July 20, 2015 Pictures #3

19-20. I actually made noise come out of these. 

21-22. We're just goofy :)

23.We had exchanges this week. This is Sister Savage!

24. We found this wizard in someone's yard. How could I resist taking a picture with him?

25. LHS? In Virginia? (Its actually Liberty High School, not Lehi, but...)

SO! Lots and lots of pictures! In other news this week, Brother Price was taken to the ER on Thursday to get his gallbladder removed. The elders were visiting them when it happened. He was in a ton of pain, so one of the elders made them call an ambulance. They then called us, and both sets of missionaries followed the ambulance to the hospital and sat with Sister Price while she waited to find out what would happen. She said she looked out the back window of the ambulance and saw the two missionary cars following behind and knew it would all be okay. Brother Price had a successful surgery and came home from the hospital yesterday. Sister Wright and I and the elders have been tag-teaming to help out and provide support for them for the past few days. I'm sorry for Brother Price, but I'm grateful we've had the opportunity to help the Prices feel some peace in the past few days. I love being a missionary! I love all the people I've gotten to know, both members and non-members, and I love that Heavenly Father allows me to be in a position to help them. It is so wonderful to serve!

Anyway, I love you all! The Church is true!!!  

July 20, 2015 Pictures #2

7. We were out tracting and found some wild blackberry bushes. 

 8. So we ate some! 

 9. We found a creepy semi-truck graveyard in someone's yard. One of them said, "Delivering your future." How could we resist?

10. We went to antique stores last Monday. This was just too cute not to take a picture of.

Antique Hats!

July 20, 2015 Pictures #1

So I'm super behind in sending pictures, so that will be the bulk of this email. Actually, it will probably be several emails because they won't fit in just one email. I think looking at pictures is usually more fun than reading a long email anyway, so....hopefully you agree!

1. This is Maggie. She is a great dane that belongs to a member family. Kelsey is the girl in the background. She is a member about our age and loves the sister missionaries. She comes to the church building on Tuesdays after district meetings so she can chat with us while we eat lunch and sometimes goes shopping with us on p-days. She likes coming on splits with us, too. And yes, Maggie is sitting on Sister Wright. She thinks she's a lap dog....

2.This is Mr. Tree. He is a giant paper mâché tree in the library.

3. This is Ernie, the library cat. He hangs out in the back room or wanders around in the library. He has thumbs!

4. SO MANY weird bugs in Warrenton! 

5. We had a few extra minutes before our appointment, so we had an impromptu corn field picture-session. So fun!!! 

6. Me in the corn!

July 13, 2015

Everyday is an adventure in Warrenton. Its a weird place sometimes. For example, Friday night. 

First, we got a text a few minute before 5 from a member asking if we were coming to dinner that night. We didn't know we had a dinner appointment. The woman in the ward in charge of our meal calendar forgot to tell us! Luckily the Outzens (who had texted us for dinner) only lived a few minutes away, so we ran over there. 

As we were talking, Sister Outzen started asking me questions about myself, since I'm still pretty new to the area. I somehow ended up telling her about where my parents are from. She told me that she had gone to American Fork high school, so we did some math and discovered she was there the same time Mom was. She asked me mom's maiden name, and I told her it was Lapray. She thought for a second and then yelled, "NANCY!" She knows Mom! So cool! She said, "Nancy is one of my very favorite people! I knew you reminded me of someone! And I thought I remembered hearing that she married a Taylor." It was great. When we finished dinner and we were about to leave, she gave me a hug and said, "It was so great to have you over. It was like having Nancy in my house again." Small world, right? :) :) 

After dinner we went to find someone who had been taught by missionaries before, but that they had somehow lost contact with. As we drove up the long driveway, we started to see lots and lots of creepy-looking "No Trespassing" signs. We went anyway. There were lots of old broken down cars and semi trucks sitting around in the grass by this house, and we made sure to position the car so that we could make a speedy getaway if needed when we parked. We walked up to the house through the long grass (no one seems to have walkways to their houses out here. Its just grass) and knocked on the door. After knocking a few times, someone finally came to the door. It was a lady with rainbow yarn braided into her hair and lots of piercings all over her face. I know that sounds kinda weird, but she was so colorful and harmless looking. She definitely didn't match the rest of the property. It was kinda funny. Sadly, she told us the person we were looking for had moved. 

As we were leaving, we stopped by one of the semi trucks and took some pictures. The truck said, "Delivering Your Future." How could we resist?

To preface the next part of this story, I have to explain (or attempt to explain) how many bugs there are here. SO MANY. EVERYWHERE. ALL THE TIME. I have never seen so much wildlife in my life until I came to Warrenton. There are lots of plats and lots of animals and lots and lots and lots and lots of bugs. If we open our car door or window, a dozen fly in. So, after we finished taking pictures and drove away, we discovered some bugs knocking around the dashboard. Sister Wright saw them before I did, and attempted to kill them WHILE DRIVING. I made her stop, and I tried to kill them instead. It wasn't working. I had to reach all the way across her and the steering wheel to do it, which isn't much safer than her trying to kill bugs and drive. I made her pull over so we could kill the bugs or shoo them back outside. We survived. 

As we continued down the road, we had yet another wildlife experience. There is a very large squirrel population out here, and they aren't very smart. One in particular darted out in front of our car. We still aren't sure what happened to it. It wasn't smooshed on the road behind us. It wasn't smeared all over our tires. It might be in the engine somewhere. (Apparently that's a fairly common occurrence out here). If the car starts smelling weird, we'll know what happened. 

And then, almost to our destination, we got stuck behind 6 or so emergency vehicles with flashing lights blocking the road. Nothing appeared to be going on. There were no other vehicles or dead bodies or anything. Just flashing lights and a blocked road. We had to turn around and go the very very long way. 

So. That is just an example of one day. Other days I have been pooped on by a 160 year old tortoise, killed wolf spiders and centipedes in our apartment, got a package (THANK YOU!!) and discovered that I may have had a sip of spiked lemonade.  

Okay. The lemonade story needs to be told. There is a woman in the ward, Sister Norris, who has MS and is unable to walk anymore. She is the sweetest lady ever and is so faithful despite all of her trials. Her caretakers are family members who are using her as a way to get money. She is very easily persuaded, so they have continually been convincing her to not find new people, but now the relief society first and second counselors (who happen to be social workers) are helping her out. Anyway, her family members smoke and drink and leave it around her house. It always smells kinda smokey when we come, and we have found several bottles of liquor (including a bottle of vodka hidden in a hospital sock). One day while we were over there, she told us we could get some lemonade for ourselves out of the fridge that her cousin had made. I was super thirsty, so I poured myself a cup and took a sip. It burned. Not like it was super sour, but like it was burning. I coughed and sputtered and thought I was going to die. It was disgusting. Last week it dawned on me, when we again discovered booze in that house, that it was probably spiked lemonade. So.Yeah.

On a more spiritual note, we found two new investigators this week! One is a woman named Tammi. who lives near us who grew up Methodist and then switched to Baptist when she got older. Sisters had found her before, but we hadn't really been able to get in contact with her. But this week when we knocked on the door, she answered it with a huge smile and let us in. We talked and she asked questions for an hour and a half! She said she wasn't going to change what she believed, but asked us us to come back and teach her more. We're so excited!

The other new investigator, named Cindy, has a similar situation. Sisters found her in the past, but hadn't been able to contact her. We finally did, and she let us in and we talked for about 45 minutes. Her son is atheist, but the sisters who originally found them had talked to him for 2 hours and she had been very very impressed with that. Apparently it was a great conversation that really made him think. Because of that, Cindy wanted to know more. She said she isn't really interested in converting, but she is just curious. (Really, though, that's what they all say.) We are excited to teach her too!  

Anyway, I love it here. Its really an adventure every single day. Sister Wright is an awesome companion and I love serving here with her. The Church is true. Thomas S. Monson is the prophet. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and I am so grateful for it. I love you all!!

Sister Taylor

July 6, 2015

Hello! Happy 4th of July (two days late)! 

I hope you all had a great Independence Day on Saturday. You would think mine would be exciting, because of where I am, but....you all probably did more exciting things than I did. We saw some really cool fireworks from a distance, but that was about it as far as regular 4th of July festivities go. It was still a great night, though. We didn't do any proselyting, because most people were celebrating, but instead we spent some time with a few people in the ward. One was a woman I may have already mentioned before named Sister Norris. She has MS and is confined to either her bed or a wheelchair if someone lifts her into it. We spent a few hours with her, including dinner. We taught a short lesson and talked about her Book of Mormon reading, but mostly we were just company. She doesn't have too many people who come to visit her, so she loves having us there. After that, we went to the home of a less active member named Shana. She has two sons, one who is an adult and has moved out, and another who just graduated from high school and was out with his friends. She loves to have us over to chat and keep her company, since she is all alone when her sons are gone. We spent the remainder of the evening with Brother and Sister Price. They are still a tad eccentric, but they are so good to us. They feed us while we are there and give us food to take home and just make us feel at home overall. If only Brother Price would come to church!

This week on Thursday we met the new mission president and his family. Its going to be an interesting transition going from President Riggs to him. President Riggs was so great and we all grew to love him and his wife and family so much. He taught me a ton. However, I am excited to get to know President Huntsman and to see what kinds of things he will do differently. I'm looking forward to all the things I will learn under his direction. His wife, Sister Huntsman, is absolutely adorable. She is obviously thrilled to be here, and gave me a huge hug when I walked up to her to say hello. 

We had a rather funny experience last night. We came up to two people on the street and said hi, but before we could say anything else, one of them said, "I already love Jesus!" So we gave her a Because He Lives card and said, "Great! Then you'll love this! There's a link on the back for a video about Him!" She thanked us and ran inside her building. The other person stayed outside for a few minutes and talked to us (and finished his cigarette). He said something about Mormons and "those potatoes I've heard so much about." We were so confused. I've heard some weird things about what people think about Mormons out here, like that we have super powers and worship our ancestors, but I've never heard anything about potatoes, so we asked him what in the world he was talking about. 

"You know, those cheesy potato things?"

It turns out he was talking about funeral potatoes. Apparently, that's a Mormon thing. I'm pretty sure casseroles in general are a Mormon thing, or at least a Utah thing. People in the South have their fried chicken and Kool-aide, and we have our casseroles. 

Anyway, I hope you are all having a great week! The Church is true!!!

Pictures: 

1-4 Warrenton is so pretty! 

5- Sister Wright 

6- Happy 4th of July!

7- ....the licence plate...

June 29, 2015

So! Transfers happened! I didn't go very far, and I'm still in the same stake, but I am now in the Warrenton area. It is SO DIFFERENT from Manassas. Manassas was full of suburbs. Lots and lots of townhouses or regular houses that were really close together. Some super big houses out in the woods, where the rich people lived, but mostly everyone was packed in tight. Here, I'm out in the "country." Cows and ducks and chickens and big corn fields.  Most of the houses are far away from their neighbors and there are only a few suburban-type neighborhoods. People keep to themselves a lot more here. Even the ward members. They don't seem very driven to meet new people. Its actually kinda irritating. Sister Wright (my new companion) tells me that most of the areas she has served in have been like that. I guess Manassas was just extra awesome in its level of friendliness. BUT! I'm still really excited to be here and have new experiences. 

My last week in Manassas was really great. Sister Morris finished the Book of Mormon with us, which was a HUGE accomplishment for her. We read the last verse, and we all looked up and each other and she had this big smile on her face. It was so neat. The day before I left, she said, "I'm really going to miss you, Sister Taylor. You two are such a powerful team. I've loved all the sisters who have come, but I think I'm going to miss you the most." I just love her! I had to say goodbye to the Giordanos, too and that was super sad. They were sad that both Sister Christiansen and I were both going to be gone, but I promised to write them still. They are such an amazing family! Lots of people in the ward said they were sad to see me go, and I was sad to leave them. I really loved it there. Its definitely someplace I want to go back to someday. 

I don't have a whole lot to report on yet by way of Warrenton. I met a woman in the ward who is bed-ridden and has MS named Sister Norris. We go by one or two times a week to teach her. She got baptized when she was still able to walk, and she needs some reminding of the doctrine, but mostly she just needs love. We have been encouraging her to read the Book of Mormon daily on her own. She is such a sweet lady, and I'm excited to get to know her better. 

The Price's are another family in the ward, and they are a hoot. They are an older couple and they are very eccentric. They love the missionaries and they are the friendliest people alive, but Brother Price (who introduced himself as a ward missionary) is less active, and Sister Price is a returning member. I'm sure I'll have exciting stories to tell about them as time goes by. 

Connie is our progressing investigator. We taught her about temples and family history work on Friday, and she LOVED it. She said it answered a lot of questions she has always had and helped her feel more at peace. She should be getting baptized on July 27. That is her mother's birthday, which is why she picked it. 

Other than that, we've mostly just knocked on some doors and gone to church so far. I've met a handful of ward members, and like I said earlier, they come across as sorta standoffish. I tend to have to be the one to initiate conversations if I want to get to know someone, but once I do, they seem nice. Hopefully I get more warmed up to the ward before too long. The bishop is great and listens carefully to everything we say to him. We live in the ward mission leader's family's basement, and they are SUPER sweet. They are the Anguiano's. They have a little boy who is 18 months old, a boy who is 9 and a girl who is 11. Sister Anguiano is pregnant, and we found out this morning its a girl! 

Anyway, I love you all. Have a great week! 

Sister Taylor

June 26, 2015

Hello!!!! Sorry I didn't email on Monday. We went to DC and ran out of
time. I did try to send some really quick emails, but found out later
they never actually sent.

But! The reason I am emailing on a not-Monday is because I got
transferred and this is standard procedure for transfers- to email
your parents and tell them your new address. So, I am no longer in
Manassas (which is really sad, because I loved it there) and I'm now
in Warrenton which is great because I'm excited to do new things and
meet new people). We're living in the ward mission leader's basement
and it's even nicer than my last apartment! Smaller kitchen, though.
And SUPER freezing. But still super duper nice. My new companion's
name is Sister Wright and this is her very last transfer! She's great
and I've already learned a ton from her. I'm excited to be here!


Love,
Sister Taylor

June 16, 2015

It's really hot here. Well, not really hot. Just normal hot. But it is really humid. I've given up on my hair. It is doomed to be a frizzy mess all summer. Oh well. :)

I feel like I have very little to report this week for some reason. We just did missionary work. Knocked on some doors. Visited some less actives. Talked to lots of random strangers. We did have one lady this week tell us very politely that she "truly believes from her heart that the Mormon church is a cult." 

We did blitzes this week on Saturday. The missionaries in our district came to our area, we picked a neighborhood, and they helped us tract it. We had spent the whole week before that trying to figure out where to go for the blitzes. Manassas is a very diverse area. There are gigantic houses where the high income families live, tiny apartments where the truly poverty stricken live, and everything in between. There are people whose families have lived in Virginia since colonial days, people from all over the country who came for work, and lots of immigrants from El Salvador, Brazil, Ghana, Togo, India, Russia, Bolivia, Germany, China, Japan, Korea, etc., etc. The trick for blitzes was to find an area with enough English-speakers for 4 sets of missionaries to find and talk to. We decided on an area to tract about an hour before the blitz actually happened. A substantial amount of Manassas is on the lower end of the economic spectrum, so there are lots of "ghetto" areas, which we spend a fair amount of time in, because there tend to be lots of receptive people there, and this was one of those areas. When the other missionaries arrived for blitzes, they got out of their cars, looked around, and asked us if we could have possibly picked a sketchier area for blitzes. (The answer was yes, absolutely. Welcome to Manassas.) We had a great time tracting there and met some great people. I absolutely LOVE Manassas. :) 

I got a package this week from the Relief Society at home (THANK YOU!!!). It had candy and a cute note and inflatable fish. (like beach balls) Sister Davis blew them up and we have been having fish fights every day. I often lose, because my arm is pathetic and I can't throw worth two cents. But it seems like every time I come around the corner into the kitchen, she nails me with a fish. Its pretty entertaining.

We made muffins this week. We wanted to bring them to our investigator, so we pulled out our bag of blueberry muffin mix and added water and an egg and whatever, and then put it into the oven. 5 minutes later, the apartment started to smell like gasoline. We quickly discovered that the flame in the oven had gone out, and we were probably slowly asphyxiating. We turned off the oven and opened up all the windows and the balcony door to air out the apartment and texted the elders who live in our same apartment complex to ask if we could use their oven to finish the muffins. We brought the half-baked muffins to their apartment and stood outside their door in the million-degree heat/humidity while they tried to finish the muffins. It didn't work. We had them try to save the poor things by putting brown sugar on top, but Elder Wagner misunderstood us when we said, "put brown sugar on top." Instead of sprinkling a little bit on the top, he slathered on a ton over the top almost as if he was frosting them. We brought the ugly little muffins back to our apartment to decide if we should still deliver them. Sister Davis brought them up to her nose and inhaled deeply. "They smell like gas!!!" I took a bite of one. "They taste like gas!!!!" We threw them away. 

Anyway, I hope you all have a great week. I love you all and I love the gospel. I know absolutely without a doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the one and only true church. It is Christ's church. He is at the head and He and Heavenly Father love each of us individually and perfectly. 

Sister Taylor

Pictures!!!

1-3: Raphaella discovered photobooth on my ipad. 

4. Patricia gave me the recipe for the dinner she fed us....in Portuguese 

5. Gasoline Muffins

6-8: We found a turtle!

9-11: Sister Davis likes to take pictures while I driving. So I make faces too. 

12: We're sending these pictures to President Riggs before he goes home.