May 8, 2013
This week we had some awesome experiences with prayer.. i will tell a few and show how prayer really is sucha powerfull tool that we have. we got to move somebody from one house out of our area, to a house in our area this week. we had a schedule super packed and didnt have much time to move her but we thought hey its more important to serve here than some of our other compromises. so we arived there to moved, moved all the stuff out to the front of the house. and just waited and waited for the moving truck to arive because it was getting later and the ladie was just super stressed because of this. so we set everyone down that was there and explained how prayer is a blessing and how it really works. elder stanley said the prayer and literally less than a minute later he arived with the truck. everybody was so surprised, the driver just got lost and then felt prompted to take one road and bam, it led him to our house. ps, so in the moving van there wasnt any space in the ghetto cab so we rode in the back, oh but let me tell you the freaking driver took off before he shut the door to the back!! so the door was just wide open with barely any room for us in the back going down the freeway. haha it was so scary/fun/crazy! but we made it there saftely and unladed everything. then the car of the ladie wasnt starting because the batery was dead and she needed to go get the other people who were at the house. so as you can guess we said a prayer, and bam, the next time she tried it started right up. as we were helping her move, we missed an interview with out baptism and couldnt get a hold of her by phone, and couldnt just leave in the middle of helping the lady move. so we prayed that things would work out fine with our baptism, mana. finally we finished ran to her house and she was just getting ready to go to the interview because sometyhing happened and she coudnt make the interview earlier and couldnt get a hold of us to tell us. she was so sad because she thought she missed it then we explained what happened. so many miracles happen every day when we ask for them.
yesterday i had a chance to teach a person who led us into the construction site, and called all the other people that were there to listen to our message about prayer. before we left, we said a prayer with everyone there. it was so awesome to look around and see more than 20 men, kneeling with us as we said the prayer.
May 13, 2013
it almost doesn't seem real that i got to talk to you guys yesterday. it was the best seriously to talk with all you. you guys are #1 thanks for all you do for me seriously, all the support you give me is amazing. baby brox is seriously so rad. im so stoked for morgan and whitney and everything thats happening in there lives. they will be an example super big in my life of the things i wanna be doing when i have there age. but right after we signed off on skype, we just continued doing the same things. haha just went straight in to contacts and teaching people again! so stoked though to be a missionary
i wanted to let you know about something rad that happened yesterday. so when i left bom jardim, a short term missionary went in my spot. turns out hes from an area super close here in joao pessoa. so at church yesterday he came to my ward here just to talk with me and give me an update on what happened and who got baptised there. so 4 people that i was teaching got baptised, but one story was super cool. we were teaching this mom of the family for more than a month, but she was traveling and stuff and just didnt work out for her to go to church while i was there which was a bummer. she is super good but wouldn't commit to baptism and we couldnt figure out why. the first day she went it was fast and testimony meeting and she got up during the middle of it and went to the pulpit and said,"i wanted to bear my testimony that because the things elder taylor and elder cezar taught to me, i know the church is true from the power of the holy ghost and i want to get baptized. in the name of jesus chrirst amen." haha everyone was like whattt! how awesome is that?
this week was solid! we got some motivation really to work on families after we both talked to our families on mothers day so we went nuts trying to find a family. every day we are praying to find a family that we can baptise and in one year go get sealed in the temple, if you guys could remember this in your prayers too i would really love that. we need all the help we can get!" haha had some good rejections with some families which is always a little sad but we know eventually well find one. just one family to have the happiness and blessings and knowledge that they will stay together for ever would be the COOLEST thing ever. one thing that weve been doing every day with just about ever contact we do or certainly with every lesson, is sing a hymn. the hymns are so powerful. such an awesome way to invite the spirit to seriously just warm up the room or the street or any place. i love singing hymns. i still don't sing the best haha so im thankful that no matter how bad you sing, the spirit will come.
May 27, 2013
this week we made some visits with some members in our ward who wanted to visit some less actives in the favella and wanted our "security" . we made some visits but was so funny, after 10 minutes everyone was sweating and complaining about how aweful this is and all this stuff! haha after an hour we went back because they were all dying! it ust made me greatful for the missionary mantle that i have cause sometimes i dont know how we do this everyday!
June 3, 2013
carumba i dont believe im almost 20!! haha what the heck happened when did i get so old?! it definetely doesnt feel like im gonna have a birthday. it will seriously just feel like another day. i almost forgot until i read your emial. but its great that im getting lost in the work, haha best birthday present ever! i got the cards you send me . you guys are number one and i love you so much.
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| We gave some happy birthday wishes vis white board! |
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| Uncle Craig and Aunt Joy |
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| Luke |
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| Morgan, Whitney and Brox |
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| Connee and Robbie Romero |
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| Mom and dad! |
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| Grandpa and Grandma Morgan |
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| The Robert Morgan Family |
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| Jeff and Nan |
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| Aunt Stacey and cousin Megan |
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| The Brokaw Family |
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| The Alan Morgan Family |
so morgan, i always said i really wanna be like you. so this week i followed a little more in your example, and i ate chicken feet. haha really it was so weird! just jaming the whole foot of the chicken in your mouth and sucking/chewing on the fatty little bit of meat that the foot has to offer. haha so weird serioously! they dont waist anything in the other countries.
right now im so sore.. last night we were teaching, me and elder williams in his area, and we finished a lesson super late and were stll so far from our house and no time to return. so we ran i thnk a litle more than 2 miles spriting back to the house to try to make it before our cerfew. we made it at 9:33 wich was a little sad but hey the good part is is that i think i ran like a 5 minute mile haha im so out of shape right now.
this week was really good, really we have been foucusing a ton on working with members. because our area is one of the richest here in the north on brazil and to be honest its a a whole diferent way you have to work because most of the people here have all the necessidades of life and think they dont need the gospel to be happy. but i love working with them, teaching people who are smart is a lot of fun. because besides the fact of the gospel being true, everything logically makes sence too which is so awesome. so really weve just been using our extra time where normally wed just do a million contacts, and have been serving the members. like a mentoned earlier every day we are praying for a family that we can baptize and seal in the temple. we know that through the membors heavely father will answer our prayers. we have been serving them in our spare time and weve already gotten 2 families as referals which is so awesome. was rad in fast and testimony meeting we had 4 or 5 people mention us and how really we are like Christ and jus talked about the spirit that they feel when we were serving them. this week we painted a wall in the house of these newley weds who will have their baby in july. i couldnt help thinking about morgan and whitney and broxy when i we were helping them. service.. its so awesome. always look for opportunities to serve, we will grow closer to our heavenly father and really it is the key to happyniess in our lives.
love you all so much, sorry for al the spelling mistakes in my email haha ill blame it on the keyboard.
June 5, 2013
June 5, 2013
carumba i dont belive that im 20 haha i keep forgetting because every day is almost the same exact. but youll be stoked abou this. i got my package on the 5th of june so it was perfect, got to wake up and feel special! super awesome thank you so much for all the stuff it was perfect, im basically drinking tapatio too now which makes life so much better
there are iguanas that are wild here that stay more in like the jungle but sometimes they leave the forest and stuff and yesterday there was some huge iguanas in the house of the member where we ate, i was dying i wanted to have my camera of holding it after we caught them but yea it was rad.
the rain had been crazy this week too which is good and bad. but yesterday when i went to go get some of our investigators that live on the other side of the river, the river had risen up and was all in the houses of everyone and everywhen in the streets of the favella. water up to the thighs in the roads of where the houses are and water super high that was passing over the bridge. but still they needed to get to church before sacrament and theres really no other way around the river so we just went in. it was a super fun experience we got to cary some people throught the flooded streets/ river until they got to the dry ground so they could go to church. something ill never forget!
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| Flooded street right in the middle of the homes where they teach. |
a mom of a recent convert was super super sick the other week. she accepts our visits but she doesnt want anything at all to do with our church and didnt really belive in Jesus Christ , even though we testified with all our might. we unfortunately had to drop her our of our teaching pool. so yea se got super sic and was in the hospital for almost a month, and was in the urgent care. we went to give her a blessing one day and everything that could have happend to keep us from giving her a blessing happened. seriously, everything that you could imagine, even a document that one of her sons signed saying hat nobody could even enter the room and everything. after some prayer, and some help from the head doctor, miraculously we got in to visit her. we had to put on these body suits and masks and gloves and things because she had a gnarly infection. when i saw her in this room with a bunch of other people who had the same problem, i thought she was really gonna die as with everyone else. but we gave her a blessing and left. she started to gert better and she got home this week finally after 1 and a half months in the hospital. she called us over and in one of the most humble voices ive heard, she thanked us for the blessing. and just went on and on and how Jesus is our savior and some really special things. turns out that every other person in the room that had the same problem passed away. the doctor told her that she was sure she was gonna die. what joy i had after i heard this. i just want you all to know that i am so greatful for the priesthood in our lives. i know that it is real. i see things happening every day that strengthen my testimony. i know that with our faith and through the power of the priesthood, everything is possible. i know that Heavenly Father loves us and that he gave this present to us. i am so greatful that i had examples and help in my life to be where i am now, worthy to use my priesthood. i know that Jesus is the Christ and that through his atonement, and only through his atonement, we can return to live with our families with Heavenly Father.
June 19, 2013
this week flew by seriously! pretty soonit will be p day again too. so yea im still here in manaira. i was praying that i would stay. as much as us jrs suffer here with running the two areas, i couldnt be more happy because we get to learn from the best. all the missionaries in our house right now are such studs. this means i will stay in the joao pessoa missão too. i feel its where i am supposed to be.
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| Sportin' his new fanny pack! |
so when the aps are gone its just me and elder williams. hes from oregon, loves to boat, ride motos and do everything i love so its so fun im seriously enjoying my time with him. we will be friends long after the mission too. hes in the military and is a complete stud. im learning how importance following every little rule is and doing the small and simple things. i love it. had some rad experiences with prayer this week which i am so happy i had. like morgan said to me a little bit ago, on the mision is where he learned to really pray and get answers to help us out, i can say i am totally learning the same. love our Savior so much.
have a wonderful week and in the words of pedro, i hope all your wildest dreams come true.
June 24, 2013
well first of off it was crazy to hear that travis passed away. seriously he is such a good person. i was telling my companion here that he was probably one of the only kids that i know that hasnt made anyone mad or one of the only people that doestn have anybody who doesnt like him. i remember so much with travis and always being happy, even when he was tired and stuff he was always super happy. but something even cooler that happened when i read about his death, was that i had super strong feelings of peace, something i wasnt expecting to have. i was just thinking about why, and its because i know that he will accept the gospel there in the spirit world. i dont have any doubt about that, and with his help and our help as friends we can help the family know about the wonderful plan that heavelny Father really has for us. what a blessing and peace that this knowledge gives to us. please send a big old hug to everyone in the family, and most importantly, pass on the knowledge that we have about our heavenly fathers plan.
so elder stanley went to mission natal, now im companions with elder call (or elder tall because hes 6'7 - 6'8) haha so i feel so short these days and i dont like it! but yea i will learn a bunch again with another assistant. i feel super blessed to be learning already from my 3rd companion assistant. so ya they teach us about everything, were all super close and i love it. now we have 6 people living in our house, 3 americans, 3 brazilians its pretty crazy but its really good.
today is a holiday called saint john (about john the batist) seriously so pointless. all the people use anything they can to have a day off or something of work. so all of them just light fires in front of the houses, eat corn and shoot off fireworks. even untill the kids with 4 years are running aroun blowing thingsd up its nuts haha i love brazil..
July 1, 2013
heres a big tourney going on in the soccer world so its been absolutely nuts during the time when brazil is playing. youd just think the people here are straight up nuts. after every goal that brazil makes it sound like a war zone, you almost just have to stop and find a safe place because of all the fireworks and like little bombs they set off just to make noise. i cant even imagine the world cup, im so stoked haha love brazil. this week was pretty rad, i saw an aligator in the river that i sent a photo to you guys. just a fat aligator chilling waiting to eat something.
sister hall and pres hall are officially on theirway to the US! so nuts it was so sad to see them go but i love them so much, i will for sure visit them after the mission. they left us with some american food like chilies, brownies, root beer and things like that and i was just stoked out of my mind. if you could just let them know, maybe through pres and sister woffinden, how much their examples touched our lives as missionaries and how i will always remember them/ so greateful for their examples and everything that would be so great. they are special people. pres and sis noguira arived and they are ready to rock and roll. i think we are the only missionaries here who have already talked to them. you can see they have the mantle ready and im excited to follow his councils as he gides the mission in building the kingdom of god.
we had 5 baptisms this week wich was super special.
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| Elder Call (or should I say Elder Tall) |
July 8, 2013
so this week was good. we baptised a girl named Mayra, shes super smart. she has 8 years and shes super cute but really knows her stuff about the gospel. shes a sister of a member. were working on the family right now but first they need to get married.
its been raining so much so basically ive been non stop soaked for 2 weeks. but its all part of the work. remember when we'd look on the weather and its say that its raining? and then we just thought oh its probably cloudy or the forecast is wrong.. haha nope, its dead on!
one of my baptisms here just went to the temple for the first time. so stoked he loved it. theres just a special thing about the temple that cant be explained. thats about all for my email this week sorry!
but just wanted to say how rad our family is. how blessed i feel for being in this family. something that i came to a conclusion here from reading the scriptures and pmg is that the best way to show how much you love someone, is inviting them to be baptised.. this is my motto here. maybe its a little different for you guys but maybe it could be changed, to inviting them to church or to talk with the missionaries.
July 15, 2013
this week was rad, the man we baptised is super cool. hes the uncle of Yago, a recent convert, who actually got to baptize ricardo. just real fast wanted to say how there are people out here that are just ready to hear the gospel. its so easy to get down thinking that theres not to many people ready and waiting to hear the gospel but heres a quick story on him. so Yago invited him to church and his uncle ricardo said that he didnt want to go and what not so we just moved on. and then sunday i went to church and he was there and i was super surprised. he just said that he woke up and couldnt go back to sleep because he has such a strong feeling to go to church and everything. so he got up in the rain, took the bus all by himself to the church and was the first one there at the church. i was talking to him and just super fast invited him to be baptised and he just said, thats what ive been waiting to here, what do i need to do. haha i just got so stoked and said just grab a towel, undies and lets go to the beach! he was so prepared already, he got special permission to get baptized with only one sunday in the church. we taught him the lessons and he was living all the standards and just was such a strong feeling that he needed to be baptised and everyone felt it. after the baptism he just started crying because of how happy he was feeling and everything i just gave him a huge hug and was so happy.
the holy ghost is real and i know that there are people ready and waiting to hear the message of the restoration, and its through the members that well find them.
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| Yago and his Uncle Ricardo |
July 22, 2013 (one of my favorite emails)
so because i work in two wards, we have 2 lunches everyday when the AP's are traveling so we chose one or the other, normally the better lunch haha. but theres a guy in the other ward who lives on the 25th floor of this apartment looking over the beach. (ive already sent home pictures from his house) the view is imaculate and the food is awesome too. (dont put his name in the email you send out because maybe its personal) his name is _______, hes super rad, but inactive in the church and he and his wife whos not a member gives food to the missionaries but the bishop said were not alowed to invite them to church, or to hear the missionary lessons or anything like that, just lunch and then leave. so just a little backround about him, he is the CEO of this huge construction company here in brazil so he is absolutely loaded but the part thats cooler is that he built every temple here in Brazil, except manaus. how awesome is that?! everybody here in brazil knows him, seriously. so hes super smart and super rich and everything. all the missionaries have a lot of intimidation by him and what not but for some reason when i lunched there the first time we just clicked. he surfs, windsurfs and does a lot of stuff i did at home.
i have alwasy looked forward to the day to eat there. it was easy to see his heart was a little hardened and stuff which is sad, but one day he was sick and i asked if i could give him a blessing and he accepted, i think that opened up his heart a little. this past week me and Elder Williams ate there again and before we left we just felt prompted to sing a hymn for them. so we sang the hymn and the spirit was super strong. we just sat there enjoying the spirit not talking after the hymn, he looks to his wife and asks, 'what do you think about taking the missionary dicussions?" we just about dropped out of our chairs when we heard that. she accepted and we marked a day to come back. but he said to us that the only reason why she accepted to hear the discusions was because of the power of the hymn we sang. not only did this open up her heart, but his heart too. he asked if i could return and teach the wife with elder williams, even though its out of my area. so we taught here and it was so great. they will be going to church this next sunday. maybe that doesnt sound like a huge deal but literally the bishop and all the leaders are so stoked, as we are. this would help the church here so much so please keep him and his wife ____ in your prayers.
i know that hymns have a special power to them. i know that because ive seen the hearts been opened of the people weve been teaching, allowing a little seed for the gospel to be planted. im so greatful for the gift of music and the spirit that we feel from it. im super excited for the progress of _____, this is a big one. i know that Jesus is our savior and redeemer and that God is our loving Heavenly father.
July 31, 2013
momma the hymn we sung was careço de jesus #61, sorry i forgot the hymn name in english but its really beautiful. ( i looked it up and it is "I Need Thee Every Hour") the spirit that we felt was so awesome. i actually met a nother person who knows _____ this week and said will go to church. one of the other richest people here in the north of brazil, so i think there could be a little hook there. unfortunately i wont be here to be help them in there progress because im getting transfered tomorrow.
so now to the super rad part that mom haha im in the same nervous boat as you are as to a calling ( Spencers mom just got called to be a seminary teacher).. i got called to serve in the area of taporaroca, Mamanguape. and ill be training there too. i will leave tomorrow because my new son (brand new missionary companion straight out of the MTC) hasnt gotten here yet, his name is elder loveland and thats all i know about him. but i will be opening up a new branch. its super small and just got changed from a district, to a branch so now they can have missionaries there and well be the first missionaries there. im pretty nervous but so stoked and am excited to apply everything that i learned here. thats about all i have to say or know about the area but in a few more days ill let you know more about it, probably with photos!
so stoked,
Elder Taylor
