3/24/14 E-mail from Zona Sur

Buenas Familia!

1. The next holiday in Costa Rica is... the Semana Santa! (Holy week!) It's the week before Easter, and what everyone will be doing is... partying! They get Thursday and Friday off and usually just spend the whole week in the beach. They also have a lot of parades, where they crucify Jesus and like whip him and stuff. I have never seen it, but they tell me that that happens.
2. P-day today we are going to get our hair cut and maybe shop a little bit. I think next monday we are going to go to a beach in Golfito.
3. There are a ton of special street people. Here in Ciudad Neily there are a lot of drunks that love the missionaries. In the bus station there is a homeless woman that will sing any song for you for only 500 colones ($1). I  am going to pay her to sing "Happy Birthday" to Elder Pace.
4. It is called Ciudad Neily, becuase there was a rich man named Ricardo Neily that lived here and they named it after him I think.
5. I have had a lot of fun with Elder Pace, and we love Elder Mendoza, we always speak a mixture of Spanish and English so Mendoza can understand.
6. My showerhead hits my face haha, I love it because the pipe is higher than my head.
7. I don't know how much time I spend on personal grooming. Like 3 minutes in the shower, 3 minutes shaving, and like 3 minutes doing my hair haha
8. Elder Kuoha, our District Leader has perfect pitch, so he is really good at hearing music and playing it on the piano. He is Hawaiian and he always brings his Ukelele with him to play anywhere he is.
9. I play the piano in the ward, and I am super rusty haha, but with a little bit of time I will get a lot better!

Well, this week was awesome as always! I love the mission! I love Ciudad Neily. I loved going to church on Sunday because I just feel a lot of love in this tiny branch. We had 34 people at church on Sunday, but I felt the Spirit very strongly. I gave a talk on the Plan of Salvation, and I talked about how Randy I went to Mexico. I hope they liked it haha.

Well Edwin and Teresa will be going this weekend to San Jose to finalize there divorce. They should be getting baptized in about a month and a half. Also, Yeodin and Iria aren't progressing anymore. Yeodin is awesome and very humble, but Iria is not willing to change her beliefs. She understands everything, but has the excuse that it is difficult to become a Mormon after being Catholic her whole life... so we will have to see how she progresses. Other than that, we are working hard to help Elder Mendoza get his confidence up and really trust in his calling and authority as a missionary.

We had a really cool expereince the other night. ALL our lessons fell through, and we just were standing in the middle of the street. We asked Elder Mendoza where we should go, what the Spirit was telling him. He waited for seriously 30 minutes saying, "I don't know Elders, I don't know." Finally he started walking and we contacted a family that had been listening to the missionaries a couple of years ago, and we will be teaching them sometime this week. The Spirit really guides us, we just have to confide in His power, and the Lord will always guide us to the people that need to hear our message. That is why I love the mission. Because I have had so many experiences, and I have been used as a tool of the Lord so much. I love the mission. I love this Gospel. The Atonement has changed my life. I am a new person, and I love my Saviour. Thank you so much Mom and Dad for raising me in this gospel.

Jason, I hope you have a great birthday this week. I really am so thankful to have you as a Brother. You may not know this, but you have always been an example to me throughout my life. You are one of the kindest people I know, and I know that you sincerely love all the people you know. Thank you so much for all you have done to better my life, and for the righteous example you have given to me. I love you buddy.

Mom, I love you. Thank you so much for always loving me even though I have not always deserved it. You have been such a great example to me, and I am dearly thankful for all you have given me. Thank you for praying for me, for crying for me, and for just loving me unconditionally. Thank you so much, and I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

I love you all!

Pura Vida,

Elder Taylor

3/17/14 E-Mail

Buenas Familia,

First off to answer Mom's questions...

1. Elder Pace and I are zone leaders, and we together are training Elder Mendoza ( he's a greenie...) We are a three-some companionship, President Wilkinson is doing this a lot with the ZL's now, because he wants to see how a missionary will learn from two Zone Leaders.
2. I haven't seen any drug-lords here, but I guess there a ton of them. More than anything we are working out on the palm-tree plantation, and the drug-lords all have giant houses in the middle of nowhere.
3. The tiny apartment has two fans, and we need them to sleep at night becuase without fans we would cook to death.
4. There aren't that many stray dogs here, or I don't know, maybe I have just gotten so used to seeing old nasty dogs that they just don't cross my mind anymore haha
5. No I have pretty much tried all the foods in this country now, but maybe if I am lucky they will give us Iguana!
6. I haven't given myself a haircut for a while, and I think today we are going to try and cut our hair.
7. Haha, we don't have shower heads in our house. We just have a tube that sprays water. I like it!
8. I played the piano this past sunday in our district conference.
9. Today, for p-day we are going to clean the house, and we might go to the border of Panama to buy some cheap stuff there.
10. I didn't eat the iguana but I really wanted to!
11. My bowels are doing good haha

Well this past week was awesome! I love the mission! Well I got some weird news... today I recieved my plane ticket! It was a really weird experience, and I feel so sad! I never thought I would have this much time in the mission, and it really does go by so fast, now is just the time to finish off strong! My flight is May 29th, and I leave here at 6:15 a.m and I should be getting into Denver at 11:45 a.m. I have an hour lay-over in Denver, and I should be getting into John Wayne at 2:21 p.m! I am so sad! But just so you know that is my itinerary, and I will attach a copy on this email.

Well things are going really well in the Zona Sur. In our area we have a ton of investigators, and a lot are progressing really well, they just need to come to church. We are teaching an awesome family, Yeodin and his wife Iria, they are so humble and they love reading the Book of Mormon. We are also working with a great family named Edwin and Teresa. They have been coming to church the last 2 months, and they are waiting on a divorce so they can get married and baptized. They are really cool though, and I am loving this new area.

Well here is a spiritual experience that I have for the week. Yesterday we had district conference with the 4 units that are here in the Zona Sur, Ciudad Neily Branch, Rio Claro Branch, San Vito Branch, and Golfito Branch. We had a special transmission directly from Salt Lake, and it was aimed at all of Central America. Elder Scott, Elder Oaks, Sister Oscarson and Elder Martino of the Seventy adressed us. It was so amazing though because they really are inspired men of God. Elder Martino talked about the need to read the scriptures as a family, family prayer, family home evening and other family activities. Elder Scott talked about the Atonement, and Elder Oaks talked about our marriage vows, tithing, self-sufficiency and church attendance. All things that Costa Rica needs to understand! He explained that the first presidency has been feeling that Central America has problems with all those things, and he explained that the culture of Central America is not always coherent with the culture of the Gospel. He really talked strongly, but I hope that a lot of people could understand the importance of following those words. I love the people of Central America, they are a beautiful, giving, and loving people. They love the Gospel. They love their Saviour. But their culture also holds them back a lot of the time. The Church has such a bright futue in Central America, the people just need to apply more the principle of obedience in their lives, and they will receive all the blessings that the Lord has promised to his chosen people people that live on the Promised Land.

I love the mission. I am sad that my time is coming to a close, but I want to finish strong. I really want to teach Elder Mendoza everything that I know, so that he can have a better mission than I have had. I want him to understand that only through memebrs, and only through humility, can we acheive everything that the Lord wants us to acheive. I love you all. I know that these things are true. I know that the Atonement is real. I love my Saviour, I love my Father in Heaven, and I love this Gospel! 

Love you all, take care!

Pura Vida, 

Elder Taylor

I love the Zona Sur!

Buenas Familia!

First off to answer Mom's questions...

1. Elder Pace is my ZL companion, he's from Arizona, and I love him. He's a super funny guy and he lived in Helaman Halls the same time as me, I just never saw him. We are training Elder Mendoza, he is from Guatemala, he is an awesome little guy, and I am so stoked to help him start out his mission strong.
2. Training is good, it is kind of weid because I have been a ZL for basically the last year, so it is different having a companion that is starting off learning everything from scratch.
3. The chapel in Ciudad Neily has a piano, but it is tiny! It is like the same model as my first chapel in Guacimo, just a little bit smaller.
4. I did not play the piano yeasterday, but later on in my letter I will tell you why...
5. We don't really shop at a market. There is a place by the border called Paso Canoas where we shop because it is a little bit cheaper and they have a lot of American stuff there.
6. We are in a normal internet cafre, but usually we do internet in the chapel becuase we have a Family History center there where we can use a computer for free.
7. The apartment here is tiny and hot! But its clean, it is not nearly as nice as the house in Ojo de Agua, but I love it.
8. This is by far the hottest area I have ever been in. It is super hot, and super humid, and I am always drenched in sweat!
9. I haven't seen any sloths in my area, but there should be sloths out here in the jungle.
10. Ciudad Neily is the first stop after the Panamanian border, and it is the first stop for all of the Drug Lords. Remember that place, Paso Canoas? Supposedly there is a drug lord from El Salvador there that has been murdering people that owe him money. He kills like one person a week. But don't worry, they only kill people that owe them money, and everyone loves the missionaries here, so I am super safe!!!!

Well so this week was a little different... I have only been in my area like 2 days! We had changes on Monday, on Thursday we took the bus all the way to San Jose for a leadership conference, on Friday we drove all the way back home, and since Saturday I have been on divisions in a city called San Vito! San Vito was the area that I have always dreamed of serving in, so I have been so stoked the last couple of days. The Elder that is usually there is illegal, and here in the Zona Sur, the cops are always stopping people looking for papers so they took him to San Jose this week so he could get his paper work taken care of. 

So I have been in my area forever, and I still haven't been to church in my area yet. On Sunday I was in the San Vito branch, which meets in a house. It was interesting to see how this branch functions, because there are only 3 priesthood holders there, us and the branch president. It was a really funny disorganized ward, but I loved it! I love the faith of these members that sometimes don't know what they are doing, but they are willing to do anything to serve the Lord. San Vito is up in the mountains and it is the border of Panama and Costa Rica, but it is the nicest little town, and it was a really fun experience. I will be there in San Vito until friday, and then I will finally get to go back to Ciudad Neily (but I am not looking forward to it becuase Neily is super ridiculously hot!!!)

I am doing really well though, we have little investigators in our area though, so we will really have to work hard to bring the area up. I love the mission, and I love this opportunity to serve. I hope all is well at home. I love you all! Sorry this is so short!

Love you all!
Pura Vida,

Elder Taylor

Fotos:

1) This is the baptism we had in Ojo de Agua of Nicol! She fought so hard for that baptism, and I am so stoked she finally was able to fullfill her dream!

2) This is my model shot that I took in front of some traditional ox cart oxen from Costa Rica.

3) This is an iguana that we were going to eat haha, I dont know if I already sent you this picture.

ZONA SUR!!!

Buenas Familia!

Well first off to answer moms questions...

1. I have applied to be an EFY counselor, I just need to figure out one more step with President, and I should be good to go with that.
2. Our ward mission leader is awesome. He is a young guy, (23 years old) and he really is fun to be around.
3. We can work with him, when he is not working and studying, (which is almost never haha)
4. I have eaten a lot of jello as desert down here haha, they put ice cream on Jello and they also serve it to us as desert.
5. I throw all of my dirty toilet paper in the trash! Boom! Latino!
6. I love the little kids here becuase they are so loving and really fun to be around.
7. I will let you know what I did today for p-day...

Well first off... I got changed!!!! I am now ZL in the Zona Sur!!! The Zona Sur is the whole part of Costa Rica that is touching Panama. I am in an area called Ciudad Neily, and I love it here! I am writing to you so late becuase it is a 7 hour bus ride from San Jose to the Zona Sur. I will send you pictures next week, but we are in the middle of the jungle. 

The branch here has an attendance of 25 people, and really all the wards down her are developing. The gospel is relatively new here, so I am stoked to see how the people react to our message! But I have always wanted to go to the Zona Sur. But the best part is... I am training also! So my companion (Elder Pace... he is a gringo!!!!) are going to train a new guy, but we won't meet him until Friday during our Leadership Counsel in San Jose. ( I am not looking forward to another 7 hour bus ride....)

But I really am so stoked to be down here. It has always been my dream to serve here, and I am really pleased to have this opportunity. I loved Ojo de Agua, and Zona Heredia, but the Lord needed me here in Ciudad Neily.

Well, I don't have much time, and sorry this letter is so short, but hopefully next week I can send pictures, and I will share a few more experiences! Love you all!

Pura Vida,

Elder Taylor