{Week 55} Polanco - December 29, 2014

Merry Christmas! It was really strange to see you all Christmas - like you said Dad, very surreal. And afterwards I sat by the computer for about five minutes just thinking about you all and what you'd be doing after we hung up. I loved seeing you all - you've all grown up!

 The YW card arrived! Thank you!

For Christmas Eve we worked until 6:30 - at this time we all had to be with a member or in the house. It rained all day and was miserable and wet. It was cold! I can stand the cold in the street, but what gets me is that often it's colder inside the houses than outside. They don't have heating in the houses here, so it's always cold inside right now (and dad, we use Celsius here, not F). We spent Christmas Eve with Josefina and her daughter Diana. They made us spaghetti and a hamburger helper type thing. They also made us lemon pie and a fancy jello. It was good and we enjoyed our time with them, then they brought us home about 8:30.

Diana and Josefina - lemon pie and jello!

Josefina gave us treat bags!

Then Hna Luque and I were just chatting, sharing all the Christmas traditions that our families have. The next thing we knew, it was midnight! So we opened our presents. I had a few things from you all, and something from Hna Luque, but her parents didn't send her anything (Argentina is a bit far and it would cost a ton - she hasn't gotten any packages her whole mission). So I had made or sneakily bought her a bunch of presents so she'd have something to open. They don't really do gifts here for Christmas. A few families might have Santa come, but most just wait till 3 Kings Day - when the 3 kings bring them gifts. But they don't really exchange gifts. Hermana Luque and I also sang a few Christmas hymns together. It was really sweet and I loved it - definitely the strangest Christmas ever, but very sweet.

Our Christmas present stash.

And then on Christmas, we went to the first counselor in the bishoprics house to have breakfast and skype! That was fun :) It made me cry. Then we went with the family Maldonado for Christmas dinner. Then we went home and slept! Lots of members, converts, and a few investigators sent us texts wishing us a Merry Christmas which I really appreciated. And that was my Christmas!

(Our side of the skype with Hna Taylor.  She's meeting her 6 month old niece Addison for the first time and everyone is trying to get Addison to smile for her auntie.  Didn't work!) 

Church was a lot of fun on Sunday. I don't know why, but I just really enjoyed it. Remember Jorge? one of Edgar and Adolfo's friends? He came to church and has decided that he wants to get baptized! We haven't seen him in like a month and a half, and then out of nowhere he came to church! That got us pretty excited. And Vianney and Monse (two sisters, 16 and 18) came to church too. And they really liked it! Things are looking good! And then in Relief Society they gave us cake. Cake always makes things better. And Josefina was super sick, but still came to church because she was so excited to be confirmed. I love confirmations!

I love Christmas. I love the music of Christmas. I love the lights, the food, and I love to remember the reason for the season. I know that Christ gave everything for us. I know that He loves us. There is a video by the Mormon Tabernacle choir called ''What shall we give to the babe in the manger'' or something like that. It's beautiful and I highly recommend it. He has given us everything, and Christmas is a great time to remember and to think about what we are going to give Him this year.

I love it here. I love all of you. Sorry it's a short letter today. I hope you all have a lovely week. Thanks for sending me dad's talk. I printed it out but haven't read it yet.

Have a great week, and I'll talk to you next year! Be good, say your prayers, and love everyone!

-Hna Taylor

What could it be?

"We love our Moose"
A family photo calendar for the new year!





 

(Picture on the front of the calendar.  Hna Taylor is the giant stuffed Moose being hugged by her sisters.)

{Week 54} Polanco - December 22, 2014

Dad, I would love a copy of your talk if you have one. It sounds like it was a great talk. I love you so much - you're awesome.

Jordy and Katia, thanks for the letters. I love you both!

SKYPE!  I am so excited to see you all again! Even if it is just through the computer. I love you all tons and can't wait to hear all your voices!

So we've seen several miracles this week! And it's all due to the spirit of Christmas.

We went Christmas Caroling! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, us, the Elders, and several YSA (Young Single Adults) and youth went Christmas caroling - we sang to everyone. Members, less actives, investigators, and houses that we randomly knocked on. And it was amazing. I want to tell you all the miracles that happened each day:

TUESDAY

- the first people we sang to were Adolfo and Edgar. Then we invited them to come with us. Adolfo was busy and couldn't, but Edgar came, and brought Adolfo's 6 year old son Issac. This was one of the biggest miracles of all - because Edgar got to know the other people we brought with us, and they've been helping to fellowship him and he's suddenly been getting a lot more excited about the gospel. He had been feeling kind of rejected lately in church because of all his tattoos and his past. He was a bad guy before and has changed so much. He said he couldn't believe he was singing Christmas songs in the street with ''churchy'' people, and that he was enjoying it so much. And he was singing with all his heart - even though he didn't know the hymns. It was so awesome! We didn't think he'd come with us again, but Wednesday he was the first one there.

- Issac (Adolfo's son) was super cute. We gave him a stack of cards that say ''He is the Gift'' that have the website for the video and our phone number on the back, and he ran around giving these cards to everyone we saw. Super cute! He'll be a good missionary some day!

- Vanessa is 18 and is less active. She came with us too and also loved it. And our amazing YSA friends that came helped her to feel welcome.

- We sang to Gustavo's family - he's in another part of the city working right now, but we went to sing to his mom and aunt and cousins, and his mom and aunt just cried. They are now taking the discussions from us - haven't come to church yet, but there is hope!

- While we were singing to a less active, a drunk taxi driver behind us got out and asked if he could sing with us. We said sure why not! So he started following us in his taxi from house to house and singing with us. After about four houses he started crying and telling us how he wanted to change his life. So we got his address and sent the missionaries! But it's a different stake so I don't know what happened after. His name was Fernando.

Christmas Carolers! - we're with gustavo's family here.

WEDNESDAY

- we sang to a lot of random people this day. We'd be singing to a family that we know, but then the windows of all the neighbours would open and they would see us, so we 'd go sing to them afterwards. And several gave us appointments!

- we sang to one family of converts that is super poor - they have hardly anything and recently sold their stove to get a bit more money. They were all in tears. The lady just kept saying ''thank you.'' It was really humbling and powerful.

- at the end we went to Isabel's house (one of the YSA) and her mom gave us all ponche - it's like an apple cider type drink but with lots of different fruits. Really good!

More Christmas Caroling

THURSDAY

- this day we were running out of people to sing to, so we started knocking on some random doors and a few accepted us!

- we also sang to lots of investigators and old investigators - and several cried and asked us to come visit them again. It was amazing to see them feel the spirit so strongly.

And even more!

And on Sunday, Josefina got baptized! That was so beautiful - it was one of the most spiritual baptismal programs I've been too. Lots of tears. Hna Luque and I sang ''I Like to Look for Rainbows'' and Josefina cried through the whole thing. Elder Hixen baptized her, and she was just so happy. We couldn't find the white baptismal jumpers (our ward mission leader lost them) so one hermana let us borrow her white temple dress for the baptism. Josefina was super happy with the dress and she looked beautiful. She was so happy and peaceful - and at the end she bore her testimony. That was beautiful - she said she knows that José Smith was a prophet and el Libro de Mormón is true, and that this is the true church. She said that when she entered the water she had an overwhelming feeling of peace and joy. It's amazing because I've known her since I arrived in this area. She lives in the same house as a YSA in our ward. But she never wanted to listen to us - was always giving excuses and stuff like that. But then she finally agreed to come to a FHE - and loved it and started listening to it. Five weeks later, she got baptized! It's these moments that make it all worth it. I can stand 1000 rejections to see one person change their life and come to feel the Spirit and the love of their Heavenly Father so strongly. It was beautiful and I am so happy for Josefina. I love her so much!

Elder Hixen, Hna Luque, Diana (Josefina's daughter), Rosio (the YSA who lives in the same house), Josefina, and me!

It was a great week here for us. I'm learning lots these days, and feeling the spirit really strongly. I love this gospel so much! And I love Christmas! I hope you all have a great Christmas. Remember the reason - and remember all that Christ has done for us. I love my Savior and I know that He loves us. It will be a different Christmas - no snow, no finger food, no family... But I know it will be a great Christmas.

I love you all. Be good, say your prayers, and have a Feliz Navidad!

Love Hermana Taylor

{Week 53} Polanco - December 15, 2014

¡¡Feliz Navidad!!

Hola mi hermosa familia! This week has been really different... lots of Christmas parties! But more about that later...

Jordy, I loved your letter. I always knew you'd make an amazing missionary... hint hint lol.

And it's a miracle! The mail does work! I got two packages - one with ketchup chips (thanks mom!) and the other with sweet chili heat doritios and Christmas presents! That was awesome :) And I love all the Spanish sayings you sent me!

So Cambios! We did not have them! So that means that I'll be staying in P till the beginning of February! That means that 9 months, half of my mission, I will be here. It was funny because yesterday a whole bunch of members were saying goodbye to me because they all thought I'd be having changes... oops! Elder Evans and his comp, Elder Chok, will be staying too. They had us all speak in church on Sunday, and at the last minute they announced that we'd be singing a special number too - but we hadn't practiced anything! We sang ''Jesus en pesebre'' - ''Away in a Manger''. They also forgot to mention that we'd be speaking in church on Sunday, so I had to make up a talk right there at the pulpit. I talked about the story of Christmas among the Nefitas, and then tied it all in to keeping the commandments. I thought it went well, although there had been technology problems and we had to do it without a microphone - so I felt like I was shouting the whole time.

We're also using the ''He is the Gift'' video, but for us it's called ''Él es la dádiva''. The funny part is that a lot of people don't know what ''Dádiva'' means because it's like a really fancy way to say gift. But it's a really nice video - I love how clearly it expresses the meaning for the season. The church did another video similar to ''He is the Gift'' called ''Because of Him'' (I think it's called that - I've never seen it in English.) I also love that video.

So! About those Christmas parties... on Wednesday we had a party as a mission. We all met in my stake center around 9, where we ate muffins, then had a devotional that was beautiful filled with music and Christmas messages. Then we had a talent show! That was a lot of fun and just a little bit crazy. And Hna Luque and Hna Cardenas convinced me to sing with them! We sang ''O Holy Night'' but in Spanish, and we were so nervous! It sounded good, but our practices were a ton better. It was lots of fun. Then they gave us a lovely Christmas dinner... but not going to lie... noodle salad with raisins and dry turkey with a weird sauce wasn't exactly the best Christmas meal I've ever had... but no importa! Then they had 4 different things we could do - play basketball, play futbol (soccer), play futbol americano (football) or..... watch FROZEN!!!!! We opted to watch Frozen. I had Hna Mercedes on one side and Hna Luque on the other. They both hadn't seen it and were killing themselves laughing. They both got so into it it was hilarious to watch them. And I hadn't seen it for a year, so I also thoroughly enjoyed it. It was so nice to enjoy a good movie. The only movies we've watched in a long time are Finding Faith in Christ and the Restoration. And I love them and all, but we watch them a ton for FHE's or with investigators... it was nice to see something different. We got back to our area around 6 that day to work.

With the mission president.

Watching the Talent Show.

Then on Thursday we had to return to our house at 7, and Friday we weren't allowed to leave our house for anything. It was Virgin Day - when they celebrate the Virgin of Guadelupe (what they call the Mary, the mother of Jesus - it's a long and complicated story how they changed the name. I'll tell you later.) So this day all the Catholics (which is everybody) celebrate, and a lot of them kind of get drunk. There were fireworks all day long. And, on this day, everyone walks to the Basilica of Guadelupe. Some live close and just have to go a few hours, but others start a couple days early to walk there. And the really devout ones go on their knees. It was crazy - the main streets all filled with people walking to the Basilica. We could see them Thursday in the streets, then we locked ourselves in our house. That was a fun day - we kept busy all morning studying and stuff, but about 3 I got pretty bored. We slept a lot. Good times lol.

And then on Saturday at 5, we had our ward Christmas party. That was fun! We started out breaking some piñatas and then had a Christmas dinner. The piñatas were hilarious! Every organization had to bring their own piñatas, so us 4 missionaries got to thinking that we wanted to break a piñata too... And Gustavo was nice enough to make us a piñata! That was a ton of fun to break - I may just want to break a few when I get home! Hna Luque went first, then me, then Elder Evans - he broke it. Elder Chok didn't even get a chance pobrecito lol.

Us with the piñata - our ward mission leader is in the middle.

Me breaking the piñata.

The Ward Christmas dinner.

Josefina is doing great - she'll be getting baptized Sunday after church. I love her so much and am so glad I'll get to be here for her baptism. Keep praying for her though - the last week is always the toughest. That's when the most trials come.

I LOVE being a missionary. I can't believe I've been doing this for a year. We took your advice and went looking for some of our old investigators - and found a family that we never wanted to drop, we just couldn't find them ever again. And they've started reading el Libro de Mormon - ójala that they progress!

And I wanted to share my testimony with you all - but especially for Jennafer. I've been thinking about you a lot lately Penny - and I wanted you to know how much I love you. I want you to know that I know that Jesus lives and loves me and you. I know that He is our Savior - and that He knows us personally. He loves us so much and has done so much for us. 1 Nefi 19:9 is one of my favourite scriptures - I know that He did so much and suffered so much for us because He loves us! And like it says in Alma 26:12 - alone I'm weak, but with Him I can do all things. I know that alone I never would be enough. But thanks to Him, we can rise above the challenges and the weaknesses, and come to be like Him. I love Him. And I know that He loves us. Always remember that He loves you and is with you.

I love Christmas - miss my white Christmas, but it's pretty awesome Mexican style too.

Hope you all have a lovely week, and I can't wait to talk to you on Christmas!

Be good, say your prayers, and remember that He loves you.

Love you all

-Hna Taylor

 I saw this sweater in the tianguis and just HAD to buy it - only 15 pesos!

{Week 3} MTC - December 27, 2013

Hola mi familia!!!



Our gifts under the Charlie Brown tree from Lisa.

That's so cool that Erica saw me!! I was in the choir, and we sang "Where Shepherds Lately Knelt" for Elder Bednar. It's a beautiful song - you should look it up.
 

 It was Elder Bednar!! He walked in and we all shot to our feet. It was so exciting! He conducted a huge question and answer session - it was super cool, because we were broadcasted live to most of the other MTC's, and they were all emailing questions in, and he passed out 200 cell phones to us that we passed around and used to text him questions. He had a "magic Ipod" (his words) that recieved all our questions and he answered a whole bunch of them. It was a really cool experience! His only condition was that we couldn't call home, or he would "hunt us down and do bad things to us". It was hilarious. He even did "all in favor? any opposed?" I love Elder Bednar. Every Sunday we get to watch a movie (or at least, the MTC's version of a movie) and last week we watched Elder Bednar's talk called "the Character of Christ" that he gave at the MTC a few Christmases ago. It was an amazing talk. I urge to search Youtube to see if it is there. It was really great to have Elder Bednar and his wife there for Christmas.

 

Our District on Christmas Day!

Christmas morning we started off with a talent show, in which multiple missionaries shared their amazing talents. There was several piano numbers, some songs, violins, guitars, cellos - everyone was super talented and there was some really funny acts as well as some more serious ones. We had a blast - clapping and cheering the whole time. Some of the more memorable performances include a Yiddish Bottle Dance, where he danced around with a bottle on his head humming his own background music, and a Magician! the Magician was so cool! He turned handkerchiefs into batons and umbrellas and had floating cards and confetti flying around - he got an instant standing ovation. Then we all sang called to serve (cuz we sing that a lot) we started quiet and slowly got louder until the last chorus was deafening! I started crying it was so amazing! I love hearing the testimonies of all the missionaries being proclaimed as loud as possible!!!!

 

It was just amazing. Then we had a band come and perform for us - It was a jazz band, and they were really good, but we were all getting tired and so it was hard to pay attention. Then in the evening, we watched the Mormon Tabernacle Choir 2012 Christmas Program, and it was great! I really enjoyed that one. And they gave us popcorn to eat while we watched it!!! Unfortunately, we had been sitting in those bleachers almost all day by now (we took 1 hour breaks after each program, but then it was back to the bleachers) and people got really noisy and disruptive. 30 min in, the MTC president got up and asked us all to "cool it". So we did and the rest of the program was wonderful.

 

Spanish is coming along!! I'm slow and I falter a lot, but I am now mostly able to say what I want to in a lesson... when it comes to real life I'm lost, but I'm figuring out the Gosple stuff!! Spanish is different because of verb conjugations. For example, "Vivir" is "to live", but depending on who you are talking about and exactly when they lived, the end changes. They are small changes but there are enough of them that it gets confusing. For most you can just follow the rules, but then there are a whole bunch of irregular ones that change all the time, and of course those are the most common ones. For them, you're stuck with straight memorization.

Some West Campus food and my Spanish study notes!!!

But I love Spanish! It's a beautiful language. I still stink at it, but I'm getting tons better. Every evening we have 2 hours just for language study, and I study hard. By that time of day everyone else is pretty sick of studying though, so they can get a little rowdy. My companion and I are pretty good about telling others to "silencio" or going into a side room to get some stuff done.

 

We teach two investigators now - Jacob (Ha - cob) is really chatty and inquistive, while Mateo barely speaks at all. But they are both amazing in their own way - even if they are just the split personalities of our teachers.

Elder Hixen remarked the other day how cool it is that the Spirit plays our games with us - helping us to find out exactly what our investigator needs at that moment, even though they aren't real investigators. My testimony of the Spirit has grown so much since I've been here. I've learned so much about listening and following it's promptings. It's amazing.

 

This morning during personal study I read in 2 Ne 4:16-35, and it is one of my new favorite section of scripture. If you have time you should read it... just saying :-)



My schedule!!!

 Our zone leaders and their district leave on Sunday, which means we'll be the oldest district. That's super strange, because I feel like we just got here. We're really going to miss that district. It's made of 6 elders, and all of them are so funny and friendly. Our zone has grown really close. We always eat together, and it's a grand time. Elders Sonntag and Hixen are going to be our new zone leaders. They'll be really good, but I will miss Elder Parke and Sanders - they were awesome.

Anyway, I love you all! Christmas here has been amazing, and has felt nothing like Christmas. But I was so glad I got to spend it in the MTC. I love this church. I know it's true.

 And I love you all!! Thanks for the picture - I love showing my family to everyone. I brought that amazing calendar you gave me to class and showed everyone the pictures. And the blanket does help! especially when our heater broke a couple nights ago - it's fixed now though. And Jordyn, that painting was amazing!



The painting Jordyn made for me for Christmas.

Carlee, I loved your rendition of the Moose book. Jenna, poke poke poke. Katia, I miss snuggling with you! Mackenzie, Elder Bednar introduced us to a couple of his granddaughters, and they looked just like you! I miss you! Richelle and Logan, how's baby Heggie? And Mom and Dad, thanks so much for being such amazing example to me. I love you!!!!

 

FYI - My permanent retainer on my bottom teeth has gotten really lose all of a sudden. I'm working on making an apppointment with the dentist to get it reglued, so it doesn't fall off in Mexico.

 

Love you!

-Hermana Taylor

 

Decorating the apartment!



Christmas!!!

Hermana Gurley and I with our Called to Serve pens.
She was so happy!  Thank you!!!

We had a crazy sword fight with these blow up maple leaf tubes . . .
then collapsed on the couch!

MTC - Christmas Day

Feliz Navidad!!! This is my only time to email today. Of course my district got the 7:00 slot lol. And I only have 20 min, and I can't send pictures. But that's ok!! I am just happy to get to write you all! This has been the weirdest Christmas ever. Yesterday we were like... "Wait. It's Christmas Eve?" It really sneaks up on you when you're completely distracted with so many other things. But I love it!

Last night the Hermana's and I all pulled our mattresses into the living room and had a Christmas Sleepover. It was a lot of fun, and then just as we were all falling asleep, there was a pounding on our door, and we could see our Elders running away. We were joking about how immature they were for playing Nicky Nine Door, and then I was like, "What if they left something?" so we opened the door, and there was a box filled with candy!! Our district is the best one ever!

Last night, we had our Christmas Eve devotional. Our guest speaker was Elder Dave Evans of the 70, who is executive director of the missionary department or something like that. He starts off by telling us how excited we'll be tomorrow when we get to hear from Elder... and then he stopped! and was like "I guess that's supposed to be a secret!" We all groaned in disappointment, because we've been speculating over who will be coming since we got here! But he gave a really great talk where he talked about proper communication and how our letters to our families need to uplift and edify them. He read a bunch of the letters he and his father exchanged, especially over Christmas. Dad, I was so happy to get your letter. It was beautiful, and honestly made me cry. I love you so much! All of your letters have been amazing. I love getting them.

I love you all so much... but I don't miss you. I'm where I'm supposed to be. I know that, and I'm happy to be here. One thing Elder Evans said was that the best way to celebrate His life, is by doing His work. I know that's true and I'm so happy to be doing it! This has been the weirdest Christmas, but also one of the best. I love this gospel! I know it's true. I know that our Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers, and that He loves us and will strengthen and edify us.

I also wanted to say thank you for all the presents! I got packages from the Gates, the Quists, and Lisa Anderson as well as you! Lisa sent me a Charlie Brown tree, so that's what all our presents are under. It's awesome! I opened all my presents from ya'll on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, because we're at main campus all day today and won't have much time to open presents. The only present I saved for this morning was my gift from the Savior. Thank you so much Mom! I love the necklace. I'm wearing it now and plan to wear it often. I loved the gifts from the girls as well. You're all amazing!

The blow up tubes in my stocking were a blast. The Hermana's and I blew them up and had a crazy sword fight. It was a blast! We couldn't stop laughing. They said to say thanks, as does my companion for the pen.

I love Christmas. Last night after the devotional the whole MTC got candy and watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas. It was so much fun! We've all seen that movie a bazillion times, but it was a blast to see it with everyone. Christmas is amazing. I'm so happy to be spending it in the service of the Lord. I hope all of you have a marvelous day, and have a lot of fun together, and that you remember the reason for the season.

Love you!

- Jasmine/Moose/Hermana Taylor