November 28, 2011

Ok, well this week was kind of yucky.  We had 3 lessons with members. And 3 other lessons.  So not many good numbers.  And it’s getting hotter and hotter every day.  It doesn’t even feel like it’s close to Christmas or that Thanksgiving passed.  Probably because it’s so stinkin' HOT.  It’s like 100 everyday with humidity and its going to get hotter at the end of December and in January and February.  The pic of the family at the barn was a little blurry but everyone looks so different! 

So this week for thanksgiving we had bread, some empanadas which are not very good here, some yogurt and an alfajor mini cake.  Not a very tasty Thanksgiving.  And now it’s like what are we going to do for Christmas???  They have Christmas lights here but it’s weird to see them in the baking hot sun. 

We have changes on Wed.  Don’t know if I am staying or leaving yet.  The zone leaders in this area are different.  They don’t give us the changes till Tuesday, so if we do leave, we have no time to pack our stuff or say good bye to the members.  Every other place, you get the changes Monday morning!  SO maybe ill bug them about it. 

So for Skype, you need to make me an account and send it to me so that I can Skype you.  And we are going to do it Christmas Eve.  Christmas is on a Sunday and we can’t ´´spend money´´ to pay for Skype on a Sunday.  We can do it Saturday, or Monday.  I’m going to do it Saturday so that I can come email on Monday too!  So we will go to another area to Skype you, and if that doesn’t work, Elder Moore gave me a sheet of how to call the USA.  SO I have that too.  But I will tell you what time we are doing Skype when that gets a little closer.

I didn’t get both of my packages last week. I only got one.  The sister missionaries who get the mail and the packages messed up the money so I only got one of them.  I hope I get the other one tomorrow at district meeting.  But the package I got was yours.  Full of white tootsie rolls.  They are about gone.  I have like 10 left.  I have eaten so many of them because I don’t have any money. 

So when Javier and Veronica got married, you have to pay for the wedding.  The judge said it would be 250.000,00 so not that much.  Javier said he would bring 200.000 and i told him great we will pay the rest.  SO after the wedding, we got the 200.000 from Javier to pay the judge, and then we got out the extra 50.000 to pay her.  She ripped us off over the wedding and told us it was 450.000,00, so I paid 150.000 and Elder Hauser paid 100.000.  Then she asked if we wanted a receipt so the mission could pay us back and we said yeah.  She just left, and then I called her and asked for the receipt and she said that the couple paid for it so she can’t give us one, then I told her about how we paid for it and she just up and left. SO her response was, well when you have another wedding call me and I’ll bring you a receipt.  What a joke.  SO for all of last week and for the week that we are in I have 5.000 or $1.25.  So I’m going to take some money out today to pay for my laundry cuz I don’t have any cloths to wear.  I didn’t wash them last Monday because I didn’t have any money! 

So that how it’s going down here in the dead heat,

Love you mom

TAYLOR

I killed this lizard with a sling shot, it a sling shot that you put on your fingers.  I got it with a marble!

These toads are huge.  Ive seen bigger but didnt have the camera.  Also you can kick these like a soccor ball and they go flying a good 30 feet and about 10 feet in the air!!!  HAHA.

November 21, 2011

Good thing you didn’t have a list of questions for me because I have a ton to write to you. First off the e mail is late because of the rain, we have no power in our area, and all of the roads are not roads they are rivers. We were going to go golfing today at this American resort in our area that only takes dollars but it’s raining. Anyways we are finally here to do e mail.

Ok so to start off, you just won’t believe what happened this week..... We are teaching this family that is really cool. Elder Hauser found him 3 months ago with his old comp. Turns out the guy had a Book of Mormon from his friend and was in Alma when they found him. well it had been hard to find them....about 3 weeks ago we found them again, he came to church but his wife never wanted to listen to us. We went back one night to teach them and she said she would listen. I don’t know if I have told you, but we sing a hymn at every lesson, just me and my comp. Yeah I bet you can’t believe that either. But we sang families can be together forever. Then we asked the lady to say the prayer, and she did, and she cried during the prayer! Then we gave them the plan of salvation. She cried some more. So the lesson was way good. Then we set a baptism date with them for the 19 of November and they said yes but that we would see more when the day gets here. So they said they would talk about it. Then I asked her why she cried, and to be short, she could feel something, and she knew it was true. Then on a Friday, not the Friday we just had but the Friday before, they said that they had talked about their baptism and marriage because they have to be married to get baptized. So they said that they were going to wait until February to do it so he can shut down his office, do a nice wedding, and take a vacation with his family. So we went home and made a lesson with all of the scriptures about keeping commandments and being favored by the lord and looking for treasures in the heavens and not on the earth. We found them on last wed, and we had this lesson and I asked them if they had said a prayer before they talked about their wedding and baptism, and they said no. Ok well their names are Javier and Veronica, end of the lesson; Vero was ready to do it. She said I don’t care what people will say to me, I am making a covenant with my heavenly Father and that all that matters to me. And Javier still wanted to wait. So I told him or them, I know you need to get baptized this Saturday (19). We are going to kneel down and say a prayer, Javier, you are going to say the prayer and ask Heavenly Father if you need to get married and baptized on the 19, and then I told him that I already know that you need to so you can’t tell us no, Haevenly Father is going to tell you to do it! So we knelt down and he started to say the prayer. Mid prayer, he could really feel the spirit....his voice changed then he just got quiet for like 2 minutes then he finished the prayer saying thank you a bunch. So we waited like 3 min and Javier said well I have a friend who is getting married the 26th of November, turns out that I am getting married before him. BOOM! Friday night we did the interview, Saturday we did the wedding and double baptism......

So that was the miracle for the week, also we needed to call the judge to have her come to do the wedding, she needs like a weeks notice, I called her on wed night, to ask if we could do the wedding Saturday night. She said yes!

So I baptized Veronica, Elder Hauser baptized Javier. Yesterday I confirmed Veronica and Elder Hauser gave confirmed Javier

It was a good week.

So I got you package Thursday thanks for all the stuff in it. And I have 2 more packages that are here, idk if you sent them or not. I knew I had them last Tuesday so can’t wait to see what those are tomorrow at district meeting.

I’ll send you some pics of the baptism and the wedding to in a minute.

Love you mom

Taylor

November 14, 2011

Well another week in paradise, well it’s not really paradise, but another week gone. Yesterday was a month mark too . . . 7 months in the mish already. We didn’t have a baptism on Saturday. We have a family who wants to do it but they have to get married first. Lucky they don’t have to get a divorce before. They are thinking that they are going to get married in February but we made a lesson today for them and we are gonna encourage them to do it sooner. SO they should be getting baptized Saturday. But man, my wife got like 100 times hotter yesterday. IT rained all day, we walked in the rain all day, the umbrellas don’t do much here. You just have to say “whatever” and just walk in the rain all day, and it’s still raining....the roads were just solid rivers yesterday!
I’ll bet Josh is super stoked to be in the bishopric, he is THE Bishop right??? :) I’ll have to write him a little note, I have a letter for the Walker family ready, it should go in the mail tomorrow so I’ll see if I have some time to write Josh a little spirit picker upper! I wonder if their kids will be hellions like we were when dad was in the bishopric. Haha!!!

We had like 35 lessons this last week, so it was ok. We don’t really have that many new people but its going good anyways.

About the shoes, they look fine, but I want the insides to be good, that why my shoes stink right now, they have no padding on the inside! But if you think they will be good on the inside then send them sometime.

So last night, we had FHE with Jorge and Betty, we ate Deere again and Crocodile. It was delish!!! And he goes to the Black market for us, I got a knife that is automatic but it swings out, it’s as long as my forearm. Also a knife that is a little smaller, and 5 switchblades. They are small, but cool, they were less than a dollar each! I’m gonna have him get me a jersey or 2 when he goes back.

So i don’t really have that much more to tell you about this week, but I have never been so tired in my whole life. As soon I go to bed, it seems like the alarm is going off. But when we get home from shopping, I’m taking a long nap. And I should get my padded envelope package tomorrow at district meeting. I paid for it last Monday so I better get it!

We only have 2 weeks left of this change too....goes by fast!

Love you

Taylor

From the left, Pablo, Moises, and Jorge...we ate these fish.  The picture of the fish by itself, yeah I ate that one.  Dont know what kind of fish it is, it came from the river and I ate it, thats all I know...ask Josh or Chris if they know what kind of fish it is!

Taylor ate this fish for dinner . . . anyone know what kind it is?

Donkey Cart

Taylor & Adib . . . He just left on the mission, he went to Argentina, his mission actually is just across the river so he can visit his family by boat !!!

The picture that every mom loves to receive from her missionary!

November 7, 2011

Well this week was alright.  We had 4 people come to church, would have had six but they were gone getting married so they can get baptized so not this Saturday but the next we should have 2 to 4 baptisms.  I ate some new food this week too....we ate deer and whorthog(pumba off of the lion king, yeah we ate that).  It was good.  We have zone conference coming up on the 17th of this month.  That will be cool.

I can now solve a rubix cube like a champ, Elder Hauser taught me how to do it.  The bats have been really annoying....there are holes and cracks in the roof so they poop there and it falls through and they don’t have to be around it....well one day I could hear one by the crack and its tail was hanging out, guess who snatched it up by the tail and pulled on it for fun....I did!!!  I got my Halloween card and the talk but not the padded envelope. 

So I’m doing pretty good, well my feet are a disaster.  My shoes are horrible, not that they have blown out or anything (well one blew out on the heel but it’s still fine) it’s the insides.  The little padding that there was, is all beat up so everyday I have like a ton of new blisters that I have to pop.  If you send me a package sometime in the future, will you please send me some new shoes that have a real thick bottom, and have comfort padding inside.  And a rubix cube :) I'm hooked on doing the rubix cube now haha....One thing that I forgot to ask for was Christmas music!  Christmas is going to be so different without Christmas music!  And I can’t even believe its November.  It’s so dang hotttt that it feels like July or August!  But one week and I got 7 months in the mish mom!  That’s about all for this week, hope yall have a good week!

Taylor

October 31, 2011

1)    How many discussions this week?

 Ok mom just a little note, we are not missionaries like dad was or your brothers, we don’t teach discussions anymore, we just teach what we are supposed to teach, but we had like 30 lessons total this week.

2)    Do you get to go to the temple on P-day?
 No we don’t go to the temple on p-day. There isn’t any time to go to the temple and it’s far away.  The elders who are close don’t even go.
3)   Are you in Asuncion - - or more out in the country?
 I´m in Asuncion but not in the city, it’s not really the country either; it’s just our little village.
4)   Tell me about a few of the people you are teaching - - names so we can pray for them!
 We are teaching a few people but we have a baptism this week, so all we need is for the kid’s dad to give him permission but all of the rest of his family are members.

5)   What kind of lunches and dinners are you getting fed from the members?  What did you love?  What did you hate?
I don’t really know how to tell you what we get fed.  It’s always like meat or chicken, potatoes, mandeoka, soda, bread and cookies.  Idk how to tell you, I can try to send you a picture.

Well Spencer and Grant had some sad losses but they can still win out, I bet Skyview loses to Blackfoot.  But still cool that they get to go to State!!!  I wonder how M´kay's first wrestling tournament will go too??? And how is the new job going, is it worth it or is it kind of boring?  So just to let the boys know that I have something that will make them a little jealous, I have the new Harry Potter, both of them, all 6 Rocky movies, Cars 2, Rango, The Green lantern, and 3 other movies that are with the CD´s.  Got all of them for 3 bucks.  Bought them last week and today in the letter from president it says that we can’t buy movies, it’s a new rule.  So I can’t buy anymore, but I do have those movies.  Maybe I’ll try to send them home. :) Since I can’t watch them or anything!!!
Ok so i have a question for all of you.....

God is going to be our judge meaning he listens to both sides of the ´´case´´. He isn’t going to punish us because he is our father a father doesn’t do that.

Jesus is our Attorney, he will be on our side and he can use the atonement for us and god will accept it.

Who is going to be against us in the judgment day?  Who is going to tell god all the not so good things we did in this life?

I´ll give you one hint, it’s in D&C 88 and Abraham 3.  And it is something you can see every day!!!

Well all is pretty good here, going

Love ya

Taylor!

October 24, 2011

Who is your companion?  Where is he from?  How long has he been out?

 Bueno, my new companion is Elder Hauser from Arizona.  He has been here for almost 5 months total in a week or 2, so I have been here longer and I am the senior companion.

Elder Cleverly is also in Asuncion, but a different place.  Are those little villages within Asuncion or what?

 Elder Cleverly is in Asunción and stuff but there are 5 zones in Asunción.  We aren’t really that close.  In the terminal I saw Elder Lamb, Elder Cleverly, Elder White, and Elder Grisham.  So that was nice, we got to the terminal at like 5:45 so we just talked for a while.  I’m in Lambaré, it’s a part of Asunción.  It’s smaller than my last area and way better.  It’s not to campo and it’s not to city.....it’s like perfect!  Sand and rock roads everywhere.

How did your first few days go in the new area?

 The first few days were good, we had 30 lessons total this last week which I never had in Encarnación.  Also there were 120 people at church yesterday which is a miracle for me to see.  Yesterday we printed out a calendar for the month of November for people to sign up to feed us lunch, I’ll just say that there are no open spots, so people had to sign up for dinner. 

Last call if you need me to send anything . . . deodorant, gum from Costco, body wash, toothpaste, etc.  If you don’t need anything, that is fine!  Just checking!
I will send home a picture of the toothpaste that I want.  And yeah I can buy peanut butter in this area, so if you want to take that out of the package so that there is room for other stuff you can.  I also want you to send me a flash drive memory stick of like 16 to 23 gigs so that i can put pics from my camera card onto the flash drive.  But that’s all, when are you going to send it?

But this area is way better than my last area; it’s just a little village really.  Our apartment or house thing is ok; there are a ton of bats though.  The bidet (idk if that’s how you spell it) but it works like a champ.  We have a water heater too so that nice to have hot water.  And every day, we have to sweep the floor because the bat poop falls through the wood slats in the ceiling.  I have a pic of a nice pile of bat poop to show you!!!!!!!!!

But really I just feel better here, I was always discouraged in my other area and now it is just different in a better way.  Pres Callan said that senior companions will be in their areas for 6 to 8 months usually; well that’s what the prophet said, so I bet I am here for 4 to 5 changes.  I had 3 in my old area if that gives you and idea of how long I should be here!

I already sent McCall a birthday card but don’t tell her that, she should get it this week I sent it a while ago.

Well that’s about it for this week, we have a baptism on Saturday so you can pray that that happens.

Love you mom

Taylor

October 17, 2011

Well I never thought this week would end.....! ! ! We didn’t have zone conference this last week; we just had interviews with President Callan.  On Monday he sent me a personal email that said it’s always darkest just before dawn.  That’s what I learned from him during my interview.  It is always nice to have a break and talk with Pres Callan.  About half way through the interview, he just stopped and got kind of quiet and paused for a second and said ´´I just wanted to tell you I love you.´´ It made me feel so good, it’s been like 6 months since I have heard that.  Well I read it from yall every week but it’s so much better to hear it.  Also he asked if I thought I was ready to be a senior companion, I told him yes.  Then he asked how my Spanish was, I said it was good, and that I still don’t know every word but that I can teach and talk to people about just anything.  Then we talked about how slow the work is in this area.... I said I never thought this week would end....because he told me what was going to happen.  He told me that I was leaving; he said to not tell anyone but that I was for sure getting a new area.  That’s why this week was so long. I will miss all of the people here in Encarnación but it’s a disaster, we have an average of 25 people in church and nobody to help us.  Elder Boydston who is my district leader now was in that area and he is from Moscow (Idaho) so we are always stoked to see each other, but he told me that there is usually 150 people in church and that its one of the best barrios in Paraguay....so my new area is Puerto Pablo in Asunción!!!  Stoked, get on the bus at 12:30 tomorrow night!

And sounds like the family is doing pretty good and another win for the boys....not that they got this swagger, if they keep going, they will win it all....I expect to see all 5 of Spencer’s state championship rings!  You hear that Spencer, all 5 and dad said you are on track to have a school record for pics....let’s get that done too.  M’Kay I hope you know how to put on a singlet still and that you better thin out them gigantic legs and turn into Spencer and Grant!!!!

Congrats on the job mom, if it’s all commission, then I’m pretty sure that you will work your butt off to make some money.  Speaking of money, I took money out of my savings today to buy an Albirroja Jersey, the Paraguayan team that’s pretty good.  Also I have some stuff to put into the box I will send you.

And I was way happy to hit 6 months, I got something in the sights for you mom, 2 months is Christmas and I can talk to you, 2 months more is my birthday, 3 months later I can call again to mothers day!

Oh yeah, during interviews, I saw Elder Bartlome.....that was cool, also he and Elder Reyes had to spend the night at our apartment so we talked a ton.  When we had the last zone conference, I saw Elder Nash but he was like 15 min away from my place.  In another zone where Elder Bartlome was, he said that every elder from our mtc district was at zone conference except me and Elder Nash.  I’m really missing Elder Heiner :)

That’s about all for this week family!

Love ya....

Taylor