Bom dia May 14, 2012

May 14, 2012

Well I told you everything yesterday. Have a great week!  

Love Elder Taylor

(This was the first email - he was almost a dead missionary!  Staci)

Hahahahaha just kidding! I will still send an email.

It was so good to see all of you and talk to you yesterday. That was the best. It was funny because one minute i was talking to you and then five minutes later we were back on the street doing contacts haha but thats how it should be. Its a little hard to focus now but i will get back in the zone. Gotta go out and find the lost sheep.

About the coat. I talked to President Cordon about it and he said that they have coats in the mission home for Elder Sandoval. Thank you so much though. You all are the best. I forgot 3 things that I would like in the package too. 1. Ibuprofen 2. Zip lock baggies. They havent been invented in Brazil yet. I would love some gallon size and some normal size. Maybe a package of each... 3. Candy. Some good old american candy would be wonderful. Enough for one good looking american and his hilarious argentinian companion :) Thank you so much.

Other than Mothers Day this week was really bad. We didnt find any new investigators and Gustavo didnt come to church so he wasnt confirmed a member. It was really hard and sad and really just broke my heart. It was the hardest week yet on the mission. We are starting to work more with the members though to find new investigators. We mark visits in the members homes and then ask them to invite one of their friends or neighbors to come and listen to a small message. So far its going well so hopefully we can find new investigators this way. Also, we had a really funny thing happen this week. We were walking down a hill Friday night and it was raining and dark and I slipped and just fell right on my bum. It hurt way bad because i tried to catch myself and now my hand hurts. But I guess i made a really weird noise when i fell because Elder Sandoval just busted up laughing. His laugh is hilarious so I busted up laughing too. It was so funny and he has told this story to just about every member that we have seen since. It was pretty funny.

I still cant get over how big Annie looks. Its only been 5 months. Annie, Stop growing. Please. 

Dad, it was hard to hold back the tears when you said you are proud of me. I could just picture you with your cry face goin on. Thank you for your encouragement and love.

Scott, I am on 2 Nephi 19. Good luck chuck.

I just want you all to know that I love you so much and that I am so grateful to be part of your family. I love you. I know that the Lord is watching over me and syd and is answering your prayers. I love you all so much.

Love, Elder Taylor

Oh and mom, I wrote you a letter last week but it was really short. Expect a longer, much better one in a couple of weeks. Happy Mothers Day! I love you mommy.

Bom dia! May 9, 2012

Bom dia!   May 9, 2012

First off, thank you so much for sending me your skype name. I will be on around 3 oclock on Sunday. Thats 3 oclock Curitiba time. And it might be later than that if my companion goes first. But i am so excited to see and talk to you! I dont know what we are going to talk about so get some questions ready for me!

Speaking of my companion...I have a new one! His name is Elder Sandoval and he is from Argentina. He is way funny and I love him a lot. Its funny that we have been together for a week already and I am just now telling you about it. He is great and we are a dynamic duo. And he is my second witness that I talk in my sleep! I never knew that.

This week was good, hard, and long. Gustavo was baptized on Sunday and he was very excited about it. It was a really spiritual meeting and it was just good. The rest of this week was hard and we had a really hard time finding new investigators. We are doing everything we can and we just arent finding anyone. We did receive a referal from our zone leaders and we went there and taught them and it was a really good lesson. It was a family of four and the daughter has already been to church once and really enjoyed it. We talked to our bishop about changing some things so that we can work better with the ward but he just shot all of our ideas down. It was really frustrating. But as I was studying this week i was trying to find an answer on how we can work with him and the ward better and everything that I studied just said, Trust the Lord. So I will do all that I can do and I will trust in the Lord that everything will work out.

I dont know what is going on but i still cant send you pictures. Its killing me. Im so sorry.

About the jacket, I really could use one. To tell you the truth, my companion is really poor and doesnt have a jacket so he is using my coat and I dont have anything else. I could really use a jacket for me. That would be awesome. Thank you so much. Also, he is very kind and he gave me some Argentinian money. If you could send me like 5 one dollar bills that would be awesome. He is one of my best friends already and I want to help him as much as I can.

I just want to tell you that I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers. We fasted and prayed this week to find a family to teach and that very day we received the referal from our zone leaders. I also know that the Book of Mormon is true. I have already received so many answers from it. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and that He wants to help us. We just need to be humble enough to get down on our knees and ask.

I love you all and I hope you have a great rest of the week! Scotty, I am on 2 Nephi 9. Didnt get much reading in because of transfers and stuff. But you will not beat me.

I love you!

Love, Elder Taylor

Bom dia! April 30, 2012

Hello family!   April 30, 2012

I hope you all had a great week! Its good to hear that Davis Baseball is picking up right where we left it! Good work boys! Scott you better get those assignments in or youre never going to get to hang out!

This week was hard to find new investigators. We visited all of our referrals and contacts but none of them will mark another day for us to pass by. But we are still working hard in this area. Gustavo is doing well and is on track to be baptized next week. He is having a hard time with quitting smoking so we gave him a blessing and he is doing much better now. We will have a family with him tonight. He really wants to be baptized and I have faith that he will be this next Sunday. He is having a hard time reading the Book of Mormon too. We keep telling him to read it word for word but he just skims through it. Oswaldo and Marina are doing very well and Marina received a calling in the ward this week! That was really cool to see. We went to their house yesterday and they fed us so much food! It was awesome! Ricardo should have work off this Sunday so he will be in church and we will work with the bishop to help him receive the priesthood. The work is going well, we just need to find more people to teach and be able to teach them in their homes.

I dont know why but i still cant send pictures through email. Its really frustrating. I will send some through letters soon but im not sure when you will get them. Sorry!

So for Mothers day I will probably be able to use Skype to see you! I dont know if you remember how to use it but i am sure that if you ask Natalie that she will gladly come over and help you with it :) (thanks nat youre the best) Please let me know in your email next week what the plans are. Also we will be going to the temple next wednesday so my p day will be then instead of monday.

We have transfers this week and we will receive the call tonight telling us where everyone will be going! Im a little nervous but i am sure that I will stay here in Ahú and Elder Clift will be transferred.

Scott, you better step it up bud. Im on 1 Nephi 21. Good luck. I hope you know where to buy a David Freese shirt! Oh by the way I would love some Cardinals updates....

Mom, I need to ask a big favor of you. Its getting really cold and rainy here and the jackets here are soooo expensive. It would be much cheaper if you bought one there and then sent it to me. Just a cheap rain jacket. Like the Cooperstown one that I have in my closet but all black with a hood. That kind of matierial. So here is the favor. Could you send me a package with that kind of jacket, a few things of old spice deordorant, and a bottle of ibuprofen? They dont have antiperspirant deodorant here and its killing me. And the drugs here are more than twice the price of there. So if you could send that to me ASAP that would be awesome. You can take some money out of my debit card to do it. Thank you so much. I really do need that jacket soon. Thank you.

My memory of Grandpa T. I know this is sad but this is what i remember. When he was in the hospital and about to pass away, I was the last grandchild to see him alive. I remember that Me mom and dad drove down and got to see him before. It was sad and hard but even though I was only 11 I knew that he was happy and in a better place. I have thought alot about him here on the mission because I know that he is watching down on me and he can see everything that I am doing. I know that we will all see him again someday and sit down with him and eat a frosty.

Well I hope you all know that I love you so much. I hope you have a great week and that you see all of the little miracles that happen all around us. I love you and I pray for you all multiple times a day.

Love Elder Taylor

Ps. Abbey Hailey and Annie, I love you three so much! Keep being the cute, awesome girls that you are!

Bom Dia! April 24, 2012

This week was pretty good! Last Monday we went to a different area in Almilrante Tamandare to walk up this `mountain` and take a bunch of pictures. It was so fun. I would send you some pictures but the computer wont let me today. i will try again next week. We had interviews with President Cordon on Tuesday and those went well. He asked me how you all are doing and we laughed about Scotts many adventures. He said that we should be getting  beds and a table by at least next week! We have mattresses just no beds. But things are improving. 

Scott, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW!!!! I hope you have an awesome 17th birthday! I will send you a letter today with a little present inside. Oh and Im not sure if you got my other letter but start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning tomorrow. Trust me. Itll be worth it :)

I was so happy to hear that mom and abbey finished the Book of Mormon this week. Guess what! I did too! In Portuguese! I finished on Thursday morning and I just want you all to know that I know that the Book of Mormon is true. No matter what language it is. It is the word of God.

We had a very nice surprise this week! I think I told you about Eliane last week and how she wanted to be baptized. Well, she was! She was baptized by her son Felipe (who was mission companions with Landon Bybee, Small world!) on Saturday night and she was confirmed by him on Sunday. it was such a special two days. Her husband even came to watch the baptism. There were so many members there to watch it too. The Spirit was so strong and you could just feel the love there. Thats what this is all about. Bringing people to the fold. I would send you pictures but I cant! I am sorry. 

Thank you for all your letters and love. I dont have very much time but I hope you all know that I love you and that you are in my prayers.I will defiantely write coach leo today. Please give him a hug for me and tell him that I love him!

Annie you kill me. Every time i get a letter or an email there is always something funny about you in there. I miss you so much and I would love to get some pictures of you!! I love you booger-eater. 

I love you all so much. I am really improving with Portuguese and becoming a leader which is good because Elder Clift will probably be transferred next week. I am guessing that I will stay here but we will find out next monday night. So i will let you know in two weeks. I love you so much. 

Essa igreja é verdadeira. Ela é a unica igreja verdadeira na face da terra. Jesus Cristo é nosso Salvador e eu sou tao grato por ele e a sacrifício que ele fez. O Livro de Mórmon é nosso guia por esta vida. Se nós perseveramos até o fim, vamos ter vida eterna. (2 nefi 31)

This church is true. Its the only true church on the face of the earth. Jesus Christ is our Savior and I am so grateful for him and the sacrifice that he made. The Book of Mormon is our guide for this life. If we endure to the end, we will have eternal life. (2 nephi 31)

Funny thing about that last paragraph was that it was easier to write in Portuguese!!! I love you all!!!

Love Elder Taylor

Bom dia April 16, 2012

Hello Family,            April 16, 2012
 
I am sorry to hear that the internet wasnt working but I got your
emails! Scott...I have nothing to say. What a life you have. I hope
you had an awesome time at Prom! I was kind of sad to hear that you
didnt keep the Taylor/Gibbs tradition going but oh well. It was good
while it lasted ;) oh and good work with Northridge. Keep up the butt
kicking. I cant email coach Leo because we can only email family. Can
you get his home address for me? I will send him a letter.
 
Well, we hit the 4 month mark this week. Crazy. I cant believe its
already been 4 months. It seems like it is just flying by. Syd is
almost 1/4 of the way done with her mission. This time doesnt last
forever so I am definately going to make the most of my time here.
 
Mom, on thursday we had tacos on a plate. No joke. I wanted to take a
picture to send to you but I didnt have my camera with me. But yes, It
was so good. Not as good as yours of course but they were good :)
 
Dad, I am sad to tell you that I saw a Rav 4 this week and a woman was
driving. Its a womans car no matter what country you are in haha i
love you! Oh and I was reading the March Liahona this morning and I
saw the Stevenson family on page 13! It was cool to see a family from
our ward even though I am all the way down here in Brazil!
 
Grandma thank you for your email. Thank you for raising an amazing
family and for your example. I love you so much.
 
We had a pretty good week this week. The numbers dont show it but this
week was very successful. We had 4 investigators in Sacrament Meeting
which is the most that we have had since I have been here. We are also
working much better with the ward and we have a few family nights
already marked with investigators. One of our investigators, Tiago,
has a baptismal date marked for the 29th of April and he really
enjoyed church yesterday. We will be working really hard with him to
have him prepared for his baptism. We also had an amazing lesson with
a family this week. We made a contact with the mom in the street a
couple of weeks ago but we havent been able to teach them until now.
It is a family of three and we taught them about the restoration and
at the end of the lesson the son said to us, I dont know what it is
but I just feel like what you are saying is the truth. The Spirit was
so strong and we explained to him that it was the Holy Ghost that was
giving him these feelings. The mom almost started crying and they all
have baptismal dates marked for the 13th of May! They werent able to
go to church yesterday but they are going this week.
 
We also had a huge miracle happen yesterday. We have been teaching
this lady named Eliane ever since I got here and she has always wanted
to take things really slow. Her son is a returned missionary and is
the one who was companions with Landon Bybee! Well, yesterday she
couldnt come to church because she has been sick but her son came up
to us and told us that she said she wants to be baptized before Elder
Clift gets transferred which is in a couple weeks! We were so shocked
but so excited to hear that! Please pray that everything goes right so
she can be baptized on April 29th.
 
I hope you all have a great week and I love you so much. This church
is true. I know that with all my heart. I love you all so much. Abbey,
Hailey, and Annie, keep it real. I think about you three a lot and all
of our funny quotes from movies. I love you! The church is true-A
Igreja é verdadeira. I am so sorry that I forgot to send that in my
last email. I love you!
 
Love, Elder Taylor

Hello Family!

Well, conference was awesome! We got to watch every session in English! We have some amazing and inspired leaders. It was crazy to see all of the people that were released! I felt the spirit so strong during the talks and especially when the Tabernacle Choir sang Come Thou Fount. I almost cried. They are way better than we were haha. But yes. Conference was amazing. Oh and was I the only one that saw Landon Simensen singing in the missionary choir?! That was so cool!

I finally got one of syds emails from missionties. It was from march 6th haha so the rest should be on their way. I still havent gotten any packages but i will continue to hope that you all really do love me ;)

Its getting really cold here at night and in the morning so i was wondering if you could put a little money on my debit card so that i can buy a sweater or small jacket to wear while we are out. That would be great. If not, just let me know in your next email.

I am glad to hear that Scott and the baseball team are doing well. Keep it up! And way to go on the ACT! I have been dethroned....but i am so proud of you bud. Keep working hard so that you can make a ton of money and i can live in your basement when i am old and have no money.

What in the world is going on with my sports teams? I just got dads letter that said that Peyton Manning is on the broncos. That right there almost made me cry. First Albert and now Peyton. I guess this is what happens when your #1 fan goes on a mission and cant watch your games for 2 years. Sad sad sad. Mark my words. Dirk Nowitzki will not be on the mavericks when i get home from my mission. I know its a sad thought but it will happen.

Abs, if i could be any superstar it would be Dad. Wanna know why? Because everything that the apostles and prophets said about families and how a father needs to be the leader of the family with his priesthood is exactly how i would describe dad. I was thinking that the whole time that they were talking about it. We are so blessed to have him as a father. Seriously. Dad, I love you so much. Thank you for teaching me how i need to live and to use my priesthood to help others.

This week was hard. It seemed like we had no success. We did everything we could to have investigators to watch General Conference and in the end only one was there. We are working hard with the family of Hussain and Virginia so that they will be active in the church when their daughter is baptized. She (Jasmine age 9) accepted the date of April 22 so we will be working extremely hard with them. Oswaldo and Marina are as solid as ever. The house is good. We are still missing a few things but I am happy with what we have.

I cant believe sister woodruff is already about to come home. Like really. My mind is blown. Its so crazy how fast this time goes. It makes me realize that i need to take advantage of every second and serve the Lord with all my heart. 

Well, I love you all so much. Follow the prophet. He really does know the way. One thing that was said in conference is that parents praying with their children may be the most important example that you can show them. Thank you mom and dad. Keep up the good work :) I love you!!!

Love,

Elder Taylor

Feliz Pascoa!

 April 9, 2012

I hope you all had a great Easter and Spring Break! Scott I cant believe you hurt yourself again. You remind me of myself back in the good old days. Easter was great for us. We had a really good Sacrament meeting by the yound single adults about Jesus Christ. It was really good. Then we had lunch at a members house and got A LOT of chocolate. Its the best. It was great to be able to focus all of our attention on our Savior Jesus Christ yesterday. Not only that he suffered and died for us but that he ressurected. He lives. And through Him, we will all live again after this life. What a blessing. I know that my Redeemer lives. What comfort this sweet sentence gives. That song is so true. Our Savior and Redeemer lives. And he loves us so much. 

Dad i hope you had an awesome birthday! I wore your skinny christmas tie from your mission in honor of you. It was great. I miss you and i wish i could give you a huge birthday hug but that can wait for two years. Just know that i love you and that you really are my hero. I am so greatful for April 6th. Our Savior was born this day. The church was restored this day. And my dad/hero/role model was born this day. Thank you so much for all that you do for me dad. I love you so much.

This week was good but we definately have things to improve on. We didnt get to visit very many people with members because of General Conference. We only had one investigator in Sacrament meeting but it was very good to see her there because we have been teaching her for a long time and it is the first time that I have seen her at church. She went to church for a few weeks before I came to the field. We are still working with Jasmine and her family but only her mom went to church yesterday. We have to get the dad involved more. We marked baptismal dates with two new investigators this week. One is an older man named Salvador and he is very open to religion. He has already been baptized in two other churches so our focus is on prayer and having him pray to find out that this is the ONLY true church. The other investigator is Tiago. We made a contact with him and taught him in the street yesterday. He accepted to be baptized and we will teach him again tonight in his home. He is about 30 years old and is very interested in the Book of Mormon. We also had a good chat with the ward counsil and explained to them why we need members to visit investigators with us. I think things will begin to improve in that aspect. Things with the house are going well and we are finding new investigators. We are working really well with less-active members too. We have a few that we are going to work with this week to reactivate them. Things are going well here in Ahú.

I got a package!!! It was the one from St. Patricks day with my glasses! Thank you so much for thinking about me. I love you all so much. And thank you for the money for a sweater. I will buy one this week. 

I also received my sweet scripture cases this week. Only there was something wrong....they spelled my name Travor hahaha i guess thats what i get for using my first name as a missionary. I want to use them for my whole life so thats why i put my first name on them and we spelled it for the guy three times but he still got it wrong haha oh well. Theyre still sweet and totally worth it. I sent you a picture of them.

On wednesday Elder Clift had to go to a training meeting so i was on a division with another elder. We were going back to meet up with Elder Clift and we got on the wrong bus! It took us clear to the center of Curitiba which is over an hour outside of my area. It was so funny! But not good....I definately learned my lesson. But it was an adventure. We also went to the eye museum last week here in Ahú. Its closed on Mondays so we could only take pictures outside but it was still cool. I also sent a picture of that. 

We have a pet in our house! We came home one night and this little lizard was just waiting for us. We werent able to catch him so he is still just running around in our house. Thats freakin me out.

I am glad to hear that baseball is still in your hearts back there. I miss it so much. So much. Its killing me. Keep playin hard Scotty and tell the team that I love them! 

These last few days have been really hard for me. All I have wanted to do is go to Lavell Edwards Stadium and watch BYU football haha. I dont know why I miss that so much. Its not even football season! But yeah. This fall is going to be a rough one for Elder Taylor.

So I have been thinking...today is my half birthday. And when i wore dads skinny tie i really liked it. I like the skinny tie look. So since today is my HALF birthday and a skinny tie is like HALF of a tie....maybe someone would love to send me a few skinny ties....maybe?

I hope you all had a great week. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. He lives. I know He does. I know that this is the only true church on the earth. God is our Heavenly Father and He loves us so much. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to die for us. Imagine, thats like if dad sent me or Scott to die for everyone in the world. Its incredible. I love the Book of Mormon. Right now I am in 3rd Nephi and I am reading about when Christ came to the Americas. It says that he cried with the people. He blessed every single one of them. He loves us so much. I am honored to be a servant of the Lord right now. Its hard. Its very hard. But i know that my Heavenly Father is proud of me and is watching over me. I know that this church is true and that we can be together forever. Whenever i feel homesick i think about that. I get to be with you guys forever. I can give up two years of my life here on Earth to help others have that same blessing. I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week this week. 

Love Elder Taylor

The Eye Museum

My sweet new scripture covers

Our new pet lizard! 

                                            We were spoiled by the members on Easter!