My Savior

This past week I have been stressed, tired, unsure, scared, hurt, and confused so much.  Being a missionary is the HARDEST thing I’ve ever done. I now know why people have always told me that. I’ve been missing two people in particular this past week or so and it has been a very big struggle for me that I’ve been facing as well as many others. I can feel the Adversary working on me so hard using those struggles against me and putting garbage in my thoughts. There have been times I have just wanted to give up, to give in, to throw the towel in, BUT I didn’t… I remembered my Savior, my Redeemer, my Christ, my Example... my favorite name for him is Prince of Peace, I was really needing that peace. 

There is a member here named Matt Gonzales.  He’s a father of 7 children already at age 29 and is an amazing disciple of Christ/father/husband and I consider him truly an eternal friend. He suggested that I turn all of these struggles I’ve faced and give them all to the Lord and he
bore personal testimony of that to me in his own life... so I did. I got to a point where I couldn’t bear these burdens anymore so I gave them to the Lord. After sobbing and humbling myself more than ever before in prayer I received SO MUCH happiness and peace that my words in this letter cannot even describe it. I went to sleep with no worries or doubts; I had more love and joy than ever before. “MY SAVIOR” went through what I went through.  He’s felt all that I’ve felt and He is and always has been there for me, to make my burdens light. 

I testify that Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of God, and that He is perfect and just and true.  His love and our Heavenly Father's love for us exceeds anything we have seen or felt. I bear personal testimony that Christ lives, that HE leads us missionaries through the spirit to those who are in need of His gospel, and that Christ's true church is here again and has been restored back to the earth with His authority and with a prophet and twelve apostles. I hope one of you have grown a deeper love for our Lord while reading this.

May our loving Heavenly Father bless all of you this week.

Love always,
Elder Taylor

Another email about my week and the miracles that happend:

This past week has had its rough times but also its great times. We started off slow with having member-present lessons because no one was signed up to come at all and a lot of our investigators kept dropping our appointments that we had with them. Luckily the Lord blessed us so much because of our work that we ended up having 9 again. 

We had 3 miracles happen last night. 

There is a less active whose son lives with his mother and was taught by missionaries before awhile ago. So Elder Schneider and I tried the whole 3 months we were together and not once did I ever meet or see him but yesterday we felt inspired to try and he was there!  He answered and we got to meet him and set up an appointment for Tuesday.

Then 3 doors down from his house there is a man named Lino who we tracked into my 2nd week on my mission.  That was a miracle story in of itself but we never got to see him again after our one lesson. His daughters wouldn't answer the door and his wife would tell us she would talk to him for us but we never saw or heard from him; so we tried again and he was there. We got to have a short lesson and set a return appointment to meet him on this next Thurday... so that was incredible. 

Then after that we went to a house where missionaries have been teaching them for like 6 months and it has been real up and down with them.  The last time the mother said she wanted us to teach her teenage son, which was a huge step, and we were so excited. Well, that appointment fell through a few days ago so we stopped by and they weren't there but the son was. He invited us in and we had a little lesson with him and set an appointment with him.  He is very excited to meet with us and said he's got an open heart and mind to what we shared!  

I was in complete shock after last night.  The Lord gave us 3 miracles that I've been waiting and praying for since the very start of my mission. He blessed up with 33 TOTAL LESSONS this week with members/ less active members/ investigators. My faith and testimony grew so much.  I know if we just put the work in the Lord will give us the miracles and blessings.

Love, Elder Taylor

all of my ties!  23 of them!

I made some of this Mexican food! oh ya!