Author: Elder Taylor

This week has been pretty much great. Most of that happened last night in a lesson that we had with the Valles family, who have been investigating the church for a grand total of about two years. In the past, we had talked to them about what was keeping them from being baptized, and they hadn’t been giving us very clear answers. But last night, we were talking to them and asking them to set some specific goals to progress toward baptism.. In that process, we found out some pretty interesting stuff…

First off, they aren’t actually legally married. So, yeah… That was kind of surprising to find out. Second, they still both drink coffee on a daily basis. So, yeah… At least it gave us a good idea of where they are.. Anyway, near the end of the lesson we ended up setting the last Saturday in August as their goal for baptism. In that time, they’ve mostly just got to actually get married (They’ve been together for 12 years already….) and stop drinking coffee. Anyway, it was awesome to finally get to know what’s holding them back. In the past they had always simply told us, “We need to do a few things before we get baptized… But you can’t really help us with them.” Anyway, we’re excited, especially because we actually can help them with those things.

Anyway, that was an awesome experience. Apart from that, we’ve had another few good things happen. With Janet, whose date was set for the 4th, we’re going to have to push it back a little bit, since she wasn’t able to go to church this week, either. But she’s been reading a lot from the Book of Mormon and everything, and she’s always ready and willing to learn.

But yeah, that’s about it for the week… I’m just about completely out of the sling now, which is really nice. It does mean that the shoulder hurts a bit more, natually, but I enjoy it a lot. It’s also still kept itself in the socket, which is really good. It’s been close to leaving a few times, but it’s still in there.

Oh, yeah… one more thing. Members are amazing. This last week we went to Costco and a member paid for our food… It was awfully nice of her.

I’m sorry… But I thought that was quite the interesting bumper sticker, so I just had to take a picture and use it as my title today. But yeah, that was pretty funny.

Anyway, this week has been pretty exciting. We had our first interviews with the new mission president, which was good stuff. He’s a great man. We also had the chance to go to the Mission President’s Fireside last night in Spanish, and so we got to hear his Spanish. Also, his wife, who has been learning Spanish for round about two months, gave a little talk in Spanish – which was very impressive, I must admit.

Also this week there was the baptism of the Pacheco family from my last area. It was great stuff, and I got to go. We didn’t quite get to stay until the end, because we had another appointment, but I got to see them all be baptized, and I also got to congratulate them and whatnot. But yeah, it was great to see them take that step. I expected them to be baptized, but not quite so soon, so that was great.

Other than that, the only really exciting thing that happened was that we set a baptismal date with Janet. She’s not completely sure about it, but we set it as a goal. But she didn’t make it to church yesterday, so we may have to push it back a bit. We set it for the 4th of August, so we’ll see what happens with that. But yeah, she’s pretty much amazing. This week we taught her the Plan of Salvation, and she was very excited about it..

Anyway, that was just about it. This week was really pretty cool. Oh, and I’ve decided to include a thought this week. I took the opportunity to study Elder Bednar’s talk about keeping our words clean. I especially liked the reference that he made to the book of James in Chapter 2, I believe. It’s got some comments about how if we offend not in word, then we can ‘become a perfect man’ (or woman). Anyway, I really liked that.

Oh, yeah… So far so good with the shoulder. So, yeah. That’s good stuff. Keep on praying.

So, yeah… First off, I have to apologize for accidentally making two new posts last week. I sent the first one and it hadn’t worked in the first fifteen minutes or so, so I sent another one, and then it posted them both..

Anyway… That’s what happened.

This week has been pretty neat. I called the doctor on Thursday to discuss what I should do with the shoulder now. He told me that now I should start taking the sling off gradually over the next few weeks. He says that if the shoulder starts dislocating again, especially often and in everyday situations, then I will need another surgery, which will more than likely mean that my mission will come to an early end. So, we’ll just hope that it’s had the opportunity to repair itself enough to last until the end of the mission.

Anyway, apart from that, this week has been good. We managed to find a few new investigators, which is what we’re really in need of right now. One of the people that we found, a lady named Janet, has really been prepared. It’s neat, and we’re hoping that she will be able to be baptized before the end of the month. When we were teaching her, she told us, “Well, I think that I was baptized, in the Catholic Church. But I don’t really believe in the Catholic Church, because I was reading in the Bible the other day and I read about how we’re not supposed to worship saints, and how we’re not supposed to call anyone ‘father’ except God himself. (The Pope, in Spanish, is ‘El Papa’, meaning ‘father’ I do believe that’s what the word means in English, too, but I’m not completely sure.)

Anyway, it was really neat, because she really has been prepared. She was asking us how we can know which of all the churches are true. Well, we were more than happy to let her know that it’s through study and prayer. So, anyway, we’re excited for that. She’s an awesome lady.

I also received news from my last area. Daniel has decided not to be baptized. I’m not exactly sure what the situation is, but he apparently has some concerns for the moment that will make it so that he can’t be baptized while he’s here in the US, at the very least. (He leaves for Ecuador again next month)

But, in other news, there is a family of 5 there that we were teaching while I was there who are going to be baptized on the 14th. The parents and one daughter that is old enough are going to be baptized. Anyway, they’re a really super-neat family, and I’m excited for them, too. I’m going to be requesting permission to go to their baptism.

Anyway, that’s about all the news regarding that. We’ve got some exciting stuff going on. Also, the heat is subsiding a little bit… It’s only been 110 the last couple of days, a welcome change after the 116 we had a few days ago.

But, yeah… I think that’s all the news that I can think of. Oh, yeah…. My companion and I talked in Sacrament Meeting in one of the branches yesterday. We didn’t know that we were doing it until Saturday night, and we were in meetings all day Sunday, so we didn’t have any time to prepare, but it worked out well enough. Actually, we felt that they didn’t give us quite enough time… Funny how that works out, eh?

But, yeah… That should do it.

Everybody have an awesome week!

Ok, so maybe July isn’t the happiest thing here in Mesa, but you know, it all works out. Plus, I can’t really complain, since I’m in a car. If I were on bike, then I’d have something to complain about, especially since it’s been hitting 112 or so just about every day recently. As a matter of fact, the thermometer in our car showed 121 for a second or two, but it’s not accurate after it’s been parked in the sun.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good. We taught some more lessons this week, which was really good, since we didn’t teach many last week. It’s still going a lot slower than the last area, but that’s giving a more relaxed atmosphere, so that’s a good thing.

Also this week, our Mission President, Pres. Watson, left. He flew out on Saturday. Our last meeting with him was actually in the temple, which was really awesome. We started in a chapel near the temple, where we had a little meeting, and then we all headed over to the temple, where we went though a session. Anyway, we all got to say goodbye to him personally, and it was a really great thing. Afterwards, we had a great lunch, and then he was off. He left on Friday morning for Salt Lake.

We haven’t yet gotten to know the new President, Pres. Bassett. But we get to have our first meeting with him tomorrow morning, which is pretty exciting.

Anyway, the work in the area is going pretty well, we just have a lot of investigators who go to church every week but don’t quite want to take the step of baptism. So, we’re working on that. We don’t even know what’s holding lots of them back. But, we hope to be able to get them to take the last step.

But yeah… That’s about it for now. I don’t have any more updates on the shoulder yet, though I’ll probably be calling the doctor this week to see what he says. Hopefully it’s been able to heal itself a little bit.

Anyway, that about does it. I hope that all of you have an awesome week!

Well, first off, I have to say that this new area has so far been very good for me.

My new companion, Elder King, is from Tennessee, like my last companion, but he is a much more normal person. Anyway, he’s also very much into being clean (especially keeping the apartment clean) and whatnot, so that’s really good. He’s also been out for about the same amount of time as me, so that’s good, too.

The area itself is a lot slower here than the last one. We cover two branches, Tierra Rica and Ensenada Park. They’re both decent-sized, and there were about 45 people there for each of the Sacrament meetings. Oh, yeah…. Covering two branches also means now that we’re in a lot of meetings on Sundays. For example, yesterday we were in meetings for a total of 8 1/2 hours. So, yeah… That was kind of tiring.

Oh, and as far as being tired all the time, the doctor told me some pretty interesting stuff, and we’re going to be trying a few things in the coming weeks to see if we can’t make it work out. Part of that was also being transferred.

Anyway, the branches here are pretty neat, and the members are great people. We cover a much larger area than my last area, and the average income here is quite a bit higher. I’m actually in houses most of the time. As a matter of fact, we only have a few investigators that live in apartments.

But yeah, it’s good stuff.

That’s about all that I can think of for right now, so just suffice it to say that I’m pretty excited to have a normal companion and a clean apartment. Plus, we have a washer and dryer in the apartment now. That’s a huge bonus.

So, get this… I’m getting transferred tomorrow. I’m actually pretty excited. I was really surprised at first, because I’ve only been here for 2 transfers, but now when I think about it more I’m really rather excited. I’m going to have to get used to yet another area, get to know everyone again, but I’m excited, because everyone that I’ve talked to says that my companion is awesome.

Anyway, I’m rather excited about it.

Other than that, I’m still super tired every day, and I still don’t know what it is. I’ve got an appointment with the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully he’ll have some insight into that.

Apart from that, it’s super-incredibly hot down here. It didn’t really get to 115, like the picture suggests, but you get the idea. It’s hot. I don’t doubt that it will actually get to 115 within the next couple of weeks.

Anyway, Daniel, the Graphic Designer, accepted a date for the 14th of July. He knows that it’s true, he knows that he needs to get baptized, but he’s still apprehensive about the whole thing. We went with him last night to a fireside which was pretty awesome, and we also ate dinner with him and his Aunt’s family. It was great. Afterwards he gave us both gifts from Ecuador, mine is an awesome bag. I’m not sure what I’ll use it for, but it’s cool still the same. I’m going to miss him. Hopefully I’ll get to come back for his baptism.

Oh, yeah… The area that I’m going to is a branch called Tierra Rica. The cool thing is that the President of that Branch is the father of a missionary that I went on splits with a lot while I was there in Salt Lake. So, yeah… That will be pretty cool, to be able to work with his family.

Anyway, that about sums up the week. I’m sad to be leaving, but change will be good.

Well, hello everyone! I’m happy to say that this week has been pretty exciting for me, there’s been quite a bit of stuff going on. Mostly, I’m happy because we had another baptism this week, and everything was pretty much perfect. We had translation in headsets and the program all worked out very well. So, needless to say, that was awesome. The man’s name is Jesus Valles, he’s married to a member and decided to take the step to be baptized. So, yeah. That’s been pretty awesome.

Apart from that, the work has been pretty hard lately. I believe that I mentioned last week that I’ve been super-tired lately. I thought that it was because of not being able to sleep well, but I’m not quite so sure now. I reckon that it’s some other type of illness or whatnot. Anyway, the moral of the story is that half of the time I can’t think straight and want to sleep most of the day. As a matter of fact, I’m not quite thinking straight right now. But hey, what can you do? Oh, by the way… One of the sisters today suggested that it might be something called ‘Valley Fever,’ which I don’t really remember hearing about before. Anyway, we’ll have to see… I’ll most likely be going to a doctor this week.

The shoulder has been pretty much holding stable. Of course, I’ve been wearing the sling all the time, so there isn’t much opportunity for bad things to happen to it. So, I suppose that’s good. It still seems likely that I’ll need another surgery, but we’ll have to see.

Also, it seems that my Mom took a fall last Monday and severely hurt one ankle and injured the other, and likely needs surgery. So, yeah… Everyone, please pray for her.

So, yeah… That’s round about it. Oh, a little bit more about the work. Daniel, the Graphic Designer, is pretty much still amazing. He’s still committed to baptism, but has decided to push it back a little bit. He’s realized that it’s going to be a big change for him, and has decided that he wants more time before actually going into the waters of baptism. So, yeah. That works out. But we went with him to the Visitors’ Center last night and walked around with him, and he mentioned several times what good friends we are. So, yeah. That’s good stuff. We’re excited for him.

Anyway, that’s about it for the week. So, yeah. I’ll keep you all updated. Good luck with everything.

Well, how’s it going, everybody? I sure hope that it is going well.

I feel that it is my duty to report that I really have no idea what’s going on with my shoulder now. When I called the Doctor last Tuesday, he said that it’s more than likely that I will need another surgery. But, for another 3 weeks or so, I’ll be wearing the sling pretty much all the time, even when I’m sleeping. I’m not very happy about that, especially because sleeping with a sling in the heat of Arizona is certainly not the happiest thing. Anyway, I’m not able to sleep very well, but we’ll see exactly what happens with that. For now, I’m just working as hard as I can.

Anyway, apart from the shoulder and lack of sleep and all, this week has been pretty jolly good. We set another baptismal date, with that Graphic Designer guy from Ecuador. We originally thought that he was going to reject it, because he didn’t feel that he had received an answer to his prayer. But, when he was talking to us he mentioned a few times that he knew that the Book of Mormon was true… Anyway, so we pointed out to him that if he knows that it’s true, then he knows that Joseph Smith was/is a Prophet, and that if that’s so, then the church that he established is also true, and anyway… The moral of the story is that he’s going to be baptized on the 16th.

We’ve also got the Baptism of Jesus Vallas coming up this week, which promises to be pretty exciting. It’s going to be jam-packed with people, because everyone in the Ward knows about it, and his wife’s family is all coming, too. Anyway, we’re pretty excited for that. And so is he! It’s going to be excellent, and it’s awesome to be able to see his testimony grow..

So, yeah… That’s about it. It’s supposed to get to 107 here today. Yeah. Wow. That’s all that I’m going to say, apart from: thank goodness for Air Conditioning.

But yeah, that about does it. Oh, everyone should study up on Repentance.. That’s been the subject of my studies for the past few days, and it’s pretty much amazing. Everyone should re-read that talk from Conference, “Repentance and Conversion.”

Anyway, I’m done now. Have a superb week!

Yeah, I’d like to wish myself a happy birthday. I know, I know… It seems kind of self-centered, but I still wanted to do it.

Anyway, I’m happy to say that so far my birthday is going pretty well. We woke up pretty early and headed straight to the temple, and we stayed there for awhile. Then we went to Denny’s for my birthday breakfast with quite a few other missionaries, and we finished up by going to Mervyn’s, because they have a Father’s Day Sale going on. So, yeah. Pretty fun stuff.

As far as everything else goes, we’ve been having some good stuff going on. We’ve got a baptism coming up on the 9th of June, which is going to be pretty cool. We’re hoping to be having another one on the 16th, which we’re excited about. We haven’t put the date for that yet, but we’re hoping to be able to do that tonight.

My shoulder is still not being happy. As a matter of fact, it dislocated once again this week, this time while I was sleeping. So, yeah. Not fun at all. I’m going to be calling the doctor in Salt Lake today to see what he says. All that I can really say is, keep on praying for me. I need it right now.

Oh, yeah… this morning at the breakfast, we had a pirates theme, because my family sent down a little ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ themed birthday set. So, yeah. That was pretty cool.

But yeah, that about does it for the week.

Well, this week some exciting stuff happened, I have to admit. I’m not gonna lie, my shoulder isn’t feeling too happy right now. Well, as a matter of fact, it dislocated last Friday morning when I slipped and fell. So, yeah. Not fun at all.

But unless it starts popping out with regular every-day activities, the Doctor isnt’ too worried. So at least that’s good news.

Anyway, apart from that, this week we simply had a good investigator family drop us, which wasn’t horribly fun. They decided to give their friends’ church more of a chance, because apparently their friends became angry when they noticed that we were visiting them. Anyway, so they are afraid that if they keep investigating our church, they will lose their friends..

But, on the other hand, we found an awesome guy this week who is visiting for a few months from Ecuador. He’s 18 and I was super-excited to learn that he’s going in to Graphic Design. Anyway, that was pretty neat for me. He’s an extremely intelligent guy, and we’re excited about him, especially because he’s staying with his Aunt and her family, and they’re all members.

But yeah, that’s about it for this week. We had a big fireside last night and I got to talk to my MTC companion, which was pretty cool. But I really can’t think of anything else. Oh, yeah… It seems that my website might just happen to be working now. So, we’ll see. I hope so.