Wuv... Twue wuv (Love true love)

Querido familia!

First to answer your questions...

1)      No they haven´t caught the kidnapper haha, bu believe it or not everyone here is super racist! They are super racist against Blacks, Nicas (Nicaraguans) and Mexicans. And so they keep telling me that a bunch of Mexicans are stealing all the kids, haha but really who knows

2)      Yes, I´m receiving all the Dear Elders so keep sending them how you are thanks!

3)      No news on my package

4)      Yes I have a new comp! His name is Elder Cruz, he´s from Honduras and he´s way fun to be around. He has about 11 months in the mission. He´s a lot different than Elder Nape because he loves to talk to people and joke around with them, whereas Elder Nape was super reserved, but yes Elder Cruz is rad and were going to do a lot here in Guacimo. Oh and p.s Elder Nape is a Zone Leader now haha, it was a huge shock but he´s going to rock as a ZL.

Well,

So I really liked what you said Dad in your email to me about prayer. In the back of the Book of Mormon in Spanish there’s a part that’s basically the Bible Dictionary but it´s for the Book of Mormon, and under prayer it says something like this, ¨The act of aligning one´s will with the will of the Father. Prayer is not used to change the will of the Father, but to ask for the things that Heavenly Father is already willing to bless us with.¨ And this is so true.

Like you said Dad, we grow up and begin to recognize that the things we need, aren´t always the things that are best for us. I think about my life before the mission, how much time I wasted playing video games when I should have been studying the scriptures. I was focusing on things I thought I needed, when really I never thought to ask my Father in Heaven what was in his plan for me. And I´m sorry to hear about how rough the start of Tyler´s mission was. I feel like a lot of missionaries go through that, but really it has made him a stronger missionary and I bet he learned a lot from his experience and is a better and more developed missionary because of it.

Well, this week we baptized Natacha, Edith and Floribeth!!!! Whoosh! And I´m super stoked for them! All of them came to church (with their two special and hyper-active sons Andres and Daniel) and it was just a super good weekend. So that was very special. I am just super excited for what the future holds for this family, and Edith is 18 and wants to serve a mission!!!!!

Not much else happened this week, it´s been raining a ton and so every day we are basically swimming to our appointments.

Oh, and so you may be wondering why my title is Wuv... Twue Wuv... well remember how I said that the Law of Chastity is a huge problem in Costa Rica? It´s because all these couples live together their whole lives without getting married, well a family that we are teaching are getting married today!!! Diego and Tatiana!!! Diego is only 4 months older than me, and Tatiana was born the same day as me haha, and they are getting married! I´m so stoked for them! They will be baptized the 10th of November.

I am super tired because we have been running around doing their paperwork for the marriage and that in itself is super stressful. I´m glad Mom will do that for me haha, just kidding. But yes, we are having the wedding today and it´s going to be super rad!

Well, I hope everyone is doing well. How´s Aunt Deanna doing, and Aunt Suzanne? How´s Jason, is he still at Vassar? Sorry to hear about Dad´s injury, he always seems to work himself too hard. I love all of you so much, and I hope that every day you are feeling the love of our Father in Heaven. I love this church. I love this gospel. I love the atonement, and the patience of our Father in Heaven with all of us, and especially with me. Love you all, and you´re always in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Taylor

Photos:

1) Diego and Tatiana

2) Baptism of Natacha (mama) Edith (far right) and Floribeth (middle).

¡Staying in Guacimo!

Buenos Dias Familia y amigos y todos los demás!

Primero, I´m going to answer the questions haha

1) Elder Nape is getting transferred, so I´ll be staying in Guacimo for the next month and a half. We have our huge changes meeting with all the missionaries in Costa Rica tomorrow, so I´ll meet my new companion then.

2) Elder Nape´s fan broke... and it´s super hot here in the night so we only have one fan for the both of us. It´s terribly hot haha but to answer your question, no I don´t have the fan on my face like I did at home.

Okay, well not much is extremely new here in Guacimo. There has been a guy kidnapping and then killing kids here, so thats kind of scary! So we have to be especially careful in the night. Well this weekend we have the baptism of Natasha, Edith and Floribeth! I´m so stoked! Natasha is like 35 and here two daughters are Edith (18) and Floribeth (15). They also have two brothers with aspergers and autism, Andres (10) and Daniel (5). Daniel is seriously el Capitan de Guacimo. He´s super rad, but is a handful at times. So yesterday they brought the boys to church for their first time, and it was rad. Andres was fairly well mannered, but at times Daniel was yelling (and sometimes bad words haha) but other than that it was super successfull. Natasha had feared that the church members would judge them, but they didn´t so all is well! It´s also been raining like crazy here lately, and the problem is that the rain is freezing so we use our umbrellas, but then the humiddity and vapor comes up out of the hot ground and we just get soaked with sweat haha. Oh and I have a little question, Bishop Dekker served his mission in Límon, Costa Rica right? Ask him what cities he was in in Límon, becuase Guacimo is part of the provincia de Límon, and I have visited the actual city of Límon a bunch. ANd ask him how hot it was in Límon haha.

Well I´m super glad for Allison, and that you can be a support to her. Keep and supporting her, becuase it is always a problem with recent converts because really they are completely changing their lives, and they need friends and support to help ease the change and make it mroe natural. But I´m super stoked for her and for her life-changing decision.

I´m super stoked for everyone that can participate in Saviour of the World. I really wish that I had done it, and really participated more actively in the church before my mission. Enjoy all the feelings and impressions that you will recieve through SOTW, because I can promise you that you will recieve deeper insight into the Life of Jesus Christ, and ultimately the purpose of everything that we do here on Earth.

Well I love all of you, and I am always praying for you! Oh one question mom, did you receive my email from last week? Okay well, love all of you and I know with all my heart that this Church is TRUE!

Love,

Elder Taylor

Almost done with training!!!

Querido Familia!!!

Thanks for the money Mom and Dad, I´ll do what you said. The problem is, their aren´t any huge chain stores here in Guacimo, only small little pulperias (stores) so we´ll see if I can ever use the money hahaha.

Well, answers to your questions...

1)      Yes we can use Ipods, but we can’t use headphones so we always have to listen to them from speakers.

2)      Yes we have to use a planner every day haha, it´s mandatory for missionaries, so yes I use a planner every day now!

Okay! Well if you sent me a package and it´s less than 4 pounds it doesn´t have to go through customs here, so I should get it for sure. If it´s more than it may go through customs and they may detain, I have no clue though because an Elder in my zone just received a 8 pound package of beef jerky from the States haha, so we´ll see! But yes, thank you very much for the money, I really appreciate it!

Well, not much is new this week, same old Guacimo haha. I have been noticing that Costa Rica has a distinct smell to it, and I´m progressively getting used to it. It´s kind of a stinky place! But I love it! We have transfers next week!!! Wooh wooh! So Elder Nape has been here for 4 and a half months, and I have only 3 months here, so most likely he will leave but we´ll see! I love it here, but I also really want to see all of the country. But I´ll try and let you know next week if I am being transferred or not. Well we should be having 5 baptisms the 27th of this month so I am super excited for that!

Well, this week I really strengthened my testimony of repentance. I have noticed that every day I am changing more and more to align my life with the life of Christ. I can especially see this when I think about my life before the mission, and now. I feel like a totally new person, and that I didn´t even do all the foolish and childish things that I always did before I came here. It´s totally rad! It´s super cool also to recognize that every day I am becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that I am continually working to obtain that real change of heart that we receive after true repentance. It´s not like I was a super bad terrible kid before my mission, but I was childish, immature, and did not always treat people how I should of, and it´s just cool to see the change in my character now.

Sorry this message is so short! I´m glad to hear that everyone is doing well, and every day you are all in my prayers. Thank you Mom and Dad for all you did for me growing up. For all the sacrifices you made for me. It is only through you and the mercy and love of our Father in Heaven that I am here in Costa Rica. I love you all and wish you the best!

Dios les bendiga,

Elder Taylor

 

 

 Poison Dart Frog:

 

 River through the jungle:

 

 

Somos los Jefes de Guacimo

Dear Fambly and Amigos!!!

First to answer your questions mom!

1)      Bank of Costa Rica (BCR) it´s everywhere. My question was, can I withdraw money from my VISA debit card from the Bank of Costa Rica without a fee. The ticos (nickname of Costa Ricans) say I can but they aren´t always correct haha

2)      Yes I´m wearing my retainer every night, mis dientes son perfectos!!!

3)      The sole of one of my shoes is already breaking because of all the rocks here haha, but yes they are holding up well

4)      My athletes foot is long gone! I had triple antibiotic that I put on it, and it cleared up

Well,

Dad the culture here is way different. I´ve noticed that Spanish is a lot more literal, so when I´m joking to people I have to tell them after that I am joking or else they totally believe me. It´s just different getting used to a new type of lifestyle, but I love it down here, I just need to get used to how they do things in their own time and in their own way here. I say own time because Costa Ricans are known for being late to everything!

Haha and it´s totally true! Oh and Dad, everybody here says, ¨Si Dios quiere¨(If God wants it). And  of course he wants it haha, they always say it when we challenge them to come to church. Of course God wants you to come to church haha. Well Spanish is coming along a lot better. I can understand people a lot better now, it´s just difficult because Costa Rican Spanish is a lot different than the Spanish in the rest of the world. They use nicknames for basically everything here, so all the Spanish I learned in High School isn´t helping so much haha, but I´m learning quickly. Also, words that are considered bad words in all the Latin world are perfectly fine here! So if I come home and say a bad word in Spanish it´s because I´m speaking Costa Rican Spanish, not normal Spanish!

Well, General Conference was so incredibly amazing! All the gringo missionaries got to watch conference in English, so yes I watched all of it! I absolutely loved Elder Bednar´s talk on Faith and Conversion, and Elder Bowen´s talk on overcoming the greif of losing a child. It seemed to me that htis conference really focused on 1) the family and 2) conversion.

It is not enough for us to live as members of the church, we need to BE members of the church, and LIVE the principles of the church. It always makes me think, before my mission I lived in the church and had a testimony, but I wasn´t converted. And now it seems like I´m living my testimony and steadily everyday I am becoming more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s weird to see such a great change, but it is something that all of us in the church need to do. We are especially focusing on conversion here in Costa Rica because before, the mission was focused only on baptisms. It was the 2nd highest baptizing mission in Latino America, but the worst mission in retention of recently baptized members. So now, we are really focusing on converting not just baptizing, and it really is what we should be doing. But yes, I absolutely loved conference, and I cannot wait 6 months for the next.

Gracias for the birthday wishes, I love all of you! Well, I´m glad that Dad is being a stud in Savior of the World! Good for you! And Mom, I´m glad that you decided to join the angel choir, I know that Sundays are your nap days, but it will really be an amazing and spiritually edifying experience.

Well, if you could, tell Zack Sharp that I miss him and that he can email me! And tell Aunt Marcia that I got her letter from a super long time ago and I wrote her back but the letter got destroyed in my backpack because of the rain! Sorry! Oh and transfers are coming up!!!! It´s nerve wracking because most likely I´m going to stay here in Guacimo but it´s going to be different without a trainer!

Well, I love all of you and I´m super excited to hear how well you´re all doing! I know that the Lord will bless you according to your obedience, especially your obedience in helping with the obra missional (mission work). It really is part of our baptismal covenant to help in the Lord´s work here on the earth, so try as hard as you can to fulfill this covenant by helping the missionary work in Anaheim. Love all of you, and wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Elder Taylor

 

 

Rainstorms and such...

BOOM! I´m so stoked for Eric and Shelby, and I really wish I could have been there for the wedding and I wish I could be there for the sealing too! But it´s all good, I really am super excited for them, they will be great parents and a great couple. And I´m sorry to hear how everyone is pooped out and tired, but I´m glad you all had a good week!

Well this week it´s pretty much rained non-stop. And the thunder storms here are nuts! You feel the boom of the thunder and then car alarms go off haha it´s crazy! Well because of the rain I am starting to grow a new friend on my foot, it looks disgusting but it´s because of the rain and my feet being constantly wet, but oh well haha. So this week not a lot is new. We have been teaching a family, Natasha, her daughters Edith, and Floribeth. They are super stoked for baptism, but Natasha wants to have her 10 year old son Andres baptized. The only thing is he has a super super severe case of Asperger’s syndrome and autism so he really doesn´t comprehend the lessons and so we will have to check with President Wilkinson about that. Well the last p-day we went to this sick rainforest so I´ll post pictures of that also.

Well this week I have really been struggling with the language. I have noticed that when we have lessons that we have prepared for, and the spirit is present my language is perfect and I can understand everything. But then there are lessons that we have not prepared sufficiently for and then I notice that the spirit isn´t there and I can barely speak right. This further strengthens my testimony of obedience and preparation.

In Doctrine and Covenants, I think Oliver Cowdery had a question for the Lord and he was frustrated as to why he couldn´t receive an answer. Then he was admonished by the Lord because of not doing his part. I think I had always thought that since I´m on a mission and being obedient, one day I´m just going to be fluent in Spanish, but it´s not like that. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery he needed to study his question and meditate on it and then ask the lord for the answer.

Likewise, we always need to do our part before the Lord is going to bless us. It´s not correct for me to think that I will be blessed with fluency in this language because I deserve it, I need to work hard to develop it while praying for the help of the Lord. Sometimes the language is super frustrating for me haha, but I know it will come with work and with time, and especially with the help of the Lord. Well I miss all of you and I´m super stoked for Eric and Shelby, you don´t even know!

Well, Mom, I have a question for you, can you look up and see If I can deposit money from the Bank of Costa Rica without charging to my VISA card? Because the ticos say I can, but they aren´t always correct haha. Well love you guys, and Congrats Eric and Shelby!!!!

Well I love and miss you all!!! Also Dad, was it hard for you to adjust to the culture of the people in Brasil?