More Miracles

Hola Everyone!

This will be short because our internet-use time got shortened to half an hour and the computer i'm using today is really bad. This week has been great. At last, we were able to have 3 baptisms. They were Kevin, Monica, and Leonor. They are the investigators that we have been visiting for the past few weeks in Tahuexco. The parents of Kevin and Monica are members, just less-active because of the distance of their house to the church (2 hours). The baptism went great and lots of members were able to come and support them so all went well. Here is a picture of them at their baptism:

Also a shoutout and happy 17th birthday to my little sister Michele!

In the house of a member from Tahuexco named Brigida.

Me and Elder Myers at our Multi-zone conference in Reu

The Elders of our District in Las Palmas

Right now, we are going through a lot of changes in our mission. Most of all, having to do with obedience and baptizing converts. It's definitely a test for those of us missionaries who are used to the old culture of our mission with our old President. However, the changes are for our own good and also for the good of the people we teach. In our multizone, we got to hear a few words from Elder Alonso, from the seventy. He spoke to us about obedience and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The reality is, is if we love the Lord, we should be willing to obey whatever commandment he gives us. 

That's all I have for this week. Have a good one everybody!

Presidente Taylor

Elder John M Taylor

Guatemala Retalhuleu Mission

2015-2017

 

Superfast

 Hi

I have like no time to write but we got a third missionary here in La Maquina whose name is Elder Medina. He is from Peru and he's pretty crazy. But its good because we need the emotion. Today we don't have much time to write because we went to Retalhuleu and got back to Cuyotenango late.

This week we are going to have a conference with Elder Alonso (Presidency of Area Central America), so we are super excited for that!

Oh, and something awesome that happened is that we had Jehovah's Witnesses in sacrament meeting yesterday. Its a mom and her three kids. The Mom's name is Magnolia. Overall, she is just questioning doctrine from the Jehovah's Witnesses and wants to look around. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with her and she said it was really nice. She seemed to have a little more of a change of heart when she saw the movie. I think she felt the spirit. I'll let y'all know how it goes with her next week.

That's it for now. Have a great week!

(Sorry for No Photos )

Presidente Taylor

Multizone Conference, SPIDERS, and OBEDIENCIA

Hola Everyone! 

This week was super busy. Most of all, we just contacted and did activities with the members of the branch. We've also been extending callings to the members to help them become more involved in church. The members seem to be more animated than they were before so that's good. 

*The missionaries in the photo from left to right are Elder Smith (UT), Elder Medina (Peru), Me, and my companion Elder Daugherty (UT). 

This week we found another tarantula in the house. Someone told us that they like to live in places where there are mango trees, like the one we have in our backyard . I think they are coming out more because we are in rain season now, so they come into the house to avoid the water. It's kind of annoying, and we've sprayed with bug poison, but we don't really know what to do to stop them from entering the house as the back door is just a screen door. The bright side is that my comp kills them so its fine I guess. 

On Wednesday, we had a multizone conference* in Las Palmas (Reu) and got to hear some messages from Presidente Goodman, Hermana Goodman, and our missionary leaders. The main theme was Exact Obedience (Obediencia con Exactitud). This has been Presidente's main focus since he's been here. I think it'll be a good thing for the mission to learn more about being strictly obedient. It will definitely test our faith and help us reflect on our missionary purpose. 

On Thursday we did an activity in the branch called Noche de Hermanamiento. Its a good chance for us to hear a spiritual message during the week and get to know the members better. It is also an excellent way to get investigators to know the members of the church. This is going to be a tradition that we do every Thursday. Its something the members have wanted to do for a while now. 

Have a great week and enjoy the pictures. 

Presidente Taylor

Just us two

Hola Everyone!

SUPRISE! My companion Elder Bonilla had traslados (transfers)! Now its only me and Elder Daugherty in La Maquina.

 a picture of me and Elder Daugherty in the secretary´s office in the church

This has made things a little bit more difficult this week. When we were in a trio before, we could do exchanges with a member on Sunday mornings to pick up the investigators for church and at the same time, prepare everything in the branch for church. This week, we didn't have that. We are going to have to learn to adjust to having just two missionaries.

The bright side is that we are back to a normal companionship. It is so much easier to teach the investigators when there are only two companions in the companionship. It´s also kind of weird to walk in a group of 3 everywhere. Someone is always an anchor or third-wheel. For example, every time we would sit on the bus, two of us would sit together on one seat while the other sat alone. Now, that doesn't happen anymore. 

This week was pretty normal. Only that we are starting to extend more callings in the branch so that the members can feel more involved. It seems to be working. The members are a lot more animated to work in the church. We are also planning a trip to the temple on Sept. 3 so that will be really special. 

La Maquina is such a blessed area. These people are so great. It's going to be difficult when I have to leave La Maquina. I've definitley gotten a whole different perspective of the mission in my calling. At times its stressful, but the Lord knows where he wants us. 

That's all for now. Have an amazing week!

Presidente Taylor

Our Brothers and Sisters

Hola Everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful week! This week has been really special for us. We went to Tahuexco to visit some investigators. As always, the difficulty for the people there is the distance to the church building in La Maquina. 

This is the Familia Bonilla. They are members in Tahuexco. Kevin (kid in striped polo shirt) and Monica (taller girl in back row) are preparing to get baptized. We still haven´t set a specific date due to their work schedules, but we are going to do it!

This week, as a companionship, we were planning on a special message to share for the 5th Sunday reunion. We decided to talk about the talk by Elder Mervyn B. Arnold: To the Rescue: We can Do It! This was one of my favorite talks given in the past general conference. It talks a lot about how it is our duty as missionaries and members to rescue those members of the church that have fallen away. I love the comparison that Elder Arnold makes with the story in Matthew Chapter 18 about the lost sheep:

“The Son of man is come to save that which was lost. …

“it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.”

This story in the New Testament explains that if a shepherd has 100 sheep, and 1 goes missing, he would leave the 99 to find that one that is missing, to bring it back to the fold. This has to be one of the most inspired pieces of scripture from the Bible. The reality is that Jesus Christ is our shepherd, and we are his sheep. If one of us goes missing, he will always reach out to us and bring us back to the fold. 

I also really love how Elder Arnold says that nobody is a lost cause. We should constantly place our efforts in inviting and helping less-active members. Their salvation is at stake. The Lord promises us in Doctrine and Covenants:

Doctrine and Covenants 18:15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

After church yesterday, one of the sisters of the branch told us that her landlady was going to kick her out of her house that same day, so we quickly ate lunch and got to work to move all of the stuff out of her house. Thanks to another member who provided his ginormous truck, we got all of her stuff moved to her new house before 9:30 last night. 

Today for P-Day we got together as a zone and hit piñatas. The funny part was that the piñatas had taped-on the faces of two missionaries that it has been assumed are going to have changes this week (Elder Saxton and Hermana Eaton). 

Zona Mazatenango Lincoln

A piñata with Hermana Eaton's face on it

Here comes Hermana Eaton

Hermana Eaton stabbing herself in the face

Elder Saxton beating himself up

Here are the pictures from this week:

This is Giovanny. He is 11 and got baptized in May

Giovanny and his little brother

Hermana Brigida's family (red shirt) and some random neighbor (pink shirt)

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

Presidente Taylor