Sister Taylor - Called To Serve: Week 7

Family!

Everything is going really great! This week has been especially stressful though. We’re trying to get everything finalized for our member MTC day and it’s been crazy! It seems almost impossible that everything will fall in place but I know it'll all work out. Especially since my companion has made it clear that the spirit has made it known to her many times that this needs to happen no matter how hard it gets! Health-wise, we are both doing really well.

So Sister Nick has a brother who is going to Curriturba Brazil, and has been in the Provo MTC these past few weeks. As you know, visas just aren’t coming in so many missionaries are being reassigned temporarily in the U.S. Salt Lake called our mission president, President Cannon, and said "Okay, we have 60 visa waiters, how many can you take?" President Cannon replied, "We have room for one elder." Guess which elder gets sent to our mission? SISTER NICKS BROTHER! So he will be coming in around noon tomorrow. How cool is that? Sister Nick is really excited.

Alright I'll go ahead and answer your questions really quick:

We drive a 2012 Gold Toyota Corolla. The senior companion is always the designated driver unless there is a problem that prevents that. So right now Sister Nick is the designated driver! I probably won't be driving for a while.

Our morning schedule goes as such:

6:25 Wake up/say morning personal prayer/say companionship prayer

6:30 Exercise

7:00 Get ready and eat breakfast

8:00 Personal study

9:00 Companionship study

10:00 12 week new missionary training

11:00 Usually go out an proselyte at this time and then take an hour for lunch at 12:00 but our district gets together for lunch every day at 11 for an hour and then we all go out proselyting. We get free sno cones at a local sno cone shack near one of our church buildings so we go there a couple times a week! I get the smallest size but I only ever eat about half. It melts faster than I can eat it!

*The weather really hasn't been to bad here! It's mostly in the 100's but since theres no humidity it’s more than bearable!

I went on exchanges for the first time this week! The Sister Training Leader (kind of the zone leader for sisters) came from Nampa to visit with Sister Nick and I for part of the day, then Sister Nick went to Nampa and I spent the rest of the day with Sister Thomas. We had a lot of fun! Although miles wise I didn't do so well. I used up A LOT of our monthly allotted miles. Oops! We did get alot of work done though! We went and visited a farmer who was a former investigator and he taught us about farming and let us pull the tops off the Bull Row of his corn! I'm a real farmer now! He said he wasn't interested in the gospel but we convinced him to let us come back so we could do service and he could teach us more about the life of a farmer! We then visited another less-active member who got really excited to see us and told us all about his mission. He served in Taiwan and tried to teach us a bit of mandarin! Sadly, I can’t remember any of it.

I can't believe my first transfer is already over! It makes me sad to think that my time here on the mission is slowly getting shorter and shorter. I don't think I'll ever be ready to leave!

We worked hard giving service to several people and families this week - and a lot of dropping in on families. We’re really good at dropping in! We had some great dinners this week and we were invited to several BBQ’s and breakfasts as a district. Our district sincerely love each other and the members in our collective areas love our district, so they love having us all together! It’s fun!

My roommates are coming up to visit this weekend so I will get to see them in church this Sunday! That will be a really nice treat.

As missionaries we get to do a lot of service which I LOVE. Service is one of the greatest ways to find people and help them trust us! And, of course, our district helps each other out with the different service activities we have. Sometimes we end up spending the entire day doing service by supporting each others service projects. We meet so many amazing people that way!

I haven't received any mail this week. But that may be because our mailbox is completely smashed. Some guy who came to clean the ducts in the house we live in backed into the mailbox. I ordered more missionary tags for myself and I’ll be picking them up at the mission office today so I’ll check there to see if I have any mail!

I found a hymn that I absolutely love this week! Its titled, Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy.

It’s a men's chorus song in the back of the hymn book.

1. Brightly beams our Fathers mercy

From his lighthouse evermore,

But to us he gives the keeping

Of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

2. Dark the night of sin has settled;

Loud the angry billows roar.

Eager eyes are watching, longing,

For the light along the shore.

Let the lower light be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

3. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;

Some poor sailor, tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor,

In the darkness may be lost.

Let the lower light be burning;

Send a gleam across the wave.

Some poor fainting, struggling seaman

You may rescue, you may save.

One of the scriptures that go with it is found in 1 John 2:10 which reads:

"He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him."

Having love for those around you can bring about so many miracles. If we want to be true followers of Christ, we have to have love for everyone! I know that if I didn't have love for the people I teach, it would be impossible to teach them the lessons and help them come closer to Christ. I wouldn't be an effective missionary and I wouldn't be able to fulfill my missionary purpose. One of the best ways to share the gospel is through loving and serving one another. Not only will people see that love and that light that the gospel gives us, but we will find so much joy in helping others. The Lord always answers prayers, and, more often than not, he answers those prayers through other people. So always strive to be in a place spiritually so that you can be an answer to someone else's prayers.

I love this gospel so much! It brings me so much joy. I am so grateful for the knowledge that I’ll be with my family forever. It always makes me so happy to hear the wonderful things you are doing to strengthen others and to strengthen the family. The family is so sacred, and I am so grateful be a part of the best family ever! I love you so much, and I hope that you have a wonderful week. Stay safe!

Love,

Sister Lindsay Taylor