Weekly Letter - Tuesday May 8, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

This week has been good, Hard but good :)   I am really trying to speak more spanish and i have been reading out of the spanish BOM or LDM every day out loud for an hour and it really helps

I have been on 4 exchanges so far and it is kind of ridiculous. We have been to Vancouver twice and that was fun!

Let me start of with 'The questions from mom!'

We went to the Temple today and it was amazing it is a really small temple but everything is just amazing I wish I could say more but i cant =)

Well plans do not ever stay the way they are supposed to and that is always really hard for me because i like when my plans stay the way that they are supposed to!  but they dont and that is alright.

This week I planted a garden =)  It was an unplanned service opportunity.  As it turned out it was really fun.  We were pulling weeds and planting flowers and yes sadly I was in a suit.  But that is alright because i did not get any dirt on it.

I hope Meghans Test are going very well!!! She is a smart Girl. Love you Megsie!!!

Justin is going for youth council huh?  That is pretty gool im glad that he is doing that that will be good for him =)

Christopher man i still cant believe school is out already !! that is crazy!!

Today is my 3 month aniversery =) Kinda crazy how fast time has been flying!!!

So for this Sunday I am going to be calling about 6 o'clock my time here so I believe if i am right that is 7 o'clock your time but you better check me on that.

The people that we are teaching hmmm ...... Well were to start:

I am not sure if I am allowed to put their Names or not - Ok so i just read the white hand book and it said it was ok.

So we teach Migel y Magaly and they are a really young family and they are super cool they are easy to understand we also teach two men that are here working their names are Juan Carlos and Alejandro and they are really cool as well they havent come to church but we are hoping that  they come this week. We are also teaching another family out in Port Coquitlam it started of as just the mom but she ended up making her husband come and sister and mom and now she is bringing friends and so she is doing work and we are not even having to ask for them. Then we just found a Lady named Nati and she is super awesome she works at a hospital she was a member referal and it seems to be going well.

The Members are really awesome and really supportive they make some interesting food but they have some really cool stories! at least i think.... sometimes they talk really really fast!! but it sounds cool to me :)

I dont know what you mean by friends i have been talking alot with the Espinosa Family they are super awesome he reminds me of a Spanish Shirl Hanks is what I decided :)

Um and Hermano Diaz he reminds me of Uncle John they act alot alike and its kinda funny they have the same sense of humor its terrible.    Love you John =)

I dont really participate to much in Discussions because I really just try to understand what is being said.

No we do not have iPads and I am not sure we will we are not allowed to skype because it is not in the white hand book so... yeah there is nothing about iPads in the White handbook and so .... yeah that I am
not sure but I know we are very blessed for being obedient so that is ok with me.

Well lets see, like I said it will probably be around 6 that i will end up calling!

My week hasnt really been very exciting I have a few pictures that I am going to add but over all this week has not been very big.

I recieved a lot of answers to prayers this week and that is amazing and a miracle of it self.  I really know that God is there and listens to our prayers fervently!

                                                                               With all my LOVE,

                                                                                Elder Brandon Taylor

---

TO MY FRIENDS GRADUATING FROM HIGH SCHOOL:
    I havn't for gotten you, but it takes more then 3 weeks to get a letter to you.  So at this point all I can do is tell you congratulations and good luck in whatever you decide to do.  Remember what is important in life.


TO PARKER AND TODD (Waiting to leave on your missions)
     Keep you head up even when things get hard, because it will before you leave.  It is worth it!

Weekly Letter - Monday April 30, 2012

Dear Family & Friends,

My dad asked me the following questions that I though I would try to respond to:

1. How are your companions and where are they from and what can you tell us about them?  (Have they been members their entire life, etc....)
2. How are you enjoying mission life so far?  (A bit different that the MTC I know, but still hard work I hope)
3. How many Wards/Stakes are you assigned to cover?
4. How many discussions do they usually  teach during a week?
5. Have you had the opportunity to teach part of a discussion yet?
6. If so how did that go?
7. Are you enjoying yourself?
8. Is there anything that you need? 

My Companions are great Elder Escobar is From LA California =) he will
be looking for Parker and will probably find him before i do =) He has
been a member his whole life was baptized at 8. Although his family
was sealed when he was 17 he is 21 on the down hill side of his
mission. He speaks fluent Spanish and English and has a strong
testimony.

My other Companion is Elder Rivera he is from Guatamala he lived there
until he was 7 or 8 then he moved to Ontario and that is where his
family is right now. He Was also born and raised in the church his dad
is a convert but his mom is a member . He speaks fluent Spanish as
well =)

My mission is just great it is hard =) We did a lot of tracting this
week and people are pretty hard hearted some times but you forget
about those ones really fast when you get in and you teach a lesson.
It is hard to pray in English anymore because i have been saying my
prayers in Spanish for so long now. Giving a lesson in English is hard
too. We do a lot of traveling between towns but its is all good=)

We are assigned to the Spanish ward with 2 other elders because it is
the only Spanish ward here. We ( well me) hope that we can open up a
new area because people are driving an hour to church and that would
just be really cool =)

This week we taught 8 or 9 lessons in Spanish and 3 in English. So
yeah we are only allowed to teach investigators that speak Spanish
unless we have a personal connection with them or when we are
tracting.

I have been a part of the discussions since Day 1 =) I don't always
understand what is being said but the spirit really does testify of
how they feel and what they say so that i know what to say or
sometimes i just have to open my mouth and i don't even know what i am
saying but they people understand. It is really cool when you go into
a lesson and you are complemented and told that " You are Gods people"
Or " That they want their kids to grow up and be like you." ** NOT FOR
EVERYONE!!!!!! IN my patriarchal blessing i read it this morning i can
see one line of it coming true, " the people that you serve and work
with, will know that you are sent from God " It is super cool to see
that coming true**  I am truly blessed to be here. God knows exactly
where he sends his sons and daughthers and why he sends them there !

I am completely enjoying myself.  Somedays are harder then others but
then i read my scriptures or i talk with God and i know that "My
trials are but a small moment and if i Endure them well then God will
exalt me on High" D&C 121 I know that's true and i am grateful for it!

Well i was thinking this week we are allowed to have music in our cars
if you could like send the church CDs of BYU vocal Point, etc...

I love you all very much and we shall talk to you next week =) Let me
know how everything goes =) I love you!


Elder Brandon Taylor



NOTE to Parker Dunn:  Keep your head up ,these next few weeks are gonna be hard but i
know you can make it through.  You are in my prayers!!

Weekly Letter - Monday April 23, 2012

Well lets see since last monday I Have seen a Number of miracles =) we set our weekly goals pretty high for what my companions had been accomplishing but we actually came pretty close to accomplishing them it was really awsome. So my monday went like this we wake up have our studies until 10 then we went out and went shopping and bought food and a couple of light jackets ( yes dad i could have used that Sams club Jacket =) but that is ok ) Then we Emailed or maybe we did that before we came... I dont remember. Well anyways after that we had lunch and i had a McDonalds hamburger and wow that had to be one of the most amazing things that i Have tasted  =) just kidding! Everything is really expensive here so i am really having to budget wisely they gave me about 139$ for the rest of this month but i was re-embured for the 60 that i paid for baggege so right now i am at about 169 so i have that much until may 1st so i think that i am doing rather well =) after lunch we went and played basketball at the church in burnaby and that was alot of fun then we went and washed the Car and then went to a dinner apointment With a Family that lives in Port Coquitlam. and we had Salvadorian food and it was really good then we visitied one of our investagators then we went and knocked doors and went home.

That is our Monday, Tuesday we went and had lunch with our investagator and we set a Baptisimal Date which was really cool and then we went and knocked a complex after we made some records at a library=) then we went and had a TON of pasta oh!!!.  For lunch let me tell you how weird that was so this lady made us tacos she is from Mexico and they were really good then I found out what i was eating and i was eating Lamb and Deer.... yeah it was actually really good That is pretty much our Tuesday.

Now to wednesday,We had splits on wednesday and Elder Escobar (our senior Comp) went to Vancouver to go work with the Vancouver elders because they needed some help we had lunch at our apartment and then we went to teach a lesson to a Recent convert then we went and knocked doors and we didnt have a dinner apointment so returned home and then we went and taught a couple lessons got 4 new investagators from member referals and that was really awesome.

Thursday is our weekly planning day so we planned until about 4then we went to dinner at a members house........ I had to eat Mushrooms and avacados and onions and i had a hard time =) but i finished all of it then we did another member visit and they asked me to play the Piano, mistake number one because now the word is spread that i play piano .... and everyone thinks that i am really good but i am really not that good then we went and did some drop bys and didnt have to much sucess but it is ok.

Friday we had a huge training in surrey from President Tilleman and that was alot of fun and the talked to president about getting more Kilometer for our car because we cover 4 or 5 areas and we have to drive everywhere so he is going to get us more K's which is really awesome then we went and did some dropbys and visited some people not really much success we did get to teach 2 investagators so it wasnt bad.

Saturday we had to get the oil changed in our car and wow people take for ever up here to do anything!!!!! we were there for about 2 hours and it was crazy then we headed out to Coquitlam and there was a party called international night we had 4 investagators come and 2 less active members and that was super awesome i was super happy =) then we drove home we got home about an hour late because traffic was backed up because they closed the freeway and such but it is no excuse.

Sunday i had to give a talk.....  oy super difficult but it worked out then we did a big church tour with potluck. Oh we go to church in Vancouver. then we stayed in Burnaby set another Baptisimal date and that was really cool and then visited a member family and that was alot of fun =)

Well that was my week there are so manythings that the Lord Blesses us here i dont really worry about what is happening at home because i know that you are all being watched of by the Lord, and i have total faith in that he will keep you safe and protected and that is such a blessing to me. There are so many miricals that happen every single day and i know that they happen in your life as well so i would encourage you to look for those Miracles that happen everysingle day in your life. Just pay attention.