Bautizáte Huevon!!!!!

Buenas Familia!!!!

So good news, this week I took my Giardia tests, and I don't have Giardia!!!! So in order to take these tests, I had to take some stool samples and they checked them to see if there was Giardia in them. Turns out I don't have Giardia, but I have to take a few more stool samples to see if I have a parasite. If not they say I have Irritable Bowl Syndrome. How embarassing is that haha, I just have to watch what I eat for the next few months and I should feel fine in no time! So no worries, I don't have Giardia haha. And thank you so much for the Olive Tree sheet music, I got it and I love playing it!

And don't get mad at me... I have a lot of new pictures to send you, but I am in a nasty internet cafe and I am afraid to use my camera here haha, don't get mad but we will have to wait one more week haha. 

Well some bad news... Jimmy and Irania, a family that we had that were going to get baptized on the 7th, aren't going to get baptized. They need to be married, but Irannia is from Nicaragua, and here very irresponsible parents did not get her a passport or any paperwork here in Costa Rica. SO basically she doesn't exist here, and that means that she cannot get married and be baptized... It's frustrating because a couple of weeks ago we talked with her and told her that she needed to start doing her paperwork so that she could get baptized on the 7th, but she procrastinated a little bit. So we will have to see if they can still get baptized and married in the next couple of weeks, keep on praying for them!

 

Well other than that, this was a good week. I love the mission, and I love this ward! Tres Rios is the strongest ward in this country, (attendance of 185, and we have like 30 returned missionaries and I think 6 or 7 ex-Assitants to the President, which is ridiculous in a country as small as Costa Rica.) so we have a lot of help from the members. The only thing is we need to find the way to get them excited about missionary work again. When I first got her, there were a lot of problems between the missionaries and the members, and there was no unity at all. It was very difficult because I had come from Aserri, a ward that we really got to be united in missionary work. So we had to basically start all over again when we got here, but finally we are seeing the fruits of our labor. There is no chance of having success in missionary work if we do not work with members. I repeat there is no success in missionary work if the members are not actively invovlved in the whole process of conversion. I love this chance that I have had to be in Tres Rios, because I have learned a ton about leadership and how to work in a good functioning ward. It will be interesting to go back to Yorba Linda and see how the ward functions with the missionaries and with everything that is going on.

Well just to finish up, something I have learned to love here on the mission are the scriptures. I love reading the scriptures!!!! They really are our guides to everyday life, and if we apply their teachings in our lives we really can find happiness and peace. I love studying every morning because it is our opportunity to increase our knowledge and our love for the Saviour! I love it! Always study the scriptures! Always!

I love you all and I hope all is going well at home. I am so stoked for Katie's new baby, and I want her to name it Ryan Christian Taylor Jones. But really, I am so stoked for everything that is happening at home and all the blessings that you are receiving. I love you all, and I am always praying for your well-being. Take care, and remember the importance of this gospel in your lives.

Pura Vida,
Elder Taylor

P.S. Are you still thinking about coming to Costa Rica to pick me up?