Transfers

Transfers are tomorrow and I'll be staying in Scotch Plains. Sister Maclay will be transferred and I'll get a new companion tomorrow. It's gonna be a change but I'm ready for it. Sister Maclay and I thought I was going to be the one transferred but nope it was her. Crazy how Heavenly Father works sometimes. We did have some pretty cool miracles this past week.

We've been really working trying to find new people to teach and also continuing to work with the ones we have. We found some new investigators. Well, we did have two but one had to be dropped. He wasn't all the way there but we contacted him and he lets us come back the next day. We taught him the restoration and committed him to come to church. He said he needed to come back as we were extending the invitation the dad came out and interrupted the lesson. It was really awkward because the guy was saying he needed to go back to church. We called him on Saturday to check up on how his prayers were going and Sister Maclay got a mouth-full about saying we should really consider our approach to random people on the streets. It was interesting. Needless to say we won't be going back over to his house anytime soon.

Also, we have been getting media referrals like crazy lately. We got one from a girl and so we went and checked up on her. Totally legit. We started talking to her and she told us that some of the Elders went into her work (Modell's) and started talking to her boss and he didn't really want anything to do with what they were saying but as they were leaving she stopped them and they gave her a card. She referred herself on mormon.org and said she's been looking for a new church to go to. She said her church is preachin too much law stuff. She said she went on and read about the restoration and Joseph Smith and believes it's true. She even downloaded the app on her phone and started reading before we even got over there. It was gnarly! We taught one of the best restoration lessons together and committed her to baptism on November 10th. She said "well, I've already been baptized" and the spirit took over and we address the priesthood authority. She understood and said well I guess my baptism in my other church was probably "just a good bath in the church". It was really cool to have the spirit work and explain the priesthood authority to her. She was going to come to church but unfortunately she couldn't. But we'll get her there again. 

We also got a media referral, he was a member, he recently retired and is yearning to have the gospel back in his life. We went up and checked on him and he opened up the door and there laid like 20 Book of Mormon's. He said whenever someone comes over he hands it out to them. Missionary! Boom. It was great. He said he missed the church and that he's planning on coming back into full activity. He was at church yesterday and loved it! I love that!

The last referral was one that we already recieved. The address from the first one was incorrect and when we recieved the second one it was the right address. It's just so cool to see how many people want the gospel in their lives and when we weren't able to get over there (because it was the wrong address), they referred themselves again! It's so cool to see that :)

Other than that we had a great week. I can't really remember all that we did because I left my planner back home. We taught the gospel :)

Mark is still looking for the right baptismal date. He's praying about it and I'm hoping that we can really help him this upcoming transfer to get him baptized! Continue to pray for him. He's amazing. We have a team-up coming out with us tomorrow that we're hoping he can connect with and pick a date!

Oh and we went and saw Mary-Ann, the little 8 year old that got baptized two weeks ago. Some stuff went down with her parents (they're separated) and the mother didn't want her to be baptized. She didn't voice that til after the fact it was already done. We went and taught them a lesson and both Mary Ann and her father Brother Ellis are happy with the choice she made. It's just sad to see that she didn't voice anything til after. It was a good lesson with her on the Holy Ghost. 

Man, I love teaching the gospel. I'm ready and excited for this new change. Both Sister Maclay and I needed something to change and I'm glad Heavenly Father answered our prayers. This field here in Scotch Plains is "white and ready to harvest" and I'm so glad I still have the opportunity to work here. It's crazy how fast time is going. Before we know it it'll be Thanksgiving, them Christmas, New Years and then booom! We won't say what happens next!

Thanks for all the support from all of you! I love you all so much! Continue to be those examples in your everyday life! 

Until next week

Love,

Sister Taylor

Conference week

Boy wasn't conference incredible!? The spirit I felt during the sessions of conference was incredible and brought me to tears at some of the talks the prophet and apostles gave. It's just such a confirmation to me to know that this is the Lord's work and that God truly loves each one of us individually. That was something I got from conference, one of the many things...that God is so mindful of us and his love is eternal. Whenever we make a mistake, it's okay because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. We can become whole again through the atonement and boy am I ever so grateful for that. We were able to watch the sessions at the church and had Mark there as well as one of our other investigators for a little bit of it. I thought it went by way to fast this year and can't wait for next general conference to be able to be uplifted yet again. Man, I'm so grateful for this gospel in my life! And it just makes me want to share it more with others. :) I'm so excited to be out here at this time in my life, because I've truly come to know who I am and know what I need to do to serve my Savior and Heavenly Father.

So this week we had some pretty great lessons. Sister Maclay has been leading a lot more which has been great for me to finally be able to take the back seat and let her lead. She's been driving in the daytime and yes, I still get carsick when others drive. Jody and Kimber, it's serious, I wasn't faking that 10 years ago or so when I felt carsick in the back of the car going down to St. George or whatever :) Anyway it's been nice. We had a funny experience on Monday night going to a members house we were checking up on. I felt kinda awkward going but we went anyway. The door was open and you could see into the house. We knocked on the house and then lady got up and said "is that the mormons?" The man said yes....she said "I'll get it." He wanted to but she answered the door, all rude like and said "can I help you?" We said we were the missionaries and she said "my mother taught me to always call ahead before you just stop by!" We were kinda shocked. We asked if she was Terry and the man behind her said "I am." We awkwardly waited a few minutes before he came out with his briefcase and apologized. He's from Idaho and moved out here. He met the lady online and they're engaged. At that time she was blaring music really loud. He's a sweet guy and you can tell he misses the gospel. Before leaving he said "I apologize about her....I'm trying to work on it" That was our fun experience of the week.

Now onto Mark. We keep having GREAT lessons with him. He's ready to be baptized just needs the confirmation it's the right thing. (He's already gotten it though...) We were planning for him and I thought we should get some ensign articles to help him. We found ones on personal revelation and gave it to him. I asked what he thought about them and he said he really liked them and that he might read more articles. I said be my guest. It's incredible. He said that the articles make him want to be baptized on the 13th he just has to figure a few more things out with his family. Mac and I are praying so hard he gets baptized this week. It'll be great! He also went to the Priesthood session of conference as well as Sunday Morning. He was dozing off on Sunday but I told him that was a-okay. We've all done that. But he really enjoyed it! Pray hard for him this weeek! :)

We also found a couple of new investigators this week. Some interesting ones but ones that are interested none-the-less :)

Thursday night was really cool. We were at a members house and taught the lesson and we all do "nose-goes" to say the closing prayer and their daughter was the last one. The mother said, can you teach her how to pray? We said of course...the spirit took over and I shared a personal experience about prayer and how important it is. I told her I didn't pray really intently when I was growing up and I didn't want her to have that same regret. So, I committed her to pray on her knees outloud at least once a day. The room was silent as I testified about prayer and boy it was incredible. I know PRAYER IS REAL! I know God is listening to us and knows us personally. He cares about our desires and when we pray to him he will answer us, in his own time. I love being able to pray to him everynight and strengthen my relationship with him.

We got a ticket on Friday night...because we were like a foot in the way of a driveway :( That's a bummer. Also got dirt thrown on the back of our car...you can guess what they were trying to tell us.. :)

We were able to have a great time at general conference and recieve revelation! I LOVED IT! Saturday night we were able to meet Grandma Joyce's grandson for the first time. It's a long story but she wished before she died that she could meet her grandson and she met him this weekend. We talked about what we did as missionaries and then sang I am A Child of God at the end. We got a text the next morning saying "thank you for singing that song to me, it made me cry inside" tender moments! Unfortunately he lives in Pennsylvania so we're going to have missionaries go over there and teach him. He's going to be baptized.

This work is real! If you didn't get the memo. WE ARE ALL MISSIONARIES! We are all a part of the work of Salvation. Get on it if you haven't been doing your part. God needs all of his children. I love you all so much! I'm so happy I'm a part of this church. The testimonies that were shared this weekend were such a stregnth to me! I love you! Talk to you next week! :)

 

Love,

Sister Taylor

Ah-mazing week!

It has been such a great week. It's been so cool to be able to be our Lord's 'swift messengers' and see how walking one day will truly bring miracles. We were able to be out walking in the beautiful fall weather that has encompassed us. Cheesy yes? But it's true. The weather here has gotten so nice and lovely. My companion, being from Arizona, is getting cold already...she's in for a treat. :)

It's been incredible to see the holy ghost working through us this past week. I told you about a lady a few weeks ago, Laura Russell, who we stopped in on because the spirit prompted us to. Well it happened again this week. We went to her house and knocked and no answer. We probs sat at the door for 3 mintues or so and got back in the car. Not 30 seconds later she was walking out with her laundry. I rolled down the window and awkwardly said "hi Laura." We talked to her for a few minutes and she told us she was being kicked out of her house and needs to find a new place to stay. My heart ached for her. I want to help her so bad. I was prompted to share the quick little spiritual thought we had planned and I was grateful we did. It was a talk from conference. Hope of God's Light and it was short but powerful. She's an incredible daughter of God and hopefully she'll let us in a little more to truly help her testimony.

We had a good lesson with Mark as well. Satan has been working on him for sure. He told us this week he wanted to explore other churches. This broke Sister Maclay and I's heart. He still came to church yesterday and I asked him why he wanted to explore other churches and he said "for less commitment." I testified pretty boldly and said "go ask anyone here in this church if they feel bound down by the commmandments and I promise you none of them will say they do." I hope we can continue to encourage him and help him see that this is the ONLY true church on the earth. Many prayers have gone out to him and many more to come :) Wednesday and Friday were sweet days of teaching. We were out being those 'swift messengers' We had some pretty powerful lessons and hit people with the spirit. In a nice way of course. It's been so cool to see how much power we have as representatives of Jesus Christ and how much boldness we can have when we love the people we teach. We started teaching this girl from Newark, Sheena, and boy is she a treat. Needless to say I showed her my braids that I had and she loved them! Yeah, i'll tell you more about her, at another time. :) She taught us a new phrase, "keepin it real" aka telling it how it is. And boy does she "keep it real" hahah. She's great.

So Friday. We went out and decided to walk down one street. There were many people out and we were able to teach 4 quick lessons in a matter of about an hour. It was so cool to testify off of one another and get return appointments with some of them. This one lady, Edith, from Peru, barely spoke Spanish but we were able to converse in Spanglish with her. We got her number and address and she said she didn't have any friends. Boom, hello! :) It was just great and we were so happy that day. It's true. Teaching the gospel makes us HAPPY!

We did have a baptism yesterday in the ward. It was of an 8 year old girl who's father is a member. Smac and I didn't know but I guess we re-activated him and helped prepare Mary Ann for her baptism. She is a ball of.....craziness! We went over to just make sure everything was set to go on Saturday and she gave us a concert. Singing and dancing and then her mom showed us the electric slide. ITS ELECTRIC! We had the Relief Society broadcast that night and boy wasn't that GREAT! It was the strongest spirit I've felt in a while and we're going to have that again this upcoming week! But for 8 hours! Holla! I love the talks on covenants and remember our covenants and then President Monson, taught so simply and plainly about prayer and scripture study. It's true. That's all it is. Scripture and prayer and going to church, attending the temple. It's incredible. The gospel is AMAZING!

I had probs one of the most unique testimony meetings yesterday. We had two ladies get up there and speak for 20 minutes combined about who knows what and then this other man get up and talk about an egg in a cup that blew up in his face. Interesting..The baptism was crazy too. Mac and I felt we were running around crazy getting everything figured out. But it was great. Our three set appointments juked us but we met a really nice guy by the name of, James Brown.....not the famous one but a sweet old man :)

 

Well. This church is the true church on the earth. There's no other one. I know that's true. I've realized how amazing it is out here. To see when we truly live the gospel of Jesus Christ. We. Are. Happy. There's many times we have trials and upsets come upon us and maybe sometimes wonder why. But we have to continue to endure to the end and put our faith in our Heavenly Father and he will help us. I can't believe September is gone. I don't know where this year is going. But I'm excited for the things to come. Transfers are coming up soon. I love you! Thanks for all your support! Have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Christine Taylor

 

awhh :(

Mary Ann being baptized

up down up down

Well this week definitely didn't turn out the way we thought it was going to. We thought we were going to have a baptism yesterday, Mark, but we met with him last Monday and he felt a little pressured and didn't feel he was ready. But for some reason, it didn't get me down. We had a great lesson with him yesterday and re-boosted him. The Elders in our area came and we talked about the priesthood and cleared up any questions he had. We talked about Alma 32 and it was one of the most spiritual lessons I've had. It was really great. Prior to that on Saturday we had him read Alma 32. Later that evening we asked him how it went and he said reading is good. He said "it said not to back away from baptism" and we asked what he thought about that and he said he wasn't ready but we are having him pray about October 13th for his baptism. I know God will answer his prayer and he will be baptized. He mentioned he wanted all four of us to be there for his baptism and he told him that was the last week all of us will be here because of transfers. So pray hard for Mark. He's an incredible son of God. :)

 

Other than that we've had some GREAT miracles happen this week: After meeting with Mark on Monday we went to a less-active ladies house. Her husband was there and previously he didn't want to sit in on any lessons, but Sister Maclay and I both asked him to sit in on the lesson, so he did. We talked about prophets and started teaching the kids. We showed them a picture of President Monson and their dad asked to see it as well. We talked about how important prophets are and all that and then played telephone with the family. We had the kids whisper in our ear and the dad say the ending phrase. It was really great and really fun. I got a little impression in my head to ask him to be baptized. So we were talking and I started asking him the question and his little daughter interrupted so after she was done I looked at him and said "will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized?" He said "yes, I will, but I'm a hard guy to work with." We said that's fine. :) We didn't set him with a date but it was truly a miracle to see the spirit work through us as missionaries. He knows Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and we're really excited to start teaching him.

We had some great opportunities to do service for a less active lady. We hit her with the spirit when we shared Mosiah 24: 10-15. Tears were coming from her eyes after we were done teaching her. We can tell she misses the church. She just won't come unless we ask her husband (who's not a member) to come. We organized her food storage and my OCD came in handy. :)

We also got to watch the young women's talent show which was great. There are so incredible young women in our ward. They combine with the first ward so it was really great to meet more of the young women. I showed them my juggling skills but that was it. We had a few great days of teaching this week where we were out working all day. It has been nice to have full schedules and out working to keep my mind focused. Because, I did hit my year mark on Thursday which is absolutely bonkers to me. I wasn't feeling so hot on Thursday so it was a little slower day. We walked and got ice cream and also burned a skirt for my year mark. That was fun.

We had the priviledge to go to Liberty Island again to help and serve there. I ran into two mormon families. That's always fun. Insta-connection. We went with Sister Bair and Sister Robison again. Those girls are great! I love em! We had a great dinner with a member family on Friday night, we had haystacks. Yummy. Then we went to Grandma Joyce's house and she fed us too....fish. Sister Maclay took some of mine because I was kinda gagging it down.

I have a new found love for tennis. We got to play with a less active on Saturday and boy do I love it. That was fun but it has left me sore. But i'd do it again in a heartbeat.

This Sunday we'll have a baptism of the 7 year old, Mary Ann, we've been teaching. She's crazy but ready to be baptized. Hopefully it'll calm her down a little bit. :) Saturday night after her lesson we went and found 3 new investigators, potentially their parents as well. We went and talked to them and they all wanted a Book of Mormon and we're going back to meet with their family on Wednesday. They seem great and I'm excited for them.

The Elders had a baptism yesterday which was a really great baptism. It was a young women and you could see her blossom since her first coming to church. She's great. Church was kinda of hectic but it was still great. Like I mentioned we went and taught Mark again and got him back on track. This week has been up and down.

I'm grateful for my testimony I have to be able to share it with those around me. I'm grateful to be out here in New Jersey and can't believe how fast time is flying. I'm ready to push these last few months and give it everything I've got. I love all of you and am so grateful for your support! Thank you so much!

 

Have a great week! Talk to you next week!

 

Love,

Sister Taylor

 

A good week.

This week has had some ups and some downs but all in all it has been a good week. P-day was a nice relaxing one, I was able to write back a few people and also draw. Yes, it was another Justin Bieber. Don't judge. Monday night was really cool, we had been going and trying to find people and home and no luck. So I took a few minutes to think about where we should go and a name of a less active popped into my head. As we drove to her house and parked it was dark. I felt a little sketched out but proceeded to her house. There were a couple of ladies outside talking to each other and we stopped and talked to them and then went to the ladies house. As we got there we introduced herself. We had tried her house previously and no luck but she was sitting outside on her steps. We talked to her and she's such a sweet individual. She began to tell us that she went to go get some iced tea and felt like she wanted to sit outside that night because she hadn't in a while, as soon as she sat down and got comfortable she looked over and saw us walking up to her and thought "are those the Missionaries?" And it sure was. We committed her to come to church and she said she's wanted to but with her four boys, two are handicapped, and she's a single mom, it gets tough. She didn't make it to church but we're hoping to begin working with her. She walked us to her car because she told us that she lives in a Krip area. That's why I felt a little sketch. But we're safe, no worries. It was cool to be able to take a second and think and let the spirit work in me to tell us where we need to go. God prepares his children and sometimes we have to stop and think about where to go to best help his children that day.

On Sunday, we had an interesting call from a lady saying "I want to be baptized into the church" We love those calls! :) We set up a time to meet her and she's a wonderful lady. She wants to be baptized but her mom wouldn't be too happy if she changed religions and she said she has to wait for her mom to die to be baptized....uh. That surprised me haha. She loves relief society and should be coming to church this week. :) Wednesday Smac and I weren't too smart. We went out to lunch a few hours before we were going to eat at a members house and teach a lesson. We got to his house and he had cooked a FULL chicken for us, rice, cabbage, and a two teared chocolate cake. WOOF! Needless to say, I'm just grateful he wasn't in the room while we were eating so we could eat as slow as we wanted. I threw some out :/ We had a great lesson on the plan of salvation afterwards. We met a couple of other people, a young women, Jazmin Tepoz which was great and another man just walked with him as he was taking his laundry to the Laundromat.

We had a couple of crazy thunderstorms this past week.

I went on an exchange with Sister Schultz this weekend which was great. We went to a young women's breakfast and the picnic bench broke on us. It was quite funny. But we went around and shared our testimony with each other and it was so cool to see how the gospel has blessed their life, not living in Utah. It's been pretty remarkable to me to see that in the youth out here. I love it! We committed a 7 year old girl, her dads a member, to baptism on the 29th. Pretty excited about that.

Sunday was good. We had a great week teaching Mark and preparing him for his baptism. He's ready. He's feeling the spirit and has a testimony. Unfortunately he didn't want to come to church yesterday. Just wasn't feeling up for it. It kinda scared me but I know that God is watching over him. Satan is going to be working on him so many prayers this week to get him to his baptism!

I can't believe I'm hitting my year mark this week. Time has flown by and I know it'll continue to fly by.

This week during one of our comp studies I said "The Church is true." I stopped for a minute and said "woah, that's really nice to be able to say". I know this is Christ's church. I know God lives and loves each one of us. I know the Book of Mormon will comfort us in our toughest times. I know prayer is real and he is listening to us everyday.

I hope all of you have a great week! I love you all.

 

Sister Tay Tay

The Lord is Hastening His work.

Another fantastic week here in Scotch Plains 2 North! My goodness, God has been so good to Mac and I. We were able to help our investigator, Mark, progress even more and he's so ready for his baptism...More about him later. As you know we didn't go to transfers, it was a big transfer conference with a lot of changes but Mac and I are happy to still be here. There's definitely people who need us here. Elder Packer (from Kerrybrook) came in. Of course, I didn't see him but when I do, I'll go up and say hello. I wonder if he knows who I am still. I think I babysat him, or at least his little siblings once haha. That's 5 missionaries I believe from Kaysville now! Represent! Sister Mo told me that in the November transfer, there's a possibility of adding another zone with seven new areas. We only got one English sister in this transfer but President said we'll be getting at least 18 more so I'm guessing these upcoming transfers we'll be getting them. We'll see though!

 

So after emails last week we went and tried people, no much luck. We went and got ice cream and went over to Mark's early to eat the ice cream we got with him. It was a great time to just be able to talk to him and answer any additional questions he had. We were having a member come over and he was a little late but he got there and we had a great lesson talking about the Gospel with him. We showed him the teabag analogy and he really enjoyed it. He's grasping everything so well. He's the most prepared person I've ever met. He's keeping his commitments and doing everything he should be to feel the spirit in his life. And he's portrayed that to us that he feels so much better about himself. On Friday we had another lesson with him. And boy that was GREAT! He bore us his testimony of the Book of Mormon. He said "I just feel more confident when I hold the Book. And it's not just a story. I know these things happened" MAN! From just a few weeks and he has a great testimony of the Book of Mormon and it'll only grow stronger. I love him so much!

 

Wednesday was a long day of trying formers, less actives and members. We were able to meet a few people we haven't met yet so that was great. We went to go visit a former and got on to the street he lived on and walked to his home. We passed by a young women and I was prompted to talk to her but we tried the former first. As we were walking back to the car I told Mac we should stop and talk to her and I'm grateful we did. I connected quickly with her. She's kinda shy but so cool. I asked her if she liked to play sports and of course, basketball, it was. We shared the Book of Mormon with her and got an appointment to go back and see her. I'm excited to begin teaching her. We met some more less actives before heading to a lesson. We talked about the plan of salvation. I've been able to see my testimony of the Plan of Salvation strengthen so much since being out here. Not just in that, but all the aspects of the gospel. I know now what the gospel means to me in my life and I'm truly GRATEFUL for it. I know it's the only way to live to return and live with our Heavenly Father. And my mission is where I've seen that come about. I'm truly so happy for this opportunity I've had.

 

Thursday we had zone meeting. There were quite a few changes in our zone so it's exciting to be able to meet new people. We have a new zone leader as well. Our monthly focus is on love and I'm pumped about it. It's going to be great. We went to Panda express for lunch. And I will take every fortune cookie serious for the rest of my life since getting my answer to come out here. It said "People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner" I'll take that as a good thing. :) We weekly planned and went and had a great lesson with the Gonzolez Family on the Holy Ghost and did an object lesson they LOVED! I love teaching kids. It's great because they have so many questions and so happy and eager to learn.

 

We had the opportunity to go to Liberty Island with Sister Robison and Sister Bair. They are both way awesome! I love having the opportunity to go to Liberty. It's really fun to be able to help people all around the world. That night we had a great lesson with Mark, where he testified of the Book of Mormon and then as we were leaving we met his neighbor and he testified to him as well about it. It was SO RAD!

 

Saturday was another great day of work and Sunday was awesome! We had Mark there again and he's walking more confident than before. He's so prepared to get baptized and I'm so lucky and grateful I met him. He's so awesome! I can't wait to send pictures of him. He reminds Mac and I of the Blindside movie. Like he's our protector! Awhh so great!

 

We have another great week planned. I'm so grateful for being able to feel the spirit everyday of my life. It's been so cool to see the growth in everyone we're working with. We had a great lesson with a member family and their neighbor. Like I said in the subject. The Lord is hastening his work and I'm so lucky to be out here while He's doing that. General conference is coming up and I can't wait for that! I hit my 11 month mark in NJ yesterday and coming quickly up on my YEAR MARK! Crazy crazy crazy. But so cool. I love being a missionary. Thanks for all your support! I love you all. Hope you have a great week!

 

Love,

Sister Tay Tay

Missions are the greatest things ever!!!!!

Man alive! Missions are the greatest things ever! I love them so much! This week was so amazing. Sister Maclay and I are going to town with work and it's so great! We were able to teach many people and find even more new investigators this week which is so exciting. I can't believe that August is already over and now it's September! In a few weeks it'll be a YEAR since being out here. Crazy crazy crazy. Like I said we had a good week of teaching. Our investigator Mark is so amazing. The most prepared person I've met by far out here. We kept in contact with him during the week and he's been keeping his commitments and doing everything he should. He was able to come to church on Sunday as well, first investigator at church since being here! And he loved it! The ward was so welcoming and he loved priesthood, the Elders Quorum President asked who wanted to take the "Strengthening the family through the Priesthood" DVD home and Mark raised his hand and wanted it. It's just so incredible to see how willing a person is to change because it's the right thing. We're meeting with him tonight and are so excited to solidify September 22 for him to be baptized!

Tuesday we had a rough day, we were trying people all day and finding no success, and of course the last one we try we were finally able to teach her and make her a new investigator. It was a testimony builder to me to never give up. No matter how hard and down in the dumps you are, never give up because God will bless you with an opportunity. I was able to write that experience in my journal and I'm so grateful for those experiences I've had so I can go back and look at them later down the road.

I had a feeling we needed to go to a certain area on Wednesday and I know why. The first house we went to, it was a former, she was walking in the house right as we got there (it was POURING rain) so she let us right in. She's 23 and been busy but has a strong desire to learn more and be baptized. We were able to teach her and her sister and set up another time so they could get priesthood blessings because of their infirmities. I just feel like everyone I'm meeting here is for a reason and God has placed them in my path for a reason. It's just so COOL how God works. We went and found another former investigator who wanted us to come back and then headed to the Servils to have dinner and a lesson. I love the SERVILS! They are one of the coolest families I met. We were able to have a nice dinner and talk about the plan of salvation. We got talkin about it and didn't finish so we have to finish part 2 next time. But they are just so much fun to be around.

Thursday we took one of the Servils, Rashada, out with us and BOY did she do awesome. We had a way good lesson with one of the young women who isn't baptized yet and I was prompted to talk about testimony. And it was exactly what she needed. We didn't know how we were going to tie in baptism but the Holy Spirit guided that lesson. Somehow baptism was brought up and Rashada asked her why she wasn't baptized. She said she didn't know so we had her pick her own date because she is ready. So she'll be baptized on September 15th! I'm so excited for her. She's a sweet young lady. \

Friday was an amazing lesson with Mark. We taught the plan of salvation and committed him to baptism. He is so great and wants to change so much. We found him a ride to church like I said and he loved all three hours! I could go on about him but I'll just say he's prepared and so happy and it's just incredible! We went and did some service for one of the members and then had to get home to transfer plan. I had a weird impression I was leaving but I'm staying here for another 6 weeks at least and I couldn't be happier! I love this area. There's so much work to be done.

Saturday was another great day. We taught 6 lessons and found some great potential investigators. But Saturday night was really cool. We were checking up on some members and they weren't home so we began walking to our car. All of a sudden a man in his car pulled over and asked if we knew where the '10' was so he could get back home to Maryland. I said "you're probably asking the wrong person because I'm from Utah but I have my gps I can grab". And of course, in my missionary mind, this is going to be a great opportunity to share the gospel. :) I pulled the gps out and he told me his address and I wrote down the instructions for him. He had just come from a funeral and so I thought "hmmm the plan of salvation will be good for him" He asked why I was out here from Utah and I told him I was serving a mission from my church and he said that was great. He asked "So what is the main difference from the Mormons and the mainline Christianity?" I pulled out the Book of Mormon and said "This book." We gave it to him and he was so curious about it. We had a good conversation with him about the gospel and committed him to read it and pray about it. We gave him a plan of salvation pamphlet and got his information so the missionaries in Maryland can go and visit him. He's going to be baptized some day. :) He said if I was ever down there in Maryland to go and visit him. He was a sweet guy from Ghana. I hope he arrived home safely. I got about 20 mosquito bites from standing outside talking to him but it was fun to be able to help him and share with him the gospel.

Sunday was great, church was awesome! It was fast and testimony meeting and so it was really good to have Mark there listening to the ward members bear their testimonies. He said he enjoyed it. President and Sister Jeppson were there for sacrament that was a treat.  We had two dinners, which made me sick :/ The night ended a little early because I felt I had to ralph...t.m.i? Sorry.

Yesterday was great. We played ultimate Frisbee in the rain for 3 hours. Sad to say I'm sore as all get out today and it hurts to laugh but I loved it. And also happy to say I still have both my wrists in working order! No broken bones yesterday but some pretty funny hits with the Frisbee and what not!

Well this is getting long. I hope all of you have a great week this week. Always looks for those opportunities to serve. It makes you happy. I know the church is true. I know God lives and loves and knows each one of us personally! I love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Tay Tay