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!!!