Elder Taylor 26-Sep-2011

Hello,
 I hope you guys are still doing well. It's good to hear that Seth is being more active and going out more often and tell him I want to see a graduation announcement from him in the mail this June. Hopefully you'll get a break from work and be able to just relax soon. This last week was interesting for p-day we met as a zone to get to know each other better and played basketball and volleyball; after which we tracted around Centralia and studied.

Tuesday was pretty busy we met Jim and Mildred both of whom are referrals and then saw Matthew, Charles and Tammy, and David. Jim is a good natured guy who works for public safety and invited us back at a later time because he was busy. Mildred is a friendly elderly lady who doesn't want to hear the lessons, but wanted us to comeback anyway to talk to her. Our appointment with Charles and Tammy fell though because he got switched over to the afternoon shift at his work. Matthew is really interested in the church although he thought activity night was more bible study rather than scouts so we invited him to seminary on Wednesday. We taught David the restoration that evening he seemed really interested and said he'd read the Book of Mormon.

Wednesday we went and tried to contact the people we had just talked to on the street last week and the week before. Most of them were busy or really not interested but a lady named Donna said that she wanted to hear what we had to say. We didn't really teach a lesson but got to know her better and talked about prayer and invited her to church Sunday. Matthew came to seminary which is held the hour before youth activities and seemed to really enjoy it; he seems to be making friends because he stayed for scouts too.

Thursday was zone conference and that took up most of the day. Zone conference was good we got to hear all of the mission presidency speak before lunch and after lunch we split up into smaller groups and did a series of workshops. We got back to our area around four and took our studies and did some tracting to see if we could talk to any one who might be interested in the church.

Friday was a slow day but we were able to talk to Daniel and her boyfriend Justin. They seem like they want to know more about the church and said we could come back and talk to them some more.

Saturday was slow but we were able to talk to some people on the street so it went well.

Sunday we went to church unfortunately no we invited came but the meetings were good as it was fast and testimony meeting. We had a couple of appointments fall through but we were able to meet with Donna again and we shared a spiritual thought with the Princes, a family in the ward, about the Holy Ghost. This upcoming week looks really good because we already have several hours each day scheduled with meetings and appointments plus general conference is this weekend. We should be moving into our apartment in the next week or so Salt Lake cleared everything on their end so now the mission is just finalizing everything with the landlord. I'll be sure to tell when we're moved in. As for transfers I probably won't move until December or later because I’m with Elder Solomon for two transfers (twelve weeks) minimum because I’m new, but I’ll keep you posted. I hope your travels go well and be sure to email me about how every one's doing in Washington.

Thanks for your emails I really enjoy reading them each week. I love you guys and look forward to reading next weeks email.

With love

Elder Zach 

Elder Taylor 19-Sep 2011

Hello how are you all doing? It's been a long week here but it's been good.

Tuesday we did some tracting and tried to visit some member referrals. Later in the evening we met with Matthew and talked about the plan of salvation, which went well he had read the pamphlet we had given him and comprehended most of it. We left him with an invitation to Wednesday night activity to introduce him to some of the youth in the ward. Afterwards we met with a couple by the name of Charles and Tammy who had expressed interest in going to church so we set up an appointment to come back later in the week.

Wednesday was mostly taken up by the hunt for an apartment with a member and Elder and Sister Bryant. Unfortunately all four of the apartments that we had lined up to look at were all rented and no one bothered to call. Thankfully we were able to look at few we hadn't known about while Elder and Sister Bryant were there from the mission office.  We continued after lunch to hunt for apartment till we found one in Mexico next to the projects we liked within the price range and started the paper work with St Louis and Salt Lake. We then had dinner with Brother Reece an elderly man in the ward with a lot of cool stories. After sharing a lesson with Brother Reece we attended scouts with Matthew to make sure he felt welcomed and got to know the troop. Matthew was really impressed by the scout's ranks as he is trying to get his eagle and got the forms to transfer into the troop.

Thursday we spent most of our time in meetings. First we went south to the Fulton area and had district meeting and lunch which was great because we got our area book and met the rest of the district; all of whom were relatively new to the district as well. On our way back to Centralia we stopped in Auxvasse and had correlation meeting with Brother Saxon our ward mission leader.

Friday was good we were able to set an appointment with Cary to visit the next day and talk about the restoration. We then attempted to go tracting and it was about as effective as it normally is, no one's home or they aren't interested, but it was good we talked to some interesting people. That evening we had dinner with the Herrings, and afterwards Brother Herring took us to meet some people who he had been visiting to see if we could help them out.

Saturday we went out tracting around Centralia and met David and Virginia. Virginal was busy at the time we knocked on her door but said we could come back

Tuesday and talk with her. David we met as we were leaving after having given his parents a Book of Mormon. David had told us he was looking to turn his life around and was looking for God. We invited David to church and inquired if we could come back later.

Sunday we went to P.E.C meeting and church. Church was good there was a farewell talk given by Jake who was going to the Boise Idaho mission Spanish speaking. In priesthood Elder Solomon was asked to teach in priesthood and I was asked to share in primary how I prepared for my mission. After church we taught Brother Olaghlin again and finish our studies.

That pretty much sums up last week so how are things going over there? Why are you going to Waukesha, WI? It sounds fun. Well my computer time is running out so I wrap up and says hope you are well and also please tell peoples email so I can send Granma and others mail too thanks I love you guys.

With love

Elder Zachary Taylor  

Weeks three and four

Hello how’s everything going for you guys?

Sorry it's been so long since my last email P-day is Monday out here. The flight out on Tuesday was long and cramped I was glad to finally get off the plane in St Louis, where we met Mission President Clark and his wife. We then proceeded to the St Louis Temple and had a tour of the grounds; later we continued on to the mission home where we sat through a safe driving video and had dinner.

The next morning we ate at the mission home before going to transfer meeting. The transfer meeting was exciting I met my trainer Elder Solomon and found out we were being sent to the Mexico area. It was to my surprise that we were not only whitewashing the area as Elder Solomon was new to the area as well, but we were also reopening the Mexico area after it had been closed for six months. The Mexico area is in country in Missouri and is about two hours away from St Louis. We were told that we would be staying with the Bishop and his wife while we found an apartment. We drove out to the church building to meet some of the ward as activity night falls on a Wednesday here. The ward is relatively small but the people are warm and friendly.

Thursday was interesting after going shopping to get what basics I needed Elder Solomon and I decided to go tract/contacting from the city library to a street called mars street on the edge of town (about a mile and a half away). We met Matthew who was interested in Christianity and wanted to interview us for his journalism class. He just asked why we had chosen to be missionaries, what it was like being a missionary, and what our message was.

Friday was good we mainly went around with one of the church members and looked at apartments, but we had some member visits in the evening and met the ward mission leader.

Saturday we went tracting in along trinity in Mexico and met Ester, Cary, and Sam. Ester was sitting out in front of her apartment when we were walking by. We stopped and chatted a bit and talked a little about the Gospel and asked if we could return later in the week and talk to her some more. Continuing down trinity several people said they weren't interested in talking to us, a few just didn't answer, and one saw us coming a slammed his door shut before we said hello. It was ok though because towards the end of the street we were invited in by Cary. Cary had said she had talked to missionaries before but didn't really remember what they had said, so we talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon and gave her one before we left. We then returned to our car tracting down the other side of the street where we met Sam. Sam seemed interested in talking about Christ but was short on time and indicated that I would be better to come back at a later time. That evening we went to a wedding reception at the ward building where we had been asked to set up a small table about the temple as there were several non-member friends who were attending. As it turned out the table was set up in corner away from people so we mostly mingled and got to know the ward better.

Sunday was pretty low key there was a farewell talk given by an Elder going to Boise Idaho Spanish speaking. After church we attended the baptism of Maddie who had just turned eight and were asked to serve as the two witnesses for the baptism. Later we were invited to dine with the bishop’s family. Afterwards we went and visited with some members to try and get to know the ward better.

Whew it’s been a busy six days it kind of interesting to see what exactly goes into opening an area. Anyways how is work going? How’s Seth doing in school and otherwise? How’s the Dog? What’s going on with the family up in Washington? And thanks mom and dad for your emails/letter they've been really fun to read.

With love

Elder Zach J Taylor