#38 Chain Affect

  well, where should i start.. so this week we were able to find quite a few new investigators! one of them is a family of 5; the mom, shirley, is a less active from more then 15 years back, with her husband, mauricio, and their 3 kids, jordan, sharik, and jeremias. they are an awesome family. we found them this week and taught them a few times and commited them to come to church, and the whole family came this sunday! so that was way aesome! 

  also, this week we did a family home evening and my comp and i made tacos (okay more my comp then me, but i was good moral support!) and they were awesome! it was a super fun family home evening, and we taught about the plan of salvation, and it was a super good lesson.

  also, this saturday was the babtism of Viviana´s daughter! Danae. so that was super cool to see and be there for that, that the daughter of our convert now is babtized too! cazy how it works, starting with her husband that got babtized in new jersey, to her investigating and getting babtized, to her brother getting babtized, and now her daughter! its awesome!

  well, i dont know what more to say this week, just that i love you all, and that i know the church is true. i know that no matter what trials or challenges or whatever you are going through, that the ggospel is the answer, the gospel is the way to happiness and peace. well i love you all and hope you have a great week!

love,

Élder Taylor

#37 La Chocalatera

So, last monday we went to the chocalatera... which to my surprise and dismay actually doesnt sell chocolate! how disleading. haha but no the chocolatera is the piont most west of all of ecuador, and like most of South America i think. its pretty cool. we didnt have a lot of time though so we couldnt see all of it, so we are going to ave to go back. but it was still fun.

  Also, this week we were with the familia Sosa, the family that we babtised the grandpa Silvio last week, and well first  off they are just so aesome. i love that familia so much! theyre the bomb. but so we were with them and the dad Henry said that his neigboor there were some less active members and also some investigators that had heard the misionaries before but nothinghappened. but we were like well could you come with us and introduce us to them. and he was like of course! so we went over and they let us in and we taught them and it was a super good lesson, and they all commited to coming to church! and this sunday, Magdalena the mom, Damaris, Marisol, Sussana, and Ismael all came to church!! Sussana and ismael are less acvtives, but the rest are investigators. and they are aesome! they all said they really like church, and tomorrow we have a family home evening with them and the Sosa´s, which is going to be awesome. we´re going to make Tacos! jaja but they are awesome and we are super excited to be working with them!

  we´ve also been able to get a few other referals this week which is awesome, because we have had a super hard time getting any refereals. but when you ut your mind and might to it and trust in the Lord anything is possible! and i know that refereals is one of the best way to get new investigators that will progress! well besides that everything is going well here in Libertad. hope you all are doing great!

love,

Élder Taylor

#36 Bautismos

  alright, so the highlight of this week was the weekend. this saturday, we had the babtisms of Gina Rodriguez and Silvio Sosa! i love these people so much! it was such a happy day!! its just one of those feelings you cant describe but just makes you smile super big. i wasable to babtize gina, and it was such a great experience to be the one to affect the ordinance for her. and silvios son babtized him. and that was so special to see the love in the family as everyone was there to support their grandpa, and especially the son was able to babtize his own father, after waiting soo many years for this day. it was really special. now Silvio has the goal to go to the temple, and in a year be sealed to his wife for all of the eternities. thet day will also be so special!

  the other highlight obviusly was yesterday, when i got to talk with the family. i dont think theyres words to express how much i love my family. it was especially special to also be able to talk with my sister whos in New Jersey on her mission. i love my family so much and miss them, but its this very thought annd feelings that helps me be motivated to help families have this same love and unity. ive seen so many families thatsadly just dont have this love or just arent close as a family, and i know that if the just had the gospel how much difference it would make in their lives. also i encourage you everyone to always be looking for missionary oportunities. there are so many people in this world just waiting to hear the gospel, and you could be the one to bring it to them. well i love you all sooomuch and hope everyone had a great motheres day and that you all have a great week.

love,

Elder Taylor

#35 Vaccinations

  well first off, sorry for not writing anything last week. i had to go to guayaquil monday for a leadership council and spent the whole day there, and didnt have anytime during the week. and now i dont even know where to start.

  well this past week all the missionaries here had to go to the ospital and get vacinations. so that was NOT fun. i dont like needles. or shots. and especialy when they are a suprise. but it turned out all good and i didnt die or faint. 

  also cool story, on my way back from guayaquil, which is a 2 hour trip n bus, i sat next to this guy, named elias, and we started talking. and well basically he told me his whole life story. but its a very interesting story so i didnt mind. but to make a long story short, there is this frute called pitajiya, that supposedly is super healthy and good for the body and the use it on asia. and this lady from ecuador went to asia and found this plant and liked it and smuggled it into ecuador. and started growing it. and then this guy elias saw the plant and liked it even more and baught it from the lady and started growing it and now has plantations and is the main guy in all of ecuador for this frute and is doing contracts to export it all over the world. so it was really interesting hearing all about that. and i also got to teach him a shortened version on the restoration, so hopefully one day that will cause him to have more interest in the church. 

   also, one of our investigators, named Silvio, who was going to get babtized on the 23rd of this month, the other day told us that it would be better to do it sooner, and so now he is getting babtized this saturday!! he already had all the lessons,so it wasnt a problem, and he had his interview yesterday and is all set for saturday! love that guy.

   also Gina had her babtismal interview yesterday also, and so she is all good for her babtism this saturday! so this week we will be having 2 babtisms! so we are super excied about that! 

   we also have been working still with dayanara and her mom, and her mom said she prayed and now knows that joseph smith was a prophet!! she is super awesome. and so we put a babtism date for them both for the 30th of may. the mom still has some challenges, but we are working them out and are really working towards here babtism for the 30th! we have also found some really good new investigators taht we are excite to be working with.

   well, i think that all for this week. i hope you are all doing super well and have a great week!!!

love,

Élder Taylor