Monday, February 18, 2013

New companion!

Bom dia!!!

Wow you all had a crazy week! I am glad to hear that you are all doing well. I

We had transfers today and.....Elder Joás was transferred. He is going to open an area and train a new missionary. My new companion is....Elder Veiga! He is from Rio Grande do Norte just like Elder Joás and I like him a lot. I already knew him and when President Cordon said that we would be companions Elder Veiga almost yelled haha. It will be a great transfer and Elder Veiga is really here to work. He only has 2 more transfers left on the mission so he wants to give it his all. He has never been a zone leader so I will have to show him how its done :) I am way excited and we are going to baptize everyone here in our area. 

Flávia and José were both confirmed this week and José received the Aaronic Priesthood! It was so good. He is now getting ready to go to the temple next week to do baptisms for the dead and they already have his dads name ready for him to do the baptism! That will be a great day.

Ok I have to tell you what happened today when I got to the transfers. I walked in and said hi to this one Elder and didnt even notice the man standing next to him. The Elder grabbed me and asked me if I knew the man. Thats when I saw that it was Oswaldo!!!! I gave him a huge hug and he started to cry. It was so so so good to see him again. I love that man. He came because Elder Clift went home today and he wanted to say goodbye. Oswaldo said that him and Marina are getting ready to be sealed in the temple next month and that they want me to be there! I will have to talk to Pres. Cordon but he usually lets us go. I love Oswaldo so much. That man really changed my life. This work really is about love. When we love the people we really will do anything to help them.

I know that this church is true and that it is an honor to be a missionary. I love the time that I have here and the people that I have met. My life has changed so much and I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us.

I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Taylor

Bom dia!

Scott, I am just about crying right now because at the zone leader counsel this week Pres. Cordon showed us that same video of the kids opening their calls. It was one of the most spiritual things that I have ever been a part of. I cried like a baby. Seriously. I remember that day so well. I cant wait to hear all about you opening your call and I would love for someone to film it and send it to me. I dont even care if it takes all of my computer time haha I want to see it. The mission truely is a blessing!

This week was incredible. We had the best zone conference ever on Tuesday. Sister Cordon is the best and in her training she threw cake at everyone! Then she pulled out a nice good cake and force fed it to Elder Joás hahaha she was trying to teach us that we cant force feed our investigators and that they need to be able to eat at their own pace. It was one of the best trainings that I have ever seen. Our training went really well. Until right in the middle. I had woken up that morning with a terrible stomache ache and I didnt even feel good enough to go to zone conference. Thats how bad it was. But I knew that I had to go so I went. Well, half way through our training I just about did a number 2 in my pants and had to run to the bathroom. I saw Pres. Cordons face when I left and he looked shocked. I dont think anyone has ran out of zone conference like that before haha. Well, I came back and then had to run out again right in the middle of Pres. Cordons training. It was awful. Food was coming out of both ends of me at the same time. I know thats TMI but its the truth. But it was a great zone conference.

Thursday was the zone leader counsel and it was amazing. Like I said earlier, Pres. Cordon showed us that video and I cried like a baby. But the first thing that he had all of us do was close our eyes. Then he started to read our mission call. It was so powerful. He asked us to pay close attention to our feelings. Let me tell you, my feelings have changed a lot since I first read that letter. When I first got it, all I could think was Brazil!!!!! Now, its very different. I didnt even pay attention to the begining of the letter this time. In the middle and at the end is what its all about. Helping others to come unto Christ. We have such a special calling. And the Lord has promised that as we leave everything behind, we will be blessed to find the people that are ready to be baptized. I am so grateful for the time that I have here on the mission. Its flying by. But I am loving every minute of it.

We had TWO baptisms yesterday!!!!!!!! It was one of the best baptismal services that I have ever seen. There were tons of members there and this little girl sang I Like to Look for Rainbows for the special musical number. Elder Joás baptized José and Flávia was baptized by her husband Daniel. It was so special and I just got to watch and take it all in. I love these moments on the mission. It was such a special day. This weekend is Carnaval and Flávia said that while everyone else is out getting drunk and doing bad things, she was there coming closer to Christ. That was awesome. What a week.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HAILEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you so much and I hope you have an awesome day. I cant believe that youre 11 already! Would you stop growing up so fast? Please?

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!!!! 

Well, this week was incredible. I love the mission. Transfers are next week and Elder Joás will probably be transferred. Ben Keaton will go home. I have seen him quite a few times already. I love that kid. Elder Clift is also going home next week. Thats weird for me because it shows how fast time really is flying. I feel like I will be the next one haha but I still have time to destroy the wickedness here :)

I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Big T.


                                              Jose and Flavia's baptism!  I'm the one left out!!


Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Bom dia!

Bom dia!!!                February 4, 2013

You all always seem to have crazy weeks! It seems like so fun. But nothing is as fun as sharing the gospel! Ok, sometimes its not the funnest thing in the world but it definately is the best thing for the world. I love being a missionary!

We are so excited for this coming week. Its going to be full of blessings. Tomorrow we have zone conference and I actually get to give a training since I am a zone leader! Then on Thursday we have the zone leader counsel. Its already my third. Time is flying by sooo fast. We are also helping two investigators to be baptized on the 10th. José and Flávia. They are so ready and so excited. I cant wait to see them in white!

This week was pretty crazy. We had to do exchanges on back to back days so that we could resolve some problems that are going on in the zone. It was good to be able to talk to the other missionaries to help them. Elder Joás has left all of the talking to me because I am way more patient than him haha Its nice to be able to talk things out and just put the bad things in the past. I love being a leader and being able to help others. 

Today we went to the Panoramic Tower here in Curitiba and took a ton of pictures. It was made so that people could see the whole city. And you really can see the whole city! Thats what the pictures are that i sent. We took part of the zone and then we ate lunch together. It was really good and a good way to get ready for the zone conference tomorrow.

Please dont get mad that I am going to take out so much money today. I will be buying something good that I will use for the rest of my life. I will send you a picture when I get it!

I love you all so much and I know that this church is true. I am so blessed to have been given the chance to serve a full time mission. I know that I am where I am supposed to be. i love this work and the joy that it brings.

Love,
Elder Big T

Ps. Sorry my emails are still so short. But just think, we have eternity together. Thats plenty of time to tell you all about the mission ;)

I LOVE YOU!



                                                 Curitiba - from the Panoramic Tower


                                                                  Zone Buddies!



                               Elder Taylor with a view!  And always with a Book of Mormon!

Monday, February 4, 2013

Bom dia!

Sorry my email was so short last week. We had a lot of things to do and not a lot of time to do it. But I So...Elder Dallin H. Oaks was supposed to come on Saturday but he ended up getting really sick and couldnt fly. But... We still got to hear from and meet Elder Christensen from the Presidency of the 70, Elder Claudio R. M. Costa (Brazil area president) and Bishop Stevenson (Presiding Bishop). It was soooooo good. No one said anything about the mission splitting but everyone could feel that they were there to prepare us for that. They talked to us a lot about how fast the work is going forth and that we need to prepare ourselves for changes. Elder Christensen said, ´You that are at the biginning of your missions need to learn as fast as you can and you that are at the end need to pass everything that you have learned to the others.´ I thought to myself, hmm Im not in the bigining or at the end. So I think I might have the hardest part. Learning as fast as I can and passing all of that on at the same time. Its going to be great and I am so excited for all of the changes that are coming.

Some things happened with Eduardo, our asian investigator, and he wont be able to be baptized until March. It was so sad but he is still so excited to be baptized and he is learning so fast. He even helped to clean the church this last week. We have 2 solid baptismal dates for the 10th. Flavia and José. We marked the date with José yesterday. He is so ready. Hes already been to church 5 times and he doesnt smoke, drink, or have a girlfriend. Its such a blessing haha. Flavia is still going strong and was at chruch yesterday. She left early so we didn have a chance to talk to her. But she will be baptized on the 10th also.

Thank you for all of your prayers about my foot. It got a lot better and then started to get worse again. I would really appreciate if you could continue to pray for my health. I am having a lot of problems with my Osgood Slaughter on my right knee. I knew that this would be a problem sooner or later haha but if you could pray for that too I would be so happy. I know that the Lord is looking out for me and that everything will be ok. I know that sometimes things are hard and walking this much takes a tole on the knees but I am doing the work of the Lord and he will bless me. 

I got a letter from syd this week and she said that she asked for one more transfer! Thats so awesome. It seems like she is loving Denmark and having a grand ol´ time. Shes the best. We are very blessed to have a girl like that as our big sister to look up to. Please tell her that I love her!

I just wanted to end by leaving you my testimony that I know that our family can be together forever. This morning I read Elder Cooks talk from last conference and he talked a lot about how we need to teach more in the home so that our children can be prepared for the things in this world. He said that when parents need to tell their kids no, they need to do it! I am so grateful for mom and dad and the way that they raised me. I am so proud to say that I grew up in a home with a dad that is a worthy Priesthood leader. Not very many people can say that in this world. 

Sei que estou fazendo a obra de Deus. Amo a missão e sei que estou recebendo bênçãos cada dia. Sei que Deus vai colocar pessoas preparadas em meu caminho. Amo meu Salvador Jesus Cristo. Sei que eu não tenho que sofrer porque Ele já fez isso por mim. Ele é o Salvador do mundo. E Ele ama cada um de nós. Amo vocês muito e desejo uma semana cheia de milagres para todos vocês.

Love,
Elder Big T.