Training

Hola Everyone!

This week I received some wonderful news! After almost 20 months of being in the mission, I am finally going to train a new missionary! This is something that I have always wanted to do, and the opportunity has arrived! I don't know who my new companion is going to be or where he is from. I'm going to go down to Retalhuleu tomorrow to pick him up. I'm super excited to work with him in San Antonio because the area is so big and we will have plenty of opportunities to practice contacting and teaching. 

On Saturday, we woke up early to head down to a training for new trainers in Reu. A sister missionary from my zone (Hermana Morales, Mex.) is also going to be training so we went down together with our companions. 

In a tuc-tuc for the first time in a while! (Tuc-tucs don't exist in San Marcos)

                                                                                           

                                                                                                Tuc-tucs!  

                                                       Recognize this wall? Now there's a tree! (Almost exactly one year later)

       

                  In a bus on our way back to San Marcos! It was so hot in Reu! Can't believe I lived in the coast for 
                  16  months..
                                                                                                                         
 This past Friday we witnessed a tender mercy. While I was with Elder Hernandez in Chamac, we visited a lady named Mari with 2 of her children. They were pretty positive, but for personal reasons, they weren't able to attend church. To our surprise, they arrived at church in Chamac last Sunday out of the nothing, and they enjoyed it a lot! On Friday we showed the Joseph Smith movie and they told us that they were feeling good about it. We were feeling really good in the lesson and the Holy Ghost was present without a doubt. I asked Mari, ¨If you feel that the church is true, would you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized on March 11th?¨ She paused for a moment and responded, ¨Yes, I'll do it. In fact, I know that the church is true. I've prayed and asked, and I received my answer. I know this is where I need to be. This is my home.¨ My companion and I were in pure shock! I didn't even know what to say next for a moment. I was trembling. I can't even explain with words the feeling that was present in that moment. I wish I could share it with everyone, but its difficult to explain. As of now, we have a baptismal date for March 11th, and Mari, her daughter Karina, and her son Cristian all accepted. Their progress is going very well. They attended church again yesterday and are very anxious to receive more discussions. 

Heavenly Father loves his children so much. 

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Jesus loves you! 

Elder Taylor

A Special Witness of Jesus Christ

Hola Everyone!

Well, definitely the highlight of this week is that we could have such a special opportunity to meet, greet, and listen to Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He told us about his experience in being called to be an apostol and how he still hasn't stopped trembling from the shock that he had when President Monson interviewed him. I felt super impressed by his humility and courtesy towards the missionaries. It's true when they say that we are companions in the same work. 

One of the most interesting experiences that he spoke to us about was during his travels in Nicaragua. Elder Rasband, along with other general authorities of the Church had the opportunity to speak with the president of Nicaragua, President Ortega, and his wife who is the vice president. President Ortega asked lots of questions about how they could create peace between the people of Nicaragua and be a prosperous country. Elder Rasband started teaching Lesson 1: The Restoration. He spoke to them of the trials that the first Latter-day Saints faced when many mobs and government officials of the United States persecuted the saints. President Ortega then asked,¨Well, why were the saints persecuted so much?¨ Elder Rasband then explained the First Vision given to Joseph Smith, and that many people in that time couldn't believe that a 14-year-old boy had seen and spoken to God. President Ortega then asked, ¨Why couldn't they believe that?¨ Elder Rasband shared the following scripture with us from Doctrine and Covenants 1:23:

23 That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.

I couldn't help but to think of all the missionaries of the Book of Mormon that also spoke with rulers of the ancient lands of the Book of Mormon. Especially the stories of King Lamoni and King Limhi. These were kings that, after listening to the missionaries, were able to receive a testimony that they were really messengers of God. One of the most notable things that Elder Rasband told us from this special discussion, is that President Ortega told them that he believed that they were messengers sent from God. Elder Rasband explained to us that he had never imagined that he would ever have the experience of sharing the gospel with a ruler like Doctrine and Covenants states. He, being weak, being the son of a truck-driver, and living a very simple life, one day was able to travel abroad and proclaim the the fulness of the gospel before a ruler.

Sometimes I consider myself to be one of the most 'simple' of missionaries, but I love this story and the scripture that goes along with it. I have felt so strengthened to know that even the weakest and the simplest of missionaries can proclaim the gospel to the great, even kings and rulers. 

There's a lot more that I could write about but my time is running out so I think i'll leave it at that. I filled a bunch of pages in my study notebook so that I could re-live the talks that were given to us. It is such a blessing to hear a special witness of Jesus Christ share a message that is personally directed to you. I can't wait for general conference in April!

Hope you all have a wonderful week! Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. 

Elder Taylor

P.S. Attached is a video of our whole entire mission in one room together (never happens). Something super special!

                                       

                               

       

Attachments area

Two Decades (and still moving)

Hola Everybody!

First, I would like to thank everyone for the birthday wishes. It means a lot. I can't believe I can't tell people that I'm 18 years old anymore. Time surely does fly by. 

This last week we got some news from our leaders in the mission that we have been authorized to switch our area to San Antonio Sacatepequez. San Antonio is the neighboring town to Chamac. The biggest motive is for the better support from the members of San Antonio. The best part is that San Antonio has a ton of villages surrounding it so we will have plenty of area to contact! This week we were mostly focused on finding a new house to live in so we can move as soon as possible. Yup, even in the mission I can't control the amount of times that we move houses. I hope this won't be a pattern in my future life. 

A picture of me with my companion Elder Medina

                                                                                   

Street View of the new house we found. The house is basically just a big room with a wall dividing the two sides. One side will be for our beds and the other side will be the kitchen. 

The patio behind the house. The bathroom and the shower are outside.       

                                                                          

                                                                       We did it again! (In San Antonio)

                                                         Hope you all have a blessed and wonderful week! God speed the right. 

                                                         Elder Taylor

p.s. This Saturday we have a multi-mission conference and Elder Rasband from the Quorum of the 12 is going to be present! It's going to be so special!

How to heat water to bathe in Guatemala if your heated shower explodes.

Hola!

As the title states, we don't have a hot shower anymore. But apart from that everything is going well. We have an investigator named Manuel right now that is progressing. He is a guy we found knocking on doors and he is super Catholic. But he's one of the few people who actually listens to us. He doesn't accept anything about the restoration (especially the great apostasy), but he reads the pamphlets and tells us about them after, so he's actually a really good investigator. We hope things go well with him.

This past week we had a Multi Zone Conference in Malacatan. It was really spiritual and we had a testimony meeting after. We felt very strengthened after. The mission is focusing a lot on the Spirituality of each missionary. It requires lots of diligence, patience, obedience, and most of all, love for the Savior.  I think we have been improving dramatically in the past few months. The mission is a lot more spiritual now than ever. 

                              In the conference. My comp. Elder Medina (Panama), Elder Hernandez (Panama), me,                                                                                                                      Elder Quintanilla (Nicaragua)

                                                  Driving from the coast back up to San Pedro. And a tuc-tuc (don't exist in                                                                                                                               San Pedro)

                                                                                 

                                This is a water heater that we plug into the wall to basically shock the water till its hot. It's not dangerous if you use it correctly. (Yes, our floor is concrete)

                                                             After about 45 mins. the water is nice and hot. Then we fill up a huge                                                            bucket in the bathroom with cold water and mix it together to bathe ourselves with that.

                                                       Our new bulletin board in the church. Yes we're talented.                                                                                            (Translated: Covering Chamac with the Book of Mormon)                      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

                                                        That's all for this week. Sorry it was kinda short! Love you all!

                                                          Elder Taylor