To Mexico!!!

Hey Family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

     Okay, so you know how I told you that if I was ever called on a mission I would be called to Mexico and so that's a reason why I didn't want to go? Welp, I was RIGHT!!! I am being transferred to Mexico, Missouri! Hahahaha. I am training a new sister there and white washing too! Do you know what white washing is? It's kinda hard to explain... Dad would probably know so ask him haha.  I'm seriously so sad to leave Mahomet though - I LOVE IT HERE!!!!! Like it's probably somewhere I want to come back and visit for sure.  I will talk more about that later.  I know I didn't know Uncle Brad really well or anything but he's probably the Uncle on dad's side I knew the best and that I have memories with and I'm really going to miss him.  I really thought he was going to be okay and it made me cry to hear that he had passed away.  You're going to do a really great job on your talk Dad.  I will keep you in my prayers.

     We had dinner and a lesson with Biscuit and Mama.  Oh. My. Gosh. Can I just say I love them so much?? They are the sweetest couple.  Before dinner, they let us ride their tandem bike and it was so much fun! I loved it! It was kinda hard to get used to first but it was so much fun to ride.  After dinner, We went over the Plan of Salvation and it went really well and they have so many questions and they are just so accepting.  I asked them where they think they came from before they were born and they were both like "well, I've never really thought about that before".  They are both in their late 60's or 70's and it's so crazy to me how they have never thought about that before! Anyway, they said they would come to church on Sunday! After that, we visited Dennis (less active) and Sonja (not a member) Boyce and Sonja wants to learn more about the church and so she is a new investigator! It was so cool because like Dennis hasn't been to church since the late 90's but he wants to take the lessons again right along with Sonja and he basically told her the whole Joseph Smith story and it was just really cool! Tuesday night we got trainer calls and I found out that I was going to be training! I love training!!!!

     Wednesday we did service at Sweet Designs with Debi and it was so fun. She is so fun to talk to and she's really open about talking about religion.  She's definitely not interested in converting or anything but she will ask us questions about our church and tell us about hers and it's just fun to spend time with her and talk to her.  That night we had dinner with the Christensens!!!! I got to hear all about their trip to Utah and visit with you guys and look at pictures and it was so great.  Sister Christensen said how our family is her dream family and that she loved spending time with you guys and just loved you!!! The pictures were so fun to look at and her kids had a really good time too.  Emily wouldn't stop bringing up Touey all night hahaha it was the cutest thing ever.  She even knows my name!!!!!! But she loved Toulouse a lot and I'm just so glad you got to meet them.  I'm going to miss them a LOT. 

     Thursday we had district meeting and I was asked to give a training on recognizing the spirit.  I really like my district! It's like the most random group of missionaries ever but they are so fun.  The Elders made this awesome music video last monday to this upbeat song and it's like one of those videos that if it was put on youtube it would be huge.  They said they would send it to me so if they do then I will send it to you so you can see it!

     Friday we went to Charlenes and she taught us how to make chicken salad and then we ate lunch with her! Then we read from the Book of Mormon with her.  She is so sweet.  She calls us her "girls" and tells all her friends and family about us and how we were angels sent to her.  I just feel so bad for her because she is so alone and her depression really gets to her sometimes.  That night we had dinner with the Goodriches and we made a rap of primary songs with an app they have on their phone and it was hilarious.  Then we just visited a less active member after that.

     Saturday was SO GREAT!!!! We had invited a ton of people to church throughout the week and they said they would come since I was going to be playing the piano so we decided to visit them all again just to remind them haha.  So we visited Joe and Tara Mouser to invite them and they were getting ready to go to the state fair when we came over and they invited us to go!!! It's in Springfield Illinois so like an hour and a half away so we called for permission to go and we got to go!!!!!!!! IT WAS SO FUN.  I'm just grateful we even got to go!! When we got there, we looked at animals and we got to see Clydesdale horses from Budweiser along with the dalmation and that was pretty cool.  They are huge horses!!! Then we just walked around the little stands they had and ate and it was a lot of fun.  Fairs are so much fun - just like the atmosphere is exciting!! It reminded me of working a cowboy corndogs at the fair with the Barlows!! Joe and Tara also brought 2 of their foster kids and they are black and we drove up and there was this super super skinny girl who was taking tickets for parking and they were like "that girl needs to eat" "she needs to buy some groceries" (imagine that in like black people talk haha) but it was hilarious!! On our way home from the fair we got transfer calls and I am going to Mexico and Sister Johnson is staying here in Mahomet.  It was such a fun day though and the Mousers are so sweet!!! I was so grateful that we even got to go!!! Joe owns like his own branch of Edward Jones and said that when I get off my mission I could call him and he would give me an intership or job.  Pretty sweet right?

     Yesterday was good too!! We had church and I played the piano and not everyone who said they would come came but the Eastons, Biscuit, Mama, and Jim came! Biscuit and Jim are brothers and they all said they would come back next week!!! WOOHOOOO!!!!! In Relief Society they announced that I was going to be leaving and it makes me so sad.  I really love this ward and this area so much and it's way harder than I thought saying bye to people.  After church, we went to the Springers and she taught us how to make egg rolls and creme puffs and they were so delicious!! The Springers are so awesome and I really hope I can keep in touch with them.  Then, we went to the Eastons for Tim's birthday and he had invited a lot of the Elders in our zone and it was really fun! We had dinner, they played basketball, and we sang songs and it was just fun! When we got home to our apartment, Sis. Palumbo had fixed this old clock and painted it super cute and it was waiting for us at our door!! We didn't even ask her to do it, she just did it and it was so sweet of her. 

     Today, we are going to the outlet stores with Sis. Christensen and Sis. Hobson and then tonight we have dinner with Biscuit and Mama.  I am seriously dreading packing... I HATE PACKING.  It takes forever and we have to be at the church at 5:30 AM to take a school bus to St. Louis.  BUT it will be fine haha.  I'm seriously so sad that I'm leaving Mahomet though.  I told Charlene that I was leaving yesterday and she started crying and I felt terrible!!!

     Anyway, that was pretty much my week!! That is so awesome that you were able to give a Book of Mormon to Uncle Terry again and put all the scriptures and testimonies in it - I really hope he reads it!!! I know this church is true and I'm SO grateful for it.  I'm more and more grateful every day just for the fact that I grew up in the church.  I hope you all have a super fabulous week.  Be safe and healthy and don't do anything dumb (like take weird U turns)!!!!! I miss you all like CRAZY and I LOVE YOU BUNCHCES AND BUNCHES AND BUNCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO 

And one more thing!!

So we also had service this week at the museum and our job was to clean the shelves of the basement that like no one has probably been in in a long time.  But we start taking apart this metal shelf with screwdrivers and we got the top of the shelf unscrewed and were taking it off and there was a dead mouse on the top!!!! It was so nasty!!!! But like it's body wasn't there, it was just fur, tail, and teeth.  It was soooo gross!!!!! And then, we got to the bottom shelf and underneath, there was ANOTHER dead mouse but this one was just a skeleton!!!! But still it was so disgusting!!!!!!!! I thought volunteering at the museum would be fun... but I'm not so sure about that anymore...

     Also, apparently I laugh in my sleep frequently... I think that's kinda weird.  Welp I think that's all now!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!