April 29, 2013

The weather in Chile right now is starting to get a little chilly (haha chile). Enserio, it is dry cold here so it isn’t as bad as when Texas gets this cold. Houses don’t have insulation or heating so it is going to be a cold winter, but who doesn’t love a little bit of difficulty!!! Cool little anecdote from this week. One of the other hermanas suffers from migraines and this past week has been so bad they have had to stay in almost every day. One night my companion was sick too, so I was just reading in the bible. I read in Mark 11ish (I do not recall exactly) that talked about prayer. Prayer is SOOO powerful!!! Basically, if we have the faith (and it is the will of God) we can literally move mountains! I got the impression that Hermana Alvarez and I needed to pray for her companion, Hermana Achucarro. I shared the scripture with her and we prayed.  A little later her companion came out and I offered her panaway, and she used it without question because she was so desperate. 30 minutes later, she felt well enough to function. It was a testament to me on the power of prayer. The next day she was sick again, but at least she got a respite for a few hours. You are AMAZING mom and have taught me SOOO much!!! Thank you for those lessons because OH MAN have I needed them here.

So I am doing FANTASTIC! It is hard here in Chile as with every missionary, but it is GREAT!!! My companion was sick for a couple days this week, so had a lot of time to study, and I learned a lot!! I have been waiting for 3 full days to tell the family what I learned!!!!! So recall back a few weeks ago about Moses 1 verse 39 and about how in order to become as God we have to turn ourselves outward. Well, the next part of my learning came as I read the parable of the prodigal son. I guess I always felt a little perplexed because I thought the good son was justified. This time I read it through wiser eyes. The other son only thought about himself and how he DESERVED praise or some kind of reward. But this is not what we are meant to become. When we mature and think about others, we act as the Father and only
 rejoice in the fact that the lost son came home. We don't care about ourselves, but about others. The other son was turned inward. I hope that kind of makes sense. At this point, I felt like I was sitting at the feet of the Savior and he was just teaching me. It is an experience I can’t really explain, but it so precious! I am amazed at how the Lord has taught me so much in the last two months! I can’t wait for the next 16!

Cool language story. So yesterday I went out with one of the other Hermanas to visit some people in her sector. Amazingly, I understood a lot. I even interjected with a few scriptures. The last visit was with an inactive man named Pio. I did not know hardly anything about him, but the Spirit was so strong!!! I was amazingly able to share experiences (in broken spanish) I had had in my life and testify strongly. He actually paid really close attention. I understood the jist of what he had to say. I was feelin pretty proud
I guess after that night that maybe my spanish was coming along. But sure enough the Lord told me not to be proud and I couldn't even understand my companion hardly as we were walking home haha.

The only way to find true happiness in this life is to lose ourselves in the work of the Lord, which is serving others as the Lord would serve. Oh, one other cool thing is that the Lord loves his missionaries!!! I had not realized how much before, but He loves us a lot!!! We are here to learn and also to preach. Right now, the Lord told me he needs me to learn a lot. TE A=MO Y=C1LL!!! Focus on the Lord, and all other things will fall in to place. I KNOW it!

Life is tough here, but because it is I am learning SOO MUCH!!! Somewhere in PMG it says that the most important language to learn is the language of revelation. Well, I am learning that language. I have never felt so close to my Savior. The few times I get to share my testimony about the Savior, my heart flutters. I LOVE SHARING THE GOSPEL!!!!

Love
Hermana Taylor

April 22, 2013 - pictures pictures pictures, 2 weeks in Chile now

Last MTC district pic

Leaving the MTC

Leaving the MTC

On the bus to the airport

the plane to Chile, really tired

View from plane

Chile plane view

Arriving in Chile

Journey from the airport

Meeting my trainer

 



So customs here in Santiago. Hmmm, in all honesty I just feel almost like i am in the United States, but speaking Spanish. One thing that is different is every house here has a gate surrounding it. So you stand at the gate and yell, Aloh, and then wait for someone to come out. People here greet by touching cheeks and making a kissing noise while also doing a kind of hug. The men we just shake hands. Everyone here drinks soda, juice, or something besides water because water is a little gross here. Also, they offer us drinks (alcohol free of course) all the time. The members here are super friendly and we have Lunch with them almost every single day. They have even brought it to us when my companion has been sick. They dish up the plates in the kitchen and then bring them out to the table. They have some sort of salad ALWAYS. Mayonaise comes in bags, also ketchup. I don´t know much about the food here because we are fed chicken and rice almost every meal because I can´t have bread. They have little stores all over, like neighborhood corner stores that have super random stuff and some food. It is really great when you are working and you are really hungry. Sometimes we have once or dinner with investigadores if we are there at 7 or 8 and they offer.

So, since there are so many hermanas serving now, we have sister trainer leaders (or something like that) which are like zone leaders and do splits with us. My sister trainer leader is in a trio because she is training two gringas (one is my companion in the MTC, Hermana Jackson). So she came to my sector and I went to hers on Tuesday. So we had 3 gringas who had been in the country for 3 weeks, who cannot understand chileno spanish or speak it, preaching the Gospel together. To make it even funnier, We were like a dumb blonde joke. We had a brunette, blonde, and a redhead haha! It was really fun, and the Lord helped us out and it was a successful day. At one point Hermana Hallenberger and I got splash by a car ramming a puddle, and then 5 seconds later another car did the same thing! We were spotted on our backsides for a while haha.

Spiritual thought or experience for this week. This week was super hard, and at the worst points I turned to the scriptures and knew the Lord would answer my plea for direction. The past two days that has happened and the words spoke straight to my soul. I know that Heavenly Father wants to speak to us, and when we have faith and turn to the scriptures, HE DOES!!!! He has been there for me always, just sometimes I have not been looking for him. I have never realized how much patience He has for us, because in all honesty we can be pretty dumb. Even though we don´t listen, He keeps trying to teach us and does teach us!!! He has a plan for each of us, and we don´t know what that plan is. My vision right now is so limited and small, but his is so large and sees our potential!!! I started reading Jesus The Christ this past week, and one part struck me more thean the others. I don´t have the exact words, but the jist was that Heavenly Father knows our futures because He knows us. He knows our faults, tendencies, weakness, strengths, EVERYTHING!!!! I know that when we trust in Him, our lives are better than we could ever imagine. Sometimes we pass through hard times, but we agreed to those hard times. 1 Peter 1 verse 7 has always helped me in hard times, and I have come to treasure those times of intense trial.

Te amo!!!!

Hermana Taylor

By the way, become friends with Hermana Wright on facebook for all info you need. It is where you can find all information. Talk to you next week!

April 15, 2013 - In Chile!

Well I AM FINALLY HERE!!!!! Chile is FANTASTICO, but in all honesty I do not think it is that much different than home. Here you kiss (on the cheek) when you greet, but I feel like people are pretty similar. They don´t refrigerate eggs here which is super weird (I refrigerate them when I get home), and sharing spit isn´t considered gross. People use their own utensil to dish out from the main food dish and it isn´t weird at all. That is going to take me a while to get over. Oh and their big meal is lunch, so around 2 we have lunch with the miembros. Sometimes we get invited in for once, which is kind of like a small dinner in the evening around 8ish but mainly only lunch. AND OH BOY IS THE FOOD HERE GOOD!!!!! Even though I can´t eat bread and a few other things, I can eat most things. The produce here is amazing, and I even like tomatoes here!!! That alone is enough to prove that the Lord is watching out for me because they have tomatoes all the time!

Anyway, I will now commence the story of my arrival. Our bus from the MTC to the airport was really late so they were trying their best to get 30 missionaries on a plane that was leaving in less than an hour to another country, but there were problems. Everyone eventually got on (I think we made the whole plane late), but baggage was crazy. One of my mtc companions, Hna Adams, got to Chile with only her purse. They had made her check her carry on and none of her suitcases or bags were there when we arrived. I think she went 3 days before she got anything. There were other missionaries with the same problem, but I was blessed with all of my bags! We spent all night on the airplane and landed in the morning in Santiago. Only about 16 missionaries from our group were going to our mission (or maybe a few less) so we split up. The line to get into the country was not too bad at all. I think I waited an hour or two max. After customs, we met our mission president and wife, President and hermana Wright, and they are super nice! We definitely didn´t look too great after 24 hours of traveling and basically no sleep, but we were all soo excited!! we went right away to the church and met our new companions. My companion is Hna Stegagnini from Italy. She knows NO english at all, so communication is very difficult. It is forcing me to pick up español that much faster though, and I am super grateful for that!!! In our apartment is another companionship, Hna Alvarez from Peru and Hna Achucarro from Paraguay, but I am the only one who speaks English. I can normally get my point across, but I have a super hard time understanding people when they talk. It is amazing how much I have learned and improved though in just one week! Our apartment is pretty nice and even has a washing machine in it. In Church yesterday, I got to get up and bear my testimonio. I don´t speak too much, but I know how to share my simple testimony and I LOVE TO SHARE IT!!! The ward miembros came up afterwards and said they could understand my testimonio, so I guess that means the gift of tongues is real! 

The Lord is teaching me a lot here, and it is not easy. I am super grateful for every moment though!!! I am learning how important it is to be united with your companion. Sometimes we have different ideas about things and it makes it difficult, and I am still learning how to work with her. My companion is super nice and watches out for me. Celiac disease is not common here at all, but apparently a year or two ago another Hermana had the same problem so some people understand. My companion always explains my problem and makes sure the ward members understand when we go and eat. I think she is getting frustrated because of the lack of communication, but she is very patient and I am teaching her a little English too. I am learning more and more that the Lord is the only way this work can be done. THE ONLY WAY! The only reason I can communicate when I need to is because the Lord is blessing me and needs His work done and the world to know the Gospel! I am learning patience with myself and others. I also am learning how ESSENTIAL ward members are in this work. Missionaries can only truly do so much, and the ward members are the ones with the true power.

Two cool things really quick. One is that our ward is having a traveling visitors center come next month AND I AM SO EXCITED!!! I believe this can and will cause miracles here. We are very privileged to have this opportunity. Second is that officially in our mission we have sister trainer leaders (or something close to that name) which are kind of like zone leaders for the Hermanas. We have 6 in our mission and will get to go on splits with them. In the meeting for the sisters when the President announced it, I had many questions and prayers answered. He read from D&C 138 (specifically verses 55 and 56 i think) and talked about how we had been prepared before we came to earth to preach the gospel RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT IN THIS PLACE!!! I know this is true, I needed to hear this then because I was having a hard time that day. I know I am here for a specific purpose even though I may not know exactly what it is quite yet. The gospel is true, and Christ has showed us the way!!! Keep the faith ALWAYS and do the little things because the little things are actually really big things and important (reading scriptures, praying, etc.) I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

con amor,

hermana taylor

p.s. sorry if anyone emailed me this week because I did not receive it.

April 3, 2013 (5 days until Chile!) plus pictures!

My birthday in the CCM was absolutely FANTASTIC!!! It was the best birthday ever simply because I am doing the best thing ever!!!! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! There is nothing else that could bring me this much happiness at this time! Thursday was also fantastic because I received a package from Aunt Nancy, Danielle, Cameron, (and another one from Springville but I assume that was Lindsey and Danielle??). It was super fun!!! I opened up a couple of the cards in the middle of the day because I knew I wouldn't have very much time that night and they made me laugh!!! One of the best surprises was from my district though. Our district leader picks up the mail after lunch and dinner, and we knew our travel plans were supposed to come that day and we were anxious. We didn't get them with the other mail and figured they were coming tomorrow. Right before class the elders said, "well we have one more surprise for your birthday," and pulled out our travel plans!!!!!!!!!!! It was so awesome!!! So I leave Monday, April 8th. My flight is at 1pm utah time, and I am meeting at the travel office at 10 am. I will be calling home at some point before my flight so be prepared. It is a 16 hour flight from SLC to Santiago. Oh hombre, oh man I am not quite sure what I am going to do to 16 straight hours, but OH BOY AM I EXCITED!!!!!!!!! Also, I got to give a tour of the MTC to our new district that night, which was way fun!!! Easter, or pascua, was so amazing here!!! My district did a musical number in our testimony meeting, and then right after we had a MTC wide sacrament. 3,000 people all taking the sacrament at the same time. What was even COOLER was that since I needed special bread, I simply held my piece of pan in my hand and held my hand out during the sacrament prayer. IT was pretty awesome!!!! The Spirit in general was super strong all day, and I felt so close to the Savior. Easter truly is the best day of the year, and the most important. I know that My Salvador lives, and I know that I owe him everything! Sometimes I just sit here amazed that Christ was willing to suffer for ALL of my sins, pains, weaknesses, and infirmites. I cannot grasp the love he has for me, and for everyone who ever lived!!!

Things sound super fun at home!!! Thank you mucho for the package!!! I will send some pics. I don't have a picture that is really good of just me. Maybe you can crop me out of some others? or wait a week or two and I will get a single pic. My favorite scripture is proverbs 3:5-6, but Alma 29:9 is right there with it now!!! Alma just perfectly describes my desire at this point in my life!!! "This is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy!" Oh, a cool aha moment I had during class was two days ago. We read Moses 1:39, and it read completely differently to me. The character of Christ is to always turn outward, and I am striving for that. But with that scripture, I realized that it is a permanent change. To become like God, we have to change our nature to always be for others. God's whole work and glory is US and nothing to do with him. WOW!!!! That just hit me so hard. I know that HE loves us and wants us to be happy. I know that my Redeemer lives!!!! Stay close and focused on the Lord, and the Lord will shape you into the person he needs you to become!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Taylor

My district being funny

My comp Hermana Jackson

Hermana Porter (in my zone) and
I after after she got news that
her friend is getting baptized!

Hermana Taylor!

Birthday Loot

Hermana Porter (fellow celiac) and I enjoying
gluten-free birthday comidas!

My district tri-birthday party.

Mi amigo Elder Johanson (he talks in
Portuguese, I talk in Spanish, and we
almost understand each other)

Mi companeras

Sister Cutler and I

Sister Johnson, me, Sister Cutler

Sister Auvi Evans and