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