Mission Miracles

Bom dia!                       September 16, 2013

What a crazy week! I can’t believe that Scott is now in the MTC. He's going to love it. I never went to the Provo MTC but I hear that its great and really spiritual. If you can forward me Scott's emails that would be great. I don’t know what day he has p-day but I would love to see how he's doing. Oh and tell Annie that I love her and that she's still my best friend. I love you Annie!

This week was crazy. First, the missionary work is going really well. We had 30 baptisms in the mission just this week. It was the best week that we have had since President Monteiro got here. We did exchanges with 3 different areas this week to help them with their investigators. I love being an assistant. I get to go all over the mission and help everyone baptize. It’s the best. But the craziest day of the week was Saturday. We woke up really early and went to Ponta Grossa with President and his family. We got there and gave a really good training. The missionaries left and we went with President and his wife to eat lunch. While we were eating lunch we got a call from one of the sisters. She was crying and just pleading for us to come and help her. Her companion had passed out in the bus station and wasn’t breathing. So we got in the car and drove there as fast as we could. When we got there, the sister was sitting on the ground crying and having a really hard time breathing. Sister Monteiro almost went into shock and started yelling for help. That’s when I had a really strong feeling to give the sister a blessing. My companion was on the phone with the mission doctor and President was still in the car so I just knelt down alone and gave her a blessing. I started in portuguese but I had the strongest feeling to just do it in english. So I did and the words just flowed out of my mouth. The minute that I finished the blessing, Sister Monteiro got really calm and remembered that she had some medicine in her purse. She grabbed it and gave it to the sister and it saved her life. We picked her up and ran her to the car and flew to the hospital. By the time we got to the hospital, she was breathing and talking again. We took her in to the room and the doctor talked to her for a while. She is an american and hasn’t been on the mission for very long so I had to go in with them to translate. The doctor gave her an IV and then some other shots. But she got a lot better and she is with Sister Monteiro now. They said that she had a food allergy but they will do some tests this week to make sure that everything is ok.

It was a crazy day and we didn’t get home till really late. But one thing the really hit me was after all of this had happened. When we were driving home, I was sitting next to the sister and Sister Monteiro asked why I gave the blessing in english in the bus station. I said that I didn’t know and then the sister said this, "I know why he said it in english. I was praying that someone would say something to calm me down so that I would be able to breathe. If he would have said it in Portuguese I wouldn’t have understood anything and I would have gotten even more nervous. The Lord inspired him to say it in english." I hadn’t thought much about that until that moment. But it really was a miracle. I havent given a blessing in english since the MTC. But the words just came out of my mouth like normal. I know that the Lord helped me to do that. My testimony of the Priesthood has grown so much this week.

So, that was the miracle that I saw this week. I know that this work is a work of miracles and that there are miracles all around us. I know that I am here for a reason and that this is the work of the Lord. 

About my hip, I was going to do an exam this week but it didn’t work out. Twice. Both times we got there and they would accept my health card. I don’t know why this isn’t working out but i will go back tomorrow morning to do the exam and tomorrow afternoon I will go back to the hospital to find out what is wrong. Please keep me in your prayers so that this can all work out and I can get this out of my head.

I love you all and I am so grateful for your support and love. Tell Scotty that I love him and that he is going to be one heck of a missionary. I love you!

Good luck to Scott

Bom dia!      Sept. 9, 2013

Scotts gonna join me in the army!!!! I cant believe that this day has already come. It goes by way too fast. Scott, youre going to be an amazing missionary. You have been well prepared and I know that there are people here waiting for you. I know that you think that something went wrong with your visa but this is all part of the Lords plan. Maybe he has people waiting for you in 2 different countries. Just go out and work your hardest. This last week I gave a training to the whole mission about studying in the morning. Scott, study like youve never studied before. Get to know and love the scriptures. The word of God is more powerful than the sword and there are people that need to hear this word. I know you are going to be awesome and i cant wait to hear about your experiences. I love you Scotty. Be the missionary that everyone thinks you will be and you will have a lot of success. I love you.

These last two weeks were crazy! We had transfers and Elder Schmidt went home. My new companion is Elder Azevedo. He is from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He has never even been a zone leader yet on the mission so I really am training him on a lot of things but he is really good and we are going to have a lot of success together. I got to do my favorite thing again this last week and that is to get the noobies at the airport. Its so fun to see their eyes get huge and they are all so nervous. Scotts going to feel the same way but then it will pass. We have some really good missionaries that just got here and the mission is doing really well.

Mom, I talked to Sister Monteiro about my hip and I went to the hospital last week. They did x-rays and they told me that I have to do another exam today. They think that my femer is out of place and I still dont know what I have to do. My whole right leg hurts and the right side of my back. I cant sit or lay down or walk or do anything without it hurting. So I will do this exam either today or tomorrow and then I will go back to the hospital on Wednesday or Thursday. I am still really nervous about all of this so please remember me in your prayers.

I just want you all to know that I love this work. Scott is going to love it too. There is nothing better than seeing people change through the gospel. Scott, youre the man. I love you so much. Go out there and do your best. You have 2 years to do this. I wish I still had 2 years left. But now its your turn. The Lord is counting on you. He has prepared His children to hear the gospel through you. Remember that at every moment there is someone in the world praying for the missionaries. I love you man.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Back to Boa Vista!

Bom dia!                                   August 26, 2013

Wow. This last week was incredible. I really love Boa Vista. It was just a week of miracles. I was able to work the whole week with Elder Ladereche  again and that was awesome. We worked so hard and had a really good baptism last night. When I was in Boa Vista, we got a referal from the temple of a family that was really interested. We tried so many times to contact them but it never worked out. Well, my very last day there, we called the family again and I was able to talk to the mom. We marked a day to go there and then I was transferred. Well, the other missionaries worked a lot with this family they are really progressing. I was able to visit them and teach them this week. The mom and the dad need to stop smoking and they have a 15 year old son. We were teaching them about baptism this week and I just got the strongest feeling that I needed to invite (Renan)  the 15 year old to be baptized that Sunday. So i did and he said, "I was thinking about that this week and I was praying to have to courage to talk to you guys about it. I really want to be baptized on Sunday." It was one of the best lessons of my mission so far. So I interviewed him and he passed. His baptism was one of the best baptisms that I have ever seen. There were so many members and everyone cried. After he was baptized and changed clothes, he asked to bear his testimony. This kid will be an amazing missionary.

The members in Boa Vista are really excited to meet mom and dad. They keep asking about you guys and they cant wait to give you huge hugs. I had three families tell me that we have to eat lunch with them the Sunday that you guys are here so we are going to have to do some choosing haha. I made a lot of good friends in Boa Vista and they are people that I really want all of you to meet. Tadeu is the ward mission leader in Boa Vista and he is one of the best men that I know. He kept telling me that he cant wait to give "Daddy Taylor" a huge hug haha. They love you all without even knowing you!

So.....I decided that I am going to talk to Sister Monteiro about my leg. I have been really nervous about this for a long time but it has been hurting a lot and when I decided to talk to her I got a really calm feeling. So i think everything will be ok. I will probably talk to her about it next week because this week is going to be crazy. Its the last week of the transfer and my companion is going home so I need to get everything perfect so that this mission can still run smoothly haha. I will be the only one on the mission with experience as an assistant so I am a little nervous but its going to be great. I probably wont be able to send email to you next week because we will be taking the missionaries to the airport. But maybe there will be a little time. We'll see.

I am really excited for you to come down here to get me but we need to get this thing planned. I really want to go to Iguaçu Falls with you but I dont know what you are all planning and how much time you are thinking about staying down here. It will be Thanksgiving week so dad wont have to work so we will be able to stay for a long time right? ;) Dont worry. Im not trunky. I just really need to plan this with you. 

I want you all to know that I love being a missionary. Its hard and things dont ever go the way you want or plan. But they always work out if you work your hardest and trust in the Lord. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves each one of us so much. I am so grateful for the family that I have. A lady in Boa Vista spoke about Family Home Evening and all of the great times that she had. I thought about all of the great times that we had in Family Home Evening. Most of the best memories that I have werent expensive or big things. I remember playing hide and seek and duck duck goose. I love those things. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for teaching us that Family Home Evening is important and that we need to do it every week. That is something that I will never forget. I love you all so much and I know that we are blessed for being obedient.

Mission address:

Av. Iguaçu 1460

Agua Verde 80250-190

Curitiba, PR

Brasil

I love you!

Craziest week of my mission!

Bom dia!                                               August 19, 2013

This was probably the crasiest week of my mission. I was able to go to Ponta Grossa and stay with the zone leaders there for the whole week. Ponta Grossa is a city at the very end of our mission and everyone wants to serve there because they always baptize. Well, the last few months they havent been baptizing so me and Elder Schmidt went there for a week and left with 18 baptisms on Sunday! It was so good and there were so many miracles. They didnt have very many people ready to be baptized but we got there and worked a lot with them and they ended up having a lot of baptisms that they werent expecting. It was really good and I learned a lot about miracles and fasting. It was good to be a zone leader again and I had a lot of fun. Tonight I will be going back to......Boa Vista!! I will go there and spend a week with the zone leaders there to help them have the same success as Ponta Grossa. 

When I got to Ponta Grossa i went straight to their area book and saw that they didnt have any investigators. So I told them that the whole week we were just going to work our hardest to find new people and that the Lord would help us to baptize someone on Sunday. So we went to work. We knocked doors almost all day everyday and we were able to find 18 new people to teach. We even found a family of 9. That was incredible and 6 of them are old enough to be baptized. Well, Saturday night came around and I was really sad that we still didnt have anyone to baptize when we were walking home and we got a call from the sisters in our zone. They said that they were teaching a young man that was ready to be baptized but he lived in our area! So we called him and he said that he would come to our church the next day. He came and I interviewed him after Sacrament Meeting and he was baptized! It was such a testimony builder for me. Oh and I forgot to tell you that we started a fast just for this after lunch on Saturday. It was amazing. The Lord really does answer our prayers. But we have to get up and work to deserve the blessings that we ask for. My testimony of this grew a lot this week

I also just wanted to thank mom and dad for always complimenting us on the things that we do well. There are a lot of people in this world that would do anything just to get a compliment from their parents once in a while. We taught a girl this week that got pregnant really young and still lives with her mom and her mom doesnt ever compliment her. She just tells her all the things that she does wrong. She just cried the whole time we were there and I got home and just thanked our Heavenly Father for the parents that I have. I love you mom and dad. I am so grateful for who you are and the things that you have taught me. I love you!

Tell Grandpa that he is in my prayers and that I love him. 

Iguaçu Falls hasnt been in our mission for the last 10 years. The picture that they sent in my call package was wrong. We dont even come close haha.

How is Scott coming along with the mission prep? I cant believe that in just 3 weeks he will be leaving for the MTC. That makes me crazy. Scott, prepare yourself. There are a lot of missionaries out here that dont even know why they are here. Its really hard for me to see that. Please prepare yourself. Its going to be the best two years of your life so far. But only if you want it to be and only if you want that. I love my mission. But it has not been easy. Get ready to work hard and here a lot of "no's". Youre going to love it and I cant wait to get your emails. I love you bro!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Training again

Bom dia!!                      August 12, 2013

Its good to hear that you are all doing well! I heard that Rileys talk was really good. He is a great kid and I am sure that he was a powerful missionary. I talked to Syd a little and thats so cool that she got a job at the MTC!! I would love to teach Portuguese there. 

This week was really good. I was able to spend the whole week training a new missionary from Argentina. It was really weird to be training again but really good. I was able to see how much I have changed since the last time that I trained. I have grown so much and I have really become a better missionary. We were able to find a few good people to teach and things are going really well. We will leave today for the other side of the mission to help the missionaries there. We will stay a week with the district leaders and help them to work with all that they have. One thing that our mission is lacking is faith. So our goal is to go there and show them how to do the work so that they can have enough faith to keep going after we leave. I love this responsibility and the mission is really improving. 

Tell Grandpa J that I am praying for him everyday and I know that things will work out. He is a strong man and I look up to him so much. Tell him that he needs to get better in the next 3 months because I need to be able to sit and talk with him about life when I get home. I really look forward to that. 

Scott will probably need a converter. I havent used mine yet but thats because Curitiba is a really advanced city. But I am not so sure about where he will be serving. 

I have no idea what I am going to do about school. I know that I will have to go straight to the doctor about my knee and my hip when I get home and I dont know how that will effect everything. I dont even know where I would like to go to school yet. I havent thought about that too much haha I have been having a lot of problems in my hip this last month and I am really starting to get worried that I will be able to walk by the end of my mission. I know that the Lord will help me but I am a little nervous for what will happen after the mission. So, that will play a big role is when and where I will go to school.

I hope you all know that I love you so much. I cant believe that Scott will join me in the mission field in less that one month. I know that he will be a great missionary and that the Lord is preparing people for him. Dont forget to pray everyday so that he can get his visa. The Lord will help.

I love you!

Helping Others

August 5, 2013

Bom dia!

This week was really good. We hardly had any time to work in our area but we were able to find some people that will be baptized. We dont have a lot of time to serve in our area so this week we will officially become traveling assistants. its going to be really good and we will be able to focus on the areas that are struggling. I still feel a little strange being assistant because I always looked at the assistants like they were perfect. But now I know that the key is to be obedient and just work your tail off. We were able to go to Ponta Grossa this week with Pres. Monteiro and his family to give a training to the missionaries there. Ponta Grossa is a city about 2 hours outside of Curitiba. It was my first time leaving Curitiba and it went really well. We gave a really good training. But I learned one thing while I was there. One of the new sisters that got here on the mission 2 weeks ago is an american that was serving in the USA for 5 months before getting her visa. She got here and didnt remember a word of Portuguese and we knew that things would be a little rough in the beginging. Well, her companion turns out to be one of the proudest and most impatient people on the mission and things were not going well. They both talked with Pres. Monteiro and the Brazillian sister said that she would do better. Well, this morning Pres. Monteiro asked me to call them and see how things were going. I spent 40 minutes on the phone with the American sister while she cried and told me that she was almost ready to go home. She was trying her best to work and give ideas but her companion would just get mad and tell her that she knows what she is doing. It was really sad listening to this sister cry and say that she was just about ready to give up. I helped her to realize that the Lord could help her and that things would be ok. What I learned from this is that we really need to look at people from their point of view. We need to step in their shoes and see how they are feeling. The Brazillian sister didnt even try and she was ruining the other sister. We ended up doing an emergency transfer and they will be a lot better off. But in marriage and in other things in life we cant just do an emergency transfer. We need to be humble and just try to help other people. I hope that that is one thing that I have learned on my mission.

I just want all of you to know how much I love you all. I am so grateful for the family that I have. Everyone says that I must have been a really good kid in the pre-existence to have this family but I think I was just a huge rebel and i needed a good family to whip me into shape :) I love you so much and I know that this is the work of the Lord. I love being a missionary and I love this gospel.

Nada muda se você não mudar. Isso é verdade. Arrependimento não só significa que paramos de pecar. É uma mudança de atitude e pensamento.

Translation: Nothing changes if you dont change. This is true. Repentance doesnt mean that we just stop sinning. Its a change of attitude and thoughts.

I love you!

New Assignment

Bom dia!

Wow. Sorry it has taken me so long to write but you guys will never believe what happened!  Last Monday was transfers and I thought that I was going to stay in Boa Vista.  Well, I got a call and I was transferred!  It was so hard to leave Boa Vista and there were a lot of sad members there.  There was a line at church to take a picture with me before I left!  Well, Monday I went to the transfer meeting and I found out that I was called as the new assistant to Pres. Monteiro!  Yes, you are now talking to the newest assistant in the Brazil Curitiba Mission.  I was shocked but no one else was.  haha.  Everyone else told me that they knew that I would be the next assistant.  I didn't send an email to you last week because we spent the whole day at the airport sending off the missionaries that were finishing their missions.  It was really cool but the best thing that happened was on Tuesday when we got to go back to the airport and get the noobies from the MTC.  It was so fun to see how nervous/excited they were.

I am now in Barigui but this will only last for one more week.  We will now be traveling assistants and we won't have a specific area.  We will be going around the whole mission to help the missionaries that are having problems.  My companions name is Elder Schmidt.  He is from Germany and is in his last transfer on the mission.  Hes awesome and really rich!!  haha!  I have to learn all this new stuff really fast because I will be the one at the head of the mission in 5 weeks.  I love my new calling.  Its hard and we dont have time to do anything but it is really cool to spend so much time with Pres. Monteiro and his family.  They are amazing people and I love them.

I love you all so much and I hope you don't get mad that I didn't write very much !  I don't have time!

What a week!

Bom dia!!!                                 July 15, 2013

I'm so glad to hear that you all made it home safe! It must be really weird to have Syd back home after over a year and a half. That seems so weird to me. I dont want to go home! How is she doing? Is she still reading her scriptures? Tell her that she cant slack off. She needs to stay strong!

This week was really long and really hard. We had a really hard time getting into peoples houses to teach and just about everything fell through. We are also having a hard time finding new people to teach. But this Sunday we received a few refferals from the ward and we will visit them this week.

We did have one really good thing happen last night. We were going to visit Maria Eduarda to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them. When we got there, no one was there. It was so hard because we knew that we were just going to spend the night walking in the street trying to find people. Then we remembered one great thing. A member told us to come over to get a cake that they had made for us. So we got our vigor and vim back and started walking to the members house. When we got there.....they werent home either. It was so sad and I told my companion that I was just going to walk as slow as I could and maybe we would get home at 9. It was about 7:30 haha. Then all of a sudden, a man started running after us and yelling. I got scared and almost took off but then I heard that he was yelling, "Elders wait!" So we talked to him and he said that he was a less-active member and had moved into the ward about a month ago. He wanted to mark a date with us to go visit him and help him to come back to church! He also said that he has a sister who isnt a member! It was the miracle that we were waiting for after all of the work we did this week. And all thanks to our desire to eat cake haha. I know that the Lord is watching over us and that when we work our hardest, He rewards us. Oh, and we ended up getting dinner and a cake later that night :)

This transfer has gone by so fast. Next week we will have transfers and I really dont want to leave Boa Vista yet. I am hoping that Pres. Monteiro will at least leave the zone leaders where they are. I really want to stay here one more transfer. But, I will go where the Lord wants me to go. 

I hope you are all having a great time with Syd! Its weird to think that I am the only one out here from the family. But that wont last long :) A man named Thiago Silva will probably send you an email soon. He is in my ward here and he served in Ribeirão Preto. He really wants to talk to Scotty and tell him a little about how it is there.

I love you all and I know that I am doing exactly what the Lord wants me to do. Sometimes its really hard but one thing keeps me going. My testimony of the Book of Mormon. If that book is true then this whole work is true and the promises that we have from the Lord are true. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

--

Love,
Élder Trevor Taylor

So out of shape!!

July 1, 2013

Bom dia!

Wow. I cant believe this day finally got here. Syd is finishing up and everyone is in Europe! Thats crazy. But its still not as good as South America! Its like America, but south ;)

Maria Eduarda was baptized yesterday! She was so excited and there were tons of members at the baptism. She chose me to baptize her and the water was so hot! Its freezing here so I was a little worried that the water would be cold so I let it heat up for a long time. But when we went in it felt like we were cooking! But it was still really good. She was so happy and her mom cried the whole time. We were going to have 2 baptisms but Cesar still isnt ready. He hasnt quite let go of smoking. So we are going to work a lot harder with him and we are planning a ward fast just for him this coming Sunday. I love this area and I never want to leave. The members here are like family to me. We were able to speak in church yesterday and I got to finish my talk on the joy of missionary work. My goal was to make at least a few people cry. I told them about how I love baseball and how happy I was when I played and then I talked about Oswaldo and Marinas baptisms and then their sealing. When I looked up at the ward, I saw that over half of the ward was in tears. I almost laughed haha but the Spirit was so strong and we got a lot of compliments about out talks. This ward is about to catch fire and we are going to start baptizing a lot. 

It rained just about every day this week and me and Elder Ladereche got sick and had to stay at home for two days. Well, two afternoons. This sickness wasnt going to keep us from helping Maria Eduarda to be baptized. We only left at night those two days. But we are doing a lot better. My hand is also doing a lot better and I am just about back to normal. There will probably be a little scarring but a lot less than I thought. 

We had a zone activity today at the church and played dodgeball and basketball and then ate hambergers to celebrate the 4th of July! It was way fun and the sun even came out for an hour to let us really enjoy it. It was great to be with the zone and to just relax for a while and play around with everyone. And I realized one thing. I AM SO OUT OF SHAPE. I played little bit of basketball and I was dying after like 5 minutes. It was so sad. But we still had a great time. Go America!

Well, I hope you enjoy your time in Europe! I bet its so cool there. I hope you know that you are all in my prayers. Give Syd the biggest hug in the world for me. Shes the best. Oh, and if you can, can you buy me a sweet keychain and a baseball while youre there? Thanks.

I love you all so much!

Down that long dirt road!

Soup night at Boa Vista!

Maria Eduarda's baptism!

Last Zone Conference

Bom dia!        June 24, 2013

I cant believe that the time has come for Syd to finish her mission! Time has flown by way to fast. Give syd a huge hug for me when you see her and tell her that she is the best. I never got to see her as a missionary or talk to her but I know that she was a great missionary because of her testimony and love of the gospel. She is a huge example to all of us.

This week was crazy! We have a saying in our mission that is ´Fogo nos ossos!´ That means Fire in the bones! Well, this week I really had fire in my bones. Last Monday I decided that we needed to make a cake for our ward mission leader and his family. So we got everything ready and I turned on the stove. Now, our stove is pretty old so when you turn in on you have to turn on the gas and then reach in with a lighter to get the fire going. So I did that and then I left the kitchen. Well, while I was gone the fire went out. But the gas was still going. So I came back and saw it after five mintues and without thinking, reached in with the lighter to light it again. What I forgot was that the whole oven was full of gas and the gas was still on. The minute I lit the flame, a huge ball of fire hit me in the chest and rolled up my face. I thought that I was on fire so I started hitting myself like a mad man. When I realized that I wasnt on fire, I thought that the shirts that were drying behind me were on fire. But they werent. When I realized that the house was ok and that nothing caught fire, thats when I started to feel the pain in my hand and on my face. We ended up having to go to the hospital and I found out that I had second degree burns on my hand and nose. It hurt so bad. But things are healing up now and I am back in action. I do know that the Lord watches over his servants. It was a miracle that I didnt get burnt more or worse than I did. But now I can officially say that I have ´Fogo nos ossos!´

We had our last zone conference with Pres and Sis Cordon this week. It was so good and I am going to miss them so much. I gave Pres Cordon a huge hug at the end and he said, We´ll see you in a few months! They really want to come to my homecoming. I love them and will miss them a ton.

We are going to have 2 baptisms this week! Cesar has now gone 9 days without smoking and he is still going strong. The members are helping him a lot and they are planning everything for his baptism. We also have Maria Eduarda who is a 9 year old daughter of a less active member that we are helping to come back to church! I love baptisms!

I did get to watch the meeting last night. Let me just say that this work is going forward and fast. It was such a good meeting and I loved every minute of it. I sat next to our ward mission leader and he just kept telling me that he has a lot of work to do haha. I love that man. I just wanted to share with you some of the thoughts that I had during the meeting. The Lord has called more servants to the work just like he did in Jacob 5:61 and these servants are being prepared to teach the gospel and bear testimony of the restoration. While these servants are bing prepared to teach, the people that they will teach are also being prepared by angels (Alma 13:24). These angels are the members of the church. I loved that video of the family praying and then all going out and doing missionary work. Can you imagine if every family in the church did that? This work would be so different. Thats the way that this work needs to be. I know that the members have power. They can help so many people. These are perilous times (2 Timothy 3:1-5) and the world needs the message that we have. Only the message of the restoration will save the world. There are so many people doing wrong things. Even the members of the chruch. But we need to be examples of the believers (1 Timothy 4:12) and build our foundation upon the rock of our Redeemer (Helaman 5:12). I know that if we do this we will be a light for the world and people will see that we are different. There is nothing better than feeling the joy of doing missionary work. I know that we have what the world needs. We just need to open our mouths and preach the gospel with vigor and vim (That was for you mom). I love this gospel and I know that we are on the right path. Lets go out there and get our brothers and sisters who have let go of the iron rod and bring them back to the path that leads to eternal life. I know this is the work of God and that He will bless us for doing it. He has given us this great opportunity to help Him in His work. And NOW is the time that we need to do it. (Alma 34:32)

I love you!                  Love, Élder Trevor Taylor

This is my cute little burnt nose and lips.  I only took a picture a few days after it happened because the other ones were really ugly!

After getting home from the hospital...Ouch!

Man I love tacos!!  This was a couple of hours before the oven exploded!

This is my hand this morning.  A week after the incident.  It doesn't show up well on the picture though!

This is us making cake with the great Cesar.  He is going to be baptized this week!  Wooooot!

Last conference with Pres. and Sis. Cordon.  I love them!

Congrats!

Bom dia!                       June 10, 2013

Congrats on the graduation! Man, mom and dad are getting old. 3 kids graduated from high school and only 3 more to go! Way to go Scotty. Youre the man.

We had transfers today! Elder Eddington was transferred and will train a new missionary. I will stay here in Boa Vista for at least 6 more weeks and my new companion is....Elder Ladereche! He is from Uraguay and has only been out for about 6 months. Yes, I have been out for a year longer than him. I was his zone leader when he started his mission when i was in Ala 2. He is a great missionary and is very humble. We are going to get along great. I am really excited to be his companion. During the transfer meeting, the missionaries that are going home usually get up and bear their testimonies. Well, this time Pres. and Sis. Cordon got up and bore theirs. It was so sad and I am going to miss them so much. But they are going to be here for 3 more weeks so we will get one last zone conference with them. I love them so much and I have been so blessed to have them as ´my parents´ out here.

This week was really good. We had a GREAT ward activity on Saturday night. It was soup night! A bunch of the ladies in the ward brought soup for everyone to eat and we all just had a great time. There were about 100 people there and 10 of them were investigators. We were able to talk to all of them and get their addresses. There was so much soup and so many members. It was so fun and everyone had a good time. We are working really well with our new ward mission leader. He is one of the best men that i know and I love him. He loves the missionaries and is willing to do anything for us. The only problem with the soup night was that I ate so much that I got home and threw everything up! It wasnt as good the second time that I tasted it....

We saw a real life miracle happen this week. We are teaching a man named Cesar and his whole family is members and he has been coming to church for the last 2 years. The only reason that he hasnt been baptized yet is because he wont stop smoking. Well, he never accepts baptismal dates but yesterday we went to his house to talk to him and see how is was doing. Well, during the lesson we both got a really strong feeling that we needed to mark a baptismal date with him. So I said, ´Cesar, you know the blessings from being a member. Its time to get those blessings. ´ He just stared at me and I said, ´On June 29th we will have a baptismal service. YOUR baptismal service.´ Then I just sat there and let him think about it. He thought for a good 5 minutes in silence and then looked up at me and said, ´Mark my baptism for the 29th.´ I just about cried. It was so cool. He finally accepted a date and his whole family was there in the room. We´re gonna have to work hard with him for this one but I know that he will be baptized on the 29th. The same day that I got my mission call 2 years ago!

I just want you all to know that I know that miracles are real. We just need to have faith, be in tune with the spirit and act on the promptings that we receive. I know that we have angels out here helping our investigators. I know that we are being protected by our loving Heavenly Father. I know that this is the only true gospel on the face of the earth. So lets share it with everyone.

Love,
Élder Trevor Taylor

Sponge Bob plant!

Jesus is everywhere!

The Ten Commandments - keep 'em!

Dad - this is one of the mixers that they use in Brazil.  Is it the same kind that you lost your finger in?  I think about you every time I see one!  Ha ha!  I love you!

E. Ladereche - my 2nd Spanish speaking companion!









Bom freezing cold dia!!

DAD IS STAKE PRESIDENT???????? So I just about wet myself when I read that. But I am not shocked one bit. Natalie said that dad is the most humble man that she has ever met. I would have to agree with that 100%. Dad, you are going to be a great Stake President. I love you so much. Thank you for being such a great example for me. I never told you this but I had a dream while I was in the MTC that Dad was called as Stake President. Pretty cool how the Lord really does know all.

This week was so good. We had the last mission counsel before the big split and it was really good. It was actually just a normal counsel but they told us to get ready for some big changes with the next transfer. Which is next week! Its crazy how fast time is flying by. But its going really well.

I did a division in Colombo this week with the Elders there. While we were there, we visited a family whos son had died two days before. He was 12 years old and the only member of the family that wasnt baptized. He was being taught by the missionaries and choked on some cake and died last Sunday. We were talking to the dad and he just cried the whole time. But he said one thing that has been on my mind this whole week. He said that at the funeral, he got a text from a friend that helped him a lot. It was just a short little message but it made all the difference. That instantly made me think of a scripture in Alma 43:48. In portuguese it says that the men of Moroni were scared and about to run away but Moroni sent them inspired messages (in english it doesnt say messages) that helped them to stay strong and keep going. I have been thinking about that a lot this week. A lot of people need a message like that to help them to keep going or to comfort them. And we as members of the church have that message. Its a message of hope and joy. We need to share that with everyone. I know that God has a plan for each of us and that we know that plan. In Kaysville there arent many people that dont know that plan. But there are a lot who have forgotten about it. Scott, I am so proud of you for standing up for what you believe in. The world needs a lot more Scott Taylors. I want to invite each of you that read this email to share your testimony with someone that is going through a tough time this week. It could be face to face or just a small text. No effort is useless. I know that the Lord will give you a chance to share your testimony with someone that needs to hear it. Just go and do. The Lord will help you.

I also want to invite you all to do two other things. 1. President Monson invited us all to give genorous donations to the General Missionary Fund this last conference. DO IT. With all the missionaries that are being called, a lot of them dont have the money to pay for a mission. Please help them. 2. Pray and maybe fast for the missionaries to get their visas to come to Brazil. We need them here. Just think. There are over 70 Scott Taylors waiting for their visas just to come to Curitiba. There are a lot more waiting to go to the rest of Brazil. We need them here to keep the work going!

I love you all and I am so proud of all of you. I know that Dad was called of God and that Mom was also called. She may not have the calling but Dad would be nothing without her ;) I know that we have the best parents in the world!

I love you!

Love,
Élder Trevor Taylor

With Pres. and Sis. Cordon at our last Zone Council

I did an interview in Colombo while I was there and I took the man's cigarettes from him.  then I destroyed them in front of him.  He loved it!  So, I kept the box to always remember!

Now that Dad's the Stake President, do you think he'll get to meet the new seventy?? E. Gifford Nielsen??

Go Cougars!

Aloha!

Ps. I can see Scott at the end of my mission! You just need to write to scotts mission president and ask permission from him when the time gets a little closer!

On Mon, May 27, 2013 at 11:12 AM, Trevor Taylor <taylor.trevor@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Bom dia!

Wow. 24 years. You guys are old. But, I am so glad that you two got married in the temple 24 years ago. I am so thankful that we can have an eternal family. Thank you so much for your example and for the love that you two have for each other. You have shown me exactly what I want when i grow up :) HAPPY ANIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!

This week was pretty crazy. We did two divisions and I left the area for one of them. I was able to do an interview with a lady named Vanessa. She has been going to church for the last 10 years and never wanted to be baptized. Now she wants to be baptized but cant yet because she needs to get married first. She has a way strong testimony and the whole time she just kept saying that she cant wait for her kids to be missionaries. She thanked me for being such a good example and she said that she really liked me haha. At the end I bore my testimony to her about missionary work and how her family will be so blessed for having missionaries in the field. She asked how I knew that and I told her about Syd and Scott and me and she felt so bad for mom that she started crying! I told her that my family is receiving the blessings and that its worth it. I just want you all to know that I know that this is the work of the Lord. Mom, dont get sad because your kids are out of the house. We are out here serving the Lord. We are doing exactly what you taught us to do.

We also had our LAST interviews with President Cordon before he leaves. That was weird. Im going to miss him and Sister Cordon so much. Usually he talks to me about how the work is going and how we can do better but this time he just talked about things after the mission like marriage and college. He said that I need to tell him when my homecoming is so that he can come. I love that man. I know that he was called by God to be our mission president. He told me that I need to focus on the mission but that there are some things that I need to start thinking about right now for after the mission. It made me realize how close I really am to finishing my mission. I left and just started to cry. I love the mission.

We were able to speak in church yesterday! We had 35 minutes for me, Elder Eddington and another lady to speak. The lady went first and used 20 minutes, then Elder Eddington used 12 minutes. So I was left with 3 minutes. Just enough time to get up and bear my testimony haha. i dont think I have ever been so mad about not being able to speak in church! But its ok and I learned a lot while I was preparing my talk. Maybe that was the purpose. We also sang Dear to the Heart of the Shephard in a trio and it went really well. I think my voice has gotten higher because they had me sing the melody and I hit notes that I was never able to hit before haha

We will have the mission counsel this week. President Cordons last. I think it will be a little different and I am excited to see what happens. Its the last one before the mission splits too!! Crazy times here in Curitiba.

Well, I love you all and I am so grateful for all the love that you show for me. I love being a missionary and I know that we all can be missionaries. Even if we dont have a name tag. Just be an example of the believers. 

I love you!

Love,Élder Trevor Taylor

Huge oranges....awkward!  But they were sooo good!