Animal Planet

Hola Everyone,

This week has been pretty interesting. It seems like we are meeting many of Mother Nature´s friends right in the comfort of our house. Every night we see some new animal in the house and have to get it out. Most of all, the animals that enter our house are mice and frogs (weird right?). This week was extra special because on Friday night as we came into the house we saw a ginormous black tarantula on the floor in front of our pila (giant sink). It was literally the size of an NBA basketball player´s hand. I have never seen a spider that big in my life. Elder Bonilla tried killing it with a candle and spray deodorant but kept on blowing out the candle. After that he started spraying it with bug killer, but the tarantula would not die. It started to climb up the wall and run away, and then it jumped at Elder Bonilla and we all freaked out. After that, Elder Bonilla grabbed the broom and killed it. It was so scary. I tried taking pictures but they did´nt come out because the room was too dark. We told a guy about it later on and he told us that supposedly that species of spider releases a poison that can burn skin. So yeah that was awesome.

Esperanza (Jose's mom), Jose, and Misael (Jose's uncle)

On Saturday, Jose (Misael´s nephew) got baptized. The service turned out really well and everyone was really happy. Jose´s cousins didn´t go to the baptism because they were really shy. We are going to continue working with them so that they can do it as well. Jose set a great example for his family. 

A few of the members of the branch that joined us in the baptism

Me and my companions at the baptism. The guy on the right is Leandro. He is one of the oldest members in the branch. He has 33 kids and is sealed to his 3rd wife (the first two died). He is one of the most faithful members in the branch. He is also the Branch Mission Leader. 

This week we have plans to baptize 3 people in Tahuexco. These are the 2 kids and niece of Lorena. They didn´t get baptized last week because they wanted make a decision on where they wanted to be baptized and in the end they never made the final decision. We want them to do it in Tahuexco on the beach because it is closer to their house. The kids have been thinking that they want to do it in the church. I guess we will see what they decide this week.

Elder Peralta, Elder Hall, and my comps Elder Bonilla and Elder Daugherty (at Wendy's)

That's all I have for this week. Everyone have a great week!

Presidente Taylor

Elder Taylor Pics

Pday

Skyping for mothers day

Más Tahuexco! Más Rama La Máquina!

Hey Everyone!

This week was super loaded with lessons. We found lots of new investigators and put some baptismal dates for this week. Wish us well!

The baptismal dates we placed last week are for two kids of a member named Lorena. This family was baptized in Mazatenango a while ago and they moved to Tahuexco 4 years ago. They haven´t been to church in a long time because they live really far away and don´t have a way to leave Tahuexco. We´ve been teaching the kids for a couple of weeks now and they told us that they would like to be baptized this Friday in Tahuexco. We´re gonna go with them again on Wednesday to help them be more prepared for Friday. 

On Wednesday, we went to Tahuexco, and Elder Smith came with a member named Daniel from Cuyotenango. My companion Elder Bonilla went with our district leader, Elder Saxton, to La Maquina Centro 2. Beforehand, my companions and I bought some straw hats to take with us whenever we go to Tahuexco because the sun hits us really hard there. We may look a little strange, but it really helps! 

Me and my straw hat

Me, my comp: Elder Daugherty, and Elder Smith (all from Utah)

Lately, we have been visiting a family from La Maquina. The father´s name is Misael. He really likes hearing the messages that we share with him and sometimes will talk about wanting to be a member of the church. He has some personal problems but we hope that he can resolve them and become a member of the church. Right now we are working with his kids and his nephews. In total there are 4 kids that could be baptized from the family. We have been teaching them for probably 3 weeks now and they kids came to church last Sunday. We are gonna keep visiting them to see if they are ready to be baptized this Saturday. We feel extremely blessed to be seeing so many miracles. 

This week is going to be very busy as we may have two baptismal services back-to-back on Friday in Tahuexco and Saturday in La Maquina. We ask for your prayers for the families of Lorena and Misael; that they may follow the example set by our Savior Jesus Christ, and that we can use our time wisely to help these brothers and sisters gain a testimony of the restored gospel. 

My new missionary tag

It has been especially difficult conducting a branch in La Maquina with no support of a stake, seeing as how the branch is part of the district of the mission. It feels good to be able to counsel and help the members with their needs. My patriarchal blessing talks a little bit about how I would hold callings that would help inspire other people. I never expected that it would happen in my mission. Being a branch president is a very humbling experience. As the weeks have passed here in La Maquina, I have learned a lot of the history of this branch; a lot of good things, and a lot of sad things as well. The majority of the branch is less-active and it is because of some things that have occured in the past. However, we continue praying and fasting for more miracles in the branch as well. We have lots of faith that the branch will prosper, and that someday it will become a ward. 

Pictures:

The shore in Tahuexco

The short brown kid in the middle is Daniel from Cuyo

The dirt road leading from Centro 1 La Maquina to Tahuexco

A pastor and her goats on the bridge crossing Rio Ican

Rio Ican

3 gringos standing on a bridge over Rio Ican 

Anyway, that´s all I have for this week. Have a fantastic week everybody! Adios!

Presidente Taylor

New Mission President and 1 year

Hola Everyone, 

Well, the bad news this week is that my SD card adapter stopped working so no pictures this week. The good news is that I got to meet my new mission president, Presidente Goodman. All I have to say is that he was definitely called by divine authority. He is an amazing person. He is very kind and loves the missionaries so much already. I'm very happy that I'll be able to work with him for the last half of my mission..

Yep, that's right. I passed the year mark this last week. I still can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was in the plane from LAX to GUA. I see my trainer, Elder Tumbaco, a lot more lately since we are both serving in zones of Mazatenango. It's crazy to think that at one time we were companions in Pueblo Nuevo. I loved that area so much. I find myself thinking a lot about the converts I left behind there and wonder how they are doing. I even remember the first house that I entered in Pueblo Nuevo. Although they never accepted us again, I still remember that I loved them a lot because they are my brothers and sisters. You definitely love the people that you meet in the mission. I wish that everyone could just accept the gospel, but I know we as missionaries have a marvelous work to do. 

In my new assignment as branch president, I have been able to work with people in ways that I never had before as a normal proselyting missionary. My mission has definitely been a very unique experience. I don't know if I know any other missionaries that have worked in the mission office for 6 months, and then been assigned to be a branch president for another 6-7 months. Our Heavenly Father definitely knows each and every one of us personally. I know I've been in these positions because there is somthing I'm supposed to learn from it all. I hope that I can apply all of what I've learned to my life after the mission. I know that time is going to come quicker than I will expect. 

That's all I have for this week. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Hope you all have a great week!

Presidente Taylor

Happy Independence Day in the USA

Buenas Tardes Everyone,

Well first off, Happy Independence day my American friends. Its definitely different passing 4th of July in Guatemala, but its all good! Things are great here.

The good news is that Paola, our investigator got baptized. She had originally accepted a baptismal date for the week before, but she was out of town so her baptism got moved to Wednesday of last week. The best part is that she had no doubt that she needed to be baptized. She told us that her mom and dad were not very supportive of her decision to be baptized. In addition, her mom was trying to persuade her to not get baptized. However, Paola received her answer. On Sunday in the morning, as we were waiting for the members to arrive for sacrament meeting, she pulled up on her motorcycle and told us that she had been accompanying her mom in the market and that she left her there for that moment so that she could get confirmed. I´m humbled by the faith that she showed towards the Savior. It can´t be easy to obey God if it means that you would be disobeying your parents. 

This week we went to Tahuexco again. The missionary in the hammock is Elder Ardon from Hondruas. He is my comp, Elder Bonilla´s, son in the mission. He´s interesting. It is definitely different working with him, but nonetheless, we work hard. A couple of pictures I attached show a river between the aldea (village) of Tahuexco and the village of Chicago (yes, like Chicago, Illinois). The members of Tahuexco told us that there are also members in Chicago. We want to visit them as soon as possible. I think we would have to go by boat to get over there. We´ll see how it goes. 

This past week, Presidente Ruiz finished his mission. I am so grateful that I could serve with him in this mission. He is definitley one of the most inspired and poweful individuals that I have ever met. He changed this mission from a mission that can baptize 150 a month, to a mission that can baptize 250 a month. At the rate that we are learning and improving, I have absolutely no doubt that we will be able to baptize 300+ souls in one month. The missionaries are more animated than ever, and our new mission president, Presidente Goodman, is animated as well. 

We appreciate your constant prayers for the missionaries and the Guatemala Retalhuleu Mission. We are constantly viewing miracles in rich abundance here. We hope to see more and more in the future.

I also attached a photo of the house that we live in here in La Maquina. Its nice. It just has lots of big spiders sometimes. But its okay because Elder Bonilla is good at killing them. He´s a good companion. 

Have a great week!

Presidente Taylor