23 Mayo 2016

23 Mayo 2016

Well...that's it. I just got out of my last interview with the president and it was pretty nice. Didn't have anything to confess to him. Except I did forget to confess that Zulema hugged me...but oh well.

We told Zulema that I was leaving and she cried. And then she wanted to hug me and I thought "NO! I can't!" And then I realized that she's an old lady and they can't send me home anymore...my last disobedience. I'm gonna miss that old lady.

This last week went by really fast. Which was good.

President Rodriguez and I had a good interview. He asked me what I was planning on studying and I told him that I was going to study Psychology, Social Work and ASL and he said that he had the impression in that moment that that was EXACTLY what I should do with my life. He said that it seems to fit perfectly with my personality. I'm really excited.

He also told me to get married. But he DIDN'T say within a certain amount of time. He said that I should get married when I felt it was right.

I can't promise I'm going to bring many things back. We just weighed the bags and I was a little overweight. I'm going to leave quite a few more things, but as far as Mexican cookies, I can't promise anything.

Well....I'll see you all this week. I'll share a spiritual thought then. In sacrament meeting. And part will be in Spanish. Actually, I'm thinking it'll be really hard to speak in English, so I think I'll speak in Spanish. I would feel more a gusto.

Los quiero a todos!

Elder Taylor

16 Mayo 2016

16 Mayo 2016

Well....actually, another uneventful week.

Something funny that happened last week that I forgot to mention: My companion, Elder Del Angel, is really innocent. SUPER innocent. So it was really funny when he decided to stop by an ice cream shop one day. We went in and the lady at the counter (who was dressed rather scantily) asked us who we were and what we were doing. She said "I've seen you around, and I just always wondered who you were." So my companion started talking to her about the church and everything, just like he should. She said she was interested. "But," she said, "I don't have any time. I work here in the day and also work at night." But she said it really pointedly, indicating just what kind of work it was that she did at night. But my companion didn't understand. He started asking some questions about where she worked or if she had a day off. "Look," she said, "I WORK AT NIGHT. Do you understand?" "Uh...I don't think so." She sighed and explained how she broke up with the dad of her kids and so now she had a "Padrote" (which means "Big Daddy") that was basically her pimp. She explained it a lot more explicitly than that, though. My poor companion just about turned bright red, which is funny because he's really moreno. We left her an invitation to go to church and the pamphlet of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and left.

Other funny experience that really demostrates the culture of Frontera really well (besides the fact that the whole colonia basically took the week to get drunk; "happy mothers' day!"): One morning as we left we noticed a man that had been painting a really long wall but had left a small part unpainted. He was lying up against the wall and resting, even though we could see he had enough paint to finish it. I turned to my companion and said "Looks like he just left that little patch to be able to lean up against it. I'll bet that as soon as the rest of the wall dries, he'll paint over here and then go and rest on some other part." Sure enough, as we came back that night, even though he wasn't lying up against the wall anymore, the part that he'd left unpainted was painted. Monclovenses: working just hard enough to rest up before finishing the job.

We finally got Monica to go to church! She's the daughter-in-law of a super-active member and we were just about to drop her because she wasn't coming to church or reading the commitments. But then her mother-in-law told us that Monica got up before she did and told her to get up so they could go to church. But the mother-in-law was feeling bad, so she said no. But then she decided that maybe that was Satan making her feel bad so that Monica wouldn't go to church. So she said, "Let's go." And they came.

Also Angelica came again with her husband, Jose Luis. They look happy in church.

We're still working with Zulema, but she didn't come to church again, and we don't know why. She told us this last time that she feels like she's in the right path listening to us and coming to church. So we gave her 2 Nephi 31 to read and pray about if she should be baptized and she said she would.

We're also working with a lady named Alejandra. She's really awesome. She's got a little daughter named Kathryn of about one year old and SUPER cute. She and her husband are Christians (but less-active), but Alejandra says that when she hears us talk she feels it in her heart that it's true. She's just SO willing to accept the gospel, it's awesome. I haven't really seen someone like this since Gilberto in Piedras Negras.

We also found a GREAT couple last night. We got a reference from an hermana in Frontera (she found out I was here so started looking for references in our area. I LOVE that lady!), but she said that the husband wanted to listen to us but that he thought that the wife wouldn't want anything. We went with that in mind, thinking that if the wife came out when we knocked the door, we would treat her like any old contact, but if the husband came out we would treat him like we were contacting a referral. How great was our surprise when the wife came out, took one look at us and said "come on in!" We met them and they're really nice but are going through a really trying time. The husband had a relationship a while back with another woman and contracted an STD. But now he's repentant and just wants to be forgiven of God and by himself. The wife seems to already have forgiven him, but they want another child so that their only daughter of six years isn't alone. So that's what the problem is. There were a few tears shed, and we felt the Spirit and they accepted baptism. It was a really sweet experience. And FAR from rejecting us, the wife practically threw her home open to us as if she had been a member her whole life.

Well, that's just about it...

Say hi to everybody and invite everyone you know to my homecoming talk!

Love you!

Elder Taylor

Translation of passage from 9 Mayo 2016

"I will share a thought in Spanish, since I did not speak Spanish in the video call. I dispense those who do not understand me.

"I've been thinking a lot lately about covenants. What use would a covenant be and anyway couldn’t we keep the commandments without it? I have concluded it is to have a stronger commitment to God. For example, anyone has the responsibility not to get high, but a dad has a moral obligation to do so because of the damage they will do to his children, not only to himself. Similarly, any person has the expectation to obey the commandments, but he that makes covenants with God is saying that we understand His word and we are ready to obey it. We covenant, and therefore we are under obligation to obey. It doesn't really do much for God; He knows us perfectly and blesses those who keep His commandments, whether we make covenants or not. It serves us to have and feel this obligation.

"So that if we make and we keep sacred covenants made by ordinances performed under proper authority, He is bound to bless us. The good news is that He doesn’t resent the obligation. In this way too, we give ourselves the obligation to follow what what He commands us, that is, to become converted to Him. Ezekiel 36: 25-30 says: " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

"I love this scripture. And I share this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

9 Mayo 2016

9 Mayo 2016

Well....what to tell you all...

What we've seen this transfer is maybe that we're pretty good at getting people to come for a first time to church, but getting them here a second time is pretty hard.

We saw Angelica, the wife of a less-active member, and Guadalupe, as well, wife of a less-active member, in church. And Juanito came by himself again, so that's good. The only problem is that his mom won't let him get baptized. But he can keep coming and we can visit as well. We'll see what happens.

Grecia was baptized, that was a good experience. My companion baptized her and many of her less-active cousins and aunts came. And then she was confirmed on Sunday and her brother was given the priesthood. Yessica is now almost a fully-active member. Maybe that's a good trick to get someone active again: tell them they can get baptized because their record was lost, and then the Sunday before the baptism "accidentally" find the record.

Today I bought some things to bring home with me. I also stopped by the floreria where Irma and Hector from Aeropuerto work. Funny enough, Hector seemed happier to see me than Irma, but I hope it was just becuase they were busy. 

What else happened...We got sick. The same sickness as before. And I mentioned to the doctor that I'd had Montezuma's revenge. She laughed and said "what's that?" It was kind of funny.

This week was rather uneventful. This next week will also be uneventful, it seems like. Not until the next one will it get exciting. I told the president that because I was obedient my whole mission, I'd have to do all that I never did in the last six weeks, but I think it would be better in the last week. Usually it takes about a week for bad things to get to the ears of President Rodriguez. One week to make up for a lack of deliquency of two years. What can I do...? (Just kidding, I'm not going to do anything dumb.) 

Well, that's about it...

Voy a compartir un pensamiento en español, puesto que no hablé el español en la videollamada. Que me dispensen los que no me lo entienden.

He estado pensando mucho en convenios últimamente. ¿Para qué serviría un convenio y de todos modos podríamos guardar los mandamientos sin el? He llegado a la conclusión que es para tener un compromiso más fuerte con Dios. Por ejemplo, cualquier persona tiene la responsabilidad de no drogarse, pero un papá tiene la obligación moral de no hacerlo por el daño que les va a hacer a sus hijos, no solamente a si mismo. De igual manera, cualquier persona tiene la expectativa de obedecer los mandamientos, pero el hacer convenios con Dios es decirle que entendemos su palabra y que estamos prestos a obedecerlo. Hacemos el convenio, y por lo tanto nos hallamos bajo la obligación de obedecer. No de mucho le sirve a Dios; el nos conocer perfectamente y bendice a todos aquellos que guardemos sus mandamientos, independientemente de que hagamos los convenios o no. Nos sirve a nosotros para que tengamos y sintamos esta obligación. 

De modo que si hacemos y cumplimos con convenios sagrados realizados mediante ordenanzas efectuadas bajo la debida autoridad, El es obligado a bendecirnos. Lo bueno es que no resiente la obligación. De esta manera también, nos damos nosotros mismos la obligación de seguir lo que el nos manda, eso es, convertirnos a El. Ezequiel 36:25-30 dice: "Y esparciré sobro vosotros agua limpia, y seréis purificados de todas vuestras impurezas; y de todos vuestros ídolos os limpiaré. Y os daré un corazón nuevo y pondré un espíritu nuevo dentro de vosotros; y quitaré de vuestra carne el corazón de piedra y os daré un corazón de carne. Y pondré dentro de vosotros mi espíritu, y haré que andéis en mis estatutos y que guardéis mis juicios y los pongáis por obra. Y habitaréis en la tierra que di a vuestros padres; y vosotros seréis mi pueblo, y yo seré vuestro Dios. Y os salvaré de todas vuestras impurezas, y llamaré al trigo y lo multiplicaré, y no os traeré el hambre. Multiplicaré asimismo el fruto de los árboles y el fruto de los campos, para que nunca más recibáis el oprobio del hambre entre las naciones."

Me encanta esta escritura. Y se los comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo, amén.

Love you all!

Elder Taylor

2 Mayo 2016

What a week. Time is FLYING so fast.

This week, who went to church:

ZULEMA! She's our rockstar investigator who FINALLY went to church. She owns a little tiendita right by the church about two blocks away, so all the members already knew her. We had to help her into the ward mission leader's car (I felt like I was helping gramma again, especially since it was a Kia Spectra) and dump her walker in the back. Then we carted her the block and a half to the church. She LOVED it, even though after the three hours she looked really tired. Tired but happy.

Maybe it was a situation where you'd have to be there, but this is how it went: we were explaining the Book of Mormon and so I drew a basic map of the world on the little white board that we carry around with us, but because I drew it upside-down, America turned out looking a little like something...well...actually it turned out looking like nothing in particular. She gave me that look only a little old lady with a great sense of humor can give and I told her "Well, we'll use our imagination" and she said "Muy apenas" (which means "Very much just barely"). So we all laughed. But then later than night we went back to buy some milk for the next day, and every time that we buy from her, she tells us the price in English to show off her not-so-great English skills. This time she tells us the number and asks us if she got it right. So I tell her that, yep, sure did get it right and that next time we teach her, we'll teach her in just English. So then she says "I don't think so, my English skills is about as good as your drawing skills." We laugh and then leave again. The next time we're with her, we're teaching her about the Plan of Salvation. I tell her "before we were born, we lived with our Father in Heaven." She gives me a dangerous, challenging look. "Let's see you draw it." Well that put a hold on things. I get busy trying to please the client, but while I'm looking down, I hear her and my companion having communication. So I look up. She has a face on that's just too innocent. I look down again. Again, hushed communications. I look up. Too innocent. I look down again and I finish the drawing, in spite of the snickering that I'm hearing from them. Finally I look up to explain what I drew and I can tell she's not listening to a single word I'm saying. So I finally burst out: "Will you please cut it out, both of you!" And they just couldn't take it anymore and bust up laughing. It was funny. But then on Sunday when our ward mission leader was taking her to church and we were sitting behind them, she told him all about how we were sent her to this earth to learn how to be more like God and repent of our sins, and it was great.

ALONDRA! A seventeen year old girl that we're teaching. She reminds me a LOT of Katrina. She even kind of looks like her. She came to church and it turned out her best friend from middle school is a member of the ward and so they had fun. It was nice. This last week we told her to read Moroni 10 and 3 Nephi 11 (she loves reading: we've found her reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer). When we came back and asked her what she had learned from the reading, she said "the men were killing each other and cut each other up and gave the meat to the wives and children to eat." ....WHAT?! So then she showed us where is says it in Moroni 9. Obviously, without the historical context, that makes no sense. We asked her if she'd also read the assignment. She said no; she'd just opened the page where we left the bookmark and read the first thing that popped up. Good grief.

Juanito also came to church again! And we're in the newspaper with him!

We went to where he was working and found him and went to set an appointment with him. He was with his mom and another lady. We set the appointment and when we had our agendas out we noticed that the other lady was taking a picture of us. We thought it was weird, but not much about it. His mom later explained to us that she was a reporter, asking Juanito about himself because he was going to be featured in an article about Children's Day. They mentioned to her that he was taking "lessons" from the "mormon brothers," and we happened to walk up in that moment. Then on Sunday, an hermano from Frontera came up to us and told us that he saw us in the newspaper and that he was going to give us a copy.

I also just bumped into an Hermana that really liked me from Frontera and Dora's old Friendshipper. It was cool.
Well, I guess I'll see you lot on Sunday. 6 more days. I took my suit to the drycleaner and I'm going to go get my hair cut so I'm all pretty for when you see me on Sunday. And in two weeks after that...

I really liked a lot of scriptures from this week, but I can't think of any right now, and my hour and a half is already over. So...see you all later!

Elder Taylor

25 Abril 2016

Hijole...se me va volando el tiempo...It's gotten to the point that when I do something that miffs another missionary, they ask me "hey, how much time do you have left?" Good grief.

Some highlights from this week.

We checked everything with the records and everything for Yessica and her daughter. According to the records, she was never baptized. We asked President Rodriguez what to do in the situation, and he said to have her write a letter to somewhere (he said the bishop should know where) explaining the situation with her baptismal date, place, who did it and all that necessary information. We told her that and she said "Nope, I don't got nada." Then she smiled and said "I guess I'll just have to get baptized again. Oh darn." And well, okay, I'm not going to complain. So we called up the president again to ask him and he said "Well...shoot. I guess you're going to have another convert before you go home." So we're going to baptize both of them next week. Grecia (the daughter) and her mom are both very excited.

We've been teaching this kid who lives in front of the church whose name is Juanito (well, Juan Mauricio) and he's nine and a little slow at times, but he's really sweet and wants to get baptized. And he came to church this week! Yay!

This other lady named Beatriz also came to church. She's recently gotten married to the dad of a recent convert who was kinda starting to wander a little, so she decided this last Sunday that they were going to church. She came and participated in Gospel Principles and LOVED it. We have an appointment on Wednesday with them.

And a few other people came to church but they belong to other wards.

We've been teaching this sweet, spunky old lady named Zulema in her little store by the church and every time we go she's more and more interested. This last time we went, I recognized one of her workers. It was Rocio Ibarra, a less-active lady that I knew in Frontera. So we got on Rocio and committed her to tell Zulema to go to church. And then Zulema didn't go, but this morning we went to go buy the groceries and Zulema said that she talked with her kids and they said "do whatever you want, mom." So she's decided to come to church this next week.

We had a really sweet experience yesterday while working. We were sitting on a park bench in a plazita while I was asking for and passing the numbers for the week and a young woman with a baby in a stroller sat down on a bench across the plaza from us. We went over and started talking to her and it turned out that she was pregnant and that her husband wanted to separate, so she was in a bad shape. She looked like she was about 16, but she said she was 23. We taught her a small lesson, invited her to be baptized and she said yes, but then it turns out that she just barely lives outside of our area by about one block. We stood up to leave and she thanked us, telling us that we left her feeling in peace. We thanked her and went to go finish asking for and passing the all-important numbers. We're going to pass the reference to the other missionaries and hopefully they go and teach her well.

My companion has been teaching me a little Portuguese. Actually, all my last companions from Ninataype onward have been studying Portuguese. I'm starting to think that God is telling me something, but I'm feeling "let me get a good handle on Spanish first, then we can worry about other things."

Mayela just walked into the cyber. Had to say hi. Also bumped into Rodrigo, Carlos Moreno's son a few seconds before walking in. He said they're still going to church, but that he didn't know anything about going to the temple. We'll have to see what strings I can pull in the next couple weeks...

Interesting thing that happened this week:

I was on splits in Tecnológico with Elder Espinoza from Puebla. In the morning we visited a lady that said that she'd basically been traumatized by a Christian church around the corner, something about too much dancing and screaming and shouting. And, she mentioned, they had a menorah out front. We walked past later and I saw a pile of meat cooking on what looked like an altar in the patio of the church and some men wearing skull-caps and shawls. Then a young man in a skull-cap and a shawl with a beard stepped out of the church and saw us and said something about "Sons of Israel" and something something something and then blew a horn that was obviously made from the horn of a goat or sheep. We just kept walking and I asked Elder Espinoza about it. He said that the day before he and his companion saw a goat tied up outside the church and that it looked like they were going to sacrifice it. And that one time they were contacted by some of the members of the church that refused to recognize the name "Jesucristo." "No," they say, "We have the celestial language, and His name is Yeshua." Good grief. I've bumped into these people before but had never seen them sacrifice a goat before. Welcome to Monclova, it told me.

I think that was it...well, I'm reading in 2 Corinthians now. It's making a whole lot more sense that the first few times that I'd read it, even though I'm reading it in Spanish. I REALLY liked 2 Corintios 4:7-10:

"Pero tenemos este tesoro en vasos de barro, para que la excelencia del poder sea de Dios, y no de nosotros; estamos atribulados en todo, pero no angustiados; en apuros, pero no desesperados; perseguidos, pero no desamparados; abatidos, pero no destruidos; siempre llevamos en el cuerpo por todas partes la muerte de Jesús, para que también la vida de Jesús se manifieste en nuestros cuerpos."

Yep, I liked it a lot.

Well, see you all around!

Oh! About talking on Mothers' Day: is it fine May 8th after 5 o’clock Monclova time?

Elder Taylor

18 Abril 2016

I'm not gonna lie, it's been a weird week.

My companion is really great. His name is Elder Del Angel from Tampico. He's got a really goofy grin and just a way of doing and saying things that keeps me laughing all day long. He's got a lot of heart, he just hasn't had very good companions and not a lot of success on his mission. Well, we're determined to change that.

People we have right now:

Victoria: she's a wife of a less-active. I've only met her once, but she's really pretty excited about the church and wants to get baptized. But she's never been.

Yessica Zuñiga and Grecia: Yessica is a cousin of some members from Frontera that I knew really well. She's already been baptized twice, but the record was never processed correctly. And now Grecia is about to turn 8. The mom doesn't necessarily have to be baptized again, but we'll have to see the situation a little more. They came to church on Sunday.

Guillermo and his wife: A middle-aged couple. Sounds like his parents are active members that just got sealed. So they invited him to church and he and his wife went. They seemed to like it a lot and we have an appointment to go back on Thursday, but we didn't have a lot of time to talk because they had to leave right after sacrament meeting.

Angelica: We found her while looking for an old investigator named Angelica (who sounds like she may have lived in the same house but moved a while ago). She just wants to get her life in order and from the very first moment has accepted everything. She reads the pamphlets and prays about what they contain (which is REALLY weird; nobody here reads and NOBODY prays about it). The only thing is that she didn't go to church and doesn't answer her phone, but we tentatively have a date for the 14 of this month. She just has to get married first.

That's really all we have right now...

We bumped into Mayela and her kids on Friday. We were on our way to an appointment (by way of a bakery...) when we heard someone shout "ELDER!" which isn't too weird: everyone here knows who the elderes are. So we turned to see who it was and because of the lighting, I couldn't recognize them very well. Until we started crossing the street. Oh, it was SO exciting to see them! Pedro and Rocio were both MUCH taller and Mayela seemed just ECSTATIC to see me. She said that they'd written me letters but then found out that I was coming up here, so they decided to just hold on to them and give them to me on Sunday. She says she's excited to go to the temple in August and to meet Mom, because I told her that at least Mom would probably come with me. Pedro received the Aaronic Priesthood last Sunday and is now passing the sacrament and Mayela's dad blesses the sacrament. WOW! it feels great to see them.

I saw Lucy just a few minutes ago as well. There wasn't water in our colonia this morning so we ran over to the house of the elders from Frontera 2 to shower. It's right by where she works so we stopped in to see her. She looked really happy and gave us flavored water for free (doesn't sound like much, but it really is kinda a big deal). The members told me that she hasn't been going because of her job, but the meeting schedule is about to change (why it changes in May, nobody's been able to tell me). So now she'll be able to get away to go to church.

I haven't seen Blanca yet, but I know it's just a matter of time before i bump into her.

Some things have changed in this ward since I was here. A missionary that wasn't even assigned to this ward but was with me in Frontera for three transfers ended his mission early and came back for the bishop's niece and now the family is inactive. Also her brother eloped with another girl who isn't a member. We're going to meet her this week, supposedly. Also, the ward got a new bishop (quote from Sunday in his talk: "Sometimes, the first thing you wanna do when you get back from church is take off your tie. Is your eternal salvation really worth such a little thing?") and the old bishop got even fatter. He has to use a walker now. Several other families that were active are now inactive, and not a whole lot the other way around. There are a TON of people here in this ward that were born in the church but were never baptized. So we're working mostly with them.

But yeah. It's super hot. Right now it's fine, but we've been up to 40 degrees Celsius this week.

Spiritual thought: Isaiah 29:16: "vuestra obra de trastornar las cosas de arriba abajo ciertamente será considerada como barro de alfarero. ¿Acaso la obra dirá de su hacedor: No me hizo? ¿O dirá la vasija de aquel que la ha formado: No entiende?" We should recognize that it's God who is guiding our lives. We can't live his commandments and deserve his blessings and then say "What a great job I've done." We can get personal satisfaction out of life, but as long as it doesn't interfere with our gratitude towards God. First, we should elevate our life to His standards. Whatever little thing that is out of line, we should make an honest effort to correct it. Second, we can expect and hope for His blessings in faith. And third, we should accept His will. Not everything is going to turn out like we want it. But if we do the first two steps correctly, everything will turn out for the best.

Well, have a great week!

Elder Taylor

11 Abril 2016

11 Abril 2016

This week was AWESOME! But I don't have very long so I'll write it really fast.

After two HARD transfers, we FINALLY are seeing fruits. Basilio got baptized yesterday after church (that's a fun story) and we had seven investigators in church!

First, Chayo. Elder Ninataype and Stockman came down early for the Consejo de Liderazgo and so we just had them work in our area for a few hours. They went and knocked a few doors and just found this great lady and invited her to be baptized and gave her a baptismal date. And then she came to church, which was the first time I met her. She seems really, super interested.

Second, Magaly. And her daughter but she's only 5. She was a reference from a couple weeks ago and we went to go teach her. We had an appointment with her on Saturday in the morning, but about two minutes before we got a phonecall from the sisters that Hermana Novoa was having a medical emergency and asked us to give her a blessing. So we decided to just invite Magaly to church and run over to the sisters' house (accompanied by Sister Lugo, the senior missionary). But when we got to the house, she started crying and it turns out that her husband beats her, she's thinking about leaving him and she wants to find a church to dedicate herself to it. So we decided to share a short message. We sat down and there was a lot of noise outside; someone was blasting music, trucks and vans were passing and lots of dogs were barking. So then my companion offered the opening prayer and asked specifically for the noise to stop. As soon as we said "Amen," a truck passed and for about two seconds we couldn't hear anything. And then once it passed, the dogs had stopped barking, the music was off and not one vehicle passed for the rest of the lesson. We told her that if she went to church, she would find the solution to her problem and we said we'd come by to pick her up to take her to church. And she said yes. Once the services ended, I went up to talk to her and she said "I just LOVED it here. I don't want to leave. I heard something about a baptism that's going to happen right now. Can I stay?" So she stayed. I hope the baptism didn't scare her off, but I'll get to that.

Third, Agapita and Basilio came! It was Agapita's first time. But we'll get there in a second.

Fourth, Mónica and Antonia. The Friday before General Conference, we received a reference of a less active lady who was sick and her family wanted her to have a blessing. We went and we blessed her. We invited the family to General Conference. On Tuesday we were walking near the house and we felt like we needed to visit her. So we went and knocked. Her daughter Karla came out and let us in. Her other daughter Mónica was also there. We ask about their mom and it turns out she died on Monday. So we teach a little bit about the Plan of Salvation and we give them the pamphlet. Turns out the family went inactive before Mónica was baptized so she never was baptized. So then we invite her to be baptized and she accepts it. Then we come back on Saturday and we find Mónica with her two cousins. Turns out Antonia and Angel have both been to church many times, their mom as well got baptized but went inactive and Antonia had even already been to EFY. We invited them to be baptized and gave them a date and they said yes. But it turns out they're from a different area. Oh well. Also, turns out Mónica is from La Paz, Baja California Sur. And that she's going back this next week. But oh well. As long as she's here, we'll teach her.

And then President Rodriguez's daughter Olivia brought a friend, Santiago. He's cool, but doesn't seem too very interested. At least he came. And he's also from the area of the secretaries.

Okay, now Agapita and Basilio. Two words: GOAT RODEO.

Reason #1: Filling out their baptismal records was a CHORE. They couldn't remember dates and not even their kids' names. They told us that they had five kids: 3 girls that are still alive, 1 boy that´s still alive and 1 boy and 1 girl that died. They insisted that they were only five. But then when they were telling us their names, they couldn't remember very well and as they were just kind of throwing out names that they were remembering at the moment, they mentioned ANOTHER girl that wasn't any of the other names that they had mentioned, but when we asked them about her, they couldn't remember her anymore. So it's possible that they had seven kids, but they SWEAR that they were only five, even though they gave us a list of six. But oh well. 

Reason #2: Then our new Ward Mission Leader told us that he was going to do everything for the baptism. We just had to bring the clothes and the investigators. But then he didn't show up and wouldn't answer his phone. So we had to do everything on the spur of the moment.

Reason #3: The day before two other wards baptized, but because the water was leaving and coming back every once in a while, they just left the font full. Which means that the water was cold by the time we entered in, more than 24 hours later.

Reason #4: Agapita and Basilio came to Sacrament Meeting and then went home so that Agapita could rest before the baptism. But then a few minutes before priesthood, just Basilio came and said that their kids showed up and started the party, so Agapita wasn't going to come. We ran over to try and convince her to come anyway and bring her kids (and maybe verify how many there were). So we got there, met her son and her daughter and a few grandkids. We asked her if she was going to get there to the baptism (which was kind of an awkward question because her kids were there and many times families oppose it). She said no, because she had diarrhea. Her daughter looked up and said "What time is the baptism?" At three. "We'll take her." Her son speaks up: "Yeah, it'll be good for her." Wow, that was easy. So we went back to the church.

At three-thirty, we decided that we couldn't wait anymore. So we took a few pictures and tried pouring in hot water, but not a whole lot came out. And then we're about to start the baptismal service when we hear Agapita come running in, announcing her presence from the main door. Basilio rolls his eyes and puts his head in his hand. While I'm in the water with Basilio, they throw a white dress on Agapita and Elder Flores changes really fast. We'll come back to this point.

Reason #5: We're sitting in the baptismal service, about to go into the water and the Bishop's three-year-old twerp son comes up behind me and grabs my shirt. I'm going to put this conversation in Spanish because it's more funny and then also in English.

Huerco: "¿Qué es esto?"

Yo, susurrando: "Ropa."

Huerco: "¿Por qué?"

Yo: "Pues, no más."

Huerco: "¿Te vas a meter así?"

Yo: "Sí."

Huerco: "Mi mamá no me deja. Ella me mete encuerado."

Translation: "What's this?" "Clothes." "What for?" "...well, ya know." "You're going to go in like that?" "Yep." "My mom doesn't let me. She bathes me naked."

Magaly, the other investigator sitting behind him, thought it was super funny.

Reason #6: I baptize Basilio. He goes in, comes back up, everything good. He wipes his eyes, looks around and says "Is that it?" Yes, that's it, hermano. You can step out of the font if you want now.

Continuation of Reason #4 or Reason #7: Agapita and my companion go into the font. "Carry me, my son," she says and clings onto his neck. He sets her down once they're down there. "Nope, never mind. Carry me out." Out they go. "Yes, yes, I'm going to be baptized." In they go. "NOPE. No way." "Hermana, we're already in the water. It'll just be a second." "Nope, carry me, my son." Out they go again. Meanwhile they realized that she didn't bring a towel. So, because there isn't anywhere else, I change in the girls' bathroom and dry off really fast to hand out the towel for the hermana. Nothing makes you change faster than think that a crazy and frantic 76 or 80-year-old (we never really found out how old) lady might walk in on you at any second.

Reason #8: Everybody's leaving and Agapita walks up to my companion. "I promise you by the Virgin of Guadalupe that I will be baptized next week." Yep.

So it was fun. Needless to say, I suddenly felt a whole lot less stressed once it was over.

Yesterday as we were eating, the sons (1.5 and 4) of the hermana were running around and making funny noises. So we started making noises as well. My companion started making a really good dog barking noise and at one point as the 1.5-year-old was running past leaned down and barked right behind him. That kid freaked out and burst into tears and ran straight to me. He wouldn't let me go for about five minutes, just screaming his head off. It was SUPER funny.

BUT...I'm leaving. I'm going to Bellavista Ward in Monclova. I will be in the same chapel with Frontera, which will be lots of fun because I really love the members there and have converts there. The only thing is that there's not a whole lot there as far as investigators. Only two baptismal dates, but they haven't gone to church. Normally this ward baptizes about an average of once a month, but they haven't for a while. President Rodriguez wants me to go and rescue the area and the junior companion Elder Del Angel. Apparently he thinks that I can help. I hope he's right. These last two transfers were super hard and we're just barely seeing the fruits of all our efforts. I hope God blesses me a lot this next transfer, and if not in baptisms then in other ways.

Well, that's about all. Have a great week!

Elder Taylor

Elder Flores, Elder Taylor, Basilio, Hermana Novoa, Hermana Murset, not necessarily in that order.

Us and Bishop Rodriguez, the best Bishop that I've had here in the mission. Also quite easily the largest.

6 Abril 2016

Happy Birthday to the True Church of Christ in this Dispensation! And maybe to Jesus Christ as well! (I don't remember if I told you guys, but we're taking our P-Day today instead of Friday....)

This week we had General Conference which was an interesting experience. Basilio came and he loved it! YAY! We'll see what the President says about Hagapita getting baptized...She hasn't been to church yet, but here's the situation: she's nuts. She's lived a full life (she's approaching 80 years) and wasn't crazy the WHOLE time so she's still someone that needs baptism to get to heaven and she's been very emphatic in that she wants to be baptized, but she hasn't ever been to church. On the other hand, she's completely off her rocker, so if she goes a thousand times or if she goes not at all she'll be the same amount of prepared. She actually did get to the building this time (which was amazing because the stake center where we watched General Conference was really far away and they had to go in bus) but at 8:30 in the morning so nobody was there so she and her husband turned around and went home. I don't know why they showed up that early. We'll see what the President says.

In the Conference, I got a lot of personal revelation. Some of you know I've been thinking recently about changing my major from Music Education to Social Work to later go for a master's and doctorate in psychology. There was a long train of thought that led up to that, but basically that was one of the questions I took to General Conference. I told Elder Flores before we went in that if someone spoke specifically about either Social Work or Psychology, I would take it as a sign that that's something that God would like me to study, the "green light" option for revelation. But I also said that if nobody said anything I would take it as a "yellow light." So then we get there and I'm listening to the talks and just about EVERYBODY said stuff that was directly related to psychology. There was a TON of stuff about family relationships and getting along with other people. But it still wasn't super very directly touching either field, just kinda lightly. But then Elder Kearon talked about the refugees. Everything he said was directly related to social work. Nobody specifically mentioned social work or psychology, but it was definitely addressed. I'm taking it as a green-yellow light. In other words, adelante, but we've got to take it to the temple first.

We taught a man from Slovenia this week. He was a little drunk and didn't understand us very well, but I think I understood why it could be so hard to be a missionary in Europe. He said he believed in God, but he sure didn't have any love for Him because of stuff he saw in the wars. He didn't accept a second visit. It was weird; I'm used to teaching stubborn Northern Mexican Catholics and Christians. I didn't know exactly what words to say to a drunk, bull-headed, half-atheist, half-Catholic 46-year-old man who hardly spoke English and much less Spanish. I really liked the guy, but it didn't matter what we said or what scripture we pulled out, he just wouldn't receive it.

We climbed up to the Rio de Janeiro-type Jesus statue above Saltillo. It was an adventure. We met up in the offices of the mission with the secretaries and the Zone Leaders from Miravalle Stake (Elder Hernandez and Marín). And then none of knew how to get there. So we just told the taxi drivers where more or less we were going and hoped they knew more more than less. By some miracle we found each other at the base of the hill (which was much shorter than we thought it would be) and then climbed up bushwhacking. It only took about ten minutes to climb up, but then we took about an hour on top looking at the view and taking pictures. And then we came back home, showered, ate breakfast and then went and ate lunch. And now we're due for a nap. But we've got to get leadership counsel ready, so never mind. I'll try and send pictures of the hike if I can make it work.

Up until this week, I knew where my last transfer was going to be and with whom. But then some missionaries did some dumb things and so now the President is making changes again and because I'm kind of a wild card in the whole situation (as an ex-assistant in my last transfer, I can go with anyone, anywhere, with any assignment), I'm pretty sure I'm going to get moved. That could sound a little cocky, but that's just the way it is. The President told me a few of the options, and one way or another, I'm going to like it. I'll actually like it a lot. But we're going to finalize the things on Thursday or maybe Friday morning. I'll let you all know next week.

Next Monday I'm going to register for classes. EEEEK! It's so close! But I'm determined not to get trunky. We've been working super hard these last few weeks and I'm really hoping I can end the mission just as hard as we've been doing it here.

Well...I think that's it. In a couple weeks we should start figuring things out to talk for Mothers' Day, but we should at least wait until after we know where I am for sure.

Have a great week!

Elder Taylor

Me with Jesus

Me, Elder Marín, Elder Flores, Elder Eves, Elder Hernandez, Elder Zapatero

1 Abril 2016

1 Abril 2016

GENERAL CONFERENCE WEEKEND! WOOH!

This week was fun because Elder Flores was out of town. Just kidding. Well, it was fun and Elder Flores has been out of town doing splits with the Zone Leaders of the north, but those two concepts are not correlationally related. Elder Smith from Meridian, Idaho has been with me since Monday. It was pretty cool because we didn't know each other before the mission, but we've been talking and it turns out he was in band in High School and so we knew a lot of the same people and probably even saw each other in a few occasions. He plays bassoon and is planning on going to BSU after the mission. YAY! We could potentially be roommates. ("If you're not married by the time he gets back home," Elder Flores would tell me.)

Basilio and Hagapita didn't go to church this last week because Basilio got sick. But they are so excited to get baptized. It's been a while since Basilio has drunk any alcohol, much more than a week. But I'm still just trying to figure out how we can get Hagapita to pass the baptismal interview.

This last Sunday, we got a new investigator in church. His name is Marcelo. He's 16. We found an old investigator form in the Area Book of a lady named Gabriela that had gone to church before. So we went to go contact her. She wasn't home but her son was. So we started teaching him and he came to church. He really loved the church, even though he's really quiet and he seemed a little uncomfortable, but afterward he was telling us about how he really liked it. So that's good.

But then he wasn't there when we had the appointment on Tuesday. Actually, he was there, but he was asleep. So we started teaching his mom and grandma and they turned out to have a lot of really good questions and got really interested. And the grandma was SUPER funny. I really love funny old Mexican ladies. 

We actually found a TON of great people this week. We found this family that are really cool, a mom and two sons (there are more, but those are the people who are listening). We were teaching them when the neighbor lady just walked in and sat down. She said she noticed that the Mormon missionaries were there next door so she wanted to come in and listen. She said "I'm Catholic, but I like listening." So then we taught about baptism and repentance. She had a lot of questions and the good thing was that we had studied and paid attention in capacitations and so we had the answers. She liked it. Then it turns out she's going through a process of trying to decide whether to divorce or not. We gave her the pamphlet of lesson 1 and we're going to go back tonight at 6:30. 

We just had our Zone Conference. It was weird to realize that it was my last of the mission. I have one more week of this transfer and then we're starting my last transfer. But lately I haven't had time to get trunky, so that's good. We'll see what happens next transfer, but I'm determined to not let myself get that way.

Bye everybody! Have a great week!

Elder Taylor

25 Marzo 2016

25 Marzo 2016
Not much new is going on. This week is Semana Santa, or basically a cross between Spring Break and Thanksgiving. It's been hard to get into people's houses because everyone's on vacation or has family in town. Basically just Basilio and Hagapita are the only ones that are reliably at home.

Funny moments from the house of Basilio and Hagapita:

Us: "Are you two ready to get baptized April 9th?"

Basilio: "I am. I don't know about her. Hey, Gapi!"

Hagapita: "What?"

Basilio: "He's asking if you want to get baptized."

Hagapita: "What?"

Basilio: "Do you want to get baptized?!"

Hagapita: "If I want to get baptized?"

Basilio: "DO YOU WANT TO GET BAPTIZED?"

Hagapita: *pause* "I can't hear you."

Basilio: "DO YOU WANT TO GET BAPTIZED?!"

Hagapita: "Oh, of course!"

Other moment: We just barely get there to her house. That's the setting.

Hagapita: "Come on in, my husband's not home yet, but come in!"

Us: "Don't worry about it, we'll come back in about 30 minutes."

Hagapita: "No, just come in!"

Us: "No, really, we'll just come back in half an hour."

Hagapita: "Okay, that's fine. Today I drank orange juice and milk and it gave me really bad diarrhea."

Us: "Uh...We'll be back in a little bit."

We found another really awesome lady this week. Her name is Elidia Valdez. She was an old investigator that we found by the area book. We shared the "Aleluya" video with her and at the end of the video comes the phrase: "Averigua como" or "Found out how." The video ended and she looked up at us and said "How?" We kinda were stumped by that question. How what? But then she explained. "How can I have the blessings of the Atonement in my life?" We shared a scripture about baptism. "Oh, so I need to be baptized. I haven't baptized my kids yet. What do you guys think about infant baptism?" Moroni 8. "That's what I've always thought. Yeah, I'll be baptized. Just let me get to know the church a little first and pray about it." Yeah, that was pretty awesome.

We've been finding a lot a awesome people recently. I really hope I have more to say next week.

Last week I mentioned some really good news. Well, never mind. The news were that Elder Flores and I were going to train a kid in the last two weeks of the transfer who was coming from Chile. Right now in the mission we have sister missionary district leaders and we would've been assistant trainers, two things that I don't think have ever happened in the history of the mission. But the process with his visa got complicated and so that's not going to happen.

A couple days ago I was in the hospital with a missionary who was having some health problems. He's Elder Domiciano from Brazil, so it was interesting hearing his Spanish all day with a really thick Brazilian accent. We sometimes speak in Spanglish and missionaries, he was speaking in Brasanglish. It was kinda weird but cool. And we saw part of the Iron Giant in Spanish while we were there. It was really good. A lot of movies translated to Spanish don't make a lot of sense, but they did that one really well.

Well, those are the highlights of the week. We're not entirely sure we're going to have P-Day this next week, so if I don't write, I'm probably fine. Just don't worry about it.

Talk to you all later!

¡Los quiero!

Elder Taylor

18 Marzo 2016

18 Marzo 2016

It's been a while since I've written. However, I don't think that means I'm going to write more.

A couple days ago I was in a wheelchair because I got part of my toenail taken out. They gave me two options in the hospital: 1, they take the nail out to the root and I'll be in bed a few days and probably not working a whole lot the next two weeks but it'll never grown into my skin again or 2, they take out just a part, it'll come back in about three months and I'll just be one day in bed and then back to work. I obviously went with option 1. I only have ten (now nine) weeks left, I don't want to spend two of them in bed. But I didn't stay in bed even one day. We just found a wheelchair and went with that. I was amazing how suddenly the world was nice to us. Normally these people don't even look at us twice. Suddenly they were all smiling and we got into a lot of houses. Elder Flores said it would be his turn the next day.

The Leadership Council went well. It was lots of fun, it was really spiritual, and a ton of zone leaders have said that they've seen a lot of success because of stuff they learned in the practices. So that's good. Actually sounds like a few investigators accepted baptismal dates because the zone leaders applied what they learned in the council.

We got some awesome news that I'm excited about, but I can't tell you all about it because I know that there are people within this mission that read the mission blog, so you'll just have to wait a little longer. But it has to do with my last transfer. And it's very exciting.

I was in divisiones all last week so I hadn't seen Sofía and Basilio and his wife, but basically it sounds like Sofía has a ton of questions and is ready to learn and she's going to give us a baptismal date tomorrow. Basilio has his date for the 9 of April, so please pray for it to work out!

We also found this AWESOME lady a few nights ago. What happened was this: We went and knocked a door of a reference but they weren't there. So we felt like we should knock the door in front so we crossed the street and knocked. Through the door we could see that the lady was on the couch watching TV and not doing anything. So then when she comes out and tries the same spiel that every does about "I'm busy, but I don't know when I won't be busy. Come back some other time, but I can't promise I'll be here," we know that she's lying. But in that moment we felt like we should ask her an inspired question. This is how the conversation goes:

Señora: "No, I'm busy getting ready for work tomorrow. Come back some other time."

Misionero: "Have you ever wondered what happens to us after we die?"

Señora: "Yes, I've wondered that a lot."

Misionero: "Have you ever gotten to a conclusion?"

Señora: "No."

Misionero: "Would you like to know?"

Señora: "Of course. My husband just died about three years ago."

Misionero: "Could we rob you about 10 or 15 minutes to tell you about it?"

Señora. "Come on in."

We sat down and it turns out that she's Catholic but that she's always wanted to try going to the Mormon Church. She's got a doctor's appointment in Monterrey this Sunday, but next week she should be able to go. She lives about three blocks from the church. She accepted the baptismal invitation and we left her a pamphlet of the Plan de Salvación. Her name is Cristina without an H. She's really a cool lady, too.

I went to Monclova this last week. It was kinda nice to be back. It's a strange place full of strange people, but it felt a little like going back home being there among the Monclovenses, as bizarre and loud as they are. There are really not a whole lot of redeemable qualities of that place, but we love it anyway. It kinda grows on you. Like a fungus. Just kidding, no, I did love it and it was nice to go back for a couple days.

Getting ready for GENERAL CONFERENCE! WOOH!

With love to everyone!

Elder Taylor