Fwd: Beautiful Baptism, To Everything there is a Season, So Great a Cause

This is her last letter- thanks for your wonderful support, everyone!  I hope you have enjoyed this journey with her.  Blessings to all of you- and feel free to write to me anytime anyway- I'd love to hear from you.

-Lindy T.

From: Christa Taylor <christa.taylor@myldsmail.net>

Date: Mon, Apr 13, 2015 at 11:27 AM
Subject: Beautiful Baptism, To Everything there is a Season, So Great a Cause

Yall,

Angela was baptized this weekend! We had several obstacles the morning OF the baptism, which was an adventure to say the least! The jumpsuit we thought would fit her didn't, but we didn't have a key to the jumpsuit closet, and an hour later when we got one, there were none her size! But with extra angelic assistance, we found someone to watch the filling font while we made a miraculously quick 20 minute there-and-back trip to Walmart, where we immediately found a white scrubs top and white capris she could wear. We invited the cashier to the baptism while we were at it, then dashed back to the church. We arrived at the same time as Angela, and all went well. 

On Angela's end, she had been feeling discouraged and even a little doubtful the night before and morning of her baptism. But she talked to her recent convert friend, Ana, who reassured her that she too had experienced opposition before her baptism, and that her choice to proceed with faith was right. That gave her the courage to move forward. The baptism service was beautiful. She bore her testimony at the end of her baptism service, and her sweet, sincere testimony and expression of gratitude was heartfelt and touching. She was glowing all day. For my last Saturday in the mission field, it was the perfect way to end. 

We had so many miracles this week, I would exhaust your eyeballs trying to share all of them. Here are a few: 

After plans fell through, we knocked one door with our team up and taught a lesson to Kaitlyn, a college student, who accepted a baptismal invitation. 

We tracted and found a family of three who, after we taught the mother the first lesson, had a strong desire to read the Book of Mormon and come to the baptism saturday. 

We felt inspired to follow up with a Book of Mormon referral first instead of after some other plans-- and he had to leave less than ten minutes after we got there! We caught him in the nick of time.

We found three new investigators on one street, including a referral from someone on the street we contacted!

...In fact, the man sitting next to me in the library right now just showed me a video on his screen, so I showed him one, too! I whipped up a video on mormon.org, and it happened to be someone from Georgia! He pulled it up on his screen, and after he watched it, we had a great conversation about finding truth and our individual journeys towards God. His name is Tim. He said he's going to go home and read more about it, then refer himself on mormon.org. Miracles! On the way in to the library, I realized I didn't have any mormon.org cards, so I said a silent prayer that I wouldn't need them to share the gospel while we were emailing. Prayer answered. :)

Like the good book says, there is a season and time for everything. It's unreal that my mission chapter of life is drawing to a close...but I have a peaceful reassurance that I have served the mission Heavenly Father sent me to serve, and that He will guide me in the upcoming chapter of my life. I am simply filled with gratitude for the experiences and growth I've experienced on my mission. I know God lives and loves me and all the people I've met. I know this Church is true. 

I heard recently from Elder Zwick, a general authority that visited our mission, that a release from full-time missionary service is simply a change of assignment. 

I'll continue to serve the Lord the best I can. After all,

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

-- Joseph Smith

See you all soon! 

Much love,
Sister Taylor

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Fwd: Jumper Cables, Doubts are Gone, & Ancestors Make Great Team-ups

From: Christa Taylor <christa.taylor@myldsmail.net>

Date: Mon, Apr 6, 2015 at 3:41 PM
Subject: Jumper Cables, Doubts are Gone, & Ancestors Make Great Team-ups

Y'all!

What a marvelous week it has been! General Conference was uplifting and an answer to so many prayers. Easter Sunday was a beautiful opportunity to reflect on my personal relationship and gratitude for the Savior Jesus Christ. And while we still have much room for improvement, we were able to see much progress and many miracles this last week.

Angela is getting baptized this Saturday, and all is well. She moved on Thursday into a member's home where she's renting a room, and the arrangement thus far has been a very positive one. She has officially stopped smoking for ten days now! She attended all four sessions of General Conference-- two at home with the member, and two at the church with other member friends. She loved it. Brightness and peace have replaced the incomplete search that seemed to wear on her face when we met her. She has a strong testimony and we are privileged to have been guides during her conversion process.

We taught Julia while I was on exchange with Sister Tau'aho. She's the one who came to church last week and loved it. She had read from the Book of Mormon like we'd asked her to, and when we introduced the plan of salvation, she asked earnestly, "Where DO we go when we die?? I have always wanted to know that!" We taught her about where we came from, why we're here, and the Atonement. She had a son pass away at a young age, and the message brought her comfort. The Spirit was strong as Sister Tau'aho and I testified of the Atonement and of Christ. Julia accepted a baptismal date for May 2. The Spirit led that lesson.

Later on that day, we talked to a girl named Diane standing outside near a potential's home. She had little religious education and a very confused perception of what we believe. Sister Tau'aho beautifully followed the Spirit. She extended her hand, introduced herself, and then bore pure testimony of Jesus Christ and how He had impacted her life. When she finished, Diane said, "You just said the exact words my grandmama said before she died. I know that's true." Her whole countenance changed from confusion to an open desire to understand. We gave her a return appointment and set up a return appointment. I learned much from Sister Tau'aho. She has much love to give and she humbly seeks to improve. It was a fantastic exchange. 

We had a miracle with unlikely circumstances when our teamup's vehicle unexpectedly died this week! Our appointment and the next backup or two had fallen through, and we had just tried a less-active family's door with no success. Sister Thomas went to start the van, but it would not start. At all. Eventually there was not even a whir in the engine when she turned the keys in the ignition. We all sat there in silence. It was really hot and muggy. The neighbors we'd just talked to weren't very interested in the gospel. We decided to say a prayer. The car still wouldn't start, so we decided to knock doors, again-- this time looking for someone with jumper cables! 

The second door we knocked, a very tired woman said, "Oh, come in, come in." When we stepped in, I realized it was one of our former investigators, Ashley! I didn't know she lived there because she was the medical aid for one of our less actives, and we always saw her at that home. She didn't have jumper cables, but we taught her a great lesson and she expressed a desire to be baptized and take the lessons. She's been really flaky in the past, but God led us there for a reason, so we'll give her our best shot. Ashley is incredibly busy, so it was truly miraculous we were led to her when she was home. 

Still with no cables, we left Ashley's to see another car parked next to our dead van. The less active family-- the Curry's-- were home! I'd tried them several times before with no success because they were never home, and now, here they were-- with jumper cables. The car took just enough time to charge for us to talk to the mother, invite her to general conference, and set up a return appointment. Then the van started and we were on our way. Had the van not died, we wouldn't have been able to talk to the Curry's or Ashley. The Curry's didn't come to Conference, but their daughter, who we hadn't met, did! I don't know if our interaction had anything to do with it, but we know we were led by the Lord that day, even in peculiar ways. 

While cleaning out last year's referrals last week, I spotted "The Glenn Family", who had never been contacted because they were difficult to contact. I jotted it down in case we had time to contact them that week. Fast forward to Friday, when five appointments fell through and in the hot afternoon, we were without people to teach. We decided to drop by the Glenn's. The gate was padlocked and no one was home. We decided to try the neighbor. Raymond, a black man in his fifties, was outside on his steps. He let us call Mr. Glenn on his phone, who said he was 45 minutes away, and could we come back a different day. So we started up a conversation with Raymond. 

It turns out he used to do family history at the church! We asked if he knew why family history was so important to us, and he said no, he just loved it because he really felt connected to his ancestors that way. We explained baptisms for the dead (mentioned in 1 Cor 15:29), and how family history work helps us help our kindred dead accept the gospel. He seemed rather stunned; it really hit him. "Would you like to prepare to do baptisms for your ancestors?" we asked. He said if it meant changing his church,  he wasn't ready for that. We assured him that our whole purpose is to help people find out if our message is true for themselves, even if they don't immediately want to convert, and that he could find out if it's true by reading the Book of Mormon. As we gave Raymond a copy and finished bearing our testimonies, who tromps through the yard toward us but Mr. Glenn! We gave him a Book of Mormon and set up an appointment for next week. Apparently the missionaries left a sticky note in his mailbox last year and he's had it on his fridge ever since. He wanted to make sure his wife and two kids would be home so it could be a "family thing". No complaints! :) During our whole conversation with Mr. Glenn, Raymond was thoughtfully turning the pages of the Book of Mormon. Our visit there was so inspired. What a great miracle! 

At General Conference, yet another miracle occurred. Pam, a referral investigator from a recent convert, hasn't met with us for about a month because she's had several doubts she felt she needed to resolve on her own. She came to the Sunday morning session of conference, and tears streamed down her face almost the whole session. We asked her afterwards how she liked it, and she said, "Oh, all of my doubts are gone!" She would have said more, but tears came first. She'd only planned on coming to one session, but after that one, she dashed to work, did her housekeeping job quick, and dashed back in time for most of the second session. She'll be back on track towards baptism before the week is up. We truly are led by an inspired Prophet and Apostles who teach us with the Spirit of the Lord.

Have a great week!

Sister Taylor

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