Till We Meet

Hola Everyone!

This is it. The final email of the mission. What do I have to say? Really, there's a lot.. In fact, way too much! The tortillas, the tamalitos, colorful fabrics, 5-seated 7-passenger taxis, exotic animals, and paying the garbage man to take away your trash, only to find out later that he was throwing it in a river...  Honestly, it has been such a great adventure and a huge learning experience. I've learned to appreciate more different cultures and lifestyles, and also the many blessings that our Heavenly Father gives us constantly. He loves us so much! 

This last week in Rio Blanco I had lots of really great experiences. The best of them all was a mini-lesson that we had with a drunk guy named Carlos. Usually when we teach drunk people, we really don't expect them to progress much because they usually forget what we taught them and tend to only want to learn English from us. We met Carlos last week and he had fallen down from his drunkedness and had a few scars. We gave him Priesthood blessing and just chatted for a bit. The crazy thing is that we didn't think anything would come of it. On Sunday, we saw Carlos walk into sacrament meeting with a white shirt. We were totally surprised. We put an appointment with him in the house of a member and taught him the Restoration. I just have to say that The Restoration is my favorite lesson of all. As we explained to him about the Authority in Christ's Church, and the prophets and apostles, he became very understanding of the concept. He told us that in a dream, his mother, who recently passed away, had told him, ¨Talk with the three brothers in the white shirts and ties. Ask them for help.¨ The interesting thing is that we just happened to be in a trio during these past two weeks. It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father prepares his children to receive his gospel. It's so hard for me to comprehend at times how a Being so Supreme can trust in someone as young and inexperienced as me, and can allow me to represent Jesus Christ and carry the name of His perfect Church on my shirt. I'm sad to say that it's coming to an end. I'd love to be able to carry this name tag for the rest of my life.

My invitation to all that have followed me in my journey through Guatemala is to BE A MISSIONARY. We know that the Lord's Restored Gospel has yet to encompass all of the earth, and that His Second Coming is approching. Let's be like the Apostle Paul. Let's be like Alma and Amulek. Let's follow the example of Jesus Christ. This work is perfect, and will never fail. We have been called. If we don't do it, someone else will.

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. - Alma 34:32

[ Photos Below:

                          Our friend Rudy; a guy that pretends to be a statue outside of the local supermarket in San Marcos

                         

                                                   Our P-Day Activity. Life-Size Battleship feat. food coloring inside of water balloons. 

                                                                                                           Zona San Marcos Before

                                                                                                                         and After

                                                                              My trainee Elder Cook and me. Love this guy. ]

                                                                                             

And with this famous scripture, I finish: 

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God. - Moroni 10:32

I know all these things to be true for myself, and I testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Jesus loves you. Till we meet again. 

Elder Taylor

Sent from the most powerful mission in the world, Misión Guatemala Retalhuleu. (La Misión mas Poderosa del Mundo)

El fin se acerca

Hola Everybody! 

Sorry this is going to be short. Wow! This week has been busy. Since my companion and I are going home together, President Goodman assigned us to work with some of the missionaries in my district. We've been traveling a lot between all of the areas, so as of now, we don't really have an assigned area. I can't think of a better way to finish the mission. This Thursday, we are going to head down to Malacatan for our final interviews with President. Right now, we are just trying to make the best of the time we have left. Wish us luck!

                                                                                   A wall dedicated to Jesus in San Pedro

          The park in San Pedro

                                                                                                   

                                                          A rare photo of the sun shining in Serchil.

                                                          Jesus te ama!

                                                          Elder Taylor

"and earthquakes in divers places" -Matthew 24:7

Hola Everyone!

This week has been pretty good. We have been working a little in a town called San Lorenzo, and on Sunday, we attended the group sacrament meeting there (it's too small to be a branch). About 20 members attend the group. Even though the group is small, the Spirit was felt so strongly. Its amazing to see challenge it is to be a member in a place where literally everyone is of another religion. San Lorenzo is made up mostly of Catholics and Evangelicals, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is not well known. The funny thing is that there is always someone who has a smart or funny comment about the Mormons. In the end, there is plenty of work to do here!

This past Wednesday at like 2 in the morning, we felt an earthquake. It was pretty strong and everything was shaking like crazy. I heard my companion sit up in his bed and say, "Whoa." It lasted just a few seconds and then it calmed down. We went back to sleep and in the morning I mentioned to my companion, Elder Johnson, that the earthquake was pretty strong. The weird part was that he didn't even remember. He thought that I was crazy. Turns out that he was sleep-talking during the earthquake and never woke up. I guess he missed out.. We heard that there was a little bit of destruction in San Pedro and Quetzaltenango but nothing too serious. The good news is that we are found safe and sound. There was another earthquake today almost about an hour ago, but it was small and hardly anyone noticed. 

This last week we found a pretty sweet family (Familia Perez Chavez) in Serchil that accepted to be baptized. They are taking refuge for a while from a civil war that is going on in some nearby cities called Tajumulco and Ixchiguan. The only thing is that since they don't have any previous church attendances, they won't get baptized until after I get home. It's a little sad, but the important thing is that they can have a testimony of this restored gospel. 

Apart from that, things have been going really well. It has rained like every day this last week and the rain here is really cold. Lueckily we haven't gotten too sick. Wish us luck!

                                                                                  A pile of fur and bones that used to be a dog... 

                                                                                       Playing fusball in Dominos

Dominos Pizza. Elder Garcia, Elder Gayheart, Elder Cook, Elder Sanchez, Elder Johnson, Elder Taylor (Left to Right)

The best of wishes to everyone! Only 2 emails left! Jesus te ama.

Elder Taylor

I AM SAN MARCOS

HOLA! 

Well, I wasn't expecting this at all, but I had an emergency transfer back to San Marcos (so happy)! On Friday in the morning, we got a phone call from President Goodman, announcing an emergency change that was going to occur that same day. I had just a couple of hours to get everything packed up, say goodbye to some people, and head out to the terminal in Mazatenango. My new are is Serchil, and my companion is Elder Johnson. He is from my group. We came down on the same flight to Guatemala. He is from Idaho and is a great guy. His companion got switched to my old area, Samayac. We are super excited because this is the first time that we have been in the same zone together in our whole mission, and now we're companions! 

My new area is huge. I'm the new district leader in this district. In our area, we are covering a total of five units/areas: Serchil (branch), San Lorenzo (group), Tejutla (branch), Tacana (closed group), and Laguna Seca (branch). We have lots of space to work in, but we are going to focus on just a few of these places, and also focus on working with members and references. These are our last 3 weeks in the mission so we have to make the best out of them. This area is what is referred to as the 'Altiplano' of San Marcos (High-Plain) - and it is SUPER COLD. Serchil is way colder than any of the other areas in San Marcos and San Pedro. Since it's winter, we also are seeing lots of rainfall. Hopefully we can stay warm! This last transfer is going to be great. We are ready for anything and more specifically, MIRACLES!

Salida a San Antonio, Samayac

                                                            Hermana Alejandra and Hermano Abner from San Pablo Jocopilas

                                                              One of our investigators, Gerson, from San Pablo Jocopilas

                                                        Pastries and bread from Xelapan in Quetzaltenango

                                                               A pretty view of the mountains by San Marcos

                                                             Me and my new companion Elder Johnson (the Idahoan). #Oldies

                                                             Hope you all have a fantastic week! Jesus te ama.

                                                             Elder Taylor

          

The Waters of Mormon?

Hola Everyone!!!

This week has been awesome for us. This past week, we visited with one of our investigators, Raquel. She used to be married to a member of the church, but they have since divorced and she started to attend her church. When we first contacted her, she got scared because she thought we were Jehovah's Witnesses and almost didn't let us in, but then she noticed our black name tags and decided that we were good guys.  We have been mostly focusing on the Restoration with her because she was a little confused on the subject of Joseph Smith and why the Church exists. We explained to her about the authority that was lost in Jesus Christ's original Church when the world fell in apostasy, and how that same authority was restored and given to the prophet Joseph Smith. She immediately understood. We read the Book of Mormon with her a little and then suddenly she interrupted us. She said, '' I know that this is true. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet. I know I need to get baptized so that I can make a difference in the lives of other women who have suffered the same problems that I have.'' Raquel has suffered a lot in her life, she is on her third marriage because her past husbands have been unloyal to her. She felt her self-worth drop a lot. She felt like God had abandoned her, but she said that she knew that God hadn't abandoned her because he sent us to her home. In her words, ''two angels''. It's amazing to see how the Spirit talks to people. Even though we had hardly said a word, she was prepared to make that commitment with the Lord. We have a baptismal date set for the 17th of June. We need her to attend church so that she can have a recent attendance before her baptism. She knows a lot of the doctrine of the Church already because she participated there for a good while. 

Today we had a sweet P-Day. We went to a lookout (mirador in Spanish) of the lake Lago Atitlan, in the department of Solola, Guatemala. It's really close to one of the areas of our mission called Chicacao. We went to the lookout to take pictures. A lot of the members in Guatemala say that Lago Atitlan is or is near the Waters of Mormon, where the prophet Alma baptized 204 souls in one day. Here are the pictures: 

Elder Hastings the Idahoan

Foggy, but visible. Lago Atitlan.

                                                           

                                                           Elder Heath (North Carolina)

                                                           People washing their clothes in the lake. 

El Lago Atitlan. If you look closely, there's a Church building at the other end. It's the building of the Santiago Atitlan Branch.

Lovely Guatemala

That's it for now! Have a wonderful week!! Jesus te ama.

Elder Taylor

Maravilla y Milagros (Wonder and Miracles)

Holaa!

Wow, I cannot even believe how fast these weeks are flying by. To think that this is all coming to its finale is hard to even comprehend! Still so grateful that the Lord constantly keeps blessing us with miracles in this precious time. 

This past weekend was stake conference in the Mazatenango stake. We were able to bring Rafael to the priesthood session in the evening. We were pleased to see Elder Maravilla, an area seventy and previous mission president of the Guatemala Retalhulelu Mission, presiding the meeting. The messages were given were focused on how the Melchizedek Priesthood Holders can exercisie their priesthood more worthily and frequently. It was a great session. 

The Sunday conference was split into two different sessions for the number of members in this stake. There are too many to fit in the stake center. We attended the morning session at 8 a.m. and we had previously invited one of our investigators, Carlos. We had previously done a tour of the church building in Samayac with this investigator. He accompanied us to the meeting and really enjoyed a talk given by Elder Maravilla about Family Home Evening. The second session started at 10:30 a.m., which gave us just enough time to get back to Samayac and accompany our other investigators, Rosa and Gabino. They are a young couple with a 2-year-old boy. They came with us to the later session and got to meet our mission president. Overall, the conference was awesome. We had investigators in both of the Sunday reunions and we feel that they are going to keep progressing. 

Today for P-Day we went to a park in San Francisco Zapotitlan and played soccern and kickball. After that we went to Burger King in Mazate. Apart from that, we have had a pretty basic day. 

I started reading the Book of Mormon in English a little while ago and I'm at 3 Nephi 7. The course I was taking to read the Book of Mormon was to read 4 pages a day to finish right before I go home. I've read a little quicker than that, so I think i'll be done before then. I love the Book of Mormon. I think I learn more every time I read it word for word. I know that it's true, and cannot deny of its divinity. My invitation to the whole world is to read the Book of Mormon, and pray with all the strength of the heart to confirm its veracity. It is the word of God. 

                                                         The Burger Kings: Elder Zavala, Elder Tagg, Elder Taylor, Elder Hastings,                                                                                                                  Elder Russel, and Elder Gallagher.                                                                                                                                                                        (Left to Right)

                                                      Have a wonderful day, and a wonderful week! See y'all soon. Jesus te ama!

                                                      Elder Taylor

                                            “I beheld the Lamb of God going forth among the children of men.” - 1 Nephi 11:31

Don't worry, Elders.

Holaaaa!

Hope you all had a fantastic week. This week has been pretty normal. This week are the transfers and my companion and I are both staying in Samayac. I'm going to finish my mission here. This will be my last transfer (6 weeks) and then i'll be on my way to the USA. It's time to baptize EVERYONE. As of now, we are working a lot with the less-actives with hopes that they feel the need to go back to church. 

On Saturday, we went on a search for a less-active member named Amarilis. We found her in her daughter's house and we learned that she is one of the first members of the Church in Samayac. She was baptized like 25 years ago, and went completely inactive 5 years ago after a minor conflict arose with some other members. As we were teaching her,she mentioned to us that she had been thinking of going back to church, but that she just wasn't feeling in the mood to go. We taught her about the importance of obeying the Lord's commandments, and especially the importance of attending church on Sunday to remember Christ's sacrifice for us. Then, out of the nothing, her daughter started bearing her testimony and telling u s about how she gained her Personal Progress Medallion in the Young Women's program and about how she read the Book of Mormon completely and how much that had strengthened her testimony. She told us about how much the Gospel has expanded her knowledge about her purpose in this life and how it has taught her to be a better person. Then she told us, 'Don't worry, Elders. We will be there tomorrow.'  We didn't even need to ask again, because she confirmed it 3 times after. 

As we entered the chapel on Sunday, we were excited to see this family arrive at church because it is the first time that they have attended in over 5 years. When we saw them step out of a tuc-tuc (mototaxi) we were so happy! When we saw them walk into the chapel, the bishop was even happier than we were! At the end of sacrament meeting, a TON of members went to talk with Amarilis and her daughter and made them feel very welcomed. At the end of the reunions, I handed a pamphlet to Amarilis titled 'Families and Temples' and she said to me after, I want to go to the temple.' Amazing to see the difference that one visit can make. 

I'm learning a lot more about the importance of working with less-active members. I used to hate visiting inactive members because it always seemed like we would spend so much time visiting them and that they would never budge. Recently, the Lord has definitley taught me to have patience. Everyone has needs, including the members. I hope with what I've learned I can apply the concepts and the strategies at home.

Sorry for no pictures this week. I kind of forgot to take out my camera... 

But have an awesome week everyone! Do your home teaching and visiting teaching! Jesus te ama!

Elder Taylor

Old Friends in New Town

Hola Everyone!

Hope you all had a happy Mother's Day. It's so refreshing to get to talk to your family over Skype. The next call will be in-person. 

This last week we have mostly been working with partial-member families. The advantage of working with these investigators is that it is much easier to gain their trust, because their families are already members. This week we mostly just visited and looked for new investigators with these families. Unfortunately, none of them came to church, but we are going to keep working with them so that they can progress in the gospel.

Today I had to go to a clinic in Retalhuleu to get another exam done. I'm feeling a lot better, but i'm still not up to 100%. The nurse said that sometimes the symptoms caused by parasites can last up to 2 months after the treatment.. Hopefully I can get better before then! The bright side is that my companion and I got special permission to visit our old areas on the way to Reu. We passed briefly through Pueblo Nuevo and Nuevo Palmar and visited our converts quickly just to animate them. I said my last goodbye because i'm probably not going to have the chance to see them again. It was so weird going through those places again because I hadn't been there in over a year.

 I had to get a picture with this lady. This is Telma (We call her Doña Telma). She is the owner of the house where the missionaries lived in Pueblo Nuevo. She is awesome. Telma is the first person I met when I arrived in Pueblo Nuevo. Right now there aren't any missionaries in Pueblo Nuevo, so the apartment is empty. She told us that many people have wanted to rent the apartment from her, but she only wants the missionaries to live there. She is Evangelical, but she loves having the missionaries in her store. The lady to her left is Minga. She works in the store basically the whole day. It's crazy to see how the people remember when you visit them. As I walked through the centro of Pueblo Nuevo, a TON of people said 'hi' to us. It's an awesome feeling. 

Before I forget, I want to send the pictures of our new apartment: 

(Sorry, I forgot the picture of the outside)

                                                                                       Kitchen/Living Space

                                                                       Our walk-in closet

                                                                        Master Bedroom

                                                                       Master Bathroom 

                                                                     Have a wonderful week. Jesus te ama.

                                                                     Elder Taylor

Que Gozo (What a Joy)

Hola Everyone!

More miracles are happening. Yesterday was the baptism of Rafael. We had originally planned it for Saturday, but a huge rainstorm hit and the power went out in all of Samayac and San Pablo. Without electricity we couldn't fill up the baptismal font because it pulls water from a tank. The good thing is that he was still animated for his baptism. We are really excited for him. He has lots of potential, especially in the ward. There are plenty of callings open for him so that he can start serving immediately. 

As far as health goes, i'm feeling a lot better. I'm almost done with my treatment. Soon i'm going to start taking probiotic supplements to help balance my digestive system again. Wish me luck!

Right now our new focus as a mission is working with less-active members and partial-member families. We had a multi-zone conference with Presidente and Hermana Goodman where they explained some new methods that will help us use our time effectively and baptize more converts. It's gonna be kind of differnt working this way now because we are only going to contact two hours a day. One hour starting at 10 in the morning, and another hour in the afternoon. The remainder of our time is going to be spent visiting less-actives that have non-members living with or close to them. We'll see how it goes!

                                                          The pills that i've been taking. Almost done!

                                                        

 The rain has come

                                                                              

                                                           Baptism of Mario Rafael Hernandez Saquic

                                                          Hope you all have a wonderful week. How time flies! Jesus te ama.

                                                          Elder Taylor

P.S. A birthday shoutout to my cousin, Sister Bradshaw, in London. I'm sure the Saviour is chuffed with all your hard work! Happy Birthday! (I hope I used that British vocabulary correctly and didn't just say something really bad..haha) 

Busy as a boy can be

Hola Everyone!

This week has been super busy. We are exhausted, but taking advantage of the time we have left. We have been visiting constantly with our investigator Rafael. Good news! He accepted a baptismal date for this Saturday (6 May). We are so happy for him. We know he is going to be a great example to many people and that he has been prepared by the Lord. 

As far as my illness, I have been doing a litte bit better. I have to take SO many pills! I'm on like day 9 of 20 days; and I have to take 2 pills three times a day. Fun. But no worries. I am feeling a lot better than before. I honestly don't know what could have caused the sickness, but I guess i'm going to be extra careful now. From what I've heard, it isn't unusual for missionaries to get sick in Samayac, so hopefully I don't get sick again. 

Today as a zone, we went to the waterfall in Zunilito. This is my third time going but it was still a good time. They cleared the other side of the river so that people could cross to the other side so I was able to take a better picture of the waterfall today. It was packed with people since today is Dia de los Trabajadores here in Guatemala (Day of the Worker/Labor Day).

                                                                     At Rafael's house the night he accepted his baptismal date. 

                                                                                                  Barcelona

                                                                        #Zunilito

                                                                         Hope you all have a great week! Jesus te ama! 

                                                                         Elder Taylor