studying and writing and I even took a full hour and knelt down and prayed. I also bought nutella and peanut butter and a lot of bread to make french toast. I already had syrup.

Anyway, I only left the house once to go to church service Wednesday. Totally bogus, we easily could have left and worked all week without problems if we were just smart. I have no doubt I am suffering consequences of stupid missionaries before - drives me nuts. Just be smart! Follow the little white book.

For example => a bunch of missionaries had the bad habit of pretty much making mini farewells when they were transferred and some wouldn't get back to the house until like 10:30 trying to say good bye to everyone (the girls of the ward) - idiots. Have some self control. Plan ahead and become the best you can by following the guidelines that God has laid out for you - namely Preach My Gospel and the little white book and focus on your purpose even on your last day in an area. You're here to find, teach and baptize not say good bye to your crushes. It became such a problem, in fact, that now no one knows the cambios until Tuesday in the night time because apparently these representatives can't control themselves and keep focus. There are just so many things; like that in this mission where the missionaries weren't mature enough to focus and follow the purpose that those who are, not me, but others of course, get limited in the good we can do for trying to be obedient whereas the others just continue being more disobedient with the new rule. The thing is though, a lot of the missionaries did not grow up the same and are learning. We are all learning and that's what I have to remember. they are not idiots, nor are they cieces of crap, they are learning, sometimes I just wish they'd do it faster.

But the missionaries in my district are cool. A new Elder, Delgado, has like four months and the other - DeLaCruz elder Ellis se fue- elder DeLaCruz is awesome. He got here and had to be in the house for five days without leaving. What a great way to start in a new area. He has like 15 months.

So there you go. A lot of what was on my mind while I wrote. Weird but cool week - learned a lot - just have to apply it. Watched a talk by Elder Holland that was awesome. three times actually and I'm felling good to be on the street again.

You guys really are the best. I don't think I'd make it if it wasn't for you. Pretty sure I wouldn't. Maybe, but thanks for being in this with me. I love you all tons!

Cuidense! Love you tons,

Elder Taylor

Freakishly Cute

November 7th Letter

Hola Familia!

I found something the other day => yesterday in fact => in the scriptures, that really struck a tone with me, dice "Porque no me envio' Cristo a bautizar, sino a predicar el evangelio". Dang it! that's in 1 Corinthians 1:17 => totally like, "Elder, you can't worry about the baptisms - I'll do it and do all I can so He can make baptisms happen.

But I'll tell you what - it is frustrating to not know if you're working effectively, helping the people effectively because in my life I learned effectiveness got results - and to this point I don't even have investigaters with una fecha - haven't for almost three weeks -

BUT on the bright side we have an awesome lady Jenys - (Jenys is pronounced He-nis) and she wants to get baptized but her husband is overly stressed and a little immature - in that he's not her husband - solo son uma pareja que viven juntos - so we went to talk to him on Tuesday and he just went off complaining. I didn't understand everything I don't think it was anything new to her and she still wants to marry him! and they have three little girls who are freakishly cute - they are so cute! (like totally adorable).

So today - Thursday, the 3rd of November we talked with her husband and her for a good hour - way different. She told me that they never talk. I was like whoa! This makes so much sense! The younger generation, never learned to talk out problems, talk through things and invite divine guidance. Part of the reason why today a lot of marriages struggle so much, I suppose, is that they never learned to talk to people well and just sort it out and I made a rule for myself that I'm sure my future spouse will approve of - that even if I am so mad that I can't talk to her or she can't talk to me, we always will be able to talk to God together.

It's Monday now, this week was sweet even though my numbers don't show it at all. I actually doubt I've ever had worse numbers, but I've realized something. I'm not looking for lessons just to pass time. I'm looking for baptisms - before anything else... which is IRONIC because still I have ningun investigador con fecha! Not one -

So there you go => Gosh, super frustrating but we made a lot of progress with Jenys and her husband. Two lessons more with the youth of the ward and she and her husband read 3 Nephi 14 juntos! It was cool and they saw the ways they can both improve. He was a lot more receptive.

This has been really cool because as they expressed their different points of view of how things were going in their family, I realized that they had the same goal - take care of their ninas but were going about it differently, so we read Alma 56:27, 46-48 and we talked some and the Spirit was working and he got all like shaken and weirded out by the feeling and made an excuse to leave to pick up one of his daughters - totally sweet and she's told us multiple times that she wants to get baptized but that she has to get married.

Cool - so let me tell you about Halloween - yes they celebrate it here but the candy is not as big or as much and no one goes around with pillowcases full of candy - all very small - but is was almost cold Halloween night. It had been drizzling pretty much all day and the night was completely tranquila. In a neighborhood that we work in a lot where normally there is tons of noise and people - nothing - no one in the street - no noise just totally nice. I loved it. As we went back in "jeep" I was standing, riding colgado, everything was just totally calm, no music - few people - weird for Cartegena.

Wednesday was Dia de los Muertos. I organized, basically, a plan to go to the cemetery to contact people about their dead loved ones. 11 missionaries, the assistants showed up (surprise!) and we talked to a lot of people and this cemetery is nuts! Like uber creepy and awesome and way too cramped and broken. They struggle to keep anything truly nice looking here but still awesome.

So I planned that or at least made it possible then the bishop asked us to remove dirt because a ton(!) of mud fell into a lot that he owns and we did that and it worked out super well because hen a member let us shower in his house and we didn't have to waste a ton of time going back home to shower.

I also spent a couple of hours looking for a service project to do in Inanga which we have 0 investigators in. It's all apartments and "rich people" which makes me laugh cuz they are not rich at all! Just have a car y ya - mas nada - their hearts should not be that hard.

So I'm searching for this service we'll see how it goes. Guess what, this week I work today and tomorrow and then they shut us in for the parties. Apparently it gets ridiculous - everyone throws foam and water and there are dirty and clean dances nastily in the streets so we are FORBIDDEN to leave even the house. It is an inferno! But you should have a freakishly long letter next week from my mini MTC time here in the house. Five days without leaving - so great.

Well, there you go! Love you all tons!

Elder Taylor

Patrick's Bishop

Cartagena

Know How Blessed You Are

10/31/11

!Hola Flia! (abbreviation for Familia)

I Esta ba para escribirles, pero me acorde que tengo que hacer el informe de Progreso, que vaina.

Nah, I’ll do it in the morning. I’m fasting right now so this could be weird. And I’m tired – a lot – Did I tell you about my bed?– Not comfortable. Finally I made the other elder switch me beds… Still I had to sleep with the mattress a little raised so my feet weren’t trapped in the bed. But finally I got smart and put the blanket I never use to use under my feet... AHH – so much better. I padded the bar. Though I still have nutty dreams… because my comp left to Monteria and a Training in Barranquilla so for a day I was in a trio with the other elders of my district and I slept alone in my own room for the first time in 9 months! And as luck would have it I had a super freaky dream about a trapped fantom. I woke up totally scared like I would when I was littler – like a year ago – and I started praying and fell right back to sleep.

Elder Jorge left. It was a weird experience. After all our strife and things right before he left I found myself exceedingly pleased – excited even. Like Finally! I realized this was sad on my part and I began to change the way I was viewing this entire situation. I thought about this while we were preparing to go. Whoa, the change was grand – to the point where I became determined to never lose his influence on me. All that I learned from him and what we put each other through – it was intense but despite all our ups and downs and everything I could truly say, “Be a good example man (I mean Elder). I love you too…Franco.” He told me I could call him by his first name, I never did – though he preferred it – just when it was like adios! Did I call him Franco.

So, he left.

And Elder Pacaya came.

He is from Equitos, Peru – his house floats.

Yes, you read right, his house Floats – AWESOME – in the Holiday months from like November til January-February his house floats! Cuz the river raises and not just that but to like 12-15 deep! They go by canoe to church and he says it is super annoying when they forget something and have to go back. They are looking for a house that isn’t affected as much by the water – cool. Can you imagine? You could skinny dip every night!

He is a small Peruvian missionary and he’s funny – He’s probably still in the awkward faze of being intimidated by me – I haven’t asked him – I’ve been trying to take a real interest in him but it is a little difficult when they don’t return it well. But, I share about myself anyway.

I am the only gringo en the zone. The entire Zone. Only citizen of the USA – so strange – but I think more and more gringos are coming to the mission – a bunch have arrived. My comp and I are from the same group – meaning he started in January too – but he’s been in the field longer. BUT as I’m district leader, gringo, and significantly taller (most important) than he will ever be—I’m Not Serious! But it is nice to be a lot more in charge and we get along great. My comps hate me cuz every P-day I’m doing some huge cleaning project, like the walls or the patio or washing every article of clothing I have. But whatever right?

I’ve been making a ton more French toast and it is awesome and my comp broke his shoes so he can’t run in the morning – bummer – I have some strange things running en la manana.

The mission still is really hard – but you gotta love it – my goal this transfer is to get Rich investigators that live in Manga – a place where we have none – they really aren’t rich – rich here pretty much means you have a car – so I don’t know why they think they don’t need anything more. That’s something I’ve realized – how incredibly rare Utah is – it is so incredibly blessed – in every way – sometimes (this is bad) I just think those people put themselves and live in Hell – Honestly – they get drunk, put their music on, some of which is quality but mostly, just this annoying whistle thing and sit on their porch –all night long! And So loud its incredible. In fact, yesterday – day of elections – outside my sweet old sick lady’s investigator house they were doing it! So mad I was! – Let your sick mother-in-law who hasn’t been baptized just cuz she’s sick Rest! Bah! What an undeveloped cultural skidmark they put there.

Just know how blessed you are and how much I love you all –

Love you all tons!

Elder Taylor

Desire To Do Good

10/24/11

Hola Familia - Dear Family -

Hey. How are ya? This week was indeed stranger - I got sick of contacting poor people so on the splits that we did I contacted a rich neighborhood - and we found a couple good people and an old catholic man that spoke English - “I can’t, I alone!” He said frustratedly -

We had a TON of rain! So much rain! So much in fact that the house 50 yards down the street flooded like you wouldn’t believe - it almost reached our house but it wouldn’t have mattered for us because we live in the 2nd story - but like 3 feet or more of water in some of these houses - I have no idea how it happened.


But, now everything is back to normal and I could go running again on my birthday! And we did run very far it was awesome - to a building that is big and white on the south side of the lake-bay-body of water. And this body of water is freaking beautiful! but nobody takes care of it! Drives me nuts - It’s like they do not care at all - at least for this sweet lake - now bordered with trash - like what the heck? Anyway - don’t litter - it ruins beautiful things - I made the cake and it was delicious - every body loved the heck of out of it - the hermana debajo has an horno so she baked it for us and it salio perfecta! Course I decorated and coordinated everything because in all honesty, latinos sometimes don’t know what’s up - and I escaped the idiotic tradition of cracking an egg on someones head - to me that doesn’t even seem creative - but they did smash my face in the cake and spray me with foam - so clever - but it was a cool birthday and I had a sweet chance to clean the church for some of the relief society sisters - so they could leave early. Then we went on splits with future missionaries in missionary prep - el Sabado - my split partner was sweet - he sent his papers last week and is a 2 year convert - his parents don’t know yet. So that's fun.

We have a bunch of investigators that are not doing anything - like the majority - so we are starting to focus a lot more on finding people to teach. That’s the problem here is that a lot - just let you in cuz they’ve nothing better to do - My personal goal is to train the wards that I’m in - Missionaries - we learn by practicing - practicing everything - so I want to do that with the members. Prepare them so when they have opportunities to share the Gospel they can feel confident - then no matter if the missionaries are good or fuleros - their ward can progress - that is my idea - We’ll see if it works. Cuz I figure they are the ones that have to live with the work I do here - like it’ll be on my conscience if I messed something up - but If I can help them to realize - help them to fulfill their calling as witnesses of Christ and mobilize them a little - things will start to happen in this ward - I hope the practices I do will be effective. Yesterday I taught the gospel principles class and I talked for 40 minutes en espanol, and then after a member - (who wasn’t in the class) in priesthood asked my companion to translate for me - thinking I couldn’t understand - way funny.

Well, with all this rain the mountain - or hill - that I live by erodes - rapidly - in fact I spent this morning digging out the back porch of a member. She has like 2 meters high of mud for like 30 feet in her “back yard.” So bad - I’m not sure what they were thinking when they built these houses in the hill. All of them are going to fall some day. I believe the pope itself - that church on top of the hill - will fall - and great will be the fall thereof. :)

So my district has its difficultades - I try to help them set goals to be better in obedience or language or whatever but I realized they have to make their own goals - one that is personal to them - I was talking about cleanliness - how if our desires are clean and how they can become clean through the atonement. It was powerful - I said - “I really do not care if a word is considered a bad word or not - what I do care about is desires to do Good!” In word, thought, and Deed and WORD! Nothing really changed in the district but I felt good - the thing I hate is that they make me feel like an alarm clock - like - guys - It’s time to study - guys come on - so dumb. And I always talk about it like, “I expect you to do it for yourself!” But hey, whatever. Cambios are on Wednesday - I know my comp is leaving - I do not know my Cambio yet, we’ll see - It’s been an interesting transfer - It is almost unnerving how much my eyes have been opened. I feel I don’t look at, or judge anyone the same.

Pedro got the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and showed up in his white shirt and tie and it was the most interesting knot I have every seen - totally reversed - and the big part was out front and still - I’m not sure how he did it.


But I can tie my tie decently well and I am learning a ton - the things come in waves. sometimes they swallow you and other times you ride them.

We’ll see how the cambio goes -

I love you all tons.

Elder Taylor

French Toast-makes a whole day go better

10/17/11


!Hola Familia!

What a nutty week! It was totally weird and awesome and milayroso y tragic and powerful and things - Whoa, So here we go - I’ll start with a revelation I had on the bus that I need to put into practice. I always considered myself different. For example, other people struggled in life, other people couldn’t change or help these people - but I can - cuz I’m different, But that attitude is totally false - unless - I align it with God and humble myself and focus on them - not as things I’ve got to accomplish - but as people - It’s not that I’m different but that they need me - as I am - the best I can be for them - So there ya go.

This week started with finding out one of our 19 year old girls was pregnant. And she was sad and scared and it was bad - obviously not married and the boy was not going to marry her but said - I support you - and they were about to break up.

We arrived at the house one day, (more of a shack) but big - and she was leaving for the hospital in a taxi - she had taken a pill for parasites that the missionaries used to have to take and her blood went nuts - the next morning we called her and she told my comp she was pregnant, and didn’t want to be - (I’ll have you know we taught the Law of Chastity over a month and a half ago and she said she’d live it - Dang it )- but it turns out this pill messed with her, and she lost the child the next day - it was intense - I thought of the difference the Gospel makes in all this - like when Jess told us she was pregnant we were all like !YAY! but with this investigator it was a nightmare - ?Que differncia? But these people just haven’t been taught. This story is so common here. We have another investigator who had a kid at 12 years old. Nuts. I couldn’t believe it - but they are just not taught and have to learn the hard way - and the hard way STINKS. After all that we were talking with her - she told us she lost it and all that tragicness and we gave her a blessing - I really hope she learned her lesson - she is an awesome person but just stupid and surrounded by bad examples - like this is SO normal here it’s disgusting - almost like the dogs in the street. And “I support you?” What the heck kind of commitment is that? What an idiot! It is his Kid! So bugged - Worse - she told us she did not want to do anything with him but he talked her into it - So BAD! Anyway - I will definitely keep the law of Chastity all my life long - My comp said he felt the Spirit way strong when I gave her the blessing - my comp thought it was cool. I hope so.

I also got my teeth cleaned on Saturday - it was awesome - not really an awesome cleaning but they did flouride and stuff from an investigadora y una miembro - it was totally exciting - I went to the Dentist! And right now I’m watching this same member put braces on my comp, Elder Jorge, and I watched him get a minor surgery on his tooth - kind of an orally fun week.

I had a cool experience in my reunion de districto - It was going pretty bad - pretty boring - but I started talking about we are one with God in our purpose and how everything happens for the immortality and Eternal Life of man. It got all quiet and intense and was awesome but then I lost it - but for a moment it was cool.

The next day was Saturday - we went to the dentist - then to lunch and then we got ready for the baptism that fell. I didn’t believe in it at all. I was almost positive it wasn’t going to happen - we get all ready and set and my comp is telling a member how I refuse to translate the rap songs he has - I don’t know why he has them - to “Learn English” - so dumb - so I won’t translate them cuz I hate rap and he’s trying to drag me into an argument that’ll try to get me to do it and I just refused to talk and all of the sudden he’s storming off from the church. I just stared in disbelief and he just kept going - I had no idea what to do so I just stayed with the member. After like 2 minutes I went around the corner to find him and I couldn’t and I was LIVID - the member and I waited on the corner and I debated calling the president right away - he came back saying “Now you can talk to me?” - O I was Furious - I just started walking towards the Church. And I could hear the member - Richard - “You are immature and useless Elder Jorge.” I was on the verge and opened my mouth and words started flying out ... - You are a Missionary! GROW UP! All in English - I was SO MAD -“Taylor - everyone’s looking “ -- “I DO NOt Care! Finally I stopped talking and we went back to the church and he was way surprised - I basically told him I can deal with crappy missionaries - but you are not! You just don’t care - You know everything and how to do it all. You just gotta wake up! And it was so awesome cuz he told me I was right - that he didn’t blame me for exploding and he’s starting to wake up - He committed to working harder and yesterday he told me he’s feeling better with this harder work. It’s funny that an hour after yelling at my companion, I had my first baptism in 6 months. IRONIC. I know I shouldn’t have unleashed - but he’s definitely more awake now - he’s only got 3 months left and Richard was like “Good Job! Do that Every morning!” So it was sweet, but wrong, but I really really really enjoyed it and the results have been awesome.

So the baptism - miracle - he didn’t show up - we found him at TIS walking along a highway and we said - Pedro - do you want to do this? You don’t have to just tell us the truth. “O ya,” he had forgotten - he told us to meet him on the corner and I didn’t think he’d show. He did - Sweet! And We baptized him - He’s just so slow! Then I brought him a white shirt and tie to be confirmed in the next day and he really changed - he laughed more and said the prayer in church and after he seemed really pleased with himself - so there ya go.

So this week was super eventful. we started running in the mornings and that has helped a lot - there’s an awesome lake by Our house and I love it but they do not take care of it at all - so much wasted potential - like my companion was being - but I woke him up - even if it wasn’t a good way - (Thought I can’t make myself feel bad about it) and I’m way excited for this week - especially with the new attitude de Elder Jorge and running - the world is better.

Facts of Mission Life:

• No investigators with Pecha
• Hormigas y mosquitos - I hate them
• The tables that support my bed are too small -
• I will not be getting any mail for a while
• My companion now has braces
• I don’t fit in my bed and I let everyone know
• The water leaves and we bathe out of our reserve tank.
• A garbage can full of water
• I still talk bad, but understand decently well
• I walk everywhere, or take a bus or Jeep or Colectivo -
• Don’t fit in any of them
• I eat ride everyday and listen to ballenato every night - real loud.
• They call me !Tabluo! osea - !Board Like! Tall Guy-
• Most of all I am just seeing the processes of learning of everyone here - some take a lot more time and experience to learn what I already know - Tons of really good people that are just learning the hard way - what a shortcut the gospel is - we are so rare and lucky.

-- love you tons.

Love,

Elder Taylor

P.S. I made French Toast for my district this week and it was AWESOME - makes a whole day go better.

Open Up Hearts

10/10/11


!Hola Famila!

?How the heck are ya? Todo bien aqui en la Costa. It has been nuts lately with a ton of intercambios con law missioneros and a capacitacion last Friday for liveres en Barranquilla.

This week I have learned a ton. First off, I did my first baptismal interview, it was sweet. The lady of 50 years was totally awesome and willing to fight for the remission of sins that she wanted so desperately. It was cool to see someone just open up and let their testimony shine. She was baptized last Saturday and confirmed and was just totally awesome. I did another para una jovencita - but she got scared and didn’t baptize. Dang it.

I had a similar experience. We were working with Pedro and he had his interview and it was sweet. He still struggles to understand but we are going to use videos and stuff. Anyway. Wednesday we had his interview. His little daughter Ana Iris told me he has 10 children from 4 different ladies. (Not uncommon here) - and that he smokes every morning, afternoon and night. But we asked him and he said he didn’t so I hope he’s not lying. Anyway, he was all set to be baptized el Sabado, we got everything ready, absolutely everything, and called pretty much the entire ward and the font was full and good. NO SHOW -- ?What the heck? “Qui en el infiernito? We were all sitting there waiting and nada - We went to his house after and he was sitting there - not a care in the world - I had no idea what to say I was in shock, and a fat woman that had taken it upon herself to “protect him” was there, discouraging him and it was just horrific. But then yesterday, we did splits with some members and I called a bunch of members of the priesthood and found Pedro and took him to a more peaceful members house and the bishop -- who is awesome -- shared his conversion story and we all got Pedro excited for his baptism this Saturday. And this time he’ll have all the support in the world to do it! And the O bispo was talking about helping him find a job. Cool -

The training in Barranquilla was sweet. I got to travel with Elder Spencer from close to Holladay, Salt Lake - We have a lot of plans to turn up the heat in the mission - we’ve been struggling these last few months. It is kind of sad - cuz normally we have over 100 baptisms - like easily could have more, but recently - like 60-80 - and Elder Hash wants us to have 250 baptisms - each month - and it is totally possible here. These people are begging for a change of life -- Not that I’ve gotten purposefully wet in the last 6 months, but the rest should be having baptisms! Gosh DANGIT! Ha - but it should change - or I hope it does. I believe in all these miracles and that they can change their lives and that they are ready -


Jessica - I have been using your babies. I’ve been using them in contacts and in lessons and everywhere. They sure can open up hearts--One member even included them and how miraculous they are in her testimony - They are becoming pretty popular here.

So one thing I’m learning is the importance of making sure all your words are uplifting. Cuz no one wants to be around someone who puts people down. Even in joking.

So remember the preacher dude of last week that just talked and talked and talked and said I was a Pharisee? I SAW HIM AGAIN! I was on exchanges with another elder and we were contacting and he approached me and him - he did it and was like “Ya we’re just preaching Jesus,”
I said, “Cool, us too.”

“Oh but it’s a different Jesus”

“No” (Me)

“Our Jesus is God”

“Ours too”

“No, but ours was God forever, before, here on Earth and now”

“Us too”

“Well Bye!”

“!Adios! !Cuidesa!” And it was so weird to see him again cuz I was honestly so happy. I was like hey my friend! But he was rather snippy - I was like, I’d give you a libro de Mormon, but you can’t speak spanish. He returned to his appointment and we kept contacting on that street. When he was in his car to leave I approached him and said -- “Have you read the Book of Mormon?”

“No, when you know the original, the Bible, you can detect a fraud”

“Have you read it?”

“No -- blah blah in Galations - and revelations”

“No, have you read it?”

“I’ve read a little bit”

“Okay, I invite you to read it and ask God if it is true.”

“It’s not true!”

“Ask God - I invite you to ask God”

“Blah Blah”

“Alright - ask God.”

Adios!

I just had to invite him - I hope he softens his heart but he looked sort of defeated while I walked away. Thank you for that extra opportunity. It was cool and totally dramatic.

A funny thing happened when we went to fill the font -- we opened the door and there was a cat in the room. It was scared out of its mind and we started dancing around it and it ran and ran and leaped straight into a glass door -- so funny.

I walked arms around shoulders with a drunk man - I told him the Gospel could help get over his addiction and to call us - what a nice guy.

My investigators - we have a bunch - just need to get married -- I am starting to work with the bishop more - He is awesome and yes he can Talk. We have a lot members that are super ready to help all we have to do is call. I’m doing a lot better every week with teaching and leading the district and stuff and I really loved seeing the countryside of Colombia - it is way cool - good with little hats on the mountainside - the other missionaries slept on the way and I was like, NO WAY! How many times am I going to have this opportunity - not a lot - I saw Elder Mccargar and Elder Zurita and they are awesome. Elder Mccargar gave me a huge hug - we had so much fun together and Zurita said, “You are/were my last companion.” It was funny those two are both Zone Leaders. I have interviews this week with the President and those’ll be cool.


We have 3 types of hormigas in the house -- small, intermediate slimy ones, and huge ones. And the slimy ones bite and it hurts and itches forever after.


Hey, I love you all - sorry this letter was a little scrambled - I did not outline it at all - just wrote. Thanks for all your love and writing me every week. It helps a lot.

Love you tons,

Elder Taylor

Habra un Temple en la Costa!

10/3/11



!Hola Familia!

What a conference that was! (Which of course I understood this time.) Let me jump right in describing my innermost and tender feelings I experienced. As I sit in Pic de la Popa - my church building is the stake center - thinking of the 18 people in here to watch the Saturday morning session - 10 are missionaries - I sat there and watched Elder Scott and others and an hour into it President Monson stands up to announce temples - “You’ll remember that the Provo Tabernacle burned down last year.” !No WAY! ?Another temple in P-Town? ?Como? ?Como asi? I was freaking out - my jaw dropped y totally in awe -- and then almost immediately afterward it was like someone added dross to my engine - Barranquilla Colombia.


?WHAT?! ?My Mission?!


These people that I’m learning to love are going to have a temple. This plan that means and will continue to grow to mean the entire world to me - A TEMPLE - a better hope for la costa there count not be. If something will bless and lift the coast it will be this temple. God sees the value in their land - He sees the potential of each one of us - no matter how hopeless we may seem.


Because believe me - I am trying to love the coast but for a while there it looked HOPELESS to me. These people have challenges - like you wouldn’t believe - but a temple will have an effect here. These members deserve it and now they’ll have a fortress to keep going and fighting on the coast. Thusly, I totally wept for joy - cuz my hope for the people in the coast was dim - and now I see I had no right at all to doubt or to work without this hope - the Coast of Colombia can change and it will. With that said, I definitely feel a new sense of purpose. What an intense experience! 2 temples that’ll always be a part of my life. Whoa -- I’m stoked for this temple -- yes I know I will leave before its completed, but look at the dream - exaltation just got that much closer to these people. That’s probably the most exciting news of the week.


I still feel underdeveloped as a missionary - I met a guy from Florida yesterday in between sessions, old guy, who basically told me that we are already saved, we just don’t know it and when we know it that's what’ll change our behavior. We don’t need a church or anything - just faith in Christ and he told me Mormons are like the Pharisees -- I just listened, it was me and 3 other Elders, but only I spoke English well, and he just kept talking - quoting the bible and stuff and I thanked him and he left... before I thought to invite him to do anything - Dang it - but I was translating it out of Spanish and into to English in my head so he had an unfair advantage - Missed Opportunity - But I’m glad I’m preaching in Spanish - way easier.

My district is cool - I’m one of two gringos en the Zona - but we Only have 10 missionaries so it is not that surprising - the other one knew Ben (Sonntag) cuz he was from Holladay - cool- Anyway, my district is tranquilo - me and three latinos and I’m trying to help them the best I can - best I know how and they are really patient with the whole language thing - Elder Ellis hardly opens his mouth when he talks so it is hard to understand him sometimes. A member - named Richard who goes with us very often, told me that when I work in his ward he was breaking his butt helping me -- he said this in English and didn’t say butt -- it was so funny.

The Zone Leaders held a training last Friday and it was cool - I feel capacitado and realized how I can be a lot better - as a leader of District. Right now lightning struck a house next to ours which was loud and cool but knocked out the power - so I’m leaving in a wrinkly shirt --


Habra un Temple en la Costa!
Love you all!
Elder Taylor

Take Care of Your Body-Your Virtue-Your Mind

9/26/11


Hola!

First of all -- !HORMICAS! You CANNOT ESCAPE them! And the ones in this new house BITE. And it itches forever. And it was just that kind that invaded my package. So I was obligated to open it. Cursed insects. You know what they were after? That orange coconut peanut butter stick - that’s it! They CHEWED through the plastic to get to it and only that! The rest was fine! But they forced me to open it early dang it! Thank you for all the good stuff. I share almost all of it cuz these Elders never have tried such goodness in all their life and the jockstrap is sweet. WAY better than the boxers I bought here and I’m flattered you bought me a large. The shirt is sweet and the shorts are perfect - and all the yummy goodness sustains me - there are Elders here who are lucky if they even get letter from their family or even an email. You guys are the best.

This week was sweet - I did inter cambio with an AP from Idaho. We ended up with 7 lecciones con miembro. It was cool to see his example y to see him fulfill his calling or assignment cuz I felt totally hopeful after he left. Last Friday we did a camida gringa with some of our investigatores. I made ham cheese and tomato sandwiches and accidentally bought jalepeno flavored cheese so it was PICANTE. But good - and apples and pringles which they don’t like - Wierdos. I put lime juice on the apples just for the heck of it and it was so good. And during the dinner they brought us this crab, alive but without pinchers and I was holding it and it started to freak out - all of its legs were flinging every which way and I just held it yelling “Oh My GOSH! OH MY GOSH!” cuz I had no idea what was happening and everybody laughed.

The houses are tiny and built super poorly - It’s never cold here so they hardly worry about windows - just bars so no one gets in and they are built from bricks - bien fubros asi. with cement in between - we could make them as a service project in one day --or faster but that’s all they need here a roof from the rain and a fan from the heat -- a toilet, water, gas and a mattress.

Being the district leader in this district is weird cuz everyone is the same or older than I am - I’m trying to set 3 goals for the district each week but I still got a lot to learn. Pedro y Ana Iris are getting along - he understands not a lot and she is sort of dragged into by her dad, but hey, she’ll feel it I hope. I’ve almost let myself get mad at the costerios? They mess up there lives so bad and just don’t get it. No one here gets married. A lot of the men are planting way too many seeds. And the trash. It is everywhere. Sometimes I just want to scream “Take Care of Your Home!” I didn’t realize a difference it makes to simply appreciate what you have by taking care of it. Like your body -- your virtue - your mind. God gave us these things we’ve got to take care -- never had it hit me like that before - a little thing like litter - makes a HUGE Difference.

I am definitely starting to take more of a lead in the missionary work and it is good - I am definitely learning what it is to be humble - we’ve been doing a lot of splits lately with the members which I love. I told you we moved - our new house is way far away from our area. Then we have to cram into this little car that takes us to our house - terrible -- but adventurous.

I’m doing great, trying to focus more and work according to Preach My Gospel. !Love you tons! You are simply the best,

Love,

Elder Taylor

Mission Life

9/19/11


Hola Familia!

And here we go -- this last Sunday I gave a talk on the 11th and I talked about the Atonement - I talked about how we are bought with a price, how everyone is but don’t know it. How we have to share it, that is the price we have to pay. It was really cool because when I started talking, en espanol, there was noise and stuff and shuffling there arrived a point in my talk that was just intense. The atmosphere was just thick as heck and nobody - not even the little kids were making noise. I had successfully captured everyone’s devout attention. And I told of when I watched the Elder do pushups for me - it was intense - and whether they were so attentive for their desperate lack of understanding or overwhelming inspiration from the Spirit I have no idea, but it was awesome.

We had cambios this week...I’m staying here with Elder Jorge but did move from the cool house to a more ugly house farther away from our area - not awesome and somehow they made me Lider de Distrito which is surprising on several counts. But hey! Obviously God expects more of me and knows I can do more so he called. But I’m looking at this like a “Step it up Elder,” and not a Congratulations.

Let me explain my companion to you. He is from Argentina, can speak english (almost really perfectly) is super funny - he’s only got til January - he’s exactly one year ahead of me and he’s made an awesome and useful friend named Richard. They are like best friends 4EVER. Richard says I’m the only Gringo que le cae bien - which means I fall well with him.

We are working more and more with the members, which is awesome. This mission as a whole has struggled with that. It was the foundation of our Zone Conference. There are some really powerful members here and the bishop is awesome, though a little strange. Also we’ve had a failed English class every Saturday for the last 4 - number of students I have -- 0 - that, my family is a big Goose Egg. Mi Distrito es pequero - Elder Taylor, Elder Jorge, Elder Frenchy y Elder Ellis - Solo 4 and they are cool - but I try not to get Frenchy speaking english because he only knows bad things. And yes, I’m the only gringo pero no impenta porque soy costeno mas nada.

The people here are great, they really are. My comp and I went to dinner with an investigadora - her two member friends and Richard were so awesome! It was like dang! Wish I had a testimony like that!

Let me tell you about the mission life here.

• I have a fan blowing on me from 9 PM until 11 AM the next morning almost all the days. Air conditioning does not, or at least efficient house cooling air conditioning, does not exist.
• (I recently received a new Black fan that is mega awesome.)
• Letters come like every 3 to 6 weeks. (I did receive your two giant packages - Gracias - I’m trying to decide whether I want to wait until my birthday to open them or not)
• It costs $10 dollars or almost $10 - Quince mil pesos to send a letter to the states and even then it has got to go through the office so it takes even longer.
• There are ants everywhere - in everything - they are like boogers for me now - I just pick em, roll em, and flick em when they are crawling on me. Or just chew em if they are on my food.
• The rule changed and now we can eat fish and seeing as we live in the coast - they give us a lot of fish - but it is not normal fish - its the body entire - O joy -
• We have contracts with the members to wash our clothes - but we can’t include our garments - so sometimes in the night or like once a week or when I feel like it I wash my garments by hand! so fun
• We lack a lot of things that just make life nicer - like a microwave - a warm shower (not necessary now that I think about it) carpet and stuff but we are never in the house so it doesn’t matter.
• All missionaries did receive a DVD player to improve teaching so that’s cool.
• The members feed us every day - rice - rice - rice - rice - so much rice - and gaseosa - or juice from the fruits here that are so amazingly delicious - You’d be surprised at what I eat now.

Investigators -

• Pedro Ruiz y Ana Iris - they are the next for baptism - He struggles to understand pretty much everything and can’t read well - But his daughter Ana Iris is So dang cute. She has 12 years and reads with her dad and they read though they may not understand.
• Francisco y Jusney are cool - he is a less active member and they need to get married - she’s not a member - He’s building desire and we went on splits yesterday and El. Jorge and I and with Joned who is awesome and another member whose awesomeness we discovered so Joned were with Francisco and it was one of those sweet moments and Francisco said - I feel more of the desire to progress - or a literal translater - There’s a little seed I feel. It was cool.
• Luz Belky, Carina y Haner are cool but I have no idea what their desired are - they have 18 years.
• I’m bowling with they assistentes as I write this - cool. And I’m doing really well - wonderfully even.

Love you all tons y espero que esta carta salga bien!

Love Elder Taylor

I Am Here To work

I Am Here To work

9/5/11


Hola familia!

i don`t have a lot of time, surprise right but i wrote an outline so this should contain some good stuff. first off it rained A LOT one day and was awesome we got got compltetly soaked and our lunch failed us so we were going to mcdonalds in the mall. but we had to cross the road with some construction and the entire thing was flooded and all we could see were some piles of dirt so we headed towards those. Raining ferociously and all of the sudden my comp drops, and is up to his chest in muddy water holding his bag above his head. So funny. i had no idea what to do so i stood there dumbly laughing as he crawled out. later we cleaned ourselves in rain from the rooftops and he was not that much wetter than i was even though he fell in a hole.

Good news, Moisès got baptized the week after I left so we are good on him. Everything went well. This last week we had a zone conference and it was sweet. Elder Holland gave a talk in the MTC the week before I started the mission and we watched this talk. his main point was about being active after your mission and how we`ve left our nets like the apostles forever I was totally pumping up.

I am a better missionary because of my companio. I look at the mission more practically now and how to work màs eficaz. Really what I learned the most from him is my own drive to work. I`m not perfect, but i know why I am here. I am here to work.

More than anything i need to learn to take initiative in every moment. Like cleaning the bathroom and creating a rag out of nothing was how I applied this today.

I am doing well. learning lots and trying to forget myself for these people, even though that is not easy. Anyway i love you all tons thanks for all you do for me. I really feel great here and I love the challenges. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Jacob 1 8 ish i think

love you tons,

Elder Taylor

Rain Rain Go Away

8/29/11


Hola Familia,

i am good. i am eating well and doing more exercises in the morning. i have been way lazy since i arrived in colombia, like 100 jumps of the rope. can you believe it?

This week i went on two cambios in a row and they were sweet. i love going to other people`s areas and working. it is fun one was with an elder named Frenchy and the other with my zone leader who is sweet but kinda hogged the lessons. i still love him. we had to run in the rain to our house to make it on time and the streets were literally rivers. it was nuts. when we got home i literally poured out my shoes.

We have two investigadores quienes son bien bacanos. but they have to married and their esposos no son bien bacanos. so we are working with that. and we are finding some good people- what i want to see is someone just in the depths, and they pull themselves, o sea, Christ pùlls them out and they just CHANGE,

what i don`t want to do is baptize a bunch of people who are going to go inactive because if you look at it, 1 of 10 baptisms has remained active in this ward. and it was like that in my last ward too. The work really is laid out for us.

i feel great. I am learning tons. like a real whole lot. màs que nada how important is the family.

Love you all!

Elder Taylor

Faithful

8/15/11


Hola familia!

so this week has been good but way weird. we lost of lot of time waiting for lessons and in the hospital to give one of our investigators a blessing. that was cool her name is yusney and she is really nice and living with a inactive member quien es rè chèvere. she told me that she had been in a dark tunnel and saw the spirit of her mom while she was in intensive care. weird but if it helps her get baptized, sweet.

also i am way confused how some member ladies are so faithful and their families and so not. these two sons have everything right in front of them. a successful exemplary mom, way nice house and all this junk and they are totally ungrateful. and won`t even join her with us or go to church with her or anythings and it is like HELLO!

anyway there were some good things that happened to. my companion wanted to go buy ice cream with his friend in the mission at like 8 o clock. we are going to invite the less active husband of the girl in the hospital so he can stop worrying for a second. so we did and it was a more or less productive outing even though it wasn`t a lesson.


this week was sweet. i am trying to share my vision of what the area can be like but nobody is really feeling me yet and i think my comp may be a little distracted, so there you go. he recently dropped from being a zone leader so he`s still might be reeling from that, i don`t know. but i found a new sense of motivation this week.

love you all adios!

Elder taylor

Cartagena

8/8/11


Hola Familia

Cartagena is...

IT IS NUTS...

I haven`t been able to take any pictures yet but I walked by the sea twice. and there is sweet hill i`m going to hike today after i eat lunch. it`s called the Popa and has a big Catholic church on top that is SWEET, well it looks sweet. and what was the first thing i did when we arrived in Cartgena? bought a snickers mcflurry at mcdonalds. that`s right, i have a mcdonalds in my area. as well as some sweet legit ice cream shops and tons of tourist things that are awesome. it is much more scenic than my last area.

I came into three couples who are working for marriage. one is close, one is a inactive member and his ``wife`` but she`s catholic so we we`re working on her, and the other is an old man and his wife who just blatantly says, ``no me quiero casar contigo.``-they`ve been living together for more than 40 years and have like 2 or three kids. and now she dosen`t want to marry. so we are working on her to. and a couple others that i`ve only met briefly.

The members are awesome and we have a lider misional del barrio who is sweet. he comes with us a lot and we are always working with the members, which presents some punctuality and effective use of time problems but it is good. way better than knockin doors all day.

This ward has a potential of 400 hundred members. 40 assist regularly. so i want to focus on all of those people, get the assistance up. and when they remember they`ll bring friends and children and wives. and then the bishop will love us and we`ll all build zion together. good plan.

My compa es maravilloso. He speaks pretty good English and it is way funny. He is good for me to learn spanish and i told him to always correct me and he has been and the people have been surprised at how well i speak for the time i have which i may or may not believe but hey they are nice. ELDER Jorge used to be a zone leader so he knows all the rules and how the mission works and i think sometimes he beats the system but i can`t really tell cuz he does it in Spanish but he`s good and dedicated and has a bunch of member friends that come with us a lot. only problem is that i think sometimes we spend a wee bit too much time with them. but when i get to the point of about to say something, like hey man, i mean elder, we got to get going, he is already saying goodbye so it hasn´t been a huge problem at all.

I probably won`t get mail as often here. like once or twice every cambio. or less i`m two hours and a half from the center of the mission. the home and office i mean. and the house is so much better. i have a water purifier and a mirror and a closet and i`m in Cartagena and it is sweet and sometimes i am just walking down tthe street i start yelling WHOA WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA estoy en cartagena! what on earth does God have planned for me here? and in my first soup here, THERE WAS A HOOF. A hoof of a cow. in my soup. you can`t chew a hoof. why put it in soup? I`ve no idea. so i gave it to my comp who sucked on it and ya, uh huh,

So the mission is sweet. the language is slow but better.

I really feel like the mission is starting over again in this new area and it is sweet. i love you all tons and i am recognizing that i feel the spirit a lot more which is sweet. that`s the key, recognition.

Love you
Elder Taylor

Committed

8/2/11

HOla Familia!

I`m leaving to Cartegena Colombia.

ISNT THAT SWEET? it is pretty sweet. En Pie de la Popa es mi area. which means foot of the pope. but want to know what stinks? we were about to xplode with success. we had found so many beautiful families and w taught so good and now i got to do it all over again.

So we`ll see how this goes. Elder Jorge is from Argentina i think and he seems awesome. I met him my first night here and seen him once since so we`ll see what a team we make. .

Moisès is going to be baptized this saturday. i won`t be there. dang. but he has made some real progress and is totally awesome and just good. and prays really fervently.

Dario his family is becoming awesome. su hija caterina is awesome and bringing friends to church and inviting her mom even though she struggles to understand the book of mormon and just his wife is a bit of a booger and refuses to come to church but it`s getting better.

the ward let us know of another familia who is inactive for a long time but the dad came last sunday and we taught them last night and it was SWEET the mom, who had been kind of hard hearted was loving it. and we sang and then left and were late getting back to the house. so bad we are. but we did our best and it was sweet!

i also found something out about myself this week. I really do know this church is true. because if i didn`t know that it was, i would not be here in Colombia. it`s my conviction to the gospel that has kept me here. i think that is part of the point of missions. is that it proves to yourself that you do KNOW: i couldn`t and wouldn`t do it if i didn´t know that church was true. so that was cool for me to see like a living testimony to myself. i think there are a lot of times like that when we do stuff and we don't realize or label it as an act of faith, or demonstration of testimony, it`s just something we felt like we should do and did. i like that. just do it, you can label it later.

I also read a talk by Utchdorf that was chèvere. it talks about being committed. and two boys a top a cliff and they want to jump and the one was about to jump and his brother said, maybe we should wait, but it was too late. he said, brother, i`m committed.

how cool is that? he couldn`t stop and if he had tried he would have probably belly flopped and died. just either be committed and do it or don`t but don`t trip yourself up midway and suffer the worst consequence, of a belly flop. so there you go. i´m committed. therefore i`m in Colombia trying to make the jump successful. luckily i have a long way to fall so even if a stumbled in the jump, there is still time for a quadruple gainer swan dive entry no?

I love you all. next week from Cartagena!

Elder Taylor