Week 20 - Kuna 10/21/13

10/21/13

Another busy week has come and gone.  I love Sister Anderson.  She is working hard to learn and is a great missionary already!

It's a good and bad thing that our area was split.  It has given me a little taste of what it'll be like when I leave Kuna.  I really miss everyone in the two wards we lost even though they are only a few miles away.  I've grown close with so many, but I know that changes help us grow in so many ways and I'll always carry them in my heart.

We were invited to attend a BBQ with the other missionaries in our district last Thursday.  It was awesome!  We had so much fun and it was nice to relax for a little bit with my fellow missionaries.

The weather is getting colder at night and we've had to scrape the frost from the windows of our car every morning.  I really need to invest in some cozy tights because my legs freeze whenever we are out early or late.  Brrrrr....

My roommates, Corianne and Regan from BYU came up to visit Corianne's family in Kuna this past weekend so I got to see them at church yesterday!  Regan just got engaged this past week and brought her fiancee along too.  He's very nice and I'm so happy for them.  It was so good to see them.

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you that we're going to learn to bottle applesauce this week - I can't wait!

Me "blindfolded" with Sister Anderson's scarf, ready for the obstacle course activity at our last zone meeting.

10/17/13

She's here!  My new companion, Sister Anderson has arrived,  and as her trainer it is my pleasure to drive her to the public library so she can email her parents to let them know she has arrived safe and sound.  So while sister Anderson is emailing her family, I get to email mine - bonus!  Sister Anderson is from South Carolina.  She has the cutest accent, is super sweet, and I might just be half an in taller than her, hah! Since Sister Anderson's arrival we haven't had a normal day yet due to some unexpected changes, which meant several meetings to bring us all up to speed.  Despite being assured that our area wasn't being split until next transfers, the AP's (Assistants to the President) called yesterday morning and told us that our area was in fact being split sooner than anticipated.  This means we've been scrambling around working through the logistics of the changes.  The two new Elders are taking over the responsibilities of two of our wards, and right now they don't have a car, a cell phone, or the slightest idea of what to do.  So I've been trying really hard to set up dinners for them and finding rides for them to some of the appointments we had already scheduled.  So since the area is splitting, Sister Anderson and I spent the day yesterday visiting the families int he wards I'm losing and saying goodbye.  It made me feel so good when som

e of the members told Sister Anderson that she has a really good companion and that I would be a great trainer.  Then when we went to visit the new Elders this morning, the sister they are living with said, "Sister Taylor, you can't leave!",  and she turned to the Elders and said, "You two have very big shoes to fill.  Sister Taylor is an incredible missionary!", I'm so sad to leave those two wards, but it has been really cool to see how much influence I've had on people because I really had no idea! It was unexpected and humbling.  Sister Anderson and I will still be visiting the families with single moms as head of household since the Elders cannot be in their homes without another male present (at least 16 years old).  The people here are so wonderful and loving.

President Cannon told Sister Anderson that she is blessed to  to be trained here in Kuna because it is the most coveted area in the mission.  Our district is absolutely huge now!  Our district meeting today was 12 people strong, and one companionship was missing because they already had a lesson planned.  Usually a district is made up of 4 to 6 missionaries.

Well, Sister Anderson has finished up her email and so must I.

Love,
Sister Lindsay Taylor

My new companion, Sister Anderson with President Cannon and me!

 Dear Parents,

We thought you would enjoy receiving a photo of Sister Taylor and her new trainee, Sister Anderson, from Rockhill, South Carolina.  It is a pleasure serving with such wonderful young missionaries in the Idaho Nampa Mission.

Regards,

Sister Short

Idaho Nampa Mission

Sister Anderson and Sister Taylor

Week 19 - Kuna 10/14/13

10/14/13

Hello Family!

CRAZY WEEK!!!  Guess what today is?  Transfer Day, and guess where I'm going?  Nowhere!  Woo Hoo, I'm Staying in Kuna!  But Sister Stevens is leaving me and I'm so sad because I wanted to stay with her longer.  She's being transferred to Enterprise, Oregon where she and her new companion will be opening a brand new area.  This is very exciting because this area has never has Sister Missionaries before.  Enterprise is the complete opposite edge of the mission and is about a three hour drive from here.  Sister Stevens will do an awesome job!  I will be training a brand new Sister, how cool is that?!  I'm so excited that President Cannon is trusting me with this kind of responsibility!  I won't get my new companion until tomorrow since all the newbies fly in on Tuesday's, so Sister Zavala and I will be temporary companions while we await the arrival of our new companions.  Sister Nickolaisen will be here this evening for a big dinner meeting being hosted for the new trainers.  I'm looking forward to seeing her again.  We're all excited to meet our new Sister companions tomorrow.  There are five new Sisters joining our mission and they all look so sweet - very exciting!

My current area will remain as is until the next transfer in six weeks, which means I'll still be covering the five wards here with my new companion.  I'll probably be staying here in kuna until January or February, which is fine with me!  Elder Diaz, Elder Tuia, Elder Agle, and Sister Stevens are all moving on to new areas so Elder Hatefi, Elder Eagleston Elder Hendricks and I are all getting new companions.  

A new set of Elders are also flying in tomorrow to join our mission.  So this transfer will bring the most changes since I came to this mission.  My companion and I will still be the only Sisters in our district, but that's okay because everyone spoils us rotten.  I love it!

The red roses in the pictures from our last Sisters Conference were from President Cannon.  He wanted us to know that he loves us all and thinks we are the most wonderful sisters in the world.  I love President Cannon!

This weekend the Huberts took us to Swan Falls, it was beautiful, but out in the middle of nowhere.  There is a short stone wall to keep folks from falling over a huge cliff.  At the overlook there is an amazing view of the Snake River.  Just over the stone wall there is a ledge, so we climbed over and pretended like we were falling - see the pictures of our antics!  We also went to the old dam, which was once used as a prison.  A must see for anyone coming through this area.

Sister Stevens and I had a really cool experience the other day.  We were cleaning our car outside (In our service clothes, not our dresses), when an older gentleman passed by.  Sister Stevens waved at him and said hi, and the gentleman waved back.  Then his eye caught her name tag and he stopped and and said, "You're a missionary aren't you.... Well, I've been inactive for over ten years.  Maybe you could help me with that?"  Of course we said yes!  We found out that he had actually served as an area Seventy back in the 50's and 60's.  We talked a bit longer and invited him to join us at church the next Sunday.  He sat with us yesterday at church, which was Fast and Testimony meeting, and he got up and bore his testimony.  He is such a cool guy and it's awesome to have a little miracle like that happen.

I seriously love this mission so much, and I especially love serving here in Kuna.  I love all of the people and I don't ever want to leave!  Thank you for all of your support and all of the love you send me.  I feel it for sure!  Make sure you don't skip out on the small stuff - daily scripture study and personal prayers are so important!


As you know, I found my camera shoved deep in the abyss of the couch in our living room.  Yay!  So here are some pictures of our trip to Swan Falls, enjoy!


Love,

Sister Lindsay Taylor

Sister Taylor cheesin' it up for the camera!

Sister Stevens!

Cute Companions.

Sister Taylor and Sister Stevens

 .... and stretch 2, 3, 4

"Who's idea was this anyway?  I'm afraid of heights!!!"

The District and Sister Huber.

Thank you Brother and Sister Huber for a fantastic day!

Sister Stevens & her cool pumpkin!

Me and my pumpkin!  I Love Kuna!!!!

Week 18 - Kuna 10/07/13

10/07/13

Sister Stevens and I have been going full throttle for the past six weeks!  This has been the fastest transfer I've had so far.  It seems as if it was just yesterday that I was picking Sister Stevens up at the transfer spot - where did those six weeks go?

This week we met another investigator, her name is Yesenia.  She lives with her husband at his parents house, who are active members of the church.  We're going to teach them the first discussion tomorrow. This week Sister Stevens and I went with one of our families to the church orchards and picked red delicious, golden delicious, and granny smith apples.  Apple picking is hard work.  If anything falls on the ground, you can glean it and take it home with you.  We helped the family we went with glean a bunch of apples and she is going to teach us how to can them and make homemade applesauce and apple juice.  We are also going to be canning tomatoes with her.  I'm excited to learn.  Everyone has been feeding us their homemade applesauces at dinner, and it's soooooooooo good!

I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission last Saturday during Rheanna's baptism.  Rheanna is only 21 years old, and although her husband is less active he was able to baptize her.  It was  very touching to see him so moved by the spirit as he entered the waters with his wife.  The spirit was so strong in the room.  It was beautiful.

We celebrated Sister Stevens' birthday yesterday with the Huberts.  We watched conference, then had a little birthday celebration.  It's tradition here that the birthday missionary's companion gets to smash their face in the cake.... so I had the honor of exfoliating Sister Stevens face with rainbow cake!!  It was so much fun!

I've been learning a little more Spanish and practicing more of what I learned in school since this areas Hispanic population is 30 percent.  So here's a little something in Spanish for you to decipher:

! Yo se que la iglesia de Jesuscristo de los ultimos dias es la iglesia verdadera en la tierra y que gracias a Jose Smith y por el poder de Dios el pudo restaurar la misma iglesia y misma doctrina que Jesuscristo ensernaba cuando el estaba en la tierra.  Yo amo a mi salvador y se que gracias a el yo puedo mejorar como persona y vencer cualquiier problema que me enfrente en mi mision y mi vida.  Los amo mucho familia ! y los extrano mucho !

Oh,  I found my camera,  YAY!!!!

Love,

Sister Taylor

Sister Stevens & Sister Taylor after a long day of apple pickin' fun!

Rheanna's Baptism

Sister Taylor & Sister Stevens

Sister Taylor & Sister Stevens

Sister Conference

Smile!

Week 17 - Kuna 09/30/13

9/30/13

I don't have a lot of time to write today, but I wanted to tell you that I received a package from Heather last week with all kinds of treats in it!   She included a very nice letter too - thanks Heather!!  It was so good to hear from her.  Heathers friendship and support over the years has always meant so much to me.  I really miss her.  I also received a package from Sister Hicks!  Please tell her thank you and give her a great big hug for me!

We had a new investigator come to church with us this week and he said he really enjoyed it and wants to come back because he really liked the feeling he got there and he wants to feel it again!!

Dad, I really want to thank you for being a worthy priesthood holder. That is such a wonderful gift we have received from God, and for you to be worthy to exercise that power to help our family and others too, is such a precious thing. I was really struggling this week. I was feeling overwhelmed and sad and I couldn't pin point why. I asked one of the Elders in my district for a blessing and in the blessing he told me exactly what I needed to hear. Afterwards, the spirit confirmed to me that everything would be alright, and I got such a feeling of peace. And I am feeling so much better now! 

Thank you for all of the notes from home.  I really appreciate your support and words of wisdom.

Love,

Sister Lindsay Taylor

Week 16 - Kuna 09/23/13

Hello family!

It really has been a busy week! But a good one! We saw so many people this week! 

On Monday, we went to the Welker’s home. They’re an older couple that aren’t able to go to church due to poor health. We taught FHE with them and read that awesome conference talk I mentioned in my last email, which I hope you’ve read by now.  Brother Welker is a spiritual giant and always has the best stories to tell! He reminds me of a mix between Thomas S. Monson and Grandpa Lee, so you can see why I love him! Sister Welker is so sweet just like Grandma Kitty! So they’re kind of like my grandparents away from home! 

We’ve been visiting several families on a regular basis that need a little extra help for one reason or another.  One of our visits is to Sister G’s house, which is right behind the house we live in, so we share a back fence. I saw Sister G’s youngest, M. outside playing so I peeked through a little hole in the fence and said "Hi M.!".  He stopped in his tracks and looked all around for me. When he finally found me, he got the biggest smile on his face and baby babbled to me for five minutes. His older brother, G. eventually saw that we were chatting it up and came over and said, "Hi, wanna come to my house right now?" I told him we couldn't but we would come over the next day. He said "Okay that will probably be fine. I'm going to go tell my mom!" He bolted in the house as fast as he could and we could hear him yelling "MOM! MOOOOOOM! SISTER TAYLOR IS COMING TOMORROW! SISTER TAYLOR IS COMING TOMORROW!"  Funny kid! When we arrived the next morning, Sister G answered the door and said "Thank goodness! G. has been asking for you non stop ever since last night!" I love littl man G.! He is such a sweet kid! After we saw Sister G. on Tuesday, met with a new investigator Jacob, he is only 14 years old. We taught the Restoration and it went really well! We challenged him to read a part of the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true! So hopefully he will keep his commitment and be ready for our next appointment. After Jacob, we went and saw Sister M. I love her so much! She broke down crying and kept telling us how much she appreciates us coming over to visit her! We are going to have the Elders over this week to dedicate her home. For dinner we went to the Driesel family's home. They invited a less active friend over to join us. Their friend has a super sweet and fun 12 year old daughter! She doesn't want the church to know where she lives so no one tries to "re-convert her". We totally respected that and tried to refrian from too much church talk, but at the end (as always) we shared a spiritual thought! The message was well received and we said our goodbyes and went on our merry way. We later found out the the scripture we shared was one that helped her in her conversion to the gospel. After we left she asked Brother Driesel for a Priesthood Blessing. We then saw her at church this past Sunday! How awesome is that? A lot of the time, when we follow spiritual promptings and do missionary work, we don't get to see the fruit of our labors. But this time we did, and it really got us pumped to work hard this week! After the Driesel’s, we went to see Troy and Tanya Miller. They are one of our families that are like our "parents away from home". They are so wonderful to us! Troy was scheduled for back surgery the next Thursday in Boise so we stopped by to wish him luck. We had a really nice gospel conversation and a little fun too of course! Troy loves to joke around, and is always good at lifting our spirits when we've had a tough day!

On Wednesday we saw a recent convert that we’ve been working with.  She actually used to live in Fairfax! So she loves to talk with me about all of the places she’s been in Virginia.  We always read from the Book of Mormon with her. This past week, we read 1 Nephi chapters 17-18. I love reading the stories with her because it helps me remember some things that I have forgotten about! This week P. is going on a tour of England! She is going to bring us back a little souvenier. She's so sweet! After we saw Penny, we went and saw J. S.  J.  she's a wonderful lady who is just becoming active in the church again! She was struggling with her testimony of Joseph Smith because of some negative information she had read awhile back.  But this Wednesday she announced to us that she was over her block and she now accepts him as a prophet of God! We were really excited! After J.’s we went and visited the B. family. This family is really struggling. But they wanted us to  teach their 8 year old daughter the lessons so she can get baptized! The family is mostly less active and we have been trying to help them get back to church. For dinner, we went to the Fulmers house. Brother Fulmer is our new Ward Mission Leader in the Kuna 4th ward. He and his wife are awesome! They have captured the spirit of their calling right away and are so ready and willing to help us. I'm really looking forward to working with him more! That night we went and visited the B. family. The dad and he is less active. He served his mission is Los Angeles and talks about it all the time! The rest of his family aren’t members. The mom used to be really against the church, but now she welcomes us in with a hug! We still aren’t able to teach any discussions, but we always share a spiritual thought with them. I love that family so much! She’s a couponer so she always sends us home with extra coupons and treats that she picks up from the store!

On Thursday we had interviews with the mission president! It's always nice being able to talk with President Cannon. He is so nice and listens really well. He asked how things were going in my area and with my companion. And then I asked him if I could stay in Kuna for a few more transfers. He told me that Elder Zwick had told him to keep missionaries in the same area for at least 9 months, so yes I could stay! Hopefully I get to stay here, but sometimes, Heavenly Father has a whole different plan! After we got out of interviews, I sang a song I made up about Kuna to Sister Schloegel (the lady who works the front desk at the mission office). When I had finished, I looked behind me and all the office couples and the mission president and his wife were standing behind me watching! Apparently Sister Cannon had taped it! I would send you a video of me singing it, but 1. you can't send large files via e-mail and 2. my camera is still lost. :( On Friday we went and saw Shari Ladd and taught her the first new member lesson! We taught her about the Priesthood and the importance of being worthy to exercise it!  After Shari, we went to see the Neilson family who are recent converts. We shared a spiritual thought and celebrated with the mom because she was finally able to find a job! After that we went to visit with J. A., who has been investigating the church for a few years and doesn't understand the important of Christ and the Atonement. Sister Stevens did a great job of answering his questions.  For dinner we went to the Whiting’s house! They are such a fun family! They made super delicious Navajo tacos for us! Their son is in Uruguay on his mission and is coming home in three weeks. The 19 year old sister wants me to write him and for me to meet him when he gets home so we can get married. Everytime I'd say something she’d say  "Oh you like to sing! My brother Cameron likes to sing!" "Oh you love the scriptures? My brother likes to read the scriptures!" She is really funny. They are having us over for breakfast on Tuesday and making us crepes!  They are so nice! On Saturday we went and visit Cam and Rheanna Lewis. Rheanna has been investigating the church for three years. We extended the baptismal invitation to her and she accepted! She is getting baptized in two weeks! We have 3 baptisms in the next 3 weeks. Its going to be crazy! We went and visited Sister Taylor after that. She is a sweet older lady who had open heart surgery and has been bed ridden since. That night we got to see the Trents! Sister Stevens finally got to meet B., our eternal investigator. We talked a lot about, Jesus the Christ, because Sister Trent just finished reading it. Then she sent us home with Tangerine Fruit Bars! Yuuuummmm! On Sunday it was meeting after meeting after meeting! Believe it or not, Sunday is our busiest day! The only Sacrament we got to stay the full 1 hour for was for the 6th ward. Funny enough, it was in that ward that the bishop called up Sister Stevens and I to bear our testimonies out of the blue! (and it was perfect because we had a lot of investigators and less actives attending that ward!).  Next, we went to E. L’s. We hadn't visited him for a long time, and Sister Stevens hadn’t met him yet so no better time than the present!  During our visit, E. commited to go to church with us the next Sunday, on the condition that he could buy us lunch some time. Sounds good to me! After that we went to dinner at the Quigleys home. They have really cute kids that asked question after question. Finally,we went to Sister Huberts for the rest of the night, whew! Sister Hubert and her family are converts of 6 months. She’s from Russia and takes such good care of all the missionaries! She isn't in our area but we go over if we ever need a break or need help with something. I had some clothing that I wore holes in them and a couple skirts with rips and she sewed them all back up! 

So that was my week! And I’m out of time!  

Love you all,

Sister Lindsay Taylor

Week 15 - Kuna 09/16/13

9/15/13

I had quite a wonderful week despite having the worst cold in the WORLD.  I completely lost my voice for few days and had to rely heavily on the spirit while teaching lessons.  But somehow, despite runny nose and piercing headaches, Sister Stevens and I were able to set two more baptismal dates this week.  The work is awesome here!

We taught the first part of the Plan of Salvation with the Rogers this week and spent a long time discussing the Atonement.  We talked about how the Atonement isn't just for repenting of our transgressions, but also for us to find comfort and healing during difficult times and how guilt we may have carried with us for a long time can be taken away by our Savior Jesus Christ.  The spirit was so powerful, I know everyone was feeling it.  Our two investigators, K & C started crying and wow, it was just an incredible experience.  They both are so receptive.  I really hope they pray to know for themselves that what we're teaching them is true through the Holy Ghost.  I would be completely lost without the Holy Ghost especially here on my mission.

My companion is seriously the best, she is so thoughtful and caring, and bold!  She isn't afraid to go up to people and talk to them about the church.  I want to be more like her!  We've been visiting with less active families and at one home we introduced ourselves, "Hi, we're the Sister Missionaries and we're trying to meet everyone in the ward.  Can we come in?"  The invited us in and we talked for a bit and got to know them a little better and I asked, "So, I don't think I've seen you at church before.  Where do you  sit?"  They got this sheepish look on the faces and said, "Oh, well we don't really go, you know life is so busy, we have a hard time fitting church in."  So we invited them to church this Sunday and told them they would really enjoy it because the Primary children would be presenting their program during Sacrament Meeting.  Hopefully they'll be able to make it.

I've been trying hard to connect with each of the wards we are working with.  I asked each of the Bishops if Sister Stevens and I could attend their ward councils and they all said yes!  This will be so much more efficient for us since the leaders of all the ward auxiliaries attend this meeting.  Three of the wards we serve have new ward mission leaders and we are so excited to start working with them.  Yay!

We had a great Sunday, but it was extra long.  We were in church from 9:00am until 5:00pm, whew. We attended four Sacrament meetings and I believe I can say I am thoroughly cleansed of sin (not that I'm doing any sinning! :-))

Today we’re teaching family home evening to an older couple whose health prevents them from going to church. We’re going to share an article from the October 2010 General Conference by D. Todd Christofferson called Reflections of a Consecrated Life.   I particularly love this quote from the talk,  "The man who so walks in the light and wisdom and power of God, will at the last, by the very force of association, make the light and wisdom and power of God his own - weaving those bright rays into a chain diving, linking himself forever to God and God to him. This is the sum of Messiah's mystic words, 'Thou, Father, in me, and I in thee' - beyond this human greatness cannot achieve."

I love this gospel so much. And I am grateful for the sacred opportunity that I have to watch it change peoples lives. I know that we are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives. I love being a missionary so much, and this really will be the best 18 months of my life! 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love,

Sister Lindsay Taylor

Week 14 - Kuna 09/09/13

Hello Family!

I'm doing very well!  I love my new companion, Sister Stevens, she has the most wonderful testimony and we have a lot of fun together.

We were invited to Brother & Sister Rogers' home to teach two young women (their employees).  They accepted our invitation to be baptized and have set a baptismal date of October 5th.  The Rogers are an amazing family, I've come to really love them.  We have also been teaching another individual who also accepted our baptismal invitation but he has yet to set a date.  So, all in all, we've had a really good week.

We've had spaghetti casserole four days in a row, and although we're so thankful for the dinners the members prepare for us, I hope I don't have to eat spaghetti casserole for a very long time.  We did get to go to a Mongolian grill last week, with Shari and her family, which was absolutely delicious.   I had lots of leftovers that have been my lunch for the past few days.  It gets better and better everyday because the sauces have more time to seep into the food, Yum!

Stake Conference was this past Sunday and it was focused on missionary work!  The leaders are encouraging the members in the area to focus on missionary work and we are seeing the fruits from their efforts in the many referrals we have received.  Now the problem is just keeping up with them all! What a great problem to have, eh?!

The weather here has actually been pretty nice.  It's been mostly in the 70's and 80's, a nice change from the 90's and lower 100's!!!  There was a really awesome storm the other day, it hailed and flooded like crazy.  Luckily, we had stopped back at home to pick some things up so we were safe in our room before the tempest started.  As soon as it ended we hopped back in our car and went out teaching!

Unfortunately I can't find my camera, I have no idea where it could be.  I'll have to figure something out so I don't miss too many photo ops.  In other words, I won't have any photos for mom to add to my blog.

Alright, my time is up on the computer.  I love all of you so much!  You are such a wonderful example to me, and I am so grateful for that.

Have a wonderful week!

Sister Lindsay Taylor

Email dated September 6, 2013

Dear Brother & Sister Taylor,

We just wanted to tell you what a wonderful daughter you have serving here in Kuna, Idaho.  We had Sister Taylor and Sister Stevens in our home this evening to teach two of our employees.  She is an incredible missionary!  Thank's for sharing her with us here in Idaho!

Sincerely,

Brother & Sister "R"