Sister Taylor Goes to Washington D.C. (South): August 24, 2015

Hello!

It feels like this has been a really busy week, but I can't think of that much to say. We stopped by to visit an investigator named Tammy last night. We haven't seen her for at least a month and weren't sure if she was still interested because she texted us and told us she wanted to return the Book of Mormon we "let her borrow." When we stopped by, she was outside and was very happy to see us. She let us in and we sat and talked for at least an hour. We had a great conversation about family history. We told her about the family history center at the church building and she got really excited and said she would love to visit it. This week I've been thinking a lot about family history. I've been looking on family search and reading some of the stories of my ancestors there (as well as the grizzly bear story mom sent me). It's been really amazing. I definitely have a heritage to be proud of.

On Tuesday we went to help a family who is moving soon. Sister Green called us last week and frantically told us she needed somebody to help her. They are having movers come in a few days, but she wanted it to be somewhat organized when they came. She has some struggles with anxiety and didn't know where to start, so she took some advice from Elder Nelson and 'asked the missionaries!' Brother Green, who has already moved out to Idaho to start his job, is the proud owner of the biggest collection of arcade games in the Eastern United States. There were at least 25 arcade games in the basement where we were helping Sister Green, and she told us there were about 20 more in a storage unit somewhere. No wonder she was overwhelmed! While we were there we mostly just filled boxes with...stuff. Computer parts, tools, wires, game consoles, arcade signs, etc., etc. Sister Green clearly had very little idea of what any of it was either. Her adult son was there helping as well. He plugged his iPod into the stereo system and we packed to the sound of Legend of Zelda music. Toooooo much video game stuff. I was very glad to help Sister Green--she is super sweet--but I felt a lot of relief when we left their house.

On Wednesday morning we had zone conference. It was at 8 o'clock back in Manassas. On our way there we got stuck in some terrible traffic. Warrenton doesn't really have traffic, so it was surprising to me. However, there was traffic (we later found out there was a car accident that caused it) and we moved only 2 miles in the space of 30 minutes. We ended up being 45 minutes late to zone conference. It was awkward. Other than that the conference was great. I felt like everything that was said at zone conference was exactly what I needed to hear.

On Wednesday evening we had a lesson with our investigator Paul. We invited Brother Morrison from the bishopric to join us. We hoped it would be good for him to be there--usually it's great for members to be at lessons. In fact, we had talked about having members at lessons during zone conference. However, it didn't work quite as well as we had hoped. Brother Morrison, bless his heart, got WAY too excited and gave Paul WAY too much information for just our second meeting with him. Paul seemed very overwhelmed. We were trying to teach the plan of salvation (it was only our second meeting with him) but Paul ended up learning about excommunication, the Pearl of Great Price, the Church's stance on gay marriage, home and visiting teaching, the Ensign, and the Articles of Faith. All things that he should learn eventually, but not all at once at the very beginning. We learned an important lesson--always let the member know that we need to be brief, basic, and on topic. Also, it's important to lovingly remind them that we are the teachers, and they are the support. It wasn't all bad. At the end we bore our testimonies and the Spirit was very strong. Sister Alcántara invited Paul to be baptized. He said he probably would, but couldn't guarantee it yet. He wants to know for himself that what we are teaching him is true, which is exactly what we wanted to hear.

Speaking of Sister Alcántara, she is amazing. She's been here in the States for a month now, but you would think it was longer because of how good her English is. She spoke English less than u speak Spanish before her mission. She only spent TWO WEEKS The MTC. She is doing SO well. The gift of tongues is real! It is so cool to watch her improve every single day. She is so humble and willing to ask questions and be corrected. She's good enough at English that when I'm helping her I can be nitpicky. Yesterday we spent a good 30 minutes while driving discussing the grammatical construction of asking questions. She catches on so fast!

The work here is going very well. We have seven investigators and five are progressing investigators. It is amazing to see how the Lord truly puts prepared people in our paths. I'm so grateful that we have been seeing this kind of success while Sister Alcántara is being trained. I remember the miracles we saw with the Giordanos when I was being trained, and how it helped me be to more zealous for the work. Hopefully we will start seeing baptisms in this area!

Speaking of baptisms, Connie, who just got baptized last month, could really use some prayers. She gave up smoking before she was baptized, but has since slipped back into her old addiction. We have been helping her as well as we know how as we continue to teach her, but she needs all the support she can get!

That's about all I have for this week. I love you all! The Church is true! Living the gospel brings more happiness than anything else ever could. I know this is true. I know my Savior lives. I know he loves us. He died for each of us so that we can return live again with him and with our Father in Heaven and with our families. I love to be a missionary. Every day is so wonderful. It is such a blessing. It can be hard, but it's always worth it.

Sister Taylor

Pictures!

1. We saw a family of deer! Its hard to tell, but there is a mom, a dad, and a baby deer.