Best Week Ever

Sakpasa!
Well if you think my emails have been long so far I might just break the record. By FAR one of the best weeks on my mission. Miracle after miracle after miracle and blessing after blessing after blessing. Goobs it's so great!
We will begin with Monday after I got off emailing we headed down to Caldwell to spend time with Sister Wright on her last p-day. It was really fun to see a lot of the sisters. We hung out at the chapel and just spend time together. We headed back up to New City and I was able to almost completely catch up on the letters I had to write to a few people. I love writing letters. Then we decided to head out. We had an appointment with a less active member but she wasn't home so we decided to go visit a few more less active people before going to visit our recent convert Emanuel. So we headed to a house and knocked on the door. The less active wasn't there but we asked the guy if we could talk to him about the gospel. He said he had three minutes....turned into about 15 :) We taught him a quick restoration and pulled out a Book of Mormon and committed him to read it. He said he would. He said he was finishing up school and had a couple big tests and we promised him if he read it, his tests will go easier. Monday was a beautiful day! We prayed with him and started heading back to the car. Because of the beautiful weather there were so many people outside walking we got to the sidewalk and a lady practically stopped us and was asking who we were and so we began telling her. We pulled out a pass along card and gave it to her. She was wondering why we get baptized so young but it was great! We prayed with her and a got her address out of her so we can just go "say hi" haha. Sneaky sneaky. She was awesome. Two lessons in a matter of five minutes! We decided we had a little more time to go to another less-active house. We actually had an appointment with her but we doesn't speak english. We went to the front of the house and a man came from behind and started asking us who we were and all that jazz. Another man and his son came out and we asked if the lady was there but she wasn't available. So Sister Ward asked if we could share a message. They were actually very open to it. We began teaching the Restoration. We were standing and the man made his son get us chairs so we sat down and were teaching them the gospel. We pulled out a Book of Mormon (I only had one and so did Sister Ward) and gave it to the two older guys. The young 9 year old looked at Sister Ward and asked if she had another one. We both searched in her backpack and didn't find one... We told him we could bring him another one the next day. I felt impressed to tell them that they can live with their families eternally and I think that struck a cord with them. I believe the young boy, Brent, his mother passed away and so his dad was having us reassure that he will see her again. It was really cool. We committed them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and they said they would. We were there for about an hour teaching them! We went to go see Emanuel and had a great lesson with him. On a Monday, our p-day, we ended up getting four lessons! It was incredible. It's interesting to me to see that when we pray to be better and consecrate ourselves the Lord really does bless us! I love it. As we got back home Sister Ward checked in her bag and found another Book of Mormon and said, "This wasn't in here when we were there". I dunno if it was or not but I'm sure the Lord knew we needed to go back the next day and give him the Book of Mormon. Great day!

Tuesday was amazing as well! Since we consecrated ourselves to the Lord, Elder Benson, had us give a burnt offering. We were going to sacrifice something and make it better. I sacrificed not having any more excuses to not go outside and try running in the morning. I've gotten a little lazy but Sister Ward is really pushing me. I love her so much! District Meeting was really good. I love be or trying to be more consecrated. We went to pizza for Sister Wrights last time. I love the pizza here so much! So much better than in UTAH! :) haha. We got back into our area and immediately went to go see Brent to give him a Book of Mormon. We got there and he was so happy to see us. He actually began reading some of the Book of Mormon his father got. It was so great! We also gave him a picture Book of Mormon which I think will really help. He's awesome. We had made some appointments with less activees and went and visited them. I just want every one to make it back to church. We talked to them about the doctrine of Christ and tried to help them in any way we could. All we can do is support them and encourage them. I love working with the Less-actives. I found out if I don't baptize many people here, that's okay because I'm helping people strengthen their faith in Christ. That's all I can do :)

Wednesday was another great day! We had correlation with Elder Kay, our ward mission leader, and was able to clear up a few people on the ward list. We went to an apartment a couple weeks ago where a member used to live and he's now moved but we found a Jewish man. We went back there on Wednesday with the Kay's to help him clean up his house a little. He was so appreciative of us coming and just moving a few boxes. He hurt his leg so he wasn't able to do much. He used to do flee markets and gave us some jewlerly to donate to the young women for their yard sale they are going to have. It was very nice of him. He's a sweet guy and LOVES to talk. That was good to do some service...(plus we got to wear JEANS!) We went and taught another less active member and then went and was able to play volleyball with the young men. They needed to practice for their tournament this weekend which they also won! I love the young men in this ward they really are great. They're all converts and three of them are headed to BYU-I to go to school and it's going to be so good for them!

Thursday was another fantastic day! We had weekly planning and a few lessons. But they were good. We went to our investigators house and was able to really see her concern about being baptized. She said if she was younger she'd probably be baptized but she's an older woman and doesn't want to change. That's something Sister Ward and I really want to help her with because we believe she knows the church is true but is just scared to change. Next we went to Sister Kreppelts and had a singing lesson with her we taught her about music and how influential it is in our lives. We then sang songs to her. The last one we sang was "I stand all amazed" That song I'll always remember because it was the song dad made me sing when he was newly called to be the gospel doctrine teacher. His first sunday he made me sing. But I'm grateful for that opportunity. I love singing! We both felt prompted we needed to go to our other investigators house, Tivynna. If you remember she was the one we went to her play. She's 16 years old and has been investigating since she was 8. She hasn't been baptized but she's a very active member of the ward, just not baptized. She's awesome. We went over to her apartment and pretty much sat down and asked why she wasn't baptized yet. But in a nicer way. She said she's been thinking about baptism for a couple weeks now, so right then and there we asked her if she'd be baptized. We know she's ready and I think she does too. She said yes, we committed her to the 21st of April and she said YES! Sister Ward and I will have our first legit baptism this upcoming Sunday. I'm so excited for Tivynna. She's truly such a beautiful daughter of God. We're so excited. It was another successful day.

Friday was Liz Dicou's birthday. Happy birthday! And also zone conference. One of the best ones yet. It included laughs, tears and so much fun. President Jeppson talked about the Atonement and it was so powerful. Without the Atonement nothing would be possible. I'm so grateful for my Savior and all he did for me. It's crazy to think about the sacrifice he did for me. Truly grateful. We then broke out for lunch and then played a wicked sweet game. We all had bouncy balls and we put them in a bowl. President would throw them up and whoever didn't get one was out. It was manic and chaos, but SO MUCH FUN! I did pretty well. Ripped my skirt, dove on the ground to get a ball and got knocked in the head right in the temple. It didn't feel to good and I had a massive headache the rest of the day but it's fine now. The Assistants then talked about incorporating the gospel better in the Restoration and asked Sister Ward and I to role-play the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith in FRONT OF EVERYONE! We were both pretty nervous. We got up there and Sister Jeppson asked us to stand up so people could hear us for the role play. I'd just got knocked in the head so I wasn't feeling well so before we started I told everything "I was sorry, I'm knocked up" Probably not the best choice of words. People started laughing, but we started the role play nonetheless. And we killed it. Sister Ward did such an amazing job. We finished the role play and Elder Ream asked who felt the spirit during it. Everyone raised their hands. It's cool to see how powerful we can be with just simple words. Even though we were nervous the spirit bore witness to everyone the truthfulness of the message of the Restoration. I'm so grateful for the Restoration in my life. It makes sense. Like I said I wasn't feeling to hot so we went home and did studies.

Saturday, another amazing day! We kinda had another scary incident but we're fine don't you worry. I'll tell you when I get back. It's too long to write out. We have been making amazing strides with the less actives in our ward. It's so incredible to see our work pay off. It's been such a good month of April so far and it's only going to get better. We went and taught Tivynna again to get her prepared for her baptism on Saturday. She's so ready. We also went to lunch with the Young Men and bishop at Five Guys after the boys won their volleyball tournament. Bishop bought our food. I'm not complaining about that! :)

Fast and testimony meeting was good. The microphone wasn't working so the people bearing their testimonies had to speak a little louder. It was great. One less active, Ricardo got up and thanked us for the visit that we went to on Saturday. Ricardo is such an incredible son of God and I'm so grateful I was able to meet him out here on my mission. Definitely one I will keep in contact with after my mission. He's a strong guy. We also went and taught Christina another one of our investigators and she has a desire to come closer to Christ. We just have to teach her more and help her keep her committments and she'll get baptized!

This week of miracles was truly amazing. And I feel it's going to be another amazing week! We have our first baptism coming up and I can't wait for that. To see Tivynna enter the waters of Baptism! I'm beginning 3 Nephi this week and I'm so excited to read about the Savior coming. We've had a lot of emphasis on Christ this month. I've become such a strong member of this church and I'm continually strengthening that faith in my Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for all of you. I pray for you every night. You are all amazing! Keep being an example. People are always watching. 3 Nephi 5:13. Talk to you all next week. Love you all! Miss you! This week I'll hit my 7 month mark! Where is time going!?

Love,
Sister Taylor

Conference con't! Miracle

I forgot to mention our miracle we've already had today. We went to Walmart to get the things we needed and a few weeks ago we gave a mormon.org card to one of the employees there. He came up to us today and told us that he'd visited the website. Sister Ward asked how he liked it and he said it was really good. We told him about church and he said he was going to try and make it. It was so cool to see him follow-up with us rather then us going to find him. We started checking our groceries out and he came up to us and said I have a question? What's the difference between your church and my church. We're both Christian. I told him we believe we have the fulness of the gospel and that our church is Christ's church again restored on the earth. What was even cooler is I had brought my backpack into walmart (which i never do) and pulled out a Book of Mormon. He said he'd never seen that book before. We took him briefly what it was about and told him he could have it. He got so excited. We said we can come by later and talked and explain it a little better but he said "oh I can't today". We said we'll plan a time to come and explain it more. He was so sweet and is so prepared to hear the truthfulness of the gospel. His name is Abel and pretty great. That was our miracle for the day! People are prepared. They're out there. We just need to find them....or they'll find us. :) I love you all again! Peace and blessings.

Love,
Sister Taylor

Conference. Christine has under a year left on her mission.

Don"t you just love when it seems the prophet and apostles are speaking directly to you!? I sure do! I could just say the church is true after listening to conference and that'd be enough for me to write. But that's all that happened this week. Miracles happened this week. And one just recently today. Awhh I'm so happy to be out here on my mission. It truly has changed my life.

We'll get to conference but first I want to tell you all about my weeek. I can't remember if I mentioned last week that our new monthly focus is consecration. But blessings happen when we put our minds to becoming more consecrated. One thing in talk from Tad. A. Callister about consecration is that it doesn't just happened over night but we have to work at it. And that's something I've definitely been working on. We started Monday with our wonderful P-Day but ended up meeting quickly with a less-active mother and have a return appointment with them this week. She's such a sweet lady and I'm so grateful we were able to catch her. We went around checking if the ward members lived in the same addresses. Not much luck.

Tuesday we had our zone meeting. And I love zone meetings. Because our monthly focus is on the gospel of Jesus Christ and on consecration we role-played the Gospel of Jesus Christ but then talked about consecration. How can we as members be more consecrated? I loved zone meeting. We then had Sister Wright's hot seat which was fabulous! She's such a great story teller. I'm definitely going to miss her. After zone meeting we went to a members house, Sister Joiseus and talked to her for a bit. She fed us some more Haitian food and we had "crunch" (which included shrimp, and yes I ate it again!) It was pretty good, kinda spicy but oh well. We had her kids and nephew come and we taught them Alma 50 and they enjoyed it. I love teaching the members. I love being able to strengthen them and well as them strengthen us. We finished off the day with going to Eli and Emanuels (RC) to teach them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. The elders came with us and did the tea bag analogy for them! They loved it..Eli and Emanuel are such great members.

Wednesday was a long day. We were out for most of the day trying members and seeing if they still lived at the same address. We were up in Stony Point and went to an address that was right by the Hudson River. It was highly affected by Hurricane Sandy and so nobody lived there. But we drove down the street and saw a kid just sitting outside his house. We pulled up and asked him if he knew the member. He said no one lives here anymore. I asked him if we could talked to him for a little bit. He said yes. He was 13 years old. We gave him a Book of Mormon and told us he'd read it (which we went back a few days later and he did read a little bit) I asked how he was doing and he said "awkward" I replied "why because two girls are talking to you?" He said "yes..." I kinda laughed inside but it was cool. We went back on Friday like I said and he said he read a little bit. He's a cool kid.
We went and taught one of our members about prayer and it was really good. The new senior couple up here, Elder and Sister Kay came with us and it was a good lesson. Wednesday night we went and played volleyball against the young men because they're practicing for a tournament thing. It was fun. Those boys are really good kids. Some of them are heading out to BYU-I which is going to be so great for them. We had fun playing volleyball. It was sweet though. Before anybody got there, I was shooting around and I decided to shoot it from full court and Sister Ward is my witness, but I shot it on my first shot and made it full court. (the court is a little smaller but it was still so sweet) I told Elder Benson that so we decided to record who could make it first from full court. I'll send the video back....it's pretty funny how mad he gets when I make it first hehehehe ;)

Thursday was another long day of finding members. Not much luck but we went and taught a few people and got return appointments with them. It's so cool to see the little miracles happen when you just tell the Lord "I'm going to go out, even if we don't find anyone, I'm out trying my best" And that's what its been for Sister Ward and I up here. Many people are working quite a bit and it's hard to get a hold of people. But we're really trying our best to find and help these individuals here. We did go to the Pena's (way sweet members) with the Elders and taught them about prophets. We played telephone and it was quite funny. We did some in spanish and some in english. It was hilarious. We went to another members and Sister Ward looked really sick and like she was going to pass out and so we left and it really scared me. But she's okay. I had her get a priesthood blessing from the Elders. I'm so grateful for the Elders up here. They are so great and fun!

Friday was longgggg...No luck until the end of the day. But we did find a great potential family we're going to go back and teach. They are soon expecting their third boy and I know that this gospel will bring them closer together. The dad's relative is a member and so it struck a interest in him. I hope and pray that we'll be able to teach them and help them come closer to Christ! :) Friday night was great. We went to a members house. She came from Haiti three years ago and couldn't find the church. So she decided to google it and was there on Easter Sunday. We taught her Alma 50 and she came to general conference both days. Her kids are so adorable and she's definitely going to bring strength to the ward.

Now to the best part of the week! GENERAL CONFERENCE. Like I said I felt like they were all talking straight to me. But I'm sure most of us felt that way. President Jeppson had us write a few questions down we'd like answered and boy did they get answered. Like exactly what I neeeded. We were able to watch all the sessions at the church building and I recieved so much revelation. I hope all you did too. Those men are truly called of God. Their testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ are so strong. That's something that I realized that every single one of the people that spoke bore solid testimony that they know Christ lives. And I'm right there with them. I know He lives. I know He is the head of this church. It is His gospel. It is His work. And I'm so blessed and grateful to be able to be an instrument in His hands to help his children come back to Him. I know the church is true.
Sunday after the first session we decided to come home for a little and God answered Sister Ward's prayer. The deaf couple in our complex were getting out of their car at the same time and she was able to tell them a little bit about us. Boy it was cool to see the gospel being preached like that. They were a little confused and wondered why she thought she was God but she was able to clear it up and we have a return appointment with them in a week or so. God loves every one of His children. He yearns for them to come back. I'm so grateful for Sister Ward's talent in being able to communicate with them. It truly was an answer to her prayer.
Last night we were able to go over to our LA/PMF house and be able to really sit down with them and ask what they're expecting of us. The non-member said "to teach us about things we don't know about the book of Mormon!" Boom. That made me so happy. The less active got so happy when we told him he could live eternally with his family. I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of eternal families.

Man, just like you all say every week. It sounds like you're really loving your mission...and I am! It's so wonderful to be out here preaching the gospel to all who will listen. I'm just about to finish Alma and I can't express enough my gratitude for the Book of Mormon in my life. It truly helps me become a stronger disciple of Jesus Christ. I love this gospel and can't wait to do this for the rest of my life! I've changed so much and know the church is true. I'm so grateful for a living day prophet. I'm so grateful for all of you and all you do. I'm thankful for your prayers. And i'm praying for you as well. God be with you. I'll talk to you all next week. Love you all so much! :)

Love,
Sister Taylor

Easter

Well I'd first like to start off and tell everyone I hope they had a Happy Easter! I sure did! Sister Ward's mom sent me a package to hide treats for her and she's a little bugged she still can't find one of them. I guess I get the hiding technique from dad. I thought I did a pretty good job of hiding them! I'll talk a little bit more about Easter a little bit down the email.

First off, woo hoo! Mom, I really liked what you put in your email about me being positive and if not turning it into something positive. Because that's what Elder Benson (my district leader) told me yesterday, is that I've been way positive up here and it's true. I haven't really been down up here because I know that I'm here to strengthen the people up here. And that makes me happy. I want to thank you for the sweet pillowcases from you mom. I wondered what it was because the mailman stuffed it in the mailbox but when I opened it I was so happy. And I love those little cards from the lady at the bank. It's great! So thank you. I also want to thank you for the egg bubblegum I remember ALWAYS getting that from the Easter bunny. I love the egg gum.

Oh yeah. And if you could mom or dad. I'd like you to try and tell all the missionaries going out really soon, good luck from me! They have answered the call to serve and it's incredible. So tell them all good luck and they'll be amazing from me please. Thanks!

Back to this weeks adventures. No scary moments which is great but defiintely some spiritual ones. On Monday we went down to Caldwell to have a little surprise for Sister Ward because her birthday was Tuesday. We went and played volleyball at the church and it was a great p-day. We went and taught our recent converts, Eli and Emanuel about the gospel of Jesus Christ and wen through scriptures about the doctrine. It was really good. Those guys are so awesome!

Tuesday was Sister Ward's birthday and it was so hard trying to be sneaky and getting things for her because I'm with her 24/7. But I made it work. I got her a few gifts and put them out Monday night so she'd she them Tuesday morning. I secretly made her a t-shirt and some other things. It was pretty cool. We had district meeting and it was great. We talked about faith. I can see my faith continuing to grow every single day. And that's incredible. I've grown so much since being out here it's insane! We had a dinner at a ward members house the Inserra's and it was such a great dinner and conversation. She's orginally from Italy and made us some way good pasta. She got flowers for Sister Ward for her birthday that were gorgeous! We shared a message with them and went on our merry way.

Wednesday we went out and tried to find ward members all day. Sister Ward and I made a goal to talk to everyone and came in contact with a man that was very humble. He works a lot and we told him we'd come visit him at work and he said "you serious!?" and we told him yes. We haven't been able to go yet but we definitely will. :) We visited our neighbor Anne and she still is saying "stop trying to save my soul." We'll get to her someday. She tthinks I have a magic touch because I fixed her vaccuum and phone. So hopefully we can use that to our advantage. It was so funny. She told us she couldn't call anyone but people could call her so I asked her if I could see it and sure enough got it working. she came over to me and hugged me and said "you're the best" it was so cute. I love little Anne. :) We went to a Relief Society activity on Wednesday night where they made wreath's with fake flowers and the bishop's wife paid for one for us so we went and made them. They turned out pretty cute. I'll send a picture of it. I think you'll like the picture haha.

Thursday was a great day with lessons with active members with strong testimonies. But sometimes we need those just to continue to strengthen them. We had our last singing practice before the talent show and then taught Carmen (who lives there) she's so strong and has such a strong testimony. I'm grateful for the strong ward members we have in this ward. Next we went to Ricardo's house and he's a legit guy. He learned english from an englishman and an austrailian so he has this sweet accent and is very eloquent I should say in his speaking. We talked about enduring to the end because he just recently returned to church and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I've been in. I'm so grateful for the spirit in teaching. It truly is so powerful. Then we went to Sister Jarrett, a Jamaican member and she's got such a strong testimony on the sacrament. I've truly seen the importance of the sacrament out here and know I didn't take it so seriously when I was back home. But the sacrament is so powerful and can truly help us in our daily lives. We returned home and had quite a funny experience at a stop light but it's kinda long to write out so if you really want to hear I'll personally email you hahaha. It was hilarious!

Friday was a great day. We had a sister that is looking to go on a mission in a few years with us all day to experience what it's like being a missionary. We went to a lot of ward members and met a really nice Jewish man named Jeffrey. He gave us Matzo's and some fruit slices. He is a great man. He likes to talk as well. He told us he'd take us out for pizza. Can't complain about that. PS. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat pizza back there. I've been converted to the pizza out here and it's just to good.....We went to a members house right on the Hudson river and he's an artist and so legit! I loved his apartment and then view from it. Like you said mom, I can't wait to bring you back out here and show you all the things I'm experiencing out here. It's incredible! I love it!

Saturday was a crazy day for Sister Ward and I. We had correlation with Elder Kay (new ward mission leader) and that went for quite some time then onto the talent show for the elderly. Man that was a blast! I recorded the whole thing so I'm going to be filling up this usb drive quickly and sending it back to you. I loved doing that with them. It really was so much fun. And I think they liked our song. It was just fun to be with all of them and they appreciated it. :) Next we went right to the church because the young women were putting on an easter egg hunt for the primary kids and we were helping. We went and blew up ballooons and got everything ready. The young women leader couldn't come so we had to wing all the activites and everything but it turned out to be a blast. We had the kids pop the balloons with their bums and that was so fun to watch. Then they went out and found all the eggs. It was fun to be able to interact with the kids. I love this ward. After we went home and then went back and was able to watch the Young Womens broadcast and it was so good. I can't wait for this upcoming week to watch general conference. What a privilage that is.

Sunday of course was Easter and it was a eventful spiritual day! We went early so Sister Ward could play the piano because we thought she was going to have to play for sacrament but it ended up she didn't. We did practice with the choir though and sang I stand all Amazed and That Easter Morn. It was really good. It was a womens choir because no men wanted to sing but it sounded good. We had a less active part member family there and it was so good to see them there. There were also a lot of people we hadn't met or haven't come for a while so it was really fun to see so many people there. The chapel was full. It was so great and the spirit of the meeting was aamazing. We taught primary the last hour and there are some craazy kids! But it was fun and eventful. We went back and did studies. I popped open my cadbury eggs and really couldn't put them down. They are just too good. Thanks mom for those! We went to the Michel's for Easter Dinner and it was so good. The food was delicious! Wooof. I got so full but it was great. We talked about the Atonement and Resurrection and had a really good spiritual lesson. We read from Jesus the Christ and True to the Faith. Those are amazing books! We had 9 missionaries there at that dinner and it is such a privilage to be serving with so many valiant members of this church.

This week I've been reading in Alma. Boy do I love Alma. The faith that Alma, Ammon, Aaron and all the missionaries are just such a strength to me as a missionary. I love reading through all the stories of them converting the Kings. I love the fact that the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's would lay down all their weapons of war and never take them up again. I've been thinking, what "weapons" do I have in my life that I can bury, that can stand as a witness to God that I'll serve him and stand up for Him no matter what. I want you all to think of that and think of what things you can "bury" whether it be gossip or a habit and truly thinking about how we can all serve God better. I'm so grateful for the scriptures. For the truth it is in my life. It has made me such a better person and I loook forward to reading it every day because I know it'll bring me closer to Christ. I'm so excited for this upcoming week and general conference. I can't wait to hear the words of the Prophets. I'm grateful for Easter and then atonement and the ability I have to return and live with my Heavenly Father again. I love you all so much! Hope you all have such a great week! Always praying for you!

Love,
Sister Taylor