Last Week in the CCM (MTC)!

Hola, mis amigos y mi familia!

So this is my last P-day in the MTC and my last week here! We got our travel plans last Thursday.... We leave Sunday the 29th at 8:30 for a 12:30 A.M. flight to ATL. I think that I get to call you then, so I may email you sometime during the week to confirm when I can call you at the airport. Okay and we'll get into ATL around 6:30 and then we head off to Costa Rica! We should get in to the "Patria Noble" (Costa Rican motto) around 11:45-12:00ish Mountain Standard Time. So yep I am really excited to be getting out into the field! And I've heard that we're going to start working as soon as we get there!

So if you have any packages for me, please send them so I can get them this week before I leave. Uhm, I don't remember my Costa Rica address but Mom and Dad if you could put that on here that would be awesome.

Elder Ryan Taylor

Costa Rica San Jose Mission

APDO 249-2010, San Jose

San Jose, Costa Rica

So this week was really good. Vaughn J. Featherstone spoke at the Tuesday devotional. He is so amazingly awesome. Wasn't he your mission president in San Antonio, Dad? Well he was really cool. He memorized his whole talk and he told a ton of stories. He's super old though so it was kind of hard to understand him. I liked this one story he told about his "slow" niece that served a mission, and how she would not take no for an answer and because of this she was able to bring a runaway daughter back to her LDS parents. Haha, that last sentence probably didn't make sense but Dad may have heard the story, I don't know.

Well anyways everyone is just beginning to prepare to leave now, it's really weird because our district has grown so close and now we won't see each other except at zone conferences or if we get lucky in a companionship in about a year. I really hope that I can get a native Costa Rican companion so I am forced to use Spanish, because my rudimentary Spanish is just not going to cut it, haha. But I am so excited!

And I am so excited for Allison's baptismal date. I know that this decision will be the greatest one she has made so far in life, and that she will feel the spirit in greater abundance after her baptism. It makes me think of Mosiah 18:8-10, which talks about the promise of baptism, and a little about the baptismal covenant.

Well, I don't have much to say anymore. How's Aunt Deanna holding up? I'm glad that Ralph was able to give her such a comforting blessing. He really is a selfless husband with grandpa and the kids. Let her know she's in my prayers, and I'll put her name down in the Costa Rican temple. I think this trial will be a great blessing to their family. It reminds me of this saying, "Man's extremities are Gods opportunities." God will put us through things that we believe we cannot handle. Jeffrey R. Holland gave a talk at the MTC a while ago and quoted this French poem...

He yelled at me and told me to come to the edge.

"No" I said, "I will fall off."

He yelled again and said "Come to the edge."

"No" i said again, "I will fall off!"

He yelled again and said, "COME TO THE EDGE!"

So I came...

And he pushed me...

And I flew

It sounds a lot better when Jeffrey R. Holland is saying it but it is so applicable to every life. Our Father in Heaven is going to push us to limits that we thought were never possible, and if we heed his promptings and forget ourselves, we have the opportunity to fly. That’s something that I have really gained a testimony of since being in the MTC. It feels like God asks so much of us, but when we do heed his promptings and do his will, it all works out in the end, and we become 10x the person we ever dreamed of becoming. I am so thankful for this mission and for how it is changing my life so immensely. This gospel is the most amazing thing on the earth, and I am so grateful and humbled to have the opportunity to bring it to the people of Costa Rica.

I love you Mom and Dad, and Jason, Eric, Shelby, Katie, Cam Cam, and Joshua. I pray for you every day and I cannot wait till we can be together as a family in the Celestial Kingdom. That is going to be RAD!!! I cannot wait. Haha it's kind of like when Alma the Younger is talking about "if only I were an angel..." Haha but nevertheless I love life and all its difficulties, especially for the chance that I have to progress in this gospel. I love all of you and the next time you hear from me I'll probably be sweaty, covered in giant roaches and tarantulas in the city of San Jose Costa Rica! Love you all!

Love,

Elder Taylor

P.S. So we were talking about the bugs in Costa Rica. Yuck. I guess there are a ton of tarantulas and they just chill in your apartment and crawl on you while you’re sleeping. Same with those hissing cockroaches. And they have Mosques ( I think) That’s mosquito minus the -ito part haha. Well, if i don't come home from my mission I probably got carried away by a giant bug or eaten by one haha. Okay love you all! Bye.

Buenos Dias from the MTC!!!!

Hey Y'all!

So it's week seven or eight now in the MTC I can't remember, but we get travel plans this week!!!!!!! That means we leave for the field soon! I'm so excited, it feels like I've been in the MTC forever!

So this past week was very good, and I have grown a lot spiritually and emotionally. So Tuesday night we had an emeritus seventy, Robert R. Steur (sp?) speak to us. Honestly I can't remember what he talked about, but I remember it applying a great deal to our missions. But the best part about Tuesday was that our Branch president, President Ricks, talked to us about his testimony of Joseph Smith. It was really cool because we read through the first vision with him, and he told us how Joseph Smith was very deliberate in the words he chose, and that the first vision is a lot different than how we usually picture it as. It was neat to think of it that way.

Anyways, the week was really good and teaching my investigators is going really well. I just wish I could get out in the field already and preach the joy of the restored gospel!! Well so we also had a sweet fireside last night from Jenny Oaks Baker. She's a world renowned violinist and daughter of Elder Dallin H. Oaks. She played a lot of songs for us, and told us how through her experiences with music her testimony had grown immensely. Her whole family also played for us. A 9 year old on piano (who was better than me), an 11 year old on the violin, 7 year old on the cello, and the cutest 5 year old boy on the guitar. I WANT MY BOYS TO LEARN THE GUITAR OR PIANO! It was very cool to see how music can bring the Spirit so well, and how through it emotions we have never experienced can be felt.

Oh by the way, have you ever heard of the book, "The Message" by Lance Richardson?! I think we have it. Well it's about how he was in a coma and went to the spirit world and was sent back to earth to tell the United States about the importance of family and service. His son, Elder Creed Richardson, is in my district. It's an awesome book. I’m pretty sure we have it, so you should read it. Hmmm, not much else is new.

HEY MOM CAN YOU DO ME A HUGE FAVOR!?!? Could you have Dad or Eric or anyone download a bunch of Disney music (Hercules, and other stuff like that) and spiritual music (like come thou fount) onto my iPod and send it up to me along with the wall charger? That would be awesome! I would appreciate it so much.

I also sent a bunch of letters this week so whoever is waiting for a letter should get one sometime this week.

Oh funny story, so Hermana Uscharwadi (sp?) is from Granite Bay. She went to Del Oro, so I asked her if she knew the Savages and the Judds, haha and she knows them. She described the Savages exactly how you do, haha, it was very funny!

So keep me in your prayers because I feel like I've completely plateaued in Spanish. It feels like I learned so incredibly much the beginning of my MTC but lately it just has been hard to retain things I have learned. But the Lord gives us trials to maintain our faith so it’s just all part of the Lord's plan for me.

This week I have really felt my testimony of the gospel and of the atonement especially grow. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and he loves us so much. He is our advocate with the Father and he pleads in our behalf to the Father. The Atonement can really change the people we are and how we treat others. I just love the gospel so much, and I know with my whole heart that it is true. I just cannot wait to share these truths with the blessed people of Costa Rica.

Oh, something else that was cool, so last night I was talking to Elder Jones ( in Spanish: Elder Ho-nez) and he brought up something really cool. He made me think that before this life, I had chosen to come to Costa Rica and search out my pre-earth life best buds. I believe this. I was fore-ordained to serve in Costa Rica at this time, and I want to do my best to always search and seek out my brothers and sisters. I am committing to myself, and to all of you right now to do all I can to see k out those prepared to hear and rejoice in the gospel of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I love all of you so much, and Mom, por favor send my iPod please!!! I'll want music once I get to Costa Rica. I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Taylor                                                                                                                                                                                       

P.S: Hey Mom so I haven't cut my hair this whole time and it looks like a lion’s mane. Don't worry I have a haircut scheduled for this week so hopefully I can get that taken care of. Okay I love you

Dios les bendecirá!

Week Seis!

Hola Familia y Amigos!

So this has been a very good week. On Tuesday we had a devotional from Yoshiko Kikuchi (sp?), an emeritus seventy, and it was awesome. He was super funny but he always taught us of the importance of prayer. He challenged us to create our own sacred grove in the MTC and out in the field where we can gain inspiration for our lives. This is something that I have really been trying to do, to have the honest sincere and heartfelt prayers to my Father in Heaven because He knows what is best for all his children.

So we had a lot of teaching appointments this week and they all went very well. We committed all of our appointments to baptism haha, I only wish it was this easy to baptize in the mission field!

I got Randy's letter and I'm glad that he's doing well out in the boonies of Illinois. He's going to be a great and amazing missionary!!!!

Oh I finished the Book of Mormon this week! Read it 5 weeks boo yeah! It is such an amazing Book! I seriously love every single book in it because they all have such deep doctrine. I would have to say that Mormon and Ether are my favorite books, they are so sad but we can learn so much from them. When we harden our hearts against the will of our Father, we cannot be blessed and this is exactly what the people of Mormon, and the Jaredites did. It's very sad but we learn a lot from it.

Oh and thank you Dad for sending me that letter about Ammon and his missionary work. I hope that I can be the missionary that Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah were.

Oh and by the way Happy Fourth of July and happy birthday to Eric!

For the fourth we had a devotional about how the United States was the only place where the church could have been restored and about how it is a blessed land for our inheritance. It was really cool! Afterwards they let us go outside and stay up until 11 (way too late at night for me now!) and watch the fireworks from Stadium of Fire.

It's also been very, very hot, and I guess there are a ton of fires in Utah. Keep the people affected by the fires in your prayers please!

So on Sunday we had a really good priesthood class. My branch president, President Ricks (who is amazing!), talked a lot about getting answers to our prayers. It was just a week of learning about the power of prayer I guess! It was really good and he talked about how he loves cars... especially some kind of Ferrari and he asked us if he prayed for the Ferrari with faith would he get it? NO! We need to pray for faith, but we need to pray for what is right and then we will begin to receive answers to our prayers. It really helped me.

Also last night we had the opportunity to watch a talk given by Jeffrey R. Holland called "Missions are Forever" and it was uh-mazing! My favorite part is when he said "Salvation isn't easy... if it wasn't easy for Jesus Christ, how can it be easy for us." That really struck my heart because I know that Christ lived the perfect life. And his life WAS NOT easy... So our lives are going to be tough, but if we continue with faith in Christ and his atonement, we can make it to the Celestial Kingdom and life in eternal peace and happiness. I really love Jeffrey R. Holland, he is such a man of God and he is so amazing.

Well sorry this letter is so short. Spanish is going well. My companion is a stud, I love Elder Pace. Oh cool experience... so our district is the first district to do this "Real Teaching Experience" thing where we teach people that only speak Spanish. So Elder Pace and I have taught Carlos Garcia, an awesome investigator from Peru, twice and both lessons have been amazing! Elder Pace and I have found unity in teaching him and our lessons just go so well. We committed him to baptism on our second visit so that was cool. His Spanish is quite fast though haha however the gift of interpretation of tongues is helping out a lot. So Elder Pace is a stud because he just dominates every lesson and the spirit is strong with him, I love the guy. He'll do great things in Tucson.

Okay well that's about all for this week. I hope everything is going well back home, and I hope that Eric had a great birthday and that Katie, Cam, and Josh got moved in okay. I love all of you so amazingly much you can't even imagine!

Hasta Luego,

Elder Taylor

Week Fiver!!!!!

Hola mis Amigos!

 

First off I hope Dad got my birthday letter! Let me know about that! And I hope that Katie and Cam moved in safely with out any mishaps! Oh and thank you Mom and Dad for my Dear elder package! It means alot! And than k you for the pictures! Keep sending pictures I love them! Okay so theres some new news from up here in the MTC.

 

This week all the apostles were here and roaming around the main office building because they were having New Mission President training, but they basically quarantined the main office building so we didn't get to see them. And the split the cafeteria in half so that stunk trying to get breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same time as 1,000 other missionaries. The other half of the cafeteria was for the Apostles and Mission Presidents and while we were eating crusty chicken patties the big guys got ribs, omelettes and like gourmet stuff. I guess that comes with being an apostle haha.

 

Well remeber how I said we were all stoked to have an apostle speak to us on our tuesday night devotional? Well everyone was super stoked to see who it was. It was super crowded so we didn't even get into the gym to be with the apostles! First reason why it didn't live up to expectation. And then we found it was going to be L. Tom Perry, so I was like, L.Tom?! He just doesn'! t seem like the apostle to rile up the missionaries you know? I love him to death but we were expecting Elder Bednar, or Elder Holland... And his talk was about the statistics of the church... It just wasn't as rad as I thought it was going to be but I am still thankful for the oppurtunity to hear the divine words of a witness of the Savior. So all in all it was a very cool start of the week.

 

So by Thursday all of the Mission Presidents had left, and I got a call up to the front office. You only get calls to the front office when the presidency is changing your mission call... So I was freaking out! Turns out when I got up there my mission president had left goodie bags for the other Costa Rican missionaries and I. Needless to say I have the best mission president in the world. I am so stoked to serve with him and his wife for two years.

 

Yesterday was fast sunday so we had a big mission conference! It's always good to hear the inspired words of the mission presidency here, and it was a really good mission conference. And last night was seriously amazing!!!! We had a fireside and the "speaker" was Ted Gibbons, an LDS artist, poet and basically renaissance man. This guy is an old stud! He writes music and hes probably good at archery too because he is such a renaissance man. Chistes Chistes (jokes jokes). He basically just acted out the part of Willard Richards and told us of the last months of Joseph Smith's life from the perspective of Willard Richards. It was so different but it was so amazing!!! He talked about all of the atrocities surrounding Joseph Smith's martyrdom, and the fact that Joseph Smith knew that he had to seal his testimony and witness of the savior with his own blood. We closed the meeting by singing "Praise to the Man" and this was the best part. We started sitting down then one by one we stood up in reverence and honor of this great prophet.

The spirit bore witness to my soul that Joseph was a true prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon was true and the Savior really did pay the price for my pains and sins. It was such a great way to end the sabbath, with the spiritual edification from the life of Jospeh Smith. I know that Jospeh Smith saw God the Father, and Jesus Christ in the sacred grove, will all my heart and soul I know this. BEST FIRESIDE EVER!!!! I LOVE JOSEPH SMITH AND THIS GOSPEL!!!

 

Well let me know how everyone is doing, and thank you again for the care package, I can use the medicine and stuff on my mission so thanks! Oh p.s this week we have a bottom-load of teaching appontments so it will be a really busy week! Pray for me! I hope everyone is doing well and home and I hope that the Lord is blessing our family, I know that this is the closest that I have ever been to Heavnely Father and the Savior and I can't wait to get out in the field and baptize all of Costa Rica!!!

Les Amo mucho!!!!

 

Elder Ryan Taylor

 

p.s Mom I haven't gotten a haircut yet but I may this week. Also I got my Hep A shot this week, and I have to go to the Student Health Center to get my chicken pox! Love all y'all!!!