Fwd: My week!

From SIster Christa Taylor just a few minutes ago . . . .

I'm short on time! Here are a few fun highlights from this week.

Sister Mellott and I are getting along well. She's definitely way different than I am-- she's very direct and straightforward and not outwardly emotional very often. But I love her. We have fun together. This morning we talked in British accents while we cleaned the bathroom, there were a couple times this week we laughed so hard we had to stop tracting for a moment because a) once she totally biffed it on the porch steps, and b) I told the story about Wanda's leg falling down the steps at BYU, which struck a chord. We about died. She can come off as intimidating or annoyed, but she is a pleasure and I know that's not really her. I'm coming to understand her more.

A member in the ward liked one of my skirts so much that she bought it online. She apparently likes my wardrobe quite a bit, since she raved about what I've come to call my Star Trek blazer mom sent for Christmas (thanks mom). Sister missionaries can be fashionable!

I CAN DRIIIIIIIVE!!!!!! I finally got my Tiwi card this week (we log in each day to the Tiwi system, which monitors driving behavior and sends it to the mission office). I LOVE to drive. It feels good to be behind the wheel again.

We had interviews with President Wolfert last Tuesday. I wish I had time to say more, but it was wonderful. He really understands me and where I'm at, and he gave me encouragement and help in overcoming my weaknesses, especially being self-critical.  I felt uplifted and loved after our interview. 

We had an interesting contact yesterday. A hispanic lady opened up her door and shouted, "JESUS PEOPLE!! YAY!!!!!", jumping up and down, pumping her fists in the air.

Uhh...um..

 That was our initial reaction. We were tentative when she invited us in, but the calm, down-to-earth twelve year old behind her assured us it wasn't a madhouse inside. She was a little out there (lil bit), and difficult to understand, but it turns out she had just been praying for God to help her find direction in her life, then we knocked on her door. Hence she was so excited to see us. :) We referred her to the spanish missionaries and we're excited to see what happens with her family!

Stake Conference was this weekend, and it was just for me. The Sunday session was broadcast from Orlando, FL to 48 stakes in FL, GA, and SC. Elder Russell M Nelson was the key speaker. The themes over both nights seemed to center on commandments, faith, and using the Atonement. I was so grateful and felt so lifted through both sessions. I'd call it a spiritual feast. I'm going to work on having more faith this week to find and teach those who are prepared. God sent me here to find them, and by golly, that's what I'm going to do!

Much love, 

Sister Taylor

--

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
Gilbert K. Chesterton 

Fwd: Georgia Blows My Mind

Hey ya'll! ("Ya'll" is not slipping easily into my vocabulary, so I'm forcing myself to practice ;).

Georgia blows my mind with this weather we're having! Today it's in the upper sixties and feels like summer outside. Last week and later this week it'll be down in the 30's. Utah loses the most bipolar weather award; send the trophy on down to Georgia.

Sister Mellott and I had a wonderful week! Most of our appointments fell through, but we did a lot of tracting, found some interested people, and have several appointments lined up for this week. Hopefully they come through and we'll have some stellar teaching experiences. :) 

I've seen and I love how God puts us where we are for a reason. Music came in handy this week. We were talking to an asian man at his door and he wasn't very interested, but I saw a piano behind him in the entryway (their first mistake ;)). I enthusiastically complimented the baby grand and asked who played, to which he mentioned his 12 year old daughter. He ended up inviting us in to hear her play. 

She played a beautiful Beethoven sonata on the Steinway grand in the adjacent room, which I enjoyed listening to very much. She really played quite well. They invited me to play, so I warmed up my fingers and then played an arrangement of Lead Kindly Light. For having cold hands, long fingernails, and being out of practice, God helped me and I was able to play a nice arrangement that brought the Spirit. We were then able to share the basic message of the Restoration and a Book of Mormon with them. The daughter, Emily, seemed very interested. Hopefully we will have opportunities to teach them in the coming weeks! I'm grateful that music opened a door that wouldn't have opened otherwise. 

Another good tracting experience happened yesterday while we were knocking doors before church in a pretty affluent area. An asian man in his early thirties wearing pajamas invited us in from the cold. His name is Danny. We found that he had no religious background whatsoever, which makes sense since he's from China and has only been here a few years. He had no idea what prayer was, and the idea of God or spirituality had never crossed his mind. He was a blank slate as far as spiritual knowledge goes, and we started from square uno. 

We simply taught that God is our loving Heavenly Father and we can talk to Him through prayer. Danny had the look; the searching, questioning look one gets when a light begins to flicker in their minds, as if reminding him of something he knew once (oh wait, he did know! :)). I've only seen it a few times, but he had it. He accepted the invitation to pray (after we reassured him that it is quite alright to pray in your pajamas), and it was a sweet experience to hear him pray. It went something like, "Hi, I'm Danny, I've been in US about two year, please help my family, thank you for these two ladies." He seemed pretty proud of himself. He accepted the commitment to pray every day and we should be meeting with him next week! It was so neat to teach on such a basic level to someone willing to listen. I loved it.

We had a new bishopric called yesterday! We're going from one fantastic bishopric to another. Sacrament Meeting went thirty minutes over-- there was a missionary homecoming, then both the new and former bishoprics and their wives bore their testimonies. It was a beautiful meeting-- all testimonies centered on Christ and the Atonement. 

It was also great because our investigator Victor came! He was very impressed with how friendly the ward was and he enjoyed the meeting. He felt the Spirit. He plans to come again in two weeks when he's off work, and he wants to meet with us in his home again this week. That was the first time I've had an investigator come to church that wasn't friends with members already! Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to investigate.

Jamie and Trey (the mom and eight year old) didn't come to church, and we haven't been able to get ahold of Vivian for weeks now. Please pray for them as well. 

One of my favorite scriptures this week is Alma 41:6-7. It says that if we repent and desire righteousness to the end of our days, we will be rewarded unto righteousness. It doesn't say we need to be perfect. In order to repent, there must be a need to repent, and in order to desire righteousness, we must have fallen short of righteousness in some way. Mom said it best in a letter-- while in mortality we cannot be perfect in our actions, only in our intentions. I encourage each of you to continually center your lives on Christ this week. :)

Much love! 

Sister Taylor

--

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
Gilbert K. Chesterton 

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Fwd: New Year, New Companion!

President Wolfert,

It's been quite the week! I'm enjoying my new companion, Sister Mellott!

Sister Mellott is 22, from Morgen, UT, and 12 months into her mission. She was a Sister Training Leader in her last area (the sister equivelant of a Zone Leader). She went to USU before her mission and she's going back in the fall, not sure what she's studying yet. She has long hair for me to play with, and we are no longer a dairy-free companionship since she's not lactose intolerant! Yay for butter. :)

Sister Mellott is much more relaxed and simple in planning, and more balanced in handling stressful situations than I am. I tend to be pretty critical of myself, but she's good at helping me be more relaxed and allow myself room to grow. She is more quiet and doesn't share her feelings much, and that's how I usually communicate. So I'm praying to know how to love and serve her more. She's a great missionary though, and part of a mission is learning how to love all different kinds of people. So far we work pretty well together, I just hope I can crack past some of her shell while we're together. 

We've seen some incredible success this week with finding! We found six new investigators, which is more than I've ever found in just two or three days. Most of them seem promising, and I hope they find joy in the Book of Mormon and seek to progress. It's been miracle after miracle for the last few days with finding. Two of my favorites are Jamie and Trey. Jamie is Trey's mom, Trey is 8 years old. Jamie was feeling ill, but let us in when we offered to leave the Savior's peace and blessing (a special prayer) on her home and family. 

She said Trey had a lot of questions about religion. He was the most mature, thoughtful 8 year old I've ever met. His first question was, "Why do we go to church?" He didn't know hardly anything about Jesus Christ, so we simply explained about Jesus, the Atonement, and why church helps us remember him. His next question was, "What's baptism?" First of all, what eight year old kid ASKS that question?! It was awesome.

As we explained about how Jesus is our brother, how we can be made clean through baptism, and how God loves us, I swear I saw tears in his fully attentive, hopeful eyes. I don't know if he knew it, but I know he recognized the message we shared. I know his spirit had heard it before. I really felt like we were talking spirit to spirit. 

Turns out Jamie had actually met with the missionaries some in college, and still has the book of mormon they gave her. She said they were nice, for whatever reason had stopped coming, and that she'd had several questions for them. We read some verses from the Book of Mormon with them, and they said they would come to church next week. They also said they would be baptized if they came to know that what we're teaching is true. They are such sweet, sweet souls; I really hope we can help them progress and see the light they so desperately need.

As the one in our companionship that knows the area, I've found out that I know the area and the people far better than I thought I did! Sister Buhler and I are both take-the-lead sort of people, and since she was the driver, trainer, and on top of everything, I often took the backseat while she responded first to questions, entered addresses in the GPS, etc. It's been nice to see that I do have personal relationships with the members and I do know the area well. 

Please pray for Jamie & Trey, Victor, Pierre, Vivian, and Tony. They could use some prayers-- they're all in the beginning stages of investigation, with bright interests and searching hearts. I'm praying that they will be able to overcome any opposition they face that would keep them from progressing, and that they will come to love the Book of Mormon and know it's true.

I'm the happiest consistently that I've ever been on my mission so far. I'm so grateful for that. I feel more confident and I have a greater desire to work. Missions are the weirdest, time-warping, growing, spiritually and mentally difficult things ever. But I'm learning to love mine. :)

Much love! Have a great week!

Sister Taylor

Fwd: Happy New Year 2014!

Happy New Years everyone! Thank you so much for the sweet cards, packages, and notes. I feel so loved and spoiled here.

Our New Years Eve was probably the most celebratory one of my life. We had a fantastic count down at 10:06pm (we were going to do it at 10, but we weren't ready, so we did 10:06. It was new years somewhere). We were banging pots and pans, cheering and hollering, running around the apartment, and jumping on the beds. We also ate candy and had a fancy schmancy toast with french lemonade. We even got New Year's kisses (named Hershey's, of course)! I'd say it was a successful new years celebration. :)

So, TRANSFERS!! They're this wednesday. **drum roll** I'm staying in John's Creek, and Sister Buhler is headed to Gainesville (the boonies) to be companions with one of my MTC friends. My new companion's name is Sister Mellot. I haven't met her before, but I'm excited to! Keep me in your prayers. I'm still a newbie and I'm hoping for a smooth transition. :)

Last week our top investigator, a teen named Devon, said her mom wasn't comfortable with her taking lessons anymore, so she dropped us. We were sad about that. She's still reading the book of mormon and she loves learning, but she's timid about moving forward and has some fears. I think she's just afraid to mess up. She's been going to church off and on with her member boyfriend for a few years, and she's comfortable there, but I think officially investigating the church just made it real for her, and that was scary. It went from dipping her toes into the water to an invitation to swim. Maybe she's not ready now, but I firmly believe she will be one day. I would love to see her make that step in her life and keep in touch with her. And I'm doing her eyebrows tonight, so we'll get to meet with her at least briefly. Yay for marketable skills!! ;)

 Church on sunday was AMAZING though! Devon was at church with her boyfriend, AND we substituted her sunday school class last minute and were able to teach, with her needs in mind, what we had been planning to teach her next. A struggling teen we've kept on our radar came to church and blessed the sacrament; a struggling recent convert was also there and involved; and the theme of the Atonement in testimony meeting was a spiritually uplifting experience for me. I feel very blessed.

We're still struggling to get in with all the investigators we have, especially when we aren't sure how prepared they really are. But we're giving them as much focus as it takes to help them progress until we feel we should act otherwise. Our investigator on date, Vivian, has been busy and is now sick, and doesn't want to meet until she's better. She has terrible health pretty regularly, and she hasn't been reading the book of mormon consistently; so I think we'll just have to be patient and do what we can to help her. I hope we can see her baptized soon, but it may be a longer process than I thought.

I hope among your new years resolutions are 1) reading the book of mormon daily and 2) being a missionary wherever you are. I didn't study my scriptures daily before my mission, and now that I get to, 30-60 minutes isn't nearly enough. Even if it's 5 minutes a day! Do it! I promise you will come to know our Savior more personally, understand his Atonement more fully, love the scriptures sincerely, and have clarity and order in your daily life. You will be HAPPY! Mosiah 4:27 -- "See that these things are done in wisdom and order...it is not requisite that a man run faster than he has strength". It's the most thrilling adventure, heart-wrenching tale, historically fascinating, and life changing book you will ever read. Don't believe me? Check the ratings! Click here: mormon.org :)

Happy New Years 2014!

Sister Christa Taylor

--

Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas. - Dale Evans