The ghetto DVD player

Hello Family!!!!!!!!

     How is everyone?? I loved reading your emails - it was so good to hear from you! So basically this would happen while I was here.  So last time it snowed a ton (remember me telling you about that? We lost our phone?) that was the most snow St. Louis had seen in years.  Then, yesterday, it snowed EVEN MORE!!!!!!! Like it basically snowed all day long and President Clark said that is the most snow he has seen here in the 3 years he has been here - CARAZYYY!!!! Church was cancelled yesterday and we weren't allowed to drive yesterday because of the roads.  So you could say I'm pretty jealous of you guys right now... in Costa Rica and all... it's probably super warm! 

     Anyway, my week was pretty great! Last Monday for P day we went to this super cute little restaurant called Companion and it's just a little cafe that is super cute! We really liked it.  Then, we went to the Del Mar Loop with Elder Christensen and Elder Nelson.  I'm kinda bored of the Del Mar loop cause we do it like every week and it's really not that interesting after one time.  But today we are planning on going to the Botanical Gardens! There's an orchid show going on right now so I think it sounds cool. 

     On Wednesday for District meeting we talked about being bold.  So just for practice, our district leader did an activity where we all took turns preaching on a "soap box".  It was fun! It turned into more of just a joke and it wasn't really that serious but it was pretty intimidating.  It made you really get to the point of what you were wanting to talk about and not adding all the extra information that fills up time. 

      We also went mall tracting this week and I really like doing that.  I feel like it's more effective to be honest.  There are so many more people to talk to and a lot of different types of people.  We got 5 potential investigators from doing that! That's more than we get in a day of tracting so hopefully something comes from it!

     On Thursday we had a lesson with Eugene, Gracie, and Robert.  They all went really well! With Eugene we read Alma 7 and talked about it and related it to him.  It's hard cause he has already been taught all the lessons so now we just have to be pretty forward with him and make sure he isn't just talking to us so that he can use us for service.  Roberts lesson also went really well! We had a member come with us and that was really nice.  We talked about the importance of coming to church and why we go.  We were going to go and just clear up his misconceptions from the documentary but we ended up not doing that and just had a lesson and I'm glad we did that! With Gracie we talked about faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  She is so smart! We watched a mormon message with her called "Reclaimed" and then asked her questions about what we had taught her to make sure she understood everything and I'm pretty sure she explained it better than we did haha.  We talked about baptism (but we haven't asked her yet cause we still need to ask her mom) and she said she had been to a friends baptism and she wanted to be baptized.  So... that's really good!!!!! We're planning on going over to her house tonight so we can talk to her mom. 

     One night this week we were visiting former investigators and we came across this guy named George.  So we went to his house and he was very nice and let us come in and we talked for a while.  He said he was very happy with his religion (baptist) and I just kept having a feeling that we should show him a mormon message we had with us.  So after he had told us in every single possible nice way that he was happy where he was at, I asked him if I could show him a video and so I pulled out our 7" ghetto DVD player and had him watch a mormom message and he really liked it.  He said that it didn't show very much difference in his and our religion though.  So we explained to him that that is exactly why we wanted to show it to him and that our religions aren't that different but it's the sacred ordinances that are essential to living with God again.  The spirit was so strong there! He said we could come back in a month because his schedule is really busy right now and invite him to church.  He was so nice though! He talked about his family for a while and his children and his wife and you could just tell how much he loved them and he was just so sweet.  He said the closing was one of the times I have felt the spirit the strongest since I've been here. 

     On Saturday we had a dinner at a members home and they had invited their non member neighbors and their 2 little kids.  We made homemade pizzas and played games and just got to know each other and it was really cool! Then, we shared a spiritual thought (of course a mormom message - kinda our go to) and they really liked it.  The husband was asking questions about what a mission is and he thought it was so interesting and then he asked where he could watch more of the mormom messages.  We tried not to be too forward and just let them know we're normal and get to know them so I guess we'll see what happens!

     On Friday we went to the temple with the office sisters (Sister Wayment and Sister Erickson).  I love going to the temple - it's one of my favorite days of the transfer.  It's just so relaxing and you can think and feel the spirit.  I also really like how there are no clocks there and you can just focus on being there!

     Yesterday, church was cancelled and we weren't allowed to drive and we live out of our area so it would take us at least an hour walk just to get to someones house (we would also have to cross the freeway) and so we literally just stayed in our apartment all day - nothing too exciting!

     Well... I think that's about it!

     So anyway, this week was good! Nothing too exciting but still pretty good! We got lots of potential investigators so hopefully they turn into investigators this week!  Good job on your talk dad!! I wish I could have been there to hear it!! Well, I hope you all have a really great week! Be safe on your trip and you better take lots of pictures and tell me allllllllll about it.  You are all in my prayers and I miss you so much.  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

xoxo 

"Oh no it's okay, the GPS told us to go this way"

Hey Family!!!! 

     It was so good to hear from you! I look forward to reading your emails/letters alllllll week.  So how is everyone?? What's new??

     So, this last week was great! On Monday we had zone pday and just went to the church and watched The Work and the Glory.  They wouldn't tell us what movie we were watching until we got there and I thought it was going to be like a cute Disney movie or something so I was excited!!! But then it wasn't.... haha but it was still fun to be with our zone!

     Tuesday we had zone conference! It was combined with our zone and another one and they had different missionaries do a musical talent and I played the piano.  James O'Neill Miner was in charge of it.   Sister Toala from Samoa sang "I Heard Him Come" and it was definitely my favorite.  It was so beautiful and the spirit was so strong when she sang!! I really like that song too. 

     After the zone conference, the exchange sisters came so there were 6 of us in our little apartment! (I will get a picture of it this week so you can see what it looks like haha) Monday, Tom had called us and invited us to this dinner about MS and wanted us to be his guests so Sister Johnson and I went while Sister Wilcox went with the exchange sisters to a lesson.  We thought it was so sweet that Tom wanted us to come with him! He saved us seats by him and then after the MS presentation we had a lesson about the plan of salvation with him.  It went really well!! He really liked the part of the resurrection and said it is something he would like to believe so he said he would pray about it.  Oh! So on the way to the dinner, Eugene called us!! We haven't talked to him in a few weeks now because he was just ignoring us so we had dropped him and then he called us and said he missed us and wanted us to come over and have a lesson! SAWEEET!!!!! I will talk about his lesson in a little.

     On Wednesday we had district meeting and we always go out to eat together afterwards and we got to go to the city and it was really cool!! We ate at a place right across from Fox Theatre and it was fun to be down town!  Sister Johnson was with the exchange sister this day so I was in charge of Sister Wilcox, and the other 2 sisters (Sister Ash and Sabey).  I drove!!! It was so weird... I haven't driven at all since I've been here because Sister Johnson is in charge of that and it was just so weird to be like in charge of everyone and what we were doing that day. 

     On Thursday I was with Sister Grover for exchanges and we started out by having a lesson with Eugene.  Sister Grover had me teach like the whole lesson and it was so weird to feel like I was in charge.  I was super forward with him and asked him about baptism, why he decided to call us, and how important it is that he reads the Book of Mormon (he just reads the Bible), and that he needs to keep his commitments.  He responded really well and wants to meet with us again this week.  He said he wants to be baptized and he will know when he is ready to be baptized and that maybe in April he will! Cool huh? That night after the exchange sisters left we went to dinner with Elder Christensen and Elder Nelson at this place called Crown Candy (it was featured on man vs. food - there's this challenge you can do where you eat 5 malts in under 30 minutes and you get them for free and I guess the guy on that show did it)  Anyway, it's in Pagedale which is super ghetto and probably the 2nd most dangerous city here (don't worry we are there about twice a week and we stay in the safe parts - the Elders keep us safe too).  So anyway, this is probably borderline one of those things you don't tell your parents until you get home but the Elders in Pagedale don't have a car. After dinner we drove away and they started walking to the bus.  They watched us drive away and we were just following where the GPS told us to go and then like 10 seconds later I got a call from them and they are like:

Elders: "You guys need to turn around"

Me: "Oh no it's okay, the GPS told us to go this way"

Elders: "No... like you're going to get shot... you need to turn around right now"

Me: "SISTER JOHNSON!!!!!!! TURN AROUND TURN AROUND TURN AROUND!!!!!!!!!

Elders: (they are laughing super hard at this point while I'm like yelling at Sister Johnson)

So we like turned around ASAP and once we had turned on a different road I asked if they were joking because they were laughing and they were like, "No thats literally probably the most dangerous street in our area."

ANYWAY hahahaha we lived!!!!

     On Thursday or Friday we had a lesson with Jade and when we got there she was moving like right then.  She's moving like an hour way so we can't even teach her any more! We are so bummed!!!!! We also had a lesson with Gracie and talked about the Plan of Salvation and she is seriously so smart.  She understood it really well and even had really great questions! It's so awesome when you can tell that they REALLY understand it and it makes sense to them which is fabulous!!  We also had a fireside on Friday night and it was a James O'Neill Concert and he asked me to play my piano piece at it.  Friday was so nice! It was the first day I haven't had to wear a coat here - I LOVED IT!!!!!! Oh but before the fireside we had dinner at a young couples apartment in our ward and the husband was a wrestler at Alta! weird huh?? Thats 2 people in my ward here that went to Alta! After the fireside, Elder Facer and Elder Melton (office elders) drove us back to our apartment and we had a mini talent show in the car.  I of course did my weed wacker (it's a real crowd pleaser - I'm sure it's really attractive too).  Saturday we pretty much tracted all day but it wasn't too cold so it was actually kinda fun! 

     Oh so you know how I was telling you how the Elders passed out Book of Mormons after the Book of Mormon musical? They passed out 1,160 Book of Mormons!!!! Plus like over 500 pamphlets, pass along cards, mormon.org cards, etc.  I wish the sisters got to do that! 

     Also, I still don't love being in a trio.  I think I like most of it except for when it comes to teaching it's just weird.

     Thanks so much for the packages!!! They totally made my day just picking them up at the office haha.  I'm saving the Easter Basket one until Easter so I haven't opened it yet! But the dress you sent me is ADORABLE and I wore it the next day haha.  Thank you!!! The clicker is super awesome, (I'm going to try it either sometime this week or next pday) as well as the binder and the thing about our mission presidents and of course the PAJAYJAYS!!!! Woohooo I've worn them every night since I got them - I'm so excited about those!! I would love some more pictures :)

     Anyway, today, we are at the library and then we are going to go to lunch and then to Barnes and Noble to get a journal - can you believe I have already almost filled one up? And then maybe do something with the Elders.  We wanted to go to the botanical gardens today but it's kinda rainy and cold and we want to go when it gets warmer.  Well... I think that's about it!! I will send you some pictures from this last week.  I hope you have a really great week and that you have fun in Costa Rica.... (glad you're going somewhere fun AFTER I leave). I love you all so much and I can't wait to hear from you again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be safe on your trip and have a fabulous week.  I miss you all and I pray for you and I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Count Your Many Blessings

Hey Family!!!!!

     How is everyone??? I loved reading your emails - I probably look like the biggest nerd when I get to the library because I feel like I walk so fast over to the computers and log in as fast as I can so that I can start reading your emails.  Oh well!!! Haha it was great to read about your weeks and everything that's going on with you guys - there's some crazy stuff coming up at home! I can't believe Alyssa is getting married so soon - CARAZZYYY!!! My week was GREAT.  We got 3 new investigators - it's so exciting!!!

     So last Monday for P day we went to lunch and then we decided to go to the History Museum, When we got there it was closing in 10 minutes which was a bummer but we ran through it really fast and we are definitely going to go back.  There's some really cool stuff there!! There's this one room that is about black history basically and there's this thing where it asks black people different questions and some were like, "Do you feel awkward eating watermelon and fried chicken in front of white people?" "Why do you walk like a thug?" And some others, there were like 100 questions but we only clicked on a couple but then it had like 5 different black people that answer the questions and it's actually really interesting and super funny!

     On Tuesday we had service which is always fun.  We also had a lesson with Robert! It went so well! We focused on the second lesson which is faith, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end.  It's so cool to teach him because you can tell it's important to him and he says like over and over how excited he is to make changes in his life.  It's so fun teaching Robert because it makes it exciting to be a missionary! We also asked him more about himself because we didn't really know a ton about him and he told us some stuff about like his past and what not.  On Friday he called us and talked to us on the phone for like 45 minutes just about how he hopes we know that he is really sincerely trying to change and he is so excited to be baptized.  It was pretty cool! Then we had a lesson on Saturday with him and when he got there, his cousin, Ronnie was there and we asked if we could teach him. He said he already had a Book of Mormon but that he just hasn't had time to read it.  So, we talked about it a little bit and he promised he would read a little bit of it this week!

     On Wednesday we had district meeting and we were all asked to prepare a 2 minute talk on charity to share with everyone.  So I had like something really good to share and I was kinda excited to share it but then we ran out of time and no one got to share theirs.  BUT, Elder Christensen, our district leader, was like, I want you to apply what you taught to your own life and take what you were going to share with everyone and apply it to your life now.  I had never really thought of that before! Like it was so easy for me to prepare what I was going to say but sadly, I never even thought about applying it to my own life and working on being more charitable! So I guess practice what you preach applies here??

     On Thursday, we got a new investigator!!!! Remember Jade? Her dog ran up to us?? Ya it is her! We went to her apartment and talked to her and got to know her and it went so well. 

     Haha so we have this CD that we LOVE and listen to it all the time.  It's the Lower Lights you should definitely look them up.  It's like a ton of LDS singers that are all together in a singing group and they remake hymns and other like baptist songs and it is so good! Anyway, there's this one on it and it's a remake of Count Your Many Blessings and Sister Johnson and Sister Wilcox hate it but I love it!

     On Saturday we had a lesson with Majeed!!! The one we helped out of the snow like a week ago! We met him at Starbucks and had a really good conversation.  He is Muslim and we have ordered him a Book of Mormon in Arabic! Anyway, he wants to learn more so we are meeting with him again soon!

     I think I told you about Pam? We met her in Target and her mom was in the hospital? I don't remember if I did... but anyway, she was on my mind all week and yesterday I finally called her and she was watching a thing on the Bible on the History Channel when I called her and she said she had been waiting for us to call her! I asked about her Mom and stuff and she was so glad that we had called.  She said she was going to call us back today so hopefully she does! 

     Anyway, this week was really exciting!!! It has been super rainy this week and on Saturday it got really warm.  It was like 60 degrees and it felt so nice not to have to wear a coat!! Tomorrow we have the exchange sisters coming... that means there are going to be 6 of us in a 1 bedroom apartment. 

     Sister Wilcox is still really really quiet during lessons and doesn't introduce herself to anyone ever and is really shy, so that's been a little hard, but when it's just the 3 of us together she is fun to be with and I learn a lot from her. 

     GUESS WHAT!!!!??????!!! As of tomorrow, I get to talk to you guys in exactly 2 months!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!!!! Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMORROW DAD!!!!!!

     Oh also, I think it's impossible for me to say "baptized" without sounding like the guy off Nacho Libre.  I have to think about it really hard or else it comes out like baptiized.  Haha hopefully it's not too noticeable! Anyway, on Tuesday we have zone conference and this LDS piano guy, something Miner and his wife are in charge of it.  He is doing like a musical zone conference and guess who's playing it it??? Yep, ME! Haha I'm just playing How Great Thou Art again but I'm kinda excited!

     Welp, that's pretty much my week! It probably doesn't sound like it, but it was a really really great week!!! We had more lessons and more investigators then we have probably combined the last 3 weeks!!! Anyway, I hope you all have a really great day, I have been so terrible at taking pictures this last week so I will try to do better so I can send you some!! I love you all so much and I hope you all have an awesome day and week!!!! I MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

2 MONTHS BABY!!!

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!!!

     How is everyone? I loved reading everyones emails - thank you so much!! Can you believe that I've been out for 2 months?? Like looking back it seems like it's gone by so fast!  I love it here more and more and I'm learning so much.

     So this last week we split our P day between Monday and Thursday.  Monday we like emailed and grocery shopped and then spent the rest of the day being missionaries and then Thursday we celebrated Sister Johnsons birthday! So anyway, on Monday we had a lesson with Robert and he called us like 5 minutes before and was like, are you guys still coming? And then when we got there, he was waiting for us at the door!! hahaha we love robert. We went over the restoration and the Book of Mormon and I think he truly does have a testimony of it.  He talked about how much of a void it is filling in his life and he had already read to chapter 19 in 1 Nephi.  
   We also had dinner at a members house that night and it was probably my favorite one so far.  Not necessarily because of the food, although it was delicious, but it felt like home! A lot of families that we have dinner with it feels like we have to entertain them while we are there and it is so awkward but the family we were with was so nice and talkative and it just felt natural and it was fun! 

     Wednesday we got a new companion, Sister Amber Wilcox, so there's three of us now! She's from Provo Utah and 20 years old.  She is very very quiet and very very shy.
 I know I will be able to learn a lot from Sister Wilcox and that she will be able to add to our little companionship.  Wednesday was her "nesting" day so the three of us just got everything that she needed and then came back and she unpacked.

     Thursday was Sister Johnsons birthday!! She is 23 years old.  I had made a little banner for her above her desk out of scrap paper we had and it actually turned out pretty cute! Then, we were supposed to have district meeting, but the Elders came at the wrong time and all of our times were mixed up and they had decided to be Amish that day and not bring their phone so district meeting didn't happen.  But then, they went back and got their phone and called us and so we just had lunch all together.  Elder Christensen and Elder Nelson had made a birthday cake for Sister Johnson. Then we went to the Art Museum!! It was so much fun and so cool.  They had really cool paintings from like monet, manet, degas, seurat, van gough, and lots of others.  Then, the office sisters invited us over for a birthday dinner!

     Haha when we were getting in the car this morning, like it's pretty nice outside today and the skies are blueish and stuff but the tornado alarm went off! We just like stood there in the parking lot and were like... uhhh what do we do? Because it wasn't even the right weather for a tornado or anything so there was another guy in the parking lot so I ran over to him and asked why the alarm was going off and he said it was just a test and that they had been broadcasting that over the news and stuff.  It really stinks that we don't get to read or hear the news sometimes...  haha.  

     OHHHH okay guess what??? You know the Wrights in our stake? Anyway, her brother is in my ward!! His wife had signed up to have us over for dinner on tuesday and we were talking to them about it at church yesterday and we made that connection!! Weird huh??

     I have learned so much about the Atonement since I have been here! Like I think, before, I just thought it was for like when you make a mistake or need to repent.  But it's not! There's so much more to it! Sister Wilcox had a talk with her from her Uncle and it's called like "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox and it's really good! It compared the atonement to playing the piano. He said, "Our works, such as repentance and keeping the commandments, do not save us, but they are requirements set by the Savior to help transform us."  Then he talked about how there should never be just two options: perfection or giving up.  Like when we learn the piano, there are more options than performing at Carnegie hall or quitting.  There's everything in between which is the learning process.  Just like learning and understanding takes time with piano, it does with making mistakes and having weaknesses as well.  It's a really good talk - you should read it!

     I think that's all!  I miss you all so much! It's so good to hear from you and I hope you all have a really great day and week!!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

"Planting Seeds"

HELLO!!!!!!!!!!!!

     How is everyone?? I miss you all so much and I hope everything is going well!!! This week was so good here and I'm so excited to tell you about it!!! On Tuesday we had dinner with the Baileys.  The husband is a neurosurgeon and went to school for 26 YEARS and the wife runs a Montessori school from their home and it is so cool! She took us on a tour of it and I totally want to send my kids to a Montessori school.  Their daughter Sarah has Downs Syndrome but they have her involved in a lot of stuff around the community and one thing she has done is bake bread! They gave us a loaf of her bread right out of the oven and it was so good!!!! Really good. 

     On Wednesday, we visited Jane (less active) because she had surgery the day before and she is seriously my favorite.  We read the talk "Forget me Not" (which by the way I'm obsessed with that talk and probably read it like atleast 2-3 times a week) and she really liked it.  We also talked about having prayers answered or feeling the Lord's love and comfort through other people and how important it is to make sure you're doing the right things in your life so that you can be an answer to the prayers of others.
     So anyway, basically this last week was going SO slow and we were kinda down just cause either no one would be home, we had no referrals, no one wanted to meet with us, etc. etc.  But no worries... just keep reading!!

     On Wednesday at district meeting, Elder Christensen had us draw our favorite scripture story in 6 squares on a paper and then tell the story from it and apply it to our lives.  I'm pretty sure I did this in primary mulitple times but the point of it was to simplify things and how important it is to apply things to our lives so that investigators get the most out of lessons. 

     On Thursday morning, Sister Johnson had a new trainers meeting since we are getting a new companion.  All the sisters are going to be in threesomes... anyway. While the companion that was going to be training was in the meeting (Sister Johnson), their companion (me and like 15 other missionaries) got to tract.  The day before, we had heard about how there was supposed to be a crazy snow storm and they shut all the schools down for Thursday.  Anyway, as soon as we started driving to the meeting it started blizzarding and then when we got there and Sister Johnson was in the meeting, the rest of us tracted in the freezing cold cold cold snow!! Haha I was with Sister To'ala (she's from Samoa), Sister Crandall, and Sister Woodward (from the MTC).  We had so much fun though!!! Sister Toala and Sister Crandall are going home soon.  But it was so great, we went to every door all together with the four of us and people were surprisingly super nice and would let us in their house cause they felt so bad for us that we were in the snow.  Anyway, sister Toala is so hilarious and she made it so much fun even though we were freezing cold.  So when we got back, the assistants to the president took everyone from the meeting to lunch.  But then they all got back from lunch and the roads were TERRIBLE.  They told us to go straight home and park our cars for the rest of the day and until tomorrow afternoon.  The roads are terrible for a few reasons:
  1. no one knows how to drive in the snow because it rarely snows here - mostly rains.
  2. They don't have a very effective process for plowing the roads.
  3. the snow here is super icy. 
Sister Johnson and I started driving home and people were sliding all over the place and I think the top speed we reached the entire time was 12 mph.  It took us 2 hours to drive home and it is a 20 minute drive.  But on our way home, the windshield wipers were iced to the windshield so i got out to fix them and I forgot I had put the phone in the door.  Like 20 minutes later I couldn't find the phone anywhere in the car and realized that's probably what happened.  So... ya I lost our phone.  But on the way home we probably got stuck at least 3 times but luckily we made it home alive!

     On Friday we got a new phone! They were so nice and we even got to keep our same number.  But the bad thing is... we lost all of our contacts.  We had weekly planning on Friday also and we're down to basically 3 investigators.  We felt kinda stressed about that. After weekly planning we went out to our car and it was stuck in the snow and this other guy was trying to get his car out of the snow also.  So we went and helped him and then he helped us and then we started talking to him and he said he would be interested in hearing more! So we got his number and we will see what happnes - his name is Majeed.  We went to visit Grace and Ethan and as we were walking to their apartment, a little dog ran out of this ladies' apartment and came right up to us so she went chasing after it and ended up right next to us.  We were kind of in a hurry and stuff but we told her her dog was cute and then I was just like, we teach lessons about our church, would you like to take them? (Ya, probably the worst way I have ever worded that) but she was like Sure! She (Jade) told us she had been kicked out of like every other religion so she would be very interested in learning about ours.  SWEET!! But like seriously, we were like where did she come from? We had been feeling so down and then she just came running out of her house so were excited to see if it actually goes somehwere! That night we also had dinner with a member and she took us to this really good mexican restaurant called Mi Ranchito.  It was so good!  Earlier that day we had been reading an article from the Ensign from Elder Ballard about pre-judging others and how we don't know who the Lord has already prepared so we shouldn't pre-judge others on whether they are ready to hear the gospel or not, she we should just be confident and tell everyone! I really liked it and I think sometimes I do judge others based on their appearance whether they would like to hear something or not. 

     Saturday we were still kinda down because even though we had 2 new potential investigators, we still only had 3 investigators and since we lost all our contacts we had no idea how we were going to get Tom's number.  But literally like an hour later, TOM CALLED US!!! He wanted to make sure he had the right address for the church.  We love Tom.  We also had a lesson with Eugene scheduled and we had a member that came with us and everything and we had called him that morning to make sure it was still a good time and we got there and he didn't answer the door (we know he was inside cause his van was there).  And he just keeps on using us to do service for him so we really think we are going to drop him.  He started smoking again and you can just tell he doesn't even want to meet with us.  So, anyway, later that afternoon we stopped at Target to get some cleaning stuff for our apartment and while we were there, we met his lady Pam whose mom is in the hospital.  We told her about our church a little and gave her the address and she said she can't come this week but next week she would really like it.  She told us shes supposed to be Catholic but never goes and I think since her mom is in the hospital she is looking for something.  We told her we would pray for her and when she said that she started tearing up and was like thank you so much and walked away.  We got her number and stuff so were going to keep in touch with her.  

     Well, I think that's really it!! Sorry if this email made like no sense! But I've been thinking and I decided that when the temple in Rome is dedicated we should all go to the open house!! Sound like a plan? Okay cool.  Well, I hope everyone has a super great week!!!! I love you all SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH and I love hearing about what is going on at home and in your life.

I MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

"Night at the Museum"

Hello everyone!!!!

     Thank you so much for your letters and emails - I look forward to reading them every Monday!! Except, since yesterday was Presidents Day, the library was closed so that's why I'm writing today! In church on sunday I learned something that was a good reminder to me! The speaker was talking about gossip and how even though something might be true or is true about someone and it's negative, it's still gossip and you shouldn't do it.  I thought it was a good reminder.  Last Monday we had zone p-day and we just played get to know you games and then while we wrote letters and stuff the elders played basketball and volleyball.  And then we were at Trader Joes and this guy was like "Hello Sister... that's what it says on your nam tag right?" I told him that I was a missionary and he started talking about how he has always admired our church because we are squeaky clean in a really good way and All-American.  We talked to him a little more and got his name and number and he got our number and he said he was really interested in learning more.  His name is Tom.  So, a couple days later we called him to set up a time and we decided we would meet on Sunday.  On Sunday after church, we met with him and talked to him about the Book of Mormon and a little bit of the restoration. He has been going to other churches and told us he doesn't like how other churches change their doctrine based on what the world is doing.  Obviously our church is so perfect for him!!  He talked about some other opinions he had and they are all seriously in line with what we believe. It was so awesome!!! And unlike a lot of other people he told us he can't say anything isn't true yet because he doesn't know! Usually people are like I don't need to find out I already know the Book of Mormon isn't true.  So we gave him a Book of Mormon and told him to pray about it and stuff and then we said a prayer and everything and when we were putting our stuff away we were asking him when he would like to meet again and he was like, well would you like me to come to your church next Sunday or something? We LOVE TOM!!!! Who asks that?? Anyway, so he is coming to church and we are so excited! It's so weird, how like usually I feel like I would be super embarrassed to talk about this kind of stuff in public but like I wasn't at all.  We had three Book of Mormons on the table in front of us and people coming in and out of Starbucks and we probably looked ridiculous but it's weird how that has changed for me since I've been here.  Sister Jonson and I know that he is definitely one of those people that have been prepared and it's such a good feeling!

     Last Tuesday we had service and I always love going there.  Today, one of the ladies, Linda, told Sister Johnson and I to come with her. We followed her down a hall and into a room where a ton of quilts were hanging that her church made and she said, I've already bought one for each of you so pick one out that you like.  How nice is she?? It made our day, she was so sweet to do that for us and the quilts are cute! On Monday night the exchange sister, Sister Grover, and her companion Sister Ash came and then we went on exchanges Tuesday and Wednesday.  On Tuesday I was with Sister Grover, she goes home in April.  She is definitely a good missionary and all but she is your typical sister missionary with the tone and all.  She hardly ever let me talk in lessons or tracting so it got kind of annoying, but I still learned from her.  And it was hard cause she wasn't conversational at all and so I got to know her pretty well but she  never asked me questions, but oh well.  We visited Jane and Dorothy.  They are less active members but have been coming regularly for the past couple months.  They are getting ready to go to the temple so we talked to them about it and we read the talk "Temple Standard" with Jane.  It's a really good talk and you should read it.

     On Wednesday, we did something called a blitz where multiple companionships tract a certain area.  Me, Sister Johnson, Sister Grover, Elder Christensen, and Elder Nelson all came to Frontenac and tracted for a couple hours.  Since we were still on exchanges, I was with Sister Ash and Sister Johnson was with Sister Grover.  Sister Ash was so sweet!! I loved her.  We both came to St. Louis at the same time.  She is Samoan and Tongan and we just talked the whole time and it was fun to get to know her and talk to her.  Sister Ash and I found 2 potential investigators! And we had 1 lesson too and no one else did. 

     On Valentines Day we visited a less active because it was her birthday and talked to her for about 45 mins.  She has had such a hard life and it was so sad.  I'm glad we got to go over and visit her.  We tried to visit some other less actives in the area near her but none of them were home. 

     We had a lesson with Grace and Ethan.  They are doing so well!! Grace is 11 and she followed up on her reading assignment and understands everything and likes coming to church.  Ethan has a hard time paying attention but when he has something to say it is so sweet and he understands as well. 

After that, we had a dinner at an older ladies’ home in the ward and she’s totally losing it and it is so sad! When we got there, she hadn't even started dinner.  But so she put the roles in and she forgot she put them in and they burned and then corn was sour and the salad dressing was expired and she kept gassing like a lot but it was so sad.  She was so sweet though and gave us valentine cookies and all the leftovers.  But after a little, her daughter came and she used to work in admissions for the accounting program at BYU! cool huh?? She doesn't anymore though.

     Bad news :(.  Remember Soucha?? Well we totally thought we were going to be able to set a baptism date for her and that everything was going well.  Then, earlier this week her mom texted us and was like "Soucha wants to stop having you come over and teach.  She doesn't want to get baptized and doesn't want to be asked why not.  So it's best that you guys hold off."  It was so terrible. We were so bummed.  We talked with the leaders in Ward Council on Sunday about her and they think a lot of it is her mom because her mom doesn't discourage baptism but she doesn't encourage it either and always tells Soucha how she's going to get in lots of trouble when she's older.  So... we can't meet with her anymore.

     We had a lesson with Julie on Friday and it was kinda our lesson to decide weather to drop her or not because she's been taking the lessons for about a year now.  We read the talk "Doing the right thing at the right time without delay" (another super great talk you should read) and she really liked it and it meant a lot to her.  We challenged her to watch a Mormon Message everyday, starting with "Your Potential, Your Privileges" (definitely watch it).  The online elders that are teaching her called us yesterday and said something has definitely changed in her and she is making an effort to move forward.  So that's exciting!!!  On Friday we also went to the temple!!! We are allowed to go once a transfer.  It was so beautiful and I really looked forward to going there all week.  When we got there, the office sisters (they are all like grandmas) were there too!! After, they told us to come to pizza with them at the pasta house and they bought us pizza.   The office sisters are our favorite. 

     A lady in our ward told us about this non-member knitting group that meets at our church so we were like, um perfect! So we went there and they are just a ton of old ladies that literally spend their day knitting.  They make some super incredible things.  But it didn't really fulfill our purpose in going there.  We thought we were going to be able to talk to a lot of them and stuff but it was mostly listening so we probably wont go again.  But I learned how to knit haha... not my thing.

     Yesterday was our Pday!  Me, Sister Johnson, Elder Nelson, Elder Christensen, Elder Anderson, and Elder Sims all went to the Science museum at Forest Park.  It was kinda lame to be honest... but anyway, so I figured I was going to be inside all day and warm, but we got bored at the science museum so we decided to go to the zoo "across the street" (in the Elders terms).  So anyway, since I thought I was going to be inside and everything, I left my coat and bag in the car, and I decided to wear flats and not my boots.  So the Elders were like, lets just go to the zoo, it's right across the street.  Not only is it cold and windy outside, but a mile and a half later, we arrived at the zoo, just in time for it to start pouring.  By then, Elder Nelson had given me his coat and Elder Sims gave us his umbrella. !

The zoo was closing early that day so we left and had to walk all the way back to the science museum where our car was.  Except, the Elders don't have a car so they take the bus.  So they only had to walk like 5 minutes and they were at their bus stop, which meant we had to give the umbrella and jacket back, but Sister Johnson and I still had like over a mile to go.  Elder Sims let us keep the umbrella though.  Anyway, there I am with no coat, no umbrella, flats, while it is POURING rain (when it rains here it doesn't stop), running across the freeway (the "shortcut" the Elders gave us).  We went a little further but decided it just wasn't a good idea so we called a taxi.  We still had so far to go!!! But it was fun. But the zoo there is apparently one of the best zoos in America and Forest Park is larger than Central Park.  It's actually really cool. There's apparently a super super awesome art museum in it and Sister Johnson and I are going to go to it next week.  Since it's Sister Johnsons birthday next week, we got permission to switch our P day from Monday to Thursday (her birthday) next week, because the Art Museum isn't open on Mondays. So I'm excited!

     Well... I think that's all! I will send some pictures from the last couple weeks! New missionaries are coming next Wednesday so we have the potential of being put in a three some.  We hope not but the chances are pretty high.  Anyway, I hope you all have a really great week!!! I love hearing from all of you and everything that is going on in your life! I love you and miss you so much and you are all always in my prayers.  I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Taylor

Last Week at the MTC!

Hey family!!

Alright, so GUESS WHAT. I tried out to play the piano right? AND I PLAYED AT THE FIRESIDE LAST NIGHT!!!! Ya.. that's like in front of 3000 people... it's whatever.. Haha but I was surprisingly not that nervous and I think it went pretty well!The freaky thing is they have cameras that get different angles of you throughout the whole performance and they like zoom in and then you're projected on 3 giant screens throughout the gym.  But it was pretty cool - I'm glad I did it! Also, yesterday for Relief Society, Sister Wixom came and talked to us! She was so cute! Shes like the primary general president and she would talk a little and then she would put primary songs throughout it and we all sang together! It was really good. She talked about how even though we are missionaries it's important to laugh too! And she also talked about how the Lord will be with you throughout your mission.  Also, last Sunday or Tuesday I forgot.. but Elder Holland came!!!!! You know how people say like when the prophet walks into the room at conference they just feel the spirit so strong and stuff? Well, I've never felt that ever before and I didn't really think it was possible - but it is! Seriously like we were singing a song and he walked in and everyone stood up and I almost started crying I felt the spirit so strong.  He talked about how it's the greatest time to be alive and to be a missionary, and that we have to convert at least one person on our mission and it has to be us.  He also talked a lot about converting yourself and how important it is.  It was so good! Oh also, he dedicated 3 buildings at the MTC and blessed that no weapon, terrorist, evil, bombs, and listed a ton of other stuff like that will never fall upon or enter the MTC EVER.  That's a big promise and it was so cool!

     Also, you will never guess what happened.  Ya... the fire alarm went off again... that's 3 TIMES.  Except this time it wasn't in our residence, it was in the main building but still... we're seriously pros at these things.  We also got a new MTC president and I've never actually met him but I really like him .  But he's like super funny and has just a really kind personality I guess.  Like he had everyone from all the missions stand up at our departing devotional yesterday and sometimes it would be just 1 boy and 1 girl that were going to the same mission and he was like oh careful don't hook up down there.  Idk it was just so funny cause you would never expect him to say it! And then he also said whatever during his talk, like he had the senior missionaries stand up (by the way, mom and dad, you should totally go on a mission ), and was asking them where they were going and he said it wrong and was like oh well whatever.  Like he had attitude in his voice and it was way funny!

     I got to be a host for the new missionaries on Wednesday and it was really fun! I hosted 2 girls, and one of them was Shauntel Forte from high school!! It was so fun! Also, there's a tie that Jake Peterson started that is passed around the MTC and if you went to Alta and are on a mission you sign it so I was the first sister to sign it!

     Every night in our room, we have "Talent in the Shadows". It's the best thing ever - we started it ourselves.  So, since some things are too embarrassing to do when the lights are on we do them once we have gotten ready for bed.  So what we do is everyone has a talent they share every night - it's usually singing, or dancing, or making weird noises with your mouth, or weird voices, and all the above.  I know, we sound super nerdy - but it's so fun!!! Haha one girl in our room, Sister Burnette, actually has a REALLY good voice, but the other night she sang a whole new world and sang both the boy and girl parts and added all the instrumentals in the background.  We were laughing so hard.  Anyway... now that I've made myself sound like the biggest loser in the world....

     I can't believe I'm leaving tomorrow! I'm so excited but so sad at the same time.  I'm maybe never going to see some people I've met here ever again!! But I'm excited to get started being a missionary and be in Missouri! I can't wait to talk to you all tomorrow!!!!! I love you all and miss you so much and think about you all the time!!!

Have a great day!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Love,
Taylor