First baptisms!

Bom dia família!                         March 19, 2012

This week was so amazing. First i just want to say thank you to everyone who sent me letters! We got mail this week! Thank you dad, bishop hansen, nat (3), and syd. I also got two letters from Elders that were in my district in the CTM!

I am glad to hear that everything is going well at home. I pray so much for all of you. Scott, dont you dare play church ball. Coach leo will kill you. Good luck with the games this week. I heard that byu won their play in game but then lost the next game. Thanks for keeping me updated.....just kidding ;) 

Well, this week for me was pretty uneventful....NOT!! I am so glad to tell you that Oswaldo and Marina were baptized yesterday! It was such an amazing experience. Elder Clift baptized Marina and I was able to baptize Oswaldo. Before Oswaldo and I went into the font, he stopped and gave me a huge hug and started to cry. He is such an amazing man and his testimony is so strong. I am so blessed that i could be a part of that experience. It was interesting this week while we were helping them prepare to be baptized because one day Marina would be firm and than the next day she wouldnt want to be baptized. On thursday we had their interviews and i went with Elder Lopez to do those. When we got there, Marina told us that she needed more time to be baptized. It broke my heart. But Elder Lopez still had an interview with her and after that she came out and prayed for a while during Oswaldos interview and said that she received an answer and would be baptized with her husband. It made my testimony of prayer grow so much. They will be confirmed this coming Sunday during sacrament meeting. My first two baptisms!!!

Earlier this week we ate lunch at a members house and i gave the message after. I told them about how its frustrating to not be able to say exactly what you want to but that i read 1 Nephi 3:7 every morning to pump myself up because i know that i was called here by a prophet of God and that God has prepared a way for me to learn this language and do this work. We all face challenges in this life but God has given us a way to overcome them and do what he has commanded us. After i said this the wife said (in English), ´Thank you. I can feel your Spirit and thats all that matters.´ When she said this i thought, shes right. I might not be able to say exactly what i want to but i have the Spirit with me and as long as the people that i am teaching can feel it, then i am doing what i need to do.

Nat, good luck with all of your tests this week! I got three of your letters and they are great. Thank you so much. Thank you for all of the great quotes that you write in them. I love those. Keep working hard and have fun in St. George!

Scott i hope you were the one that started all of the moshing at the dance. Thats my little bro ;) I think you might be the one person besides our investigators that i pray for the most. I have already seen so many guys here whos older brothers served missions but then the little brother went off the straight and narrow path and isnt living the way he is supposed to. Please please please dont do that to me. Keep living the way you are. you are such an awesome kid and you are an example to everyone. Especially me. Keep doing what youre doing and you will be an awesome missionary. Study the Book of Mormon. Study preach my gospel. Every day. Every single stinking day. I promise that it will be so worth it. Make time in the day to read the scriptures. I love the Book of Mormon. More than any book that i have ever read. Yeah all 3 of them haha just kidding. 

I love you all so much and i hope you have an awesome week! Oh and happy St. Patricks Day last week! Eu sei que esta igreja é verdadeira. Eu sei que nós estamos vendo milagres aqui em Ahú. Eu sei que nossa família vai ser eterna e nós vamos viver juntos para sempre. Eu amo vocês muito e eu oro cada dia por vocês. Essa Igreja é verdadeira!!

Grande embraço. Pequeno beijo. (Big hug. Little kiss.)

Love, 

Elder Taylor

Baptism of Oswaldo and Marina - March 18, 2012

News of Curitiba

Bom dia!               March 12, 2012

Scotty! Im sorry man. That really stinks. Make sure to do everything that the doctor says. I was terrible with that and it took longer for everything to heal up. Good luck with baseball though! I want to hear all about every game! I will definately keep you and your ankle in my prayers. Ankle injuries are the worst. Im sure youre enjoying using crutches in school though ;)

This week was really up and down. I think i told you about Oswaldo and Marina. They are an older couple and they had accepted to be baptized on the 18th. Well we went by there on Friday night and they said that they arent ready to be baptized. It broke my heart. Serioulsy. I almost cried right then and there. It was so sad. So we told them to have faith and keep praying about it. Well, we saw them in church yesterday and they said that they had prayed a lot about it and they will be baptized on the 18th!! I am so happy for them. They are the kindest people in the world and this sunday is going to be amazing. This area is one of the tougher ones in the mission so they are really our only investigators that are really close to being baptized but we are doing our best to help the others.

One thing that i want to say is thank you for reading scriptures and praying as a family. We have a few less active families here in our ward and the thing that is the same with all of them is that they dont read and pray as a family. I testify that reading and praying as a family is the number one thing that keeps a family together and active in the church. Mom and Dad, thank you. You really are the greatest parents in the world. I love you so much. Everything that we are teaching these people are the same things that i learned at home with you.

Elder Clift was feeling really tired and exaughsted this last week and would sleep the whole time during study time. So he asked for a blessing and i gave in one with another elder. He is doing a lot better now. The priesthood is real. Scott, honor your priesthood. We have the power of God with us. Que bênção! What a blessing!

Mom, you should be very proud of me. I think i have eaten more fruits, vegies, and STROGANOUFF here than in my whole life. We have stroganouff almost every day with the members. I know that i was sent here for a reason haha i love the fruits here. They are so delicious but they are expencive. We have a mission credit card and they put  140 reais on it every two weeks. so its 190 dollars per month. I was kind of upset about that at first because we pay 400 dollars but this is the Lords work and i will pay anything to be out here serving Him. We normally eat a tiny breakfast, a huge lunch, and a tiny dinner. Its taken me a while but i am finally getting used to it.

I have one little bit of advice. READ THE BOOK OF MORMON. I look forward every day to the hour that i get to just study the scriptures on my own. I love the Book of Mormon. It truely is the greatest book ever written. I love the feeling i get when i read it. I was terrible with reading my scrptures before i left. I will never go back to that. I missed out on so many good feelings and blessings. 

Abbey, Hailey, and Annie, I love you. I have the best little sisters in the world. Dont ever forget that we have the most amazing parents in the world. Really. We have been so blessed.

The picture that i sent you is great. The sign says, Mr. Dog, teach your owner to pick up your poop. Its probably more funny in portuguese. I enjoyed it haha

Well, I love you all and i hope you have a great week. Keep me posted on baseball and the cougars! This church is true. Jesus Christ is our Savior. He suffered for us so that we can repent and live with Him and Heavenly Father after this life. That is such an amazing blessing.

I love you!

Love,

Elder Taylor

Trevor sends photos!

Ola from Brazil!                  March 5, 2012

Scotty you are such a stud! Thats so sweet that you made the team. You are going to have to tell me how all of the games go and tell all of the guys that i love them and that they better all serve missions because its the greatest blessing in the world. I love you Scott. I think about you all the time. That glove works miracles so dont let it down ;) you are going to love being on the team. Those guys are awesome and you will fit right it. Practice hard and take practice seriously. The only way to improve is to give it your all. I miss those days so live it up for me!

Mom, wife points. Every time i get stuck in the rain my wife gets more beautiful. So right now my wife is gorgeous!!!! Haha its a missionary thing. Thank you for the letters i got this week and the valentines!!! Thank you family, Dad (2), Nat, and Ben and Audrey. I love getting mail! I havent gotten syds emails yet but we only get mail like every two weeks so itll probably come next week.

I had my first zone conference last week. I was way nervous for it but it was really good. And we got to watch 17 miracles. That is such a good movie. Sister Cordon did a really good job of tying it into missionary work. It was a really good conference. President and Sister Cordon told me multiple times that my portuguese is really good and i was very happy about that.

Last week I was able to be part of two blessings. One was one of our investigators who is going to be baptized on March 18th. He is an older man named Oswaldo and i love him so much. He is like a grandpa to us. He had to have surgery on his mouth so we gave him a blessing the night before. The second was our Bishop. he has been having really bad pains in his neck so he asked if we would come over and give him a blessing. it was really good.

I know i ask for something every week and im sorry but i would really like more pictures of our family. i got here and didnt have a single family picture! Sad. Could you please send some this week? I would love that. 

I am absolutely sick of blisters on my feet. THey are covered in them and it hurts so bad. BUt the work is going well and i love it here. Its really hard but thats the way it should be.

Last, but definately not least......HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNIE!!!! (Tomorrow) I cant believe my little best friend is 4. Youre so big. I sent you a letter last week with a little present inside so i hope you like it :) I love you so much Annie Kate. Please please please dont forget about me.

I sent some pictures! One is me and my companion Elder Clift. And some of the Curitiba Temple! I will send more next week!

I love you all and i hope you have a wonderful week. I know this church is true and i love being a representative of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Love,

Elder Taylor

Curitiba Temple

Elder Taylor and Elder Clift

Elder Taylor at Curitiba temple

Pondering at the Curitiba Brazil temple!

Arrival in Curitiba, Brazil

   Feb. 20, 2012     Bom Dia from beautiful and hot Curitiba Brazil!!!

Today is not my p-day but Sister Cordon said i could take 20 minutes to email you and tell you that I made it here safely. My first area is right in the middle of the city of Curitiba and it is called Ahú. My companion is Elder Clift from Sacramento, California. He will have been here for one year tomorrow! He is really nice and very very good with the people. And he speaks really good Portuguese. He mostly only speaks Portuguese with me which is hard but its also a blessing. I will learn the language a lot faster this way.

I dont have time to read your emails but i hope sydnee got to Denmark safely and i hope she is doing well. She will be awesome.

My p-day is always on mondays but just not this week because we are going to the temple on wednesday so that will be our p-day. So i will read your emails then and i will get to send a longer email with more information. Its really hot here and its good because i am already losing more weight. I have lost over 5 lbs in just under a week. its pretty much the best.

I live in a small house with my companion and two other american missionaries. Four americans living in one small house in Brazil haha its pretty funny. I love it here and the ward we are in is very kind and welcoming. And a lot of the members speak english!

President and Sister Cordon are awesome and i love them. They are very very kind and are like second parents.

The language is hard but i can tell that it is coming along. President Cordon told me to give myself 6 weeks and i will be just fine. Its hard but i am trying to be as patient with myself as i possibly can.

I hope Hailey had an awesome 10th birthday!!! Happy Birthday Hay-bear!!!!! Sorry this is so late. I sent you a letter though. I love you!

I just have some questions that i need answered.
1. Did you send my glasses? If yes, when?
2. Can i wash my ties in a washing machine?
3. Can i wash my suit pants in a washing machine or do they need to be dry-cleaned?
If you can just answer these before wednesday that would be awesome.

Well, I love you. I hope you are doing well. The work is going great. I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Taylor

Short email!

Bom Dia!!   Feb. 27, 2012

I am sorry about wednesday. All of the internet places were closed so we didnt get a chance to email. But i get to today!!

 I hope Grandma is doing ok. Tell her and Grandpa that i love them. And i will continue to pray for them and Grandma T.

Mom, can you continue to send syds emails through missionties? I think it will be a lot faster and i will actually get to read them. We only have 45 minutes to email here. And can you send me some pictures of Haileys baptism? I would really love to have some of those. I cant believe that was two years ago! Crazy.

My companion is awesome. He has taught me so much and he really knows what he is doing out here. He has a very strong testimony and i look up to him so much.We have baptismal dates for our investigators for the 11th and 18th of March. I really hope they will follow through with their commitments. I love the people here.

It rains here just about every day so I am racking up the wife points....yeah :)

Well i better go. Thank you for answering my questions and PLEASE send my glasses soon. My eyes are getting worse. I love being in Brazil. The people are awesome, the food is good, i am still losing weight, and I am here serving the Lord. What more could i want?

Scott, Abbey, Hailey, and Annie. I love you all so much. You four mean the world to me and i hope you are having fun in Kaysville :) Ps I am so glad that annie hasnt forgotten about me. 

I know this church is true and i love being a missionary. Its the hardest thing that i have ever done but 1 Nephi 3:7 keeps me going. It is my favorite scripture right now.

I love you all!

Love, Elder Taylor

Last email from the CTM

Well, happy last email from the CTM!!! One week from right now i will be in the beautiful city of Curitiba. I am so excited. this last P-day was really good but it has been cut short because of the devotional tonight. But thats ok. The area 70 is coming to speak to us.

Thank you to Dad, the Holts, the Calls, Hailey/Mom/Annie, Syd, and Grandma and Grandpa J for your letters this week. I really love getting letters from everyone. Thank you so much. I love you all!

Dad thank you so much for sending me your Christmas talk. I have read it multiple times. I love you dad. Even though youre selling my house. haha :) but really. Thank you for your example and everything you do for me. I love you.

Tuesday night we had a devotional and we watched a video from Elder Holland. It was really good but he kinda tore into the missionaries. He said that the three things we are worst at is 1. Companionship study 2. Planning 3. Teaching with power and authority. So pretty much the things that we need to be best at. Elder De La Cruz and I focused this week on those things and we taught some of our best lessons yet. It was really cool.

Last Tuesday 80 missionaries left the CTM and only 4 came. Its pretty empty here. But one of those four was Elder Kamalu!! It was so good to see a face from Kaysville again. I love having him here. He is a great kid and will be a great missionary.

On friday night our teacher was in a play so we didnt have a teacher with us. She told us before to study part of preach my gospel and teach what we learned to the class. As we were doing this we started sharing examples from our lives about when we had felt the spirit. It was absolutely incredible. The spirit was so strong and i am pretty sure that everyone was crying. It was easily the best class yet. We may not be able to speak perfect portuguese but i know that we have the spirit with us and that we can bring that to the homes of the people of Brazil. I love my district. They really are my brothers.

Yesterday we got to go out for 3 hours and try to place copies of the Book of Mormon in the city. It was really scary at first but after a few people we got a little more used to it. We didnt hand out a single Book in 3 hours and we went back to the cookie store to meet our teacher and when we left i accidentally left one of mine on the table. When i went back to get it there was a lady sitting there but she hadnt touched to book. So i slid it closer to her and told her that it was for her and she got really excited and thanked me and immedidatley started flipping through the pages! it was so cool! I placed my first Book of Mormon! :)

I was told to tell you my new address. Its the same as on the cards that syd made but i will write it here too. Please send letters here for now and when i get my address in the field i will let you know.

Elder Trevor Taylor

Brazil Curitiba Mission

Praça Joseph Smith

15 Portão

80613-991 Curitiba-PR

Brazil

Well i hope you are having a wonderful time in Kaysville. I dont know if i will be able to email next week so i love you! (2 weeks worth) I love you all. The Church is true. The Book is blue. And God loves you :)

Love,

Elder Taylor

The end of January

Bom dia!!             January 31, 2012

Tell Grandpa that i love him and that i hope he is feeling better now. I am so glad that the surgery went well. He is a strong man so i know that he can handle this.

Thank you for you letters this week. Mom, Nat (2), Abbey, Scott, and the package from the Wisers. Your letters mean a lot to me and they always keep me going. Wisers-the portuguese is going great and i loved hearing about your Christmas. I love you! Scott-your letter made me bawl. I couldnt hold any of it in. I cried like a little baby. Youre the best. I love you bud and i am so glad to hear that your one act went well. Youre a stud.

Tell Jake congrats on his mission call! i didnt even know he put his papers in. When does he leave? He is going to love speaking French. Its actually pretty close to portuguese the pronunciations are just different. He is going to have a great time.

Thank you for praying for Elder Petersen. His back seems to be doing a lot better.

Thank you for syds emails. I wish i could express my feelings the way she does. Her emails make me want to be better each week. Syd-tell Elder Jensen that i love him!

Well this week was really cool. On wednesday Elder Andersen and Elder Ballard came to the CTM and spoke to us. It was incredible when they walked into the room. They had us all come and shake their hands before it started and it was amazing. They really are men of God. I always turn the pages for Elder Petersen in the devotionals while he plays the piano so for most of the devotional i was the closest missionary to the apostles. It was so cool! The one main thing that they focused on was that if we work hard, stay clean, and prepare ourselves than the Lord will be with us and we will be the best missionaries that we can be. Elder Andersen said, We cant be instruments in the Lords hands unless we are pure instruments. That has been my main focus this week. To be as pure as i possibly can. And to tell you the truth i probably felt the spirit more in this one week than i have my whole life. It was incredible.

Our bedroom is on the very top floor of the CTM and this week it rained a lot. So we got a huge crack in our ceiling and it started raining in our room! we are still on the top floor but on the other side of the building. It was pretty crazy. I got some pretty good pictures of it though!

I finished reading Our Search for Happiness this week. Its written by Elder Ballard and its really good. Here is a quote from it, We may not have much money or other things that some people think are so important. But we are the richest people i know. We have blessings that money simply cannot buy. And I have the satisfaction of knowing that the things that are most important to me-my family and my love of God-can endure forever.

                When i read this i started crying. I feel the exact same way that Elder Ballard does. I love you all so much and i feel so blessed to be able to spend forever with you. On page 105 it is talking about the callings of the church and it says that a man can be released from bishop and two weeks later be called as a sunday school teacher. Dad thats you!! It was so funny when i read that!

We also focused this week a lot on teaching people, not just lessons. Here is a quote from Elder Holland, Every quarterback and pointguard must read the other team and run the play that will best take advantage of them. This is what we must do but this is much more important than a football or basketball game.

              This quote hit pretty close to home. I have really learned how to read another team through playing quarterback. Before i read this i had never even thought about how that would help me on a mission. But now i know and i can use that skill of reading people to know what to teach and to help the people learn what they need to come closer to God. It was a really cool experience to learn that this week.

On sunday Me and two other Elders were asked to sing in sacrament meeting. We sang Nearer My God to Thee and it went really well. I dont think i have ever been asked to sing this much in my life. One elder that sang with us left this morning and last night i was talking to him and taking pictures and he told me that i have a really good voice and i need to keep singing. I never realized how singing can touch peoples hearts so much. It really is an amazing thing and i love the feeling of singing spiritual songs.

Well my time is almost up. I love you all so much. I know that this church is true. I know that the apostles are called of God and they are incredible men. I love the Book of Mormon.

Eu amo voces!!             Love, Elder Taylor