Elder Taylor 5-Mar-2012

Hey everybody how’s it going?

Sounds like things are pretty busy over there. Just to let you know Elder Shivers and I are alright we got some lightning shows but no tornadoes. There were a few EF-1's about thirty minutes to the south though which is a little close for comfort.

Any ways we're doing good and the weather seems to be abating for the moment.

Monday was fun we went up to Farmington and played Basketball up there with the Farmington and Potosi Elders and some investigators.

Tuesday was zone conference which was great we had a really great training from President Clark on how to work with the mission leader in the area and the Branch/Ward. We then had training from the zone leaders about how to look for unexpected opportunities to talk to people which involved tracting the classrooms looking for people. And it was just our luck that Elder Shivers and I ran into President Clark on the first go. It was actually pretty interesting "teaching" President and he gave some really good critique on how we could be better. After Zone Conference we went and talked with Brenda about the Plan of Salvation. Brenda didn't ask many questions and perhaps we should have asked her more, but the discussion went really well and the Spirit was there. We extended a baptismal invitation at the end of the discussion which she turned down, but it was just as well because Brenda expressed some of her concerns and said why she was turning it down while saying she wanted to know more first.

Wednesday was fun we did some service at the senior center here in Fredricktown. We then went to Annapolis and met and talked with people there. We met with a woman named Kelly and her daughters and somehow the discussion turned to the Temple. All-in-all we had a great chat about the temple and rather than the normal bashing I've normally heard about the Temple they were more curious and wanted to know about it.

Thursday after district meeting we met with a couple named Melvin and Jennifer. They are really cool people and have been seeing the missionaries for a while. We had a good discussion about the Old Testament when Moses was talking to the Children of Israel about idols.

We then talked about Moroni chapter six and about how church attendance is important and how it can help us temporally and spiritually. Later that evening we had dinner with a couple named Angie and T.H about the Restoration and the Joseph Smith story.

Friday we had weekly planning and then went to the Temple to help support a brother who had recently joined the church go through the Temple for the first time and get sealed to his family.

Saturday we went to Marquand and went tracting down there. While tracting we met a man named Maursh who let us in and talked with us for quite a bit about the Book of Mormon.

Sunday was good. After church we went around and tried to talk with people we had seen through-out the week while we weren't able to talk with them right then most were willing to set up appointments for this week or the following week.

Fredricktown is great. The area is huge geographically but there are only about twenty thousand people in it. I'm loving the country out here; the people are friendly and willing to talk (sort of anyway) and there's a ton less noise than in the city.

All-in-all I'm doing well. Hope you all have a great week

With Love

Elder Zach J Taylor

Elder Taylor 27-Feb-2012

Hey how are things going? 

Just to let you know the address I gave you the address for the mission office they'll forward me mail to me. I'm down in Fredricktown it's a smaller area of about four thousand people in the town and fifteen thousand in the area.  There’s a pretty good sized branch here with some great members but its spread out over a huge area.  Last week was really good.

Monday for P-Day we went out to Amish with a member in Mexico. Unfortunately we didn't get to talk about any of the gospel with the people there, but it was fun.

Tuesday was mainly spent packing, but we did see several people who we had been talking to and said good bye to a few members in the ward.

Wednesday was fun met Elder Shivers at transfer meeting he's a really great guy.

Thursday we did service in Farmington with the district following that we had district meeting and talked about the Member MTC which was happening Saturday. That evening we met with Justin and Virginia and talked about belief vs. faith and what the difference is.

Friday we went to a little town of Marquand and tracted and talked with people Elder Shivers had met previously. We then went and met with some members and talked with their daughter Brenda and friend Dennis about the Restoration. It was a great discussion and all were involved and asked great questions and brought great points to talk about.

Saturday we went over to Ironton and met with Cody and talked a little about his concerns about the church. We then went to Farmington and set up for the Member MTC. It went well Elder Shivers and I talked about over coming fears and hesitations. We then heard from President Clark, Sister Clark, and President Shain (stake president). It went really well and I think those that were there got something out of it.

Sunday I met the Branch a lot of good people in it. After Church we went with Brother Adams the branch mission leader and went to Piedmont and met with the Ormans and talked for a while. As we were leaving they told us about a woman named Candi who had been taking the lessons a few doors away but had stopped for some reason. We went over and met Candi she was really friendly and was interested in talking with us. We had really great but scattered discussion about the Plan of salvation, Prophets, the Restoration, and the book of Mormon.  This week looks really promising hopefully it'll go well. Hope you all are doing well and have a great week.

With Love

Elder Zach J Taylor 

                     

Hey Dad,

How are things going? It's good to hear that everyone's doing well.  Talking to people out here is fun. They ask a lot good, irritating and odd questions. Such as: “What about this scripture here in Revelations that says don't add on to the bible.” (I don't like this question not because I can't answer it but that after I do answer, people want to argue and are all up in arms about it and I’m really not motivated to bible bash at the moment.) Or “Are you guys out campaigning for Mitt Romney?" we do get some good ones about why do you follow the word of wisdom? I like the ones about doctrine or my beliefs about the church, but haven't ran into many scriptural questions yet.  Any way it’s really great out here Fredrick town is an awesome little town with a huge geographical area I think its two hours from corner to corner.  

Hope you have a good week and I’ll start sending my favorite quotes/questions of the week next time. 

Love

Elder Zach J Taylor  

Elder Taylor 21-Feb-2012

Hello how’s it going? 

Things here are going well we got transfer calls Saturday and I’m moving to Fredrick’s Town, Mo.  This week was good; we went down to Fulton

Monday and went Bowling for P-Day. After that we went and talked to him and his son who he bribed into taking the lessons. The meeting went fairly well we were able to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them and they were interested and had a good discussion with us.

Tuesday we went around and tried to contact people we had previously seen and also members in the ward we hadn't met yet.

Wednesday we tracted and ran around and tried to meet people.

Thursday we had the usual meetings with the district and ward mission leader, and the we decided to burn a couple hundred miles and go and find some people out in Ladonia and Farber which are about twenty to thirty minutes away from Mexico. We were able to meet with the Leply family and talk to them about the gospel. We talked about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and Mr. Leply asked quite a few questions about the church which we and his wife were able to answer. While at the end of the meeting they said they didn't want to set up a return appointment right the; they did say that they would call and set something up in the near future.

Friday we were back working in Mexico and went tracting some more and met a woman named Rosaline who had talked to missionaries before and wanted to pick up studying with us again.

Saturday we got transfer calls I'm getting moved to Fredricks Town, Mo and will be serving with Elder Shivers Wednesday.

Sunday was Church and packing; it amazing the how spread out things get in just six months, although that might have been my fault. Yesterday was laundry and more packing, although we did go with a member to the Amish settlement over by Sturgeon and looked around.  Hope you all are doing well. Have a great week.

With Love

Elder Zach J Taylor 

Elder Taylor 13-Feb-2012

Hello how are things going? It's good to here that you are getting a break in things. The hike around Crystal Cove sounds like it was fun.  This week was good.

Monday was P-Day and we got our district together and had a barbeque. It was really great to be able to see the other Elders nearby.

Tuesday was some more of the usual running around trying to contact people although we have made service at the senior center a weekly thing.

Wednesday we blitzed Jefferson City and teamed up the Elders there. It was fun I teamed up with Elder Horlacher and helped set up Mormon Fear Factor which the Jeff City Elders had planned with the ward as activity for the youth to invite their friends. The gist behind Mormon Fear Factor was that each of the youth in the ward would invite a non-member friend and then the non-member friend would answer jeopardy questions to get points. If however the friend got the question wrong then the member would have to go up and do a Fear factor challenge. The activity was really fun and there were a ton of people there.

Thursday was the usual meetings.

Friday we met a woman named Rosaline who had been meeting with the missionaries in California and then moved out here and she was really interested in picking up the discussions again.

Saturday was DLZL so I went off with Elder Lee and worked in the Bear Creek area.

Sunday was good we went to ward council and talked about the ward there. Church was great it was scout Sunday so all of the young men got up and talked.  So all in all it was a pretty busy week.  This week is week six in the transfer so I should know by next Monday whether I'm staying or going. This week looks really busy. Hope you all have a great week.

With Love

Elder Zach J Taylor  

Elder Taylor 6-Feb-2012

 

Hello how are things going?  

Sorry to hear that everything is so hectic right now. It's great to hear that Aunt Ann got there alright and that you guys had a good time. Say hi to her for me if you would.  This week has gone by pretty quickly.

Monday was P-day so shopping and like was accomplished then.

Tuesday we did service at the senior center here which was fun they had us scrub out a really grody oven. Afterwards we met with Chad who told his son that he could go to the basketball game that evening on the condition that he met with us and participated which we thought was awesome. That Evening the Zone Leaders came over and we prepped for exchanges which were happening the next day.

Wednesday Elder Ditto and I worked in Mexico while Elder Humphrey went with Elder Denson to Columbia. Working with Elder Ditto was great we were able to meet with a man named Thomas and we talked about the Restoration and invited him to church. We swapped back that evening and Elder Humphrey and I worked the rest of the evening.

Thursday was interviews with President Clark. Interviews are always fun and productive because there are also a whole bunch of trainings that go on along with it.

Friday we drove all over the county roads looking for people, which was fun, and we were able to meet with some one we were looking for. We met with a man named Delbert and talked with him for a while and he said he'd set something up with us.

Friday we met with Thomas again and talked about the Plan of Salvation, which went great. We then met with a friend of some one in the ward named Murry and talked with him for a while.

Sunday we met with Quentin and talked more about Joseph Smith and he asked some really good questions. While we tried to answer his questions the best we good we told him the best way to find the answers he was looking for were to read the Book of Mormon and ask God.  Anyways this past week has gone well and the coming week looks promising. Hope you all have a great week and that things slow down so you have time to gather up the pieces.

Love you 

Elder Zach J Taylor  

Elder Taylor 30-Jan-2012

Hello how's it going? Hope you've had a good week. I'm still alive out here in Mexico and doing well.  This week has been busy which a good thing is.

Monday we went with Brother Chapman to visit his friend Marci and her kids. We talked with Marci and her family about the restoration and it went really well.

Tuesday we went and did service at the senior center here in Mexico which was fun; we were able to meet and talk to a few people there.

Wednesday was odd we went on exchanges with Fulton at noon, so I was down in Fulton with Elder Wells. Unfortunately we didn't get much done because Elder Wells forgot he had a doctors appointment in St Louis, so we spent the rest of the day doing that; which was alright I got to wait in the waiting room and write in my journal for half an hour.

Thursday I stayed in Fulton with Elder Banks this time and we went and talked with James who is meeting with the missionaries in Fulton. We talked with James about the commandments and he was really open and accepting.

Friday got back up to Mexico and went tracting.

Saturday was DLZL (District leader/ Zone leader meeting) in Columbia, so I and all the other District Leader companions (DLC's) got to go off and study. Talking with other missionaries is always fun though. After that Elder Humphrey and I went back to Mexico and Tracted, we're kind of in the finding people who are interested mode right now so lots of tracting.

Sunday was good we were able to find a few people after church who invited us back next week. This week looks good exchanges with the Zone Leaders Tuesday and then interviews with President Clark Thursday, so it should be a busy week.  Anyway hope all is going well over, there tell everybody hi for me. Have a great week

With Love

Elder Taylor

Hi Dad 

Elder Taylor 23-Jan-2012

Hello how's your week going? Hope the weather is better than has been over here. Started in sixties went to seventy then dropped straight to the teens and twenties now back up to the thirties. Anyway, it’s way fun.  This week was interesting. P-Day we went out to Columbia for Zone P-day to play capture the flag with the zone. Then Elder Humphrey had DLZL that evening (just some meeting for the zone and district leaders) and then had leadership train in St Louis on Tuesday/Wednesday, so I stayed in Highlands and worked there for a couple of days. Working in Highlands

Tuesday and Wednesday was fun I was with Elder Hanson and we went and visited some formers and less active members in the area.

Thursday Elder Humphrey and I were back in Mexico and after district meeting went tracting and ran around to try and contact some people we have been talking to.

Friday we met with Chad for a little while and we were invited back Wednesday for lunch.

Saturday was busy work we had let the area book fall behind so we spent some time updating that and tracted some more.

Sunday was odd Church in Mexico was canceled because of icy roads but we got told by the Zone leaders to go down to Fulton and attend sacrament and Sunday school there. The trip down was less than eventful, but attending church in Fulton was good they had their High Priest group leaders speak on accountability. Later in the day we saw Quinn someone we tracted into. The meeting went well he seems interested in the Book of Mormon and knows some people in the church.  Anyways this next week looks like it will be a good one. Hope you all have a great week.

With Love

Elder Zach J Taylor