Sweater Weather

Hola Everyone!

Happy Halloween today and Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) tomorrow and the next day! The big news is that I had transfers from La Maquina! My new area is San Pedro in Zona San Pedro (St. Peter in English). It's an area in the mountains in what they call 'tierra fria' (or cold land). I'm now a District Leader and in charge of 5 out of the 7 areas in our zone so I don't get to rest, yet... I also am opening area with my new companion Elder Hernandez (Mexico). There were sister missionaries here before but Presidente Goodman decided it was time for a switch. Our ward is really good. The attendance is a little low, but we will work on that. Our ward mission leader is Jairo Lopez and he is AWESOME. SUPER PILAS. He and his wife have so much love for the work. They are a family of 5 and plan to send all 3 of their kids to the mission field. I think we are going to see lots of success in this area. This ward hasn't baptized for almost a year and its one of the more difficult areas of the mission, so it will just depend on our faith and pacience. 

Some things that I have observed about San Pedro:

- People here have a LOT more money.

- The people here are a little more educated and modern.

- Everyone wears sweaters (including the missionaries). It is super cold in comparison to La Maquina! We have a water heater in our shower because the water is too cold to bathe in. We have tons of blankets in our house because its much too cold to sleep without them. We also have a heater, but we can't use it too much or the light bill will come out super expensive.

- The people are very faithful to their churches here (Catholics and Evangelicals)

- I can now use Taylor Swift as a reference to my name because the people here actually know who Taylor Swift is. 

- The members of the church here are very mature and self-sufficient in their understanding of the gospel. 

Overall, I really am enjoying my new area. People here always tell us they're busy, close doors in our faces, and constantly lie to us. It's a very diverse mission from the mission in the coastal areas. Luckily for me, I like the challenge. We haven't lost faith that we will find someone who is prepared to receive us. 

This week I don't have many pictures of me in my new area, but I'll try to get some this week! Here are last week's photos: 

Last Friday we had a training in Malacatan for the Zone Leaders and District Leaders. It was a two-hour bus ride and we hadn't eaten breakfast so we went to the supermarket and bought stuff to make sandwhiches. Fom left to right: Elder Smith (Utah), Elder Heath (North Carolina), Me, Elder Sanchez (Nicaragua).

Ready

A ginormous tree in our area

Our cute little house. Inisde pictures coming soon... if I remember.

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

Elder Taylor

It's Great to be 8

Hola Everyone 

This week went a little slow honestly, but all-in-all, it was still a great week. On Saturday we held the baptism service of a kid that turned 8 years old. His name is Meysi Maldonado Lopez (pronounced 'Maisey'). He was named after an Elder that served in La Maquina 8 years ago. I had the honor of baptizing him and confirming him. He was so happy after! Here are some pictures:

                                                          Our golden family came too! They are so awesome. 

On a Sidenote: I don't know if I mentioned this before, but the daughter of Hermana Brigida from Tahuexco named her baby after my companion and me. The baby's name is Taylor Darti Martinez Hernandez. I bet you could imagine the surprised looks on the faces of the members when I said that name in the baby blessing... 

Anyways, today for P-day, our zone got to go to IRTRA. It's a tourist attraction where you can go bowling, swimming, play minigolf, etc. Today we played minigolf and it was really fun. I had never been to this place before, and it's near San Felipe, which is the zone where I started my mission. 

   My group. We played with our bus driver too (standing behind us). He is a member from the ward in La  Union                 

                                                                                              Me winning. 

                                                            My ball. I hit a Birdie on this hole. 

                                                  A peacock that was wandering around the minigolf course

                                                                                     I think its a peacock.

This week are the transfers! I also complete 5 months in La Maquina this week. Sometimes I lose count of the months. That's probably a good thing. We are expecting a phone call tomorrow so I guess we'll see what the Lord has planned for us. That's all I have to say this week. Hope all is well with everyone! 

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

Presidente Taylor

Grupo Tahuexco!!!

Hola Everyone!

I have lots of great news this week! I guess the biggest piece of news is that after almost 5 months of me being in La Maquina Branch, we are going to open a group (mini congregation) on the beach in Tahuexco! This has been one of our goals for the longest time and I am so thankful to have been here during this ocasion. Yesterday, the counselor and secretary of President Goodman came to La Maquina to support us in the branch. After that, they drove us all the way to Tahuexco to talk with a brother named Genaro Martinez. 

Genaro Martinez is a Melquesidek Priesthood holder that was baptized with his family 6 years ago. They were the first members of Tahuexco. They met the missionaries on a bus to La Maquina and shortly after, got baptized. After them, a few of their neighbors and family members also were baptized. After two years of being members, Hermano Refugio Bonilla (the father of the kids that we baptized not too long ago) moved back to Tahuexco with his wife Lorena, who was baptized back in 1987. The Martinez and Bonilla familia are the two firmest families in Tahuexco - and EVERYONE is either family with them or knows them really well. We are so excited to see the future of this newly-opened group. The group will function as a annex to the branch in La Maquina. Hermano Genaro Martinez will be the group leader and they will have sacrament meetings every Sunday starting on Oct. 30th. 

We are still working super hard with Ricardo and his family! They are continuing to learn and progress and told us that they want to make a final decision soon. The counselor and secretary of the mission also met him and are very excited to work with him. He is the future of this branch. If the legal process of his matrimony takes too long, we are going to baptize the kids first, so that the sons can begin passing the sacrament and exercising the priesthood. 

Familia Martinez with Presidente Maldonado

Fam. Martinez with Hermano Rony

Familia Bonilla (Refugio wasn't there)

          

                             Have a great week!

                             Presidente Taylor

Black & White

Hola!

This week was great! We are seeing lots of fruit in our area and the Lord is constantly blessing our investigators and the members. I have learned so much from serving in this area and the branch of La Maquina. I don't know how i'll feel when I have to leave. It may be sooner than I was hoping, but I guess we'll see what the Lord says. 

We had lots of lessons with members this past week, so that was good. Our rhythm of work overall was really good this week. we taught lots of lessons and found a total of 18 new investigators. Things are going really smoothly. Yesterday, we had 8 investigators in church. That's a miracle in La Maquina! Our familia de oro (Famila Perez) came and is as awesome as ever, and another brother we are teaching arrived. Priesthood!!!

I also remembered to take a picture of our familia de oro so here I will attach it:

Ricardo (father), Ricardo II (orange shirt), Gerson, Wendy, and Sandra (mother) + their kitten on the table. If you are wondering, we were drinking limeade from the limes in their front yard. They make really, REALLY good limeade. They always give us tons of limes to take home too. They are such a great family!

Today as a zone, we went to a waterfall in Zunilito. This is the same waterfall I went to last year as well. This time my comp and I just went in our missionary clothes and just watched. It was kind of cold and we didn't feel like bringing a change of clothes with us. 

''Prohibido Pasar'' means ''Do Not Pass''. Don't worry though, one of the other missionaries actually just turned the sign in the other direction so I really didn't break any rules 

 

Zone Leader, and groupie Elder Salazar (Peru)

Someday I'm going to look at this picture and say, ''I was so cool back then''. 

                        

                             After the waterfall, we went to Wendy's and I got a mini Frosty.

                            And, that is all I have for now but I hope you all have a wonderful week!

                            Presidente Taylor

 

Santos, Avanzad

Hola Everyone!

This past week has been especially edifying. What great messages we were able to hear in this General Conference. The messages were perfect for investigators and it is always especially refreshing to hear the words of our prophet and the apostles as a missionary. 

I find it interesting how it seems like the focus on the Plan of Salvation, and sharing it with others (being investigators or less-active members). What other church or doctine has the answers to the questions of the soul? Through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the saving ordinances of the holy temple have been revealed to the children of man. It was interesting to hear the thought-provoking questions during this conference. If there comes a time where we decide to separate ourselves from the only true church, Where are we going to go? What are we going to do? These questions made me reflect so much on the great Plan of Salvation that the Lord has revealed to us. The truth is that there is no correct answer to these questions. Having received a testimony of the truthfulness of this message, and then rejecting it just shows us how quick we are as people to let others rob our faith. I would never want to imagine myself anwhere else. 

Lately, I have been studying a lot about church history and the treks of the early Latter-day Saints. What faith they had to cross hundreds of miles to worship in a place where they would be free of persecution. Have we the same faith that these early saints had? Would we cross frozen rivers and walk with our children and babies through feet of snow and ice? I say that we have it pretty good in today's day. This is my favorite scripture of the Book of Mormon:

1 Nephi 1:20

But behold, I,Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. 

That's just a small piece of what I got from the conference. If I had the time I would explain a whole lot more. I hope you all felt the spirit during this conference and that we may all press on with more faith than we had before. I already can't wait for the next conference in April!

Here's a picture of me with my comp in a mototaxi (aka. Tuc-tuc)

Have a great week!

Presidente Taylor