Monday, April 22, 2013

Pura Vida in Aserri

Buenas Familia!
Primeramente, las preguntas...
1)      Any interesting street people that follow us around... So in Guacimo there was this mute guy that would always chase after us and try and touch us, and here in Aserri there is a special man named JuJu that always follows us. So JuJu lives by our cook, so whenever he sees us he always yells, "Gringos!!!" and then he hugs us for like 30 seconds each, and he always asks about the other gringos (my past companions here). He smells really bad, and he last time he hugged us, he had just finished vomiting in the street! JuJu rocks!
2)      Virgilio is doing good I suppose. I haven't heard much about him. The last I heard is that he was in Don Bosco (it's like 2 cities away from here) He contacted the missionaries there and told them to tell me Hi, and that he is really trying to turn his life around. I love Virgilio, and I really hope that he can do that!
3)      No, I have only dreamed in Spanish one time! It's really weird though haha
4)      And yes, it is very difficult to think and especially speak in English. Its super embarrassing because President Wilkinson called us about 2 weeks ago, and I answered and I really couldn't speak to him in English, I was stumbling through everything haha, but I am already forgetting how to spell and speak in English.
5)      Yes, people "try" to read my emails, haha in the culture here in Costa Rica, that is acceptable! Latins are super different from us!
6)      I just keep my letters on the computer, I don't have money to print them out every week! But we have an hour and a half to read and write family so no worries, send me long letters!
7)      My garments and my shirts are holding up well, I could use more axe gel (the red axe gel) and yeah basically that, because I don’t have any more gel!
Okay well this past week we were blessed with 2 baptisms!!!! Alejandra and Yacssenia! So in this email I sent like 3 pictures of baptisms. The first is a picture of the baptism of Yesenia and her son Steven, another is the baptism of Tania (I was teaching Tania before I changed areas, and she asked if I could baptize her) and the last one is the baptism of Alejandra (the lighter skinned girl on the left) and Yacssenia (the darker skinned girl that is standing by me). We have been really blessed here in Aserri with a ton of baptisms, and a ton of spiritually prepared people.
So I am super excited for this next week because we will have 4 more baptisms! Deiver, Shirley and their two sons Jimmy and Kaleb. This baptism should be sweet because it’s a family! So one day about a month ago, Elder Hernandez and I were walking down a hill after lunch, and Deiver and Shirley were driving in a truck and stopped us in the street. They asked if we were missionaries, and if we could pass by their house one day. And now one month later they are getting baptized with their whole family.
This experience really shows how when we are obedient, the Holy Ghost really will guide every step of our lives. I remember a talk by Elder Bednar about recognizing the Holy Ghost, and he said that all we must do to have the Holy Ghost in our lives is, "be good boys and girls, keep our covenants and the Spirit will guide us." I know that is true. Whenever I have baptized a contact here in the mission, I can remember that every time the spirit guided us to this person, or gave us the impression to contact them. We cannot do this work without the Holy Ghost, like the Lord has told us in Doctrine and Covenants, we are not teaching with the spirit, we are not teaching in God's way!
Well, not many crazy things happened this week. I'm a little sick, (sore throat, body aches) but with a little rest today, I should be feeling better. Oh sad thing happened today... so the Assistants called us this morning, and Elder Hernandez had emergency changes!! Its because the area next to us, San Miguel, is one of the most dangerous areas in the mission, and a lot of people have been threatening this new American that was serving there. It’s like the 3rd time someone has threatened to kill American Missionaries there, so they decided to switch Elder Hernandez with the American, so we're going to have a new gringo here in Aserri!
Okay, well sorry if this letter isn't very chatty. I'll end with a spiritual experience that happened this week. So Friday we had 7 baptismal interviews here in Aserri, and after the interviews with Deiver and Shirley, I asked them how the interview went. Deiver answered me and said, "Man, I have never had to interview to join a church, never. This is for real. This is the true church of Christ here on earth... Thank you." I love Deiver. He is an amazing man, and will be an amazing member of the church in one week.
I love this church. I love my Saviour. I love the Book of Mormon. I love this opportunity to serve the Lord full time. I love everything I am learning, feeling and experiencing here in my mission. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to bless the lives of others. It is all true.
Love you and Pura Vida,
Elder Taylor
Photos:




Monday, April 15, 2013

Baptisms up in Here!

Buenas Familia,

1)      We get along well now. When we first started out... no. But I have really been trying to lose myself and serve him.

2)      Yes! But no worries, I already have a bunch of ear plugs! I bought a bunch in the MTC because my roommate Elder Fui snored like a bear so I had to use them!!

3)      Yes, my retainer is still okay. But am I using it? Not that much because I am always super tired in the night time! So I am using it about 2-3 times a week! Sorry, I know I need to use it more, and I don’t want to have a "smile like a Picasso painting" (that’s a quote from the movie Brink! para que sepa!!!)

4)      Yes, I use an alarm clock. What a question mom! Haha yes I use the clock from college!

Okay well this week was awesome! We were blessed with 2 baptisms this week!

Yesenia and her son Steven! Yesenia was a reference from our cook and she is one of my strongest converts, and Steven also! Steven is 11 years old and he is so excited to serve his mission. Well this week was super crazy preparing them for baptism. So Wednesday we had the baptismal interviews, and that same day Yesenia's cousin passed away (they were super close) and after that, the couldn’t obtain a loan to help build their house, so she was super depressed and sad. Well we we're super afraid that she wouldn't want to be baptized, but she kept on going and decided to be baptized. So we had the baptism and afterwards, our cook told her that she would lend Yesenia 1000 dollars to start building the house, and other members started chipping in to help! It was so rad to see how quickly the Lord blesses us according to our obedience! Well I am so stoked for them, and I hope that soon her husband will want to be baptized, and the rest of their children.

We have also been working a ton with this family, Deiver and Shirley and their kids, Kaleb, Jimmy, and Pablo. They are super stoked for their baptism the 27th of April, and they are so ready for it! The only thing is, this week we didn’t know if they were married or not... so we taught them the law of chastity. During the lesson we asked them if they were married and they said no! So we were like, "oh no... we have to wait for the baptism..." But then they said, " We aren't married for any church, but we are married civilly..." They thought that a civil marriage wasn't acceptable to be baptized! Haha we we're so relieved when they told us that, because they are so ready for baptism. Oh and another thing is, Shirley is super afraid of the baptismal font. We showed it to her on Sunday and she told us that she can't be baptized because she is afraid of water. She asked us if we could, "sprinkle" baptize her, but sadly we can't... we aren't Catholics!

Well I am super stoked for this upcoming week. We should be having a ton of baptisms, and changing a lot of lives. Oh and I almost forgot... I finished the Book of Mormon this week! I love the Book of Mormon. I know it is true, and I know it contains the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Book of Mormon has changed my life, and my relationship with my Saviour has been strengthened a great deal. I love Him. I love his patience, his mercy, and his love for me. That He was willing to die for me, that He is willing to love me despite all of my faults, all of my stupid habits and problems. I love Him, and I know that he lives!

Okay, well don't have much more to share. I love you all, hope everything is going well at home. Mom your description of your sickness was very graphic and detailed, and I am glad that everyone around me in this internet cafe don’t know much English! (But really, everyone is staring at this letter right now because I am writing in English... oh goodness) Okay love you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE! 25 years old! What the heck!

Okay Love you all!

Pura Vida,

Elder Taylor Capitan de Aserri

Monday, April 8, 2013

I Love General Conference!

Buenas Familia!

First to answer questions...

a)      Yes, the chapel here in Aserri has a piano! I never play during meetings because they already have a member pianist, but when we are waiting to fill the baptismal font, or when we are in the chapel I love to sit down and play hymns. n fact, yesterday between General Conference sessions I sat down and starting playing and all the little young women gathered and around me. It was awkward because as a missionary when a girl talks to us we get super awkward because we don’t know how to talk to girls. So I´m officially awkward now... too bad.

b)      No my companion isn´t Elder Hernandez now... I´m sad. So we split up the area of Aserri, it´s Aserri 1 and Aserri 2 now, and we have 4 missionaries in our Ward. I´m with Elder Mendoza opening an area here, and Elder Hernandez is with my buddy Elder Jones in the other area, (Elder Jones was with me in the MTC and I love him, he´s rad!) And Elder Mendoza is from Honduras.

c)       No, I don´t know any sisters from Georgia! There are like 100 new sisters here in the mission, so maybe I know them I don’t know.

d)      Haha weird question mom, my leg/gluteus muscles are okay... I´ve lost a ton of weight here in the mission, its because we are always walking and I burn of all my rice and beans calories during the day!

Okay, well this week was a little weird and sad, but then awesome So Elder Hernandez and I we´re going to have about 10 baptisms together this month, so that was going to be super awesome! But then we went to changes meeting to pick up the new Elders that we´re going to come and work in Aserri and open up the new area. So while we were there waiting, President came up to me and told me that I was going to open up the new area with Elder Mendoza, and Elder Hernandez was going to split up the other area. So I was sad, because Elder Hernandez worked with me for all of these baptisms, and we aren´t going to get to do all of them together, but it’s okay, it’s the Lord´s will. So that was the weird and sad part...

But the awesome part was General Conference! I love General Conference so much! I remember before the mission, I always treated it as a weekend to stay at home and sleep, but it really is a spiritual feast! In Doctrine and Covenants there is a scripture which says that when a person speaks by the Holy Ghost, it becomes Scripture, and I love thinking about that in General Conference. Every talk is modern-day scripture for us, and we need it to survive in this world of temptations. I loved the first talk by Elder L. Tom Perry, and the best talk was President Monson´s talk about Obedience.

It is the truth, through our obedience we will be blessed, we are here on this earth to learn obedience. Abraham 3 states that we came here, " to see if we will do all things whatsoever the Lord our God commands us." I really need to focus on that, that this time is a time to prepare to meet God, and that it is through our obedience that we will receive light, and with time we will be full of light and truth and ready to meet God. I also really loved the talk by Elder Enrique Fallaballa, "Blanky, shake hands with everyone!!!" I love when Latins speak English with their accents! It really was a spiritual feast this past weekend, and I don’t want to wait 6 months to receive more light and truth, but that’s why we have sacrament meeting and personal study all the time. I really recognized that this past conference they were really focusing on the family, obedience, and the Law of Chastity. I hope all the Costa Ricans could hear about that, because the Law of Chastity practically doesn´t exist in this country.

Well sorry if this letter is boring. This next week we should be having 2 baptisms, Yesenia and her son Steven. They are a super sick family, and also we should be having about 6 or 7 baptisms this month. I love you all, and I am always praying for all of you. Hope everything goes well this week! Take care, and keep me in your prayers, ( I need more patience and charity!) Okay, until next week.

Pura Vida,

Elder Taylor capitan en jefe de Aserri

P.S. Send me Randy’s address so I can write him a letter please! Okay Tuanis, Chao!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Changes...

Buenas Familia,

Okay... questions...
1)      We spent Easter Sunday working! They really don’t celebrate specifically Easter here. This whole past week was the, "Semana Santa". So it’s like spring break, and nobody works or does anything all week, they just all go to the beach or sit in their houses. So all week they had parades and crosses and they were all celebrating the death of Christ. So the Catholic Cathedral is right behind our house and we had to listen to that all day and night! They even had a giant life size cross in front of the cathedral.

2)      Uhm, the weather is super weird here. So it was getting progressively hotter and hotter but now its super cloudy and rainy. The weather here is super weird!

3)      No you don´t need to send me anything right now, all good!
Okay,

So this week we had changes! And everyone said that I was going to get changed because I have about 5 months here, but we got the call this morning and I´ll be staying here with Elder Hernandez another month and a half, and I´m super excited for that because we should have a ton of baptisms this next month! This past change we have worked like dogs and we should be seeing all the fruits of our work this month. We should baptize

1) Yesenia and her son Steven 2) Tania (we have worked with her about 3 months and she is finally going to get baptized the 20th!!! 3) Deyver, Shirley and their son Caleb 4) The boyfriend of one of the members in the ward 5) Kymberly (her boyfriend is a member) and possibly a family of about 10 who we have been teaching for about a month! So that’s a ton of baptisms! We just need to work super hard to help them progress!

Well this past week was fun. I GOT BLESSED BY A WOMAN! So we were teaching a recent convert, Gabriel. He has been a member about 7 months, and the missionaries taught his whole family, but he was the only one that got baptized. Well during the lesson his mom walked in,(She is one of the nicest people I know, but she is an evangelist.) Well she walked in and stopped and said, "Hermano Taylor, I want to bless you..." SO I was like, "Okay, Esta bien!" SO she put her hand on my head and raised her right hand to the square and blessed me in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It was awesome! I know that she didn’t have the authority to bless me, but she is awesome and it was a super funny experience.

Well as I said a little bit earlier, this week was Semana Santa, so everyone was in their homes watching bible videos. Elder Hernandez and I saw a little bit of the "Ten Commandments" with Charlton Heston haha, and I thought of you Mom!

Well a cool experience this week... So on Sunday a young woman showed up at church and asked to see the missionaries. She told us that she has been looking for the true church, and she prayed and dreamed about two missionaries teaching her. So we showed up at her house yesterday to teach her, and she told us a little about her dream. She told us that in her dream two male missionaries we're teaching her the gospel, and one of them was Elder Hernandez! How sweet is that! She said that he was one of the missionaries teaching her! So that is cool, and her name is Kymberly. I think she'll get baptized this month, we are just waiting for her to feel sure about her testimony. It’s awesome because we have been working a lot with a member in the ward, Hermano Acuña. He really has the gift of revelation, and I know that he will be a patriarch one day. In all of our lessons, he always begins to "prophesy" and talk to our investigators about their fears and concerns. Yesterday with Kymberly, he told her that she already knows the church is true, that God or an Angel aren´t going to come and tell her in person that the church is true, and that she just needs to act on her feelings. It was so awesome! Really the members help so much n missionary work. So when the missionaries need your help, visit investigators with them because your testimony can change a lesson!

Okay, well sorry if this letter is short. I dot have any batteries in my camera so I can’t send any pictures. Well I love all of you! Hope you had a great birthday Jason and Mom! Glad you all had a good Easter. You are always in my prayers!

Love you!

Elder Taylor, Capitan de Aserri...

P.S. They are sending two more sister missionaries to our ward here.... that should be different!