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