{Week 47} Polanco - November 3, 2014

So this has been a pretty crazy week... lots of strange stuff happened. And it all ended with a few miracles!

The craziness started Monday, when we were studying as a district - suddenly, Elders Gerken, Evans, Martinez and Martinez came in with toilet paper masks. Elder Martinez started reading in Alma, the part about Captain Moroni. When he got to the part where Captain Moroni tore his cloak, Elder Gerken ripped his shirt off! (It's ok, it was an old white one that he had put on over top of his white shirts). It was hilarious - buttons flying everywhere. Then they wrote on it, and put it on a stick, and we all signed it and wrote down what we were fighting for - why we came on a mission. We made our own title of liberty. It was pretty awesome and got us pumped to go work!

The Elders playing captain Moroni.

Then Wednesday, Hna Monarrez (the sister training leader) came on divisions with me. She and I worked in my area while Hna Luque went with Hna Shingleton to the other area. It was a good time - we found 2 new investigators, and had 10 lessons! I learned some good stuff and had some fun!

Then Thursday we had a crazy adventure. I don't know if you remember, but we used to have some big curtainless windows in our house - Hna Luque and I kind of got tired of all the people who walked past seeing us in the kitchen, so we taped up some big ugly curtains. Then Thursday, we were leaving, and when Hna Luque shut the door, the curtain got shut in the door. Then I locked the door. But then... we couldn't get the key out, and we also couldn't open the door. The doors here don't have door knobs, it's just a key slot on the outside and a little latch you can pull on the inside. But because the curtain got shut in the door, the lock got jammed and we couldn't open it or get the key out... We tried for like 10 min with all our strength to open the door. Finally, I remembered that we had forgotten to lock the outside window. So we got it open and Hna Luque climbed through. All the windows here have bars on them to prevent thieves, but she is so skinny she was able to fit through. That was pretty funny - me lifting Hna Luque up to the window and her trying to climb through - all while the usual group of teenagers are skateboarding on the street beside us and laughing at us. So she finally got in the house, and was able to open the door from the inside - but we still couldn't get the key out. The lock was jammed and we would've had to take the whole mechanism off, and we tried to do that, but our butter knives were too fat so they couldn´t get the screws off - and somewhere in us trying to do this, Hna Luque shut the door again - while we were both outside! Once again we were locked out of the house! And Hna Luque had locked the window after she climbed through it, so we were completely stuck! She went to the window and tried to force it open, and I was working on very carefully trying to pop out one of the glass panels out of the door. They were just siliconed on, so it was easy, I just didn't want it to fall and break. I ended up only getting half of it off when I accidentally cut my finger on the glass - sliced the pad off my right hand pointer finger. It was bleeding a lot, so I ran across the street to beg a napkin from the small store there. Meanwhile, Hna Luque was able to force the window open, and crawl through again. Then we just left - we were late for an appointment by that point, so we just left the key in the door and took off. Later that night, our Elder's Quorum President came and helped us get the door lock mechanism off and unjammed the lock. Luque had to climb in the window again to let us in lol. But everything's good now!

Then on Friday I lost my agenda! That was really sad - our whole lives are in those agendas :( lol. And I had some information written down that Luque didn't, like the addresses of several people we had contacted in the street, and several phone numbers of investigators, etc. So sadly we lost some potential people - we'll just have to try to find them in the street again. And I lost my watch. The clasp was broken so it fell off my hand every 10 min, but this time I didn't notice it fall. I feel lost! I don't know when our appointments are, and I don't know what time it is anymore!

El Dia de los Muertos - Day of the Dead. That was a fun time. November 1 is apparently when the spirits of dead children come to visit, so this day all the kids get dressed up and leave to trick or treat - only they go the stores, not the houses. And they all have their faces painted like skulls or zombies or dead people. And Nov 2 is apparently when the spirits of the dead adults come to visit... there were a few adults dressed up, but there wasn't really anything that happened this day. It was Nov 1st when all the weird stuff happened - lots of teenagers/young adults in the street were also dressed up, and they walked around trying to scare people - they would come running up to us saying things like ''I'm going to kill you! I'm going to suck your blood!'' Then they would try to grab us and scare us. I really didn't like it. We didn't contact many people that day because we were walking really fast through the streets trying to avoid them. Thankfully, we were in the church from about 7- 8 for a baptism and weren't in the street during all the craziness. But when we left the church, a guy dressed as the devil and holding a lantern followed us for several blocks trying to freak us out. Not a fun day... But we got to see a baptism of the elders that was really nice, so that made things better.

And Sunday! Sunday was great - Edgar and Jorge came to church. Before, Jorge didn't even want to talk to us, then out of the blue he came to church and asked us to come visit him again this week! We're hoping for the best! And Edgar came and was super excited. He's been working so hard to stop smoking - he says he know without a doubt that it's true. At one point he was sitting by himself in sacrament meeting - and then the Stake President who is in our ward walked in. And instead of going to sit on the stand or by his wife, he went and sat by Edgar! That was so great and made Hna Luque and I really happy - It was a great example that lots of members noticed, and we're hoping it will help them be more willing to go and sit by investigators.

And now for the miracles! Sunday around 4, we went to the temple visitor's center! We went with Edgar, Adolfo, and Adolfo's daughter Charo (21) and his sons Abraham (16) and Issac (6). All 7 of us fit in a taxi to get there - Hna Luque on my lap lol. It was tight but we made it! They don't really enforce seatbelts here...

All of us in the visitor's center.

And we had such a wonderful time at the temple! Adolfo loved it, and loved being there with his kids. Charo came to church once - Adolfo brought her his first Sunday. But then she never wanted to talk to us. But she also loved the temple, and the fact that families can be forever, and was fascinated when we told her we have a prophet and 12 apostles. She's our age, so we chatted and joked the whole evening, and are good friends now, and she's agreed to meet with us on her next day off - Saturday. Abraham has been worrying us lately - he wasn't there for our last 2 appointments, and didn't come to church, but he also loved the temple and agreed to meet with us again. And Issac is a cutie that had a lot of fun too. And Edgar absolutely loved it. He said that when we entered the room with the statue of Christ, he felt like Christ was beckoning him - calling him to come unto Him. And later we watched a video about families - and he doesn't have a family right now - they don't want anything to do with him. But he said the video gave him hope that one day he can regain all that he had lost. He loved it, and said in one year he's going to come back, but to enter the temple this time. If everything works out, he should be getting baptized on Sunday.

Edgar, Abraham, Adolfo, Chaco and Issac

Me, Charo, Adolfo, Abraham at the temple

Hna Luque and I at the statue of Christ.

It's been a strange week, but a really good one too. I love being here and learning so much and feeling the spirit so much. Hna Luque is amazing and I love her. Next week are cambios - I'm torn. I would love another cycle with Hna Luque, but at the same time I've been in this area for quite awhile now... but whatever the Lord wants is good with me!

I love you all tons - be good, say your prayers, and please pray for Edgar so that he doesn't fall this week before his baptism.

You're all amazing - good jobs girls with your volleyball! You make me proud!

-Hna Taylor

Some really cute puppies!

{Week 46} Polanco - October 27, 2014

Dad, your beard was lovely. And every time you send me a Star Wars reference I can just picture you snickering away. Love you tons dad :)

And Jordy, you're crazy if you didn't like that picture. You are seriously gorgeous. I show lots of people here the picture of my family, and most of them point to you and tell me that you are beautiful. You're amazing kid!

Mackenzie, I look forward to your wedding. lol

Katia, you're just adorable.

Carlee, I'm proud of your awesome VB skills, and super excited that you're going to play Basketball!

And Jenna, I loved the story of the card game and you screaming. I miss your screams lol.

And Chelle and Logan! the other day I printed off a couple pictures that you had sent me of Addison, and showed them off to a bunch of members. They all instantly fell in love and demanded some copies of the photos. So there are now a bunch of strangers in Mexico that have pictures of your baby... lol.

And Mom, I always love your letters. You're amazing, and I have no doubt you'll be able to manage your busy schedule.

And I don't know how much a peso costs, but a dollar costs roughly 13 pesos...

So last Monday, another member invited us for a FHE, but it actually turned out to be a surprise Birthday Party! And this time the cake was CHOCOLATE and tasted so amazingly wonderful!

Cutting the cake! (it was SOOOOOO good!)

My beautiful chocolate cake!

The surprise birthday party. The lady in the background is one of our old investigators. She's friends with the member that gave me the party (Rocio) and came and gave me this necklace and the 2 tiny people you can see on the table.

Then we had a FHE with Fabiola and her family, and her brother Oscar who is 12 did the lesson - he made an awesome poster and taught us about keeping the Sabbath day holy, but he's really shy, so he kept hiding behind his hands, and it took us 5 min to convince him to talk. It was so sweet! Then we played telephone - that game where you whisper in the ear - and ate Rice pudding! It was so much fun! And they have a dog named Reina (Queen) that just had puppies! 2 of them and they are adorable - I'll send pics someday.

The FHE - Lalo has the paper, Oscar, and his Grandma.

And Fabiola did get baptized. That was beautiful. It was Saturday morning, and her family all came. We convinced Oscar to give the message about Baptism, and Fabiola's sister America (15 years) to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. Then, Hna Luque and I sang. Hna Luque is a music major and has an amazingly beautiful voice, and she convinced me it would be a good idea to do a duet. We sang ''He sent His son'', and she convinced me to sing a couple parts in English. I was so nervous I sounded like an opera singer because my voice was warbelling. lol. But it was actually really pretty, and the spirit was strong. Then Elder Gerken baptized Fabiola - her Grandpa doesn't have the priesthood, and then he was sick and couldn't even come. Fabiola had to get baptized 2 times because the first time her feet came up lol. But it was super sweet and she was really happy.

Fabiola at her baptism.

Fabiola, her family, and us at her baptism. Back: her uncle, her mom, her sister America, me, Front: Hna Luque, Suzana (Fabiola's grandma), Fabiola, Lalo and Oscar. (Oscar is her brother, Lalo is her brother's friend.)

And a couple kids contacted us this week - first a baby, he was in the window waving at us so we went over to say hi. Then his mom came to the window and let us in to teach them! Monica is the mom, and she has 2 little kids - Maria (5) and Joel (1). They're an adorable family - couldn't come to church, but we've got a lot of hope for them.

The second kid is name Karla - she's 8 and was in her doorway crying. She called us over and said she was all alone and was really scared and her mom hadn't arrived yet. She also said she hadn't eaten all day. She tried to get us to come in, but we can't be alone with kids so we didn't enter, but the weird part was that she was insisting that Hna Luque came in, but didn't want me to enter. We thought someone was inside and was making her bring us in to do something bad. But then her mom arrived and we realized that Karla just has a really active imagination and was super scared to be alone for 15 min while her mom went to the store. We ended up teaching them. the mom is named Ana, and she has 3 little kids (Karla (8), Vanessa (5), and Antonio (2). They're really poor, but super sweet.

And we also contacted a teenager named Emili. Normally the teenagers will give us an appointment just because they don't know how to say no, but then later never are there or don't let us in. But Emili was there waiting for us with her mom and 2 brothers. The mom is Yessica, and her 3 kids are Emili (13), Javiar (11) and Raziel (5). Raziel is the funniest little boy - super clever and he laughs histerically at the smallest things. He thought our accents were hilarious and laughed through the whole lesson lol. But they are a really sweet family and we feel like they've got a lot of potential. Love it!

Hna Luque has had a lot of migraines lately. If you wanted to pray for her it would be appreciated.

And Day light savings was Sunday! And no one told us! I knew it was soon, and have been asking everyone when, but nobody knew. I was so excited to sleep an extra hour... we went to church Sunday at 9 for ward council, but then found out it was actually 8, and had to sit there for an hour. The Bishop thought it was pretty funny.

So Jorge, Raul and Edgar are 3 of Adolfo's friends. they don't have anything so they're living with him right now. And they were progressing really well, but Sunday only Edgar came to church, and after when we went to visit them, Jorge said he didn't want to get baptized, and Raul doesn't like the idea of only 1 true church, and Edgar wants more time to think about it. So... we watched the video of the Restoration and the Spirit was strong, and they all promised to pray about it. We're visiting them again on Wednesday, and they need prayers. They have so much potential to change their lives, we honestly love them, and are trying to do all we can to help them.

And Aaron. Sadly, we had to drop him. He's the sweetest old man and he loves the doctrine, but he isn't willing to come to church. It was super sad.

But! we're having fun. We're working hard. We have some investigators that are progressing, and we're seeing some miracles!

Love you all tons. Keep being awesome and giving your all in everything you do. I am so glad i came on the mission. This time has been so amazing and I'm looking forward to working hard for the next 8 months.

Be good, say your prayers, and send some prayers this way por favor! Gracias, les amo muchisimo.

con amor,

-Hna Taylor

PS - I forgot to tell you something funny - we're teaching Abraham, Adolfo's 16 year old son. And he's great and progressing well - but this morning when we dropped by to visit him, his grandma (Adolfo's mom) told us that last night when we visited Raul, Edgar and Jorge, she saw us all kneeling to pray at the end. And then she told us that she can see spirits (she goes to a church called espiritualistas - apparently she talks to spirits and stuff.... yeah) and that while we were praying, she saw the spirit of an old hermit man with long white hair and a beard and apparently it was my spirit! She's slightly crazy... then when she left Abraham and Hna Luque snickered and teased me about apparently having a beard. It was weird and funny lol.

{Week 45} Polanco - October 20, 2014

Hi people!



Hna Luque and I having a blast!

So my birthday was fun! I woke up to Hna Luque singing Happy Birthday in English - then she literally jumped on top of me lol. Then 2 minutes later, Hna Gurley and Hna Mercedes (they're comps right now) called and sang to me. Then we had interviews, so we went to the stake center. And when I walked in, Sis Stutznegger led everyone in singing Happy Birthday. Then they showed me that 3 packages had arrived! The Dear Elder breakfast food, a package from Lynette Schipper (thanks so much!) and your package with all the presents (don't worry mom, I'll wait till Christmas to open the one present!). We opened them all right away, and then we all snacked on beef jerkey and sweets.

Yum!

Me opening a package... I forgot to take a picture of all the gifts before we ate them lol.

And the best gift was the interview with President Stutznegger. I love the Stutzneggers so much. We are so blessed to have them here in this mission. I loved the interview and he gave me a blessing that was exactly what I needed to hear in that moment. Then we worked, found some new investigators, helped some people - it was funny when we went to eat. The sister who fed us told me that if she had known it was my birthday she would have made me her special mole. I am so thankful she didn't know it was my birthday!



Then in the night we went to visit the Bishop because he and his wife had invited us and promised me a chocolate cake. They sang to me, and then I took the traditional first bite of the cake, and discovered to my dismay that they accidentally bought a coffee flavored cake! It tasted horrible! But it was funny and we had a good time bugging the bishop about it. We ended up eating the leftover vanilla cake from the bishop's daughter's birthday instead. It was a good birthday! I had fun :)

The birthday bite of the cake - with the Bishop and his kids.

The birthday party - Hna Luque, Isabel, Isabel's Mom, the Bishop and his wife Perla, and their 2 kids.

You know the hymn ''Count your blessings''? In Spanish, they sing ''Bendiciones'' which means blessings, and I've been singing that song a lot lately. We have seen so many blessings this week. I love Hna Luque so much. We've both been working harder than ever, and we're seeing a lot of blessings as a result! Miracles people, miracles.

First of all, we're finding a ton of new people to teach... now we just have to help them progress.

Adolfo is inviting the whole world and their dog to learn about the gospel. He runs an AA group, and right now three of the members of his group have lost everything and have come to live with him for awhile - Edgar, Raul, and Jorge. And these 3 guys are so great - they love coming to church and are all trying to stop smoking - the only vice they haven't venced yet. Jorge is 17 and should be getting baptized soon. He has changed so much - one month ago he didn't believe in God and worshiped the grim reaper, and now he's progressing so much and is getting excited for his baptism. Edgar and Raul love it all too, the problem is that they work everyday except Sunday so that's the only time we can see them. But they're all great!

And Adolfo's kids never wanted to listen, but last night, his son Abraham who is 16 years old sat down to listen to us teach Jorge more about the law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom, and liked it and was participating, and even promised to live both commandments! That was pretty awesome. And then this morning we went and taught Abraham about the restoration, and he's agreed to pray and read the Book of Mormon! Miracles!

And Beatriz (Beti) is another reference from Adolfo - his neighbor. She and her daughter Judith (21 years old) are listening to us and came to church Sunday! Beti has two younger daughters that yesterday agreed to listen to us too. Now we just need to talk to the dad - he's only there late at night and on Sunday, but this Sunday he left with his buddies rather than listen to us... He and Beti aren't married, just living together, and she wants to get married but he hasn't agreed yet. they're actually closer to separating then getting married... they could use some prayers. They're a great family.

And Fabiola came alone to church again. Love this little girl! Saturday is her baptism!

And Gerardo, our 19 year old athiest, says he wants to get baptized! But then he didn't come to church... he needs prayers too.

About 3 times a week someone calls us looking for some guy named Antonio. We always tell them it's the wrong number and then try to contact them and invite them to listen to the missionaries. It's actually hilarious and we've tried several different ways... so far they've said 'no'. lol

We found a new investigator named Francisco. He's a family guy with a couple kids. He does karate. He seemed like a cool dude until he texted us and told us we were very beautiful. We don't have plans to visit him again.

Hna Luque is hilarious. We're always exhausted because we always go to bed late because we always start talking and laughing, and the next thing we know it's already 11. We're working on that.

Hna Luque and I.

So on Saturday, something awesome happened. We were all asked to fast, and study Mosiah 2-6, and then the mission came together Saturday morning. And President Stutznegger layed down the law! He told us that this was the day the mission was going to change - that from this day on, he expected exact obedience, and would give no excuses. This mission has been very disobedient, and he gave us a list of all the bad stuff that has been going on. And he told us that no more. There was one point where he told us if we weren't willing to obey we could go home. Then he sat silent for 5 min and waited, giving us the opportunity to leave if we wanted. It was dead silent the entire 5min. Then his wife spoke, sharing a message in Spanish. It was really powerful. The whole conference was great - it was tough love, but it was what a lot of elders needed I think. I think - and Hope! - that the whole mission changes after this. It was a good morning.

So yeah! it was a great week , and it's only going to get better!

congratulations Sami on your baptism!

Love you all tons - and I'm too tired to make up a math sentence.

Be good, say your prayers and just be awesome.

love, Hna Taylor

{Week 44} Polanco - October 13, 2014

First of all, thank you so much everyone for all the birthday wishes! That was so awesome to get. You're all amazing! I loved the birthday picture mom! No sign of any packages, but we usually get them Monday in the night, so maybe in a bit.

The lovely Hermana Luque has been telling the whole world it's my birthday on Thursday, and telling everyone that I like Chocolate cake. We'll see what happens lol! Everyone asks me what my plans are for my birthday - I tell them I'm going to preach the gospel lol!

Hermana Luque and I tried to take some pictures last night so that you'd have a nice ''companionship picture''. It didn't work out so well, but I sent them anyway lol. Next week I'll send a pretty one. I seriously love Hna Luque - she's amazing!

This is what we normally look like - we're always exhausted!

This is us wide awake.

This is us acting natural.

This is us being serious.

This is us being best friends!

And I had a Best 2 Years moment! I told someone Joseph Smith was a Folleto (pamphlet) instead of Profeta (prophet)! We were teaching less actives so it's not quite as bad, and no one else caught my mistake - just Hna Luque. We had trouble keeping a straight face as I quickly corrected my mistake, and we kept teaching. Pretty funny!

And the other day we walked up to this old guy that was sitting in a chair in front of his house - but as we started to contact him we realized he was sleeping. But then he woke up suddenly and saw us, and started shouting at us! ''¡Qué no nos engañen!'' Don't try to trick us (roughly translated). Turns out he's Catholic and didn't want to listen to us ... yeah... but the whole day we walked around saying ''¡Que no nos engañen!'' in an old man voice lol.

And we tried to teach a half deaf man. I told him my name was Hermana Taylor, and he said ''nice to meet you Maristela!'' And he called me Maristela for the whole appointment - even after we showed him my nametag lol.

So! Investigators! There are a ton, but I'm just going to mention a few:

Maria is a 70 year old Baptist lady. She is so fun to teach just because she's hilarious and gets so into the lesson. The lessons are always super spiritual, and so funny. She always has a desire to know more at the end... the only problem is that she doesn't follow through with her commitments - never reads or prays or comes to church. Or rather, she reads, but only the Bible, and prays, but in her Baptist shouting type way, and goes to her baptist church every Sunday where it's more like a rock and roll concert. But she's a really sweet lady - always throwing in random comments and stories into the lesson. One time Hna Luque bore her testimony, and Maria told her after ''you'll make a great wife one day. Want to meet my son?'' She then said she would introduce me, but he doesn't like white girls. She's so frank it's hilarious.

Fabiola is 9, and came to church alone on Sunday! Her less active grandparents decided not to go, but she really wanted to so they made plans for a member to come pick her up! She is so sweet and super excited for her baptism.

Aaron is also doing well. He really wants to get baptized and bears his testimony to us every visit. The only problem is that he keeps getting really sick on Sundays, so he can never come to church. But I know he'll get baptized soon - there were some problems but it should all work out!

And Adolfo, our convert from before, is also giving us a ton a references. Right now we're teaching 3 of his friends - Jorge, Raul, and Edgar. They are all trying to overcome drugs right now, and are trying to find God. Raul is quiet, and always says he's not going to listen to us or go to church, but then he's always there, and cried in church this Sunday. Edgar has a bunch of tattoos and cries in every lesson. Jorge is the youngest (17) and has a kid, and says he's trying to change his life. All three are great, and we have a lot of hope for them.

And the other day we knocked on a door, and a young, 19 year old guy came out - Gerardo. He told us he's not very religious, and doesn't actually believe Christ exists. So I asked if we could come by another day and share the reason that we believe in Christ and how he can help us overcome all our problems. He agreed and gave us an appointment for Sunday night. We went and he was actually there! He let us in, sat us down, and said, ''I don't believe in God, but I've got a lot of problems right now and I'm stuck. I've got a lot of addictions and I've tried, but can't overcome them myself. I don't believe in God, but if he does exist, he's my last option. That's why I agreed to listen to you.'' So we talked about how faith, and his identity as a child of God, and the fact that Heavenly Father has a plan for him. I asked him if he wanted to believe in God, and he answered with such emotion telling us that he does. So we shared Alma 32, and how he just needs a particle of faith, and if he doesn't have that, then just a desire to believe, and how he should let that desire work in him and grow by reading the scriptures, praying, and coming to church. He agreed to do that. At the end we bore our testimonies and I told him ''you told us God is your last option, but I testify that He is your only option. It's only through Him that you can overcome those trials and temptations and find peace in this life.'' The spirit was super strong and we both feel like he has a ton of potential.

The mission is amazing. We meet a ton of new people everyday, and we grow to have such a love for them. It honestly hurts when they say no, and we feel so happy when they say yes. The people here are amazing, and they all have such potential. We all do! I have gained a huge testimony these last few months about the Plan of Salvation. I know that our Heavenly Father really does have a plan for us - to come here, to be tested and tried, and to return to Him again. I recently discovered the primary song ''He Sent His Son'' on my iPod, and I absolutely love it. I know without a doubt that He has a plan for us and that He was willing to send His Son, and His Son was willing to come and suffer and die for us. And what does the Father ask of us? ''Have faith, Have hope, Live like His son, help others on their way.'' I love my Father so much, and I love my Savior Jesus Christ with all my heart. The gospel is true.

It's been a great week. This next week is going to be awesome, and the next 8 months will be spectacular. I love you all.

Be good, say your prayers, and listen to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir arrangement of ''He sent his son''. I'm pretty sure you can find it on Youtube and you won't regret it.

Love you all!

-Hermana Taylor

Thank you Gates family for sending me these pictures! I love them so much!

{Week 43} Polanco - October 6, 2014

Jordy, thank you so much for your letter! I loved it, and I am honestly so excited to live with you. You rock kid! (the rest of you are all awesome too :) )

SMALLSS!!! Feliz Cumpleaños! that is so crazy that you are going to be 16... honestly can't believe my little smalls is all grown up and saving China!

We didn't get to see the women's broadcast. I didn't even hear any mention of it, so I don't know what happened there... General Conference kind of snuck up on us. Last time I was counting down the days for like a month, but this time it was Sunday and we were shocked to realize it was conference the next week. I loved conference! It was so good - unfortunately due to a bunch of random circumstances none of our investigators made it, but it was really good. Saturday morning we went to our home ward to watch it - 5 min before it started they finally started setting up the internet and projector, and then realized there was too much light in the building and we couldn't see the image. So they spent the first 20 min of conference trying to tape up all the windows, but then abandoned that endeavor and instead tried to hook the computer up to a TV, but then realized they didn't have the right cord, so they sent someone to buy it, but they bought the wrong one, so they had to go back and buy another, but then the TV wasn't working for some reason... then the internet was really bad and eventually just died... basically we didn't get anything out of the first session. For the second session we went to the stake center and everything was perfect and I got to watch it in English (yes!) and I LOVED it. We were all in the Institute building across the parking lot. There were some really awesome, really powerful talks. And when the Spanish speaker started talking, we all got up and ran across the parking lot to the church to watch it in Spanish. And it was a great talk. Then, we realized the next speaker was Elder Holland, and we booked it back across the parking lot to watch him in English. The Sunday morning session we went back to our home ward. This time it was much better - a TV and the projector - a bunch of windows were taped so we could see, and it was all set up 1 hour before conference started. The only problem was that the internet died the moment the prophet came to the mike so we missed the last 10 min and his talk. For Sunday afternoon we went to the stake center again. I love conference so much and was so sad to see it end! I loved the talk by Elder Scott - I've been applying it in all the lessons since we heard it. I also loved Elder Bednar's talk and wished that I had investigators there. I love conference so much!

Watching conference in English in the Institute building.

So... cambios! That was a lot of fun - it's fun to see all the elders and hermanas joking and talking and hugging old comps. President Stutznegger started off the cambios by telling us that our loved ones that have died are here in Mexico softening the hearts of the people. And then just a few moments later, he and his wife found out that their nephew had died. He was in front of us all just crying, and we were all dead silent. It was so sad, but at the same time the spirit was strong knowing that now his nephew would be here too, preaching the gospel.

And my new companion is..... Hermana Luque! (Lu-k) She is from Argentina and is 22. She has 1 year in the mission. She trained Hna Gurley. She is so sweet and laughs at everything and we have had a fun week together - and we work hard! We're contacting like wild women. The other day we were in a house of less actives waiting for the heavy rain to pass - and she was telling all the stories of how her old pets died... and for some reason they all died in funny-ironic ways and we were all laughing so hard! I love her so much - and she helps me a lot. I loved Hna Mercedes, but I believe it's the changes that are what help us grow and become better, and I feel like I've already learned tons from Hna Luque. I've also been bumped up and am now senior comp.

It's been funny these last few days because everyone is asking where Hna Mercedes went - both members and our friends in the street (people we see everyday - but who don't want to listen to us, but always want to chat and practice English - they include a few old ladies, some kids, and several harmless druggies and drunks :). One of the drunks ran across the street when he saw us and asked ''Where's Mercedes!?'' - and I told him ''She's gone, she left''. He got a shocked look and said ''No more?'' and I said - ''Nope, no more.''  He gasped and said ''She died?!'' It was pretty funny and we quickly set him straight.

And dad, ever since you asked me about Quezacoatl, that subject has been brought up every day! It's pretty interesting stuff!

(Dad asked:  How do the Mexicans view the idea of the Savior appearing to the people in ancient America? I think they call Him Quetzecotyl (sp?) or the Great White Spirit. And how does this fit in when they read about it in the Book of Mormon? Please expound on this for me.)

And a couple weeks ago, a lady randomly contacted us in the street and asked if we give English classes. Fast thinker that I am (lol) I told her that yes we did, every Saturday at 10 (randomly picking a time and day - we weren't actually giving classes). She got a disappointed look and said,''Oh too bad, I'm busy every Saturday until 2.'' I was like, ''Oh that's ok, because we also have a class at 3!'' And then that Saturday at 3 I started teaching her English! And last week she brought her husband! And I'm being sneaky and throwing in all sorts of churchy stuff like starting with a prayer and throwing in random fun facts about missionaries and our beliefs. They're both really awesome, and we have sneaky plans to start teaching them soon! lol :)

And the colorful skirt I bought in the tianguis - the other skirt that someone made for me is red. Someday a picture of it will get sent.

Gustavo made me and Mercedes piñatas. Super cool!

Aaron is doing awesome - but couldn't come to church on Sunday because he went on vacation. And Fabiola is also on vacation. And we found several new people this week, and we'll see what happens with them. One of them believes in the Santa Muerte - Holy Death. Basically she worships the Grim Reaper. (A lot of people do that here.)

And... yeah! Fun stuff :) I love the mission. I love my comp. The food is delicious, Spanish is great, the Spirit is strong, I'm counting down the days to the time that we get the Liahona with the conference talks.

We had an infestation of ants, but then I was reading about those oils you sent with me mom, and found out that they don't like the smell of peppermint. So I went slightly crazy with the peppermint flavored oil and splashed it everywhere. All the ants died. And our house smells like candy canes now.

I love Mexico. I love you all too.

Be good, say your prayers, read your scriptures, do FHE, and go to the temple!

You're all awesome.

-Me

PS - Sorry I don't have a picture with Hna Luque yet.

{Week 42} Polanco - September 29, 2014

So this week has been fun! We've been seeing lots of Tender Mercies from the Lord. I love it here in Mexico and I love my ward. We have a few differences with a few of the people there, but it's all good - the important thing is that we keep doing our best. And last night (Sunday) we got the phone call! Hna Mercedes has cambios. Every other time I got a new comp it was under strange circumstances - sickness, finishing the mission, special changes, or changes on Monday just for the sisters. This is my first cambio that is 'normal' - as in they call us Sunday night and then Tuesday morning we'll go to the stake center with every other missionary that has cambios and the president will announce all the changes right there. It was really funny - when they called and told Hna Mercedes that she had cambios, they also told her that is was 'sin maletas' - without luggage. That means that she'll be staying in this zone. When the cambios are 'con maletas' -with luggage - then you are going to a different zone. But she didn't know that, and thought that sin maletas meant she was getting a new comp but not a new area, so I was the one with changes, and she was so mad! She was going on and on about how she already has 6 months here and doesn't want another cycle and stuff like that - but then I explained and she was very relieved lol. I'm sad to see her go. I'm glad she'll still be in my zone, but I'm going to miss her :( She's a great missionary and a great friend. We got along great and learned a lot together. I'll miss her!

Us in Gustavo's house - turns out he makes skulls out of sugar to sell for Halloween.

 There are only 20 sisters in this mission - 10 companionships. I arrived in Mexico the end of January with 5 other sisters, and then in the next cycle, 1 more sister arrived in the beginning of March... but since her, we haven't had any new sisters. And they say that no more are going to arrive until next year... which would be in February. When the elders have changes, there are a ton of places they could go and a ton of possible future companions. But when we have changes, it's not hard to figure out who will likely be our next comp and where we will be heading. We all love each other, but we're also anxious for some new faces!

Almost our whole zone - we're missing a few Elders.

So there have been some developments with Aaron - I'm not going to go into detail here. But for awhile we thought he wasn't going to be able to be baptized due to some circumstances. But now it turns out that maybe yes, maybe no... we're hoping and praying that yes!

And Gustavo! On Thursday when we went to visit him, he told us that his cousin hurt her back, so he wasn't going to be able to come to church for his confirmation because he had to go help her. But with conference next week, that means it would be 3 weeks without the Holy Ghost... so we taught him about the Holy Ghost and keeping the Sabbath day holy... but he still told us he wouldn't come. But then on Sunday morning, in he walks, bright and early, white shirt and tie! He got confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost and it was so great! We were super happy. He's awesome - he's so happy he keeps buying us stuff and he's making us both a tiny piñata that we're going to go pick up in a couple hours. It's been great to teach him. Love being a missionary!

Me and Gustavo and a piñata.

And Fabiola is our new investigator. She's 9, and is the granddaughter of less actives and her mom is completely inactive. We've been working with her grandparents a lot lately and they've started coming to church again - and Fabiola just turned 9 so we've started working with her. She's super sweet - reminds me a lot of Katia :)

And Ana Maria is great. She just got a new job so she works all the time, but she comes to church every Sunday without fail. And she just finished reading the book of Alma - that's been awesome to see - she always has her Book of Mormon with her and is constantly reading it - and applying it! We were teaching her the other day about fasting and how that can help us when we have a special need and she said ''oh just like Alma the older when he fasted so that his son would be ok''. She's reading, understanding, and applying. She's amazing. (and her daughter is super cute!)

 Us with Ana Maria

Ana Maria and her daughter Geraldin

Adolfo is also doing really well - he keeps inviting his friends over to listen to us - the only problem is that his friends never live in our area, so we can't teach them and have to pass the reference on lol. He was sad when he found out we would probably have cambios - cried just a little bit. It's been so amazing to see the lives of people change here - I love it!

Random funny stuff that happened -

- We knocked on a door and said that we were ''misionaras''. So the guy came and opened but was disappointed to see us. He told us that he thought we said we were ''cocineras'' - cooks lol.

- And there were some little boys running down the street shouting ''Sangre! Sangre!'' (blood! blood!) They grabbed their dad and dragged him over to see where there was ''mucho sangre'' - but when they got there he just cuffed them on the head and said ''that's not sangre, that's salsa!'' it was pretty funny - All day long Hna Mercedes and I were saying ''Sangre! Sangre!... no, salsa!''

- last night Hna Mercedes and I both had trouble sleeping. We ended up chatting for awhile and then woke up again around 4. At 4:30ish I asked if she was sleeping - and she said ''No!'' and the way she said it was so pathetic we died laughing - then chatted a bit till we fell asleep again around 5. And then this morning we were sitting there waiting for the water to boil so that we could shower, and then after half an hour we realized we forgot to turn the stove on... oops! lack of sleep lol.

I've been studying charity lately - it's a great topic. It's the pure love of Christ, and Christ was willing to give EVERYTHING for us. If we have charity, we too need to be willing to give all that we can to help others. Mosiah 28:3 is great for that. I'm striving to be like and have this love for everyone.

So yeah! It's been a great time with Hna Mercedes, but I'm excited to see what changes come with my new companion. I love being here and am learning tons all the time. I love you all and hope you have a loverly time doing your stuff back home. The house and yard look great dad!

Be good, say your prayers, and have charity for everyone!

Love Hermana Taylor

MOM - I don't think I need more shoes, but if you wanted to send me a package of random fun doodads or gifts or whatever, I wouldn't complain :D

DAD - no one has even mentioned Quezoacoatle. They're always sharing the history of Mexico with us, but they never bring up that part, and neither do we.

Some Mexican money for your pleasure and enjoyment.

Gustavo bought these for me: notepad, post it's and a pen - go Avengers!

Hna Zenaida and I

{Week 41} Polanco - September 22, 2014

Carlee, thanks for your letter! That's awesome that you want to get your patriarchal blessing! And Jordy! I'm so excited I'll get to be there for your grad!

Mom, the only effects we had from the hurricanes was rain. And lots of it. :)

So... this week started out rough and ended great! We had several days this week where we were able to have a bunch of appointments in the morning, then we had lunch, and then couldn't find anyone in their house until 7:30ish! So we walked around for several hours everyday just searching out less actives and old investigators and contacting. We've been really tired this week due to all the walking - we arrive home and collapse.

But the week ended great, because Gustavo got baptized! He gave us a fright though - showed up late to Sacrament Meeting. We were all set to leave church after the sacrament to go find him and find out why he didn't come - but then the sacrament ended and as we were headed down the aisle to leave, he walked in! And he brought his mom and aunt with him! He lives with them, but they don't want to listen to us (yet!). We actually contacted his house about 2 months ago - his mom answered the door and was downright rude. But then Marcus (a member) gave us the reference for Gustavo (his cousin) and came with us to show us where the house was. We got in the door easy as pie, and taught the restoration - Gustavo told us from the start that he's not very disciplined and couldn't picture himself changing and joining a church - 4 weeks later, he got baptized! That was pretty awesome :) The church is true! The missionaries tried to teach him about 2 years ago, but every time they came he was drunk... now he doesn't even drink coffee! (That was a bit a of a fight - he's drunken coffee everyday of his life - but now he stopped!) The baptism was really stressful though - it was after church, and the bishop had told us very specifically that since church ends at 1:30, we had to start the baptism at 1:35. So we left Relief Society early and were running around trying to get everything ready, but primary ended late... (the font is in the primary), and we couldn't find Andres (the guy who was going to baptize him) and then the elders were supposed to have a baptism too so we were waiting for them to get ready... we ended up starting at 2:00 (oops!). But as soon as we started and especially when Gustavo entered the water, the spirit just got so strong, and I just got so happy! I LOVE seeing people make this covenant with their Heavenly Father. It was awesome :)

Us, Andres, and Gustavo

Hna Mercedes, Andres (the recent convert who baptized Gustavo), Gustavo's mom, Gustavo, Gustavo's niece, and me!

And in church this week, 7 people received the Melchizedek Priesthood - one 18yr old, and 6 recent converts! It was so great to see these converts that are so strong in their faith. Love it!

And last night we did a training night thing about missionary work, and we invited Presidente Stutznegger! So he came and did a great presentation and I think it got the members excited to share the gospel - and it was fun to see President and Sister Stutznegger for a bit. They drove us all home after. It was funny, because Elder Evans comp (Elder Martinez) was feeling really sick all night and was sitting in the front seat of the vehicle, so when we pulled up to their house he jumped out running for his house and disappeared inside (we think he was off to vomit or something...), and Elder Evans was stuck in the backseat, and Hna Mercedes wasn't paying attention and didn't move so he could get out and go with his comp. It was pretty funny!

Us and the Stutzneggers

Us and Isabel (she's making us each a skirt right now - by hand!)

AND on Sunday in the Gospel Principles class they were talking about eternal families and how we can be together forever, and what parents should do to raise their children in righteousness. And as they went through everything, I couldn't help but think of you two, mom and dad. You guys did a great job raising us. I love you both so much and am so blessed and grateful that you're my parents. Keep up the good work lol :)

I got my hair cut today. Just sayin'. It was pretty bad - the sun here is really hard on my hair and I had a ton of split ends.

And I've been thinking a lot lately about that scripture in D&C 121 - ''Many are called but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set upon the things of this world, and they aspire to the honors of men...'' (something like that. At this point I know that scripture better in Spanish than in English lol) I've already been called as a missionary, and right now I'm trying to do all I can to be 'chosen' and not just 'called', by trying to focus entirely on the work and not allow myself to get distracted by the music in the street, or the fact that I'm tired, or what I'll do when I get home. And I feel like I've been noticing a bit a of a change - the spirit has been really strong lately.

Aaron is doing great - came to church and everything. He's such a sweet old guy. And he's progressing really well. We love visiting him.

And we saved a life the other day. Well, sort of, not really. We were walking down the street and this old guy who was sitting in a chair tried to get up and fell, whacking his head on the bumper of a car - cut his head pretty bad. Lots of blood. So we went running to help his family help him, and I got to practice my nursing skills again. The next day we passed by to make sure he was all right - and one of his nieces agreed to listen to us for a bit. But then the old guy's wife came out and got mad and chased us off. Literally (''In this family we're Catholic and we'll stay Catholic!'') But it's ok. One day they'll listen :)

So... yeah! Fun life here in Mexico. Cambios are next week. It's very likely, but not certain, that this will be Hna Mercedes' and mine last week together. I've loved being her comp. It's been a tough three cycles, but we've seen a lot of blessings too. Love her to pieces!

Hope you're all doing well back home! Hope ya'll have a marvellous week, and we'll talk later! Be good, say your prayers, and spike that ball for me sisters!

Love you -

Hna Taylor

Rocio - a member who sells quesadillas and gorditas in a street stand. We eat here every Monday. She's making Gorditas right now :)

Gorditas! - I LOVE these. Super greasy and delicious.