Hello Missionary no. 1

October 21, 2013

Dearest Sister Christa Taylor,

How have you been surviving so far?  How have your first few days been?  Any teaching opportunities so far? We loved hearing from you and I shared your letter with grandparents.  (I took a picture of it and then I sent that.)  Do you want me to send the pictures of your snail mail letter to your blog?

This is the address for Aria you asked for:  The Colonial House #303 151 Viking Dr  Rexburg, ID 83440.  I told her to write to you.  I'll remind her today.

Truman has been taking his diapers off again.  Back to the duct tape.  He has also been turning on his lights and playing with his toys and destroying whatever he can reach in his room when he's supposed to be sleeping.  Last night I duct taped the light switches to off.  On the bright side, he has been saying very sweet prayers and remembering you and Aria in his prayers.  

I gave Teddy a great big lots of hug for you and some hot dogs yesterday.  Dad says John's Creek is a rich place, so I'm glad you have nice clothes to wear. I'd like to see you wear some of those new skirts.  I feel like I missed out on seeing you in them.  Your appearance can make a big difference to people- your first impression can't be undone!  Pray to look and be whatever the Lord needs you to be.  It will help open doors. Hope the weather isn't too cold.  Are you riding your bike yet?

I gave a lesson yesterday on being grateful for Latter-day Prophets.  It really is a gift to the world to have communication with God available for all to enjoy.  Many believe revelation stopped after the apostles.  Hugh B. Brown had a friend that believed this.  He asked his friend:  "Do you think it stopped because God isn't able to speak anymore?  (No. He is the same today, tomorrow and forever.) Is it because God doesn't love us anymore? (No.That is blasphemous.)  Is it because God thinks we don't need his help- we have progressed so much we are beyond Him? (No.) Why then, do you think He has stopped speaking? (I couldn't say.  Tell me why!) He hasn't stopped speaking, but we need faith to hear him!"

I thought that was good.  Our new neighbors behind our house where the Carters lived- They are called the Morrison's, and they are the NICEST AND SWEETEST FAMILY EVER.  She and her husband are always full of the spirit.

I'll forward you Aria's last letter.  It was very fun.

Love you, Christa.  Be brave.  Pray for love and pray to be made strong up to the task.  It will require some growing pains, but the Lord will help you as you continue to be humble and teachable.  I'm praying that you'll find the families waiting for you.  Remember to pray also that they will find you and that you and your companion will be filled with the power of God to the touching of their souls.

I hope your companion and you are working well together.  

 2 Nephi 31:20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

All my love,

Mom

(And Teddy and Truman)

October 21, 2013

Hey mom! 

I saw Aria's letters, looks like she's doing well! Hope the interrupted doorstep scene mortification wears off soon. Haha I laughed so hard when I read that. But seriously, that would be super embarrassing. I would die. She has all my sympathies.

Truman! Oh dear. Haha sounds like age three all right. I don't miss duct taping diapers, but I sure miss his sweet voice and killer smile. And I'm sure God hears those precious prayers. :) I'm keeping the family in my prayers too. 

Yes, John's Creek is a RICH place! It's either apartment complexes or INSANELY rich homes. You would die. It's just gorgeous. Last night I met my dream house. It was a member's home we ate at-- but get this. The driveway is about a quarter mile long, and it weaves through it's own little forest, behind which you can barely see the house through the trees. There's a cute little pond with a boat on the left with ducks, and the forest ground is covered in autumn leaves. Sister Buhler and I both gasped in audible disbelief of how beautiful it was! We turned on Clair de Lune (a cello & piano recording of Steven Sharp Nelson playing it), rolled down the windows, and slowly drove through the driveway for a minute or two till we reached the house. It was like being in heaven. And the movies. And I just fell in love with it. The most scenic driveway I've ever ever seen! I thought of you mom, while we were driving through it. I thought, "Ah! My mom would LOVE this!" It's totally for you. And their house was TO DIE FOR. Dream house. So beautiful. 

Yes the skirts are great! I've been so busy I've hardly taken any pictures of me wearing them, but I'll send you all my pictures so far. Mostly of the MTC. I'm not sure if I've even had time to take any pictures in the field so far. I'll try to send you some next week. :) I'm trying to look nice and professional every day. We have an hour to shower, get ready, and eat breakfast so that hasn't been too hard. You're right, I think it does help open doors to look like how representatives of Christ should look-- clean and polished. Sis. Wolfert, our mission president's wife, always looks like a million bucks. She is the epitome of grace and elegance. I'm trying to be more like her. :)

We haven't been riding our bikes yet, because we have a brand new car (YES) and we can drive most places. I really want to try it though. Our bikes are in our apartment so we could use them anytime.

It's been actually pretty warm here! In the 70's most days. There have been a few chilly days here and there, some pretty rainy days, but it's really nice. They actually have a winter growing season! They can plant winter gardens. Imagine that. Ha. Welcome to not Utah, I guess. Speaking of, a lot of people here (at least the members) are either from Utah, lived there for a while, or are familiar with it. So a lot of people know our exact area when I tell them where I'm from. That's nice. :) 

My first week in the field has been pretty eventful! I'm learning to love my mission. Sister Buhler is a wonderful companion. I can see why it was inspired that we were put together. She and I are so alike in some ways, and so different in others, that I've found myself being prideful and judgemental quite a bit-- but I'm learning a lot about how to be humble and loving, and we are becoming really good friends. We are both very musical, and we sound great when we sing together! We've been practicing hymn duets, and we've sung on people's doorsteps while tracting and at member's homes while visiting or at dinner appointments. It is such a powerful way to bring the Spirit. We plan to use our mutual talents a lot more in our work. 

Tracting has been a huge learning experience for me. After day one of tracting in a rich neighborhood on a rainy day, with no success, we evaluated our tracting experience. She hadn't liked or had good experiences tracting before, and I simply didn't know it well or how to make it more effective, and I didn't know if the way she was doing it was the right way or best way. I'm new, she's the trainer, so I tried to just listen. We talked through it and re-found our purpose in tracting, to simply be ourselves, not robots with a cookie-cutter message, and just bear our testimonies and invite others to Christ. We still have a lot of work to do, but that evaluation and stake conference have helped immensely. Stake Conference was this weekend and HUGELY beneficial. We felt renewed in our focus and revitalized in our work. 

We have tried hard to follow the Spirit in our work and in being unified. Since we're whitewashing the area, and started with zero investigators, contacts, referrals, nothing-- setting goals for investigators and knowing how to spend our time has been a lot of blind work, with faith and the Spirit guiding our actions. We've been blessed to find two new investigators through tracting, and we're so excited to teach at those appointments! We know that as we are exactly obedient, and humble and faithful, we will be led to those who need our help most.

I don't have time to tell you about our two new investigators we found while tracting-- James and Fernando-- but they are huge miracles, and I will write about them in snail mail to you today if I have time.

There sure are challenges that you never think you'll face that come up on a mission. In the MTC it took a few days for me to adjust even though i enjoyed the whole time. Being "set apart" from the world was quite literal for me. As soon as I entered the MTC, it was like all my friends, my problems, everything I'd been working on spiritually, everything I thought I was, my family, my past life basically-- everything just got tossed behind me and I was a blank slate. That freaked me out a little. It was like I was being born, a new person, like I had to learn everything all over again. But it's been a blessing. I filled up my "blank slate" with my new mission life-- learning how to be converted, how to teach, bonding with my district, learning how to be a good companion. I absolutely loved my MTC experience.

There were times in the MTC where I felt awful, like I just didn't want to be there anymore-- like I didn't want to teach, didn't want to learn-- there were so many classes and lessons and information, i just started to not care any more. It didn't matter to me. But every time I felt that way, I knew I was wrong because I was miserable and didn't have the Spirit. I prayed each time I felt that way to feel at peace and have a desire to work and learn again, to feel like I could be a good missionary-- and God answered me every time. He gave me comfort and motivation again, strength, or my companion would say something encouraging right at that moment to help me feel better. I'm slowly learning to rely on the Lord.

Compared to the MTC though, those discouraging feelings and being miserable--- it got amplified by a thousand when I got here. It's one thing to struggle among hundreds of other missionaries, surrounded by encouraging teachers. It's another thing to struggle when you're surrounded by people who don't share your beliefs and many don't want to. The only person you're with is your companion, who you're still learning to love, and the only person to turn to is God. Man. It makes so much sense but it can be so hard. Haha, I sound like I'm having an awful time, I'm really not I promise. :) But you know what? A mission is such a blessing. You have to learn to face your challenges head on, 24/7 because you have no other choice. And when you're humble and have the Spirit, blessings just come. I feel happy again. The last few days it has been SO great to just feel like myself again!

I've learned the truth behind "Be yourself". When you're tracting, don't use a cookie-cutter door approach each time. Don't be a robot with a mask, even if it's a happy mask with a true message. I try to be myself. Be genuine. Most importantly, remember why I'm there. I've felt bad sometimes while I'm tracting because I don't feel like I'm sharing the gospel, I feel like I'm selling something, and I'm not even sure what it is.  I've found that all that matters is that you desire to serve the Lord, and you're willing to do whatever He asks you to do. When you're willing to be led by the Spirit, He leads you. You may not even recognize that you are being led by the Spirit, you can feel completely normal-- but then looking back, you just go, "holy cow....the Spirit TOTALLY told me what to say right there!" or, "We were so inspired to tract that street!" God is with us. 

I wish I could write more and more write now. There is so much to tell. But I'll just say, I've never learned so much about myself and had to work on so much in such short time! And it's barely been a week in the field! It's going to be a long time. But it'll be worth it.

I love you all sooo much. Can't wait to hear from you soon!

Love,

Christa

PS Mom if you get a few minutes, HUGE favor for me?? My makeup brushes in my room-- in the black leather fold up case by my mirror on the floor, I think-- could you wash them for me? All you do is get them wet, use kids shampoo to get the product out, let them soak in water and then just let them dry. I just don't want them to get ruined sitting there for a year and a half all dirty. That would be basically an early birthday present. Thanks.