Email Letter - 31 December 2008

Hey Family,

So it was good talking to you on Christmas but it’s just never enough time. Nothing really has happened in the last week since I talked with you but we are just so stressed out with all the work in the branch and with the huge area and with our other area that’s an hour and a half away so we are trying to keep things going while trying not to die.

My comp is not organized at all and is giving me a headache with how slow he moves and just how he does things. I’m trying to get him to speed it up and its draining me down. We will see how it all works out. We only had 25 in church on Sunday which is really quite sad because we now have the two branches together which was supposed to help us have more people and it hasn’t been going to plan.

We just have so much work to do to keep on top of things but I have started getting things in order and we are only in the church one afternoon a week instead of the 5 days a week they were in there before I became his comp. We are still working with all of our inactive families as well as trying to meet mission expectations of finding new people. We did have a good lesson the other day with a guy that is married to a member. We put a baptismal date with him for the 17th of January and I really think that he will be ready by then. He has come to church lots and really has a testimony but they have lots of older kids that are doing everything they can to keep him from making the decision. I promised him that if he keeps reading with his wife and keeps praying that his family will soften their hearts and that they will support him. I have faith that he will do exactly that and that he will make it to this date for his baptism.

We are excited to find new people every day and we are trying to keep the work progressing. I love you guys and I hope that this year passes just as fast as the last ;) take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 24 December 2008

Family,

So this week was a little bit full of surprises again. On Monday we had our interviews with President Castillo where he told me that I’ve been in the mission for a long time and that its time for me to start moving up and that the lord has a lot in store for me. I thought that was pretty cool and I think that I know what it is but I won’t say anything just incase I’m wrong. Ha-ha. Then that night we got a call while we were walking back to the house and it was from the zone leaders, they said that my comp is leaving me...yes in the middle of the transfer!! He’s going to Resistencia to finish his mission and its gets better so don’t worry. Oh and by better I mean worse. Elder Smith is leaving as well and I’m getting his comp.

The best part of it is that our area is the biggest in the mission and that I got put right back into the branch presidency!! I got a whole week and a half of being just a regular missionary and now I’m right back where I was. YAY!!! I’m hoping that it’s just for the next three weeks. What’s happening is that missionaries are going home early to start school and so they are leaving tomorrow and their places need to be filled which takes Elder Smith and my comp away from here. I feel bad for them because they have to travel on Christmas and Elder Smith might not be able to call home on Christmas but on Friday or something because he has more than 13 hours of traveling to do all by himself. What a way to spend Christmas.

I guess that just how life is in the mission. Ha. That’s all that has really happened this week. Other than that it has been pretty calm. I’m looking forward to talking to some of you tomorrow. Love you guys. Take care and before I forget we are officially in summer!!!

Love,
Tay

Email Letter - 17 December 2008

Family,

So this week a lot of stuff has happened. I’m going to start with Saturday and it went like this. On Saturday afternoon we had a meeting with our mission president, President Del Castillo where we talked about all of the changes that were going to take place the following day about Closing down one of the branches among other things. So we all sat down and he told us that one of our zone leaders is the new district president and after that we pulled out the maps of the new boundaries which included closing one of the branches and in turn making my area twice as big. I’m soooo excited about that...not!! It will actually be really good for us though because we got lots of new members.

He then announced that he would be making the other companionship the branch presidency which makes me just a regular missionary!!! I’m really excited now because I can just focus on the work. But wait the day gets better. We were about to finish up the meeting and President asked us who he was going to be working with to finish the day which was 5 more hours. And while all 6 of us missionaries sat there quiet, yes including the zone leaders I decided to raise my hand and try to impress the guy so he said “wonderful! Looks like I’m going to work with Eder King and Elder Patterson for the night” so we all went out and visited some inactive members and one of our investigators. I can only say that I have gained a lot of respect for President Castillo and I found out what he is really like on a personal level. I have realized that I don’t have to agree with everything he does but it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a good teacher and a nice man.

Then on Sunday we had our meetings where he announced the changes. I think for the most part everyone is happy and I think that it will work out great. On Monday we had our zone conference in Resistencia where president talked about how well he and I worked and shared some of what we did and how we did it. I think that he was impressed and I’m hoping that that night will end up working in my favor for moving up and getting more responsibility. It was a good conference where president talked about the importance of fasting and asked us if will we now start fasting not only the first Sunday of every month but the second as well so from now on our mission will be fasting at least two times a month if not more. He explained the power of fasting and how it will help us grow and have more success as a mission.

He told us about how our mission had 76 baptisms in November which has only happened two times in the history of this mission and that every single area in the mission has had a baptism this year which has never happened before. We are doing the work that most say cannot be done and I can see and feel the lord’s hand in all things. It’s amazing to be in this work and to see the change that the gospel brings in others lives.

I got a call Monday night from Elder Adams my last comp who asked me what I did to impress President so much. So I asked him what he was talking about and he said that in their zone Conference President just talked again about how well we worked together and about the things that we can all work on to become better missionaries. I was surprised to hear that he talked about that night of work even when I wasn’t there. It was a great day and made me feel much better about the work that I’m doing.

This week we are going to be having our Branch Christmas party and I’m getting excited for that. I think that I’m going to be singing something and I think that I might have talked the other elders into singing with me. I hope it all works out. I love you guys and I’m excited to talk next week. Take care and know that I think of you all often. Love you!!!

Tay

Email Letter - 10 December 2008

Hey Fam,

So things are going well down here and we are going to be having some big big changes this week in our district. President Del Castillo is going to be coming down to give us a new district president and to reorganize the boundaries and close one of the branches.

We are going to be getting lots more members and by lots I mean like 25 active members. That's like three times as many as we have every Sunday so it’s going to be good. We are very excited and from what we think my comp and I will stay as branch presidency but have Elder Smith and his comp as more help.

The reason that this is all happening is because the couple that we had serving in our area went home last week. We miss them so much and we are hoping the best for them. We think that one of the zone leaders will become the new branch president and his comp will be the secretary with two locals being the counselors. It should be interesting but we will see and I will let you all know how it goes in next week’s letter.

We have been trying to keep up the hard work but the heat and humidity just wears us down to the point where it’s just hard to walk. We get so tired but we just keep trucking along. Sometimes it’s tough but I can tell you that I have felt the help from our lord in all things as we serve him. We should also be traveling to Resistencia next week for zone conference which is always a treat with our wonderful but very direct president. Ha-ha. We love him but he was in the Seventy and it’s his way or the door with no questions asked.

Yesterday we had divisions and I was with...you guessed it Elder Smith. We had fun and worked hard. We talked a lot about home because it was my birthday and we are getting close to Christmas so we got ourselves a little “trunky” that’s what all the missionaries say when they think about home or something reminds them of home. Overall it was a good birthday but it could have been a lot better spent in the States with my good friend the snow.

I just want to tell you all how much I love you and how thankful I am to have you as my family. Thanks to everyone who emailed me! I think you all set a new mission record with the 43 emails I got! That’s something to be proud of and it took me almost an hour to read them. Thanks so much for the love and support. I love you all! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 03 December 2008

Family,

It has been a good week and we have been working hard. In the last six days we have had five people tell us that they are ready to get baptized and all we have to do is put a date with them and keep teaching and let the spirit do the rest.

It’s been a little bit cooler down here the last two days but it’s just getting ready to start hitting in the 100s pretty soon. We still aren’t in summer but we are getting closer and closer every day. We had transfers today and my comp and I are staying for at least six more weeks. He’s a good kid and I think that even though we are in one of the hottest missions we are hoping that we will still have a white Christmas with all of the baptisms. Ha-ha. We have a lot of faith that it will all come through.

Other than that this week has been pretty slow. We had the hour change from President Del Castillo and we are still trying to get used to that. I’m hoping to get my packages from the mission home in two weeks but the mail has been having some problems again here because they don’t think that they are getting paid enough and have gone on strike for who knows how much longer. I think that it will get resolved and things will get back to normal here pretty quick.

Like I said things are going well down here and I think that this transfer will go just as well as the last and hopefully just as fast. I’m coming up on a year and time is flying. It’s gone by fast and now I’m not even going to be a teenager anymore!!! I’m going to get running but I love you all very much and think of you often. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 26 November 2008

Family,

So this week has been good. Our Mission President is making some pretty lame changes and I think it might result in my dying from the sun pounding on my head but we will wish for the best. I do wear my hat but that only does so much. We had a member telling us yesterday that just a little bit up the road near my last area is where the sun is nearest to the earth!! Crazy stuff huh.

It’s starting to get really hot now and its killer not to have air conditioning in the pench but we are surviving. Other than the heat things are going well. We are going to be having a meeting this week to start planning our branch Christmas party and I’m excited for that and I know the members are too because they all want to help us get it ready. They asked me if I was going to dress up as Santa and I told them that I would as long as it wasn’t over 100 degrees but I know for a fact that it will be much hotter than that so it’s not a problem. It should be good though.

On Sunday we had 15 people at church and it wasn’t the normal people that come so I think that if we can get everyone going at the same time we should have around 25 or 30 which would be a blessing. We have been working a lot with the family of our baptism because they all want to listen to us after what they felt and saw at his baptism. They seem very interested and ready to listen. It’s amazing how many doors this baptism has opened up for us. I’m so excited to get back to work with so many people and to have the success that I’ve been waiting for. The best thing about it is that he can help us teach and tell what he has felt while praying and receiving his answer. It helps him to remember the lessons that we taught him and to remember the doctrine that he needs to know to help his testimony grow.

I have been able to see the blessings that the Lord has been giving to me while I’m doing his work. Just like Grandpa King Shared with me today when Joseph Smith said that “no unhallowed hand can stop the work of the Lord from progressing.” I can testify that that statement is so true and I’m a witness of that now as I progress in the work. I love you all and I hope that everything is going well. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 19 November 2008

Hey Family,

So things are really going well. I had my first baptism yesterday and I can’t tell you how amazing it was. I really have been blessed in the work that my companion and I have been putting forth.


















We have been working hard to get the branch back in to working condition but haven’t had much success in that. In church on Sunday it was just our investigator who is now our member and us so what we did was we blessed the Sacrament and then we just sat there and had a lesson with him about baptism. It was a good lesson but it would have been nice to actually have a sacrament meeting with more members. I guess we will just have to try a little bit harder to get that done.

On the other side we had a big turnout at the baptism. He had his whole family there and we had a lot of members and missionaries there to support him and it all went well. The spirit was there in great abundance and I felt overwhelmed but everything went well and I only had to do it ONCE!

So Elder Smith and I have started a diet, we signed a contract and everything. We are taking it very seriously because we have decided that we can’t go home fat. We aren’t too big yet but we don’t want to get there. We are going to be working hard in that so that we can come home lookin good. The bottom line is that I have been doing what they call percha or working hard you could say.

We have been doing everything that we can to get the success that everyone says you can’t have in this part of the mission. We will continue to work and work until we die. We had our thanksgiving dinner today and it was American style with stuffing and pumpkin pie and everything. The Casperson's did it all for us and we had the whole zone there. It was just like home but without the family. We went around the room and said what we are thankful for and I think we all were about to cry as we said our families. It was a great day and I’m so very grateful for all of my many blessings. I love you all very much. Take care

Tay

Email Letter - 12 November 2008

Fam,

So this week again went well. We have been having a lot of good lessons and a lot of people that are getting ready to be baptized. the thing here is that there are a lot of people that are waiting for a divorce before they can get married and baptized and here divorces take almost a year to complete so that is going to take us some time to work with.

The week has been normal but it has been getting really hot lately. so a cool story...my comp and I went out on Thursday afternoon and while we were walking to our first appointment I felt like I should ask him how to perform ordinances like anointing and blessing and stuff like that, I didn’t know why I felt like I needed to learn but I did. So as we were walking he taught me how to do the anointing and when we got to our first house they didn’t have time to visit with us so we went to a less active member’s house who asked us if we could give them a blessing. I was happy that I could help for the first time in anointing and participating in that blessing.

then the next day we did divisions and I was working with Elder Smith in my area and while we were walking down the street we ran into a member that asked if we could give her a blessing so within two days I was able to anoint and then bless someone. It was such a blessing that I had the prompting to ask my companion how to do it so that when he wasn’t around I was able to do it. What a blessing it is to hold the priesthood so that I can help others in their time of need.

On Sunday we 9 people in church which was a little disappointing but we are working on that. I directed my first sacrament meeting and blessed the sacrament and spoke and gave a class. It was a lot to prepare for but it was fun to do. I’m hoping that before I leave here we will have people that can do most of that stuff for me so that I can focus on other things.

On Sunday night we had the Fireside broadcast to us from BYU with Bishop Burton. It was so fun to listen to him (even though it was in Spanish) he had some good counsel and some good stories. I’m glad that I’m in the branch presidency so that we can go to all of the transmissions and listen to the counsel that normally as missionaries we wouldn’t get.

Yesterday we went out to our other area in Villa Ocampo and had some awesome lessons with some new investigators. We found this new young family out there and they want so badly to know that it’s true so they are reading and praying and everything. It’s so awesome to see people that are just ready to listen to us. It has been such a good few weeks and it’s just going to get better. I love it here and I love the work. Today we are going bowling to finish up our p-day and we are excited about our thanksgiving dinner that we are having as a zone next week. I guess some things just don’t change even when you’re not at home. I love you guys. Take care

Tay

Email Letter - 5 November 2008

Family,

So this week has been an amazing one. It goes back to last Saturday when our area had a broadcast for the young women in Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina with Sister Allred, Sister Dibb and then our Area Presidency. It was an awesome thing to watch and listen to. I was glad that I could go and the only reason was because we are the Branch Presidency as you know. We got to go and listen to all of the counsel that the young women received. Of course Sister Dibb had a translator because she doesn’t speak Spanish but when she would talk she sounded just like her dad President Monson and she gave great insight to what they young women need to be doing. It didn’t just help them but it helped us as leaders learn what we need to do to help them progress.

Then on Sunday we had 13 people in church. It sounds like it’s very few but in the last few weeks they only had 7-10 so we are making an improvement. We also had an investigator come, his name is Pico and he’s a stud. He’s like 22 or so and he has told us that he feels the spirit whenever we teach him. On Monday night we went over to his house to teach him and we told him that he needed to pray to ask our heavenly father if he should get baptized and he told us he would do that and talk to his parents because as of right now they are keeping him from choosing what’s best. At the end of the lesson he told us that he knew that god would tell him that he needed to get baptized and that if god wants him to do it then his parents will agree.

After that we went to another lesson with a part member family and taught the same lesson on baptism and asked the mom if she would get baptized and she said that she would start now doing all the things that she has to do and with our help she will get there soon. It was a wonderful night and really powerful to see the change in people when they feel the spirit.

Yesterday was our zone conference and there it just got so much better. We had our Area President Elder Shayne M Bowen there with his wife and after listening to our mission president and his wife speak we heard from them. First Sister Bowen spoke about how it would be impossible for Joseph Smith to have done what he did without the help of the lord or without the authority that the lord had given him. After that we heard the going home testimony of my friend Elder Hemmert which just invited the spirit even more and when he finished we had a special musical number from Sister Casperson who is here with her husband serving in my area. When she finished it was Elder Bowens turn and I can’t express to you all how much the spirit was with him as he spoke to us about who we really are.

We had a two hour discussion about the authority that we hold to carry the word of god to every nation and that authority is the Priesthood. He told us that the only thing holding us back is us and that we have been promised all that the father has if we do our part. He bore witness to us that he could feel our power and authority and that he knew that we are the chosen generation to carry this gospel to all the world. He promised us in the name of Christ that there are thousands waiting for us and that we need to do everything we can to bless them. Again I can’t express to you in words the love that he spoke with and the spirit that filled the room as he spoke.

And when we pulled up to our house tired and ready for bed Pico ran over and told us that he wanted a date for his baptism because god told him that it was the right thing and his parents told him that if it’s what he wants then he should do it! I’m excited to work with him to get there.

It has been a great week and I can feel the blessings of being here. I am grateful to be here and for the blessing of the Priesthood which I hold. I love this work. And I thank you all for your support. I love you.

Tay

Email Letter - 29 October 2008

Hey Family,

So I finally got transferred as you all know and I met my comp. His name is Elder Patterson and he’s from Spanish Fork. He goes home this February and we are the branch Presidency of the Reconquista, West Branch.

Here is Reconquista there are very few active members which I think is the case in lots of areas down here but in this zone its even less.

So there is a couple that are serving their mission here, The Caspersons. And Elder Casperson is the District President and he has two counselors and then our zone leaders are his secretaries. Then there are two other branches that have missionaries as the presidents and counselors including mine and then two others that have presidents and the missionaries are the counselors to them. It’s a little bit different and there is a lot of stress because we can only go out and work a total of maybe two days a week because of all the things we have to do to get everything functioning correctly. We have interviews that we have to do and finances and mutual for the youth and just everything. I guess I have gained a lot of respect for those of you who have served as bishops or counselors or secretaries over the years because now I know just exactly what you have been doing. Especially right now because of tithing settlement.

My comp and I have two areas; one is Reconquista, West and then a place about an hour away on a bus that’s called Villa Ocampo. There are no missionaries out there and the branch president there needs help with finances and stuff like that because he can’t do it alone so we go out there once a week to help him out and to talk to members.

I’ve got a lot on my plate and I’m just trying to sort it all out and get on track. My comp told me that we have an average of 5-10 people every Sunday at church and that’s including us. We conduct and bless and pass the sacrament and make sure that everything runs as smoothly as we can make it. Then after church we are there with our secretary for awhile doing finances and planning things like when we can have presidency meeting and do mutual and who we can visit to make things run better in the branch.

I guess they were right when they said that the mission gets you ready for the rest of your life.

I’m planning on becoming president within the next 3 or 4 months when my comp leaves but we will see how things go.

We have some really good investigators and we are working with them whenever we have a spare minute here and there and we have also made some planes to work with the families most in need in the branch. On my first day here with my comp after cleaning up our house some...because it was and really still is nasty!!!...but better now. We went out so that I could meet some members. The first family we went to visit was the Molinas Family and Sister Molinas didn’t waste any time making me cry. She told me about how her husband along with another guy in the branch were on their way back from church meetings in Resistencia almost 3 years ago when they got in an accident and both men died. Both of these families are in our branch and both of them consist of 6 kids with just the mom to raise them. As of right now they are both inactive but when she was telling me the story I began to cry and realized just how much help they need right now. I’m excited to be in this leadership role in the branch so that I can try to help these two families and many more to come back to church and receive the blessings that the lord has for them.

It’s going to take some work but I know that I’m in this area for a reason and that I can get over this feeling of stress and start helping like I should.

Thank you for all of your love a support. I love a miss all of you. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 22 October 2008

Hey Family,

So first things first...I GOT TRANSFERED! I’m going to a place called Reconquista, Santa Fe. It’s a place that not many missionaries get to go because we only have one zone in Santa Fe so the odds aren’t very good that someone will go. I’m pretty excited but I don’t know what to expect. I hear that my new companion is a nerd and doesn’t really like sports at all. So we are pretty much complete opposites to say that least. It’s going to take some getting used to but it will all work out.

That’s pretty crazy to hear about Chris. Is he home then? What are the odds? I didn’t think that something like that would ever happen to me or any of my friends. He’s going to be okay then?

So Sunday was mother’s day here in Argentina and we got invited over to a member’s house for lunch and the food made me sick. I haven’t been able to keep anything down and I just feel weak. I thought that I was over the sick phases of my mission but I guess not. It didn’t help that it was 110degrees yesterday and we were out walking around. It made it a lot worse I think.

The weather is so weird here. It was hot yesterday and it rained overnight and now it’s cold. It’s the most rain that Chaco has seen in a very long time. They needed it here and I’m happy they got it but it didn’t have to be so much.

So like I said I’m moving and I’m sick which made last night a very long night. I had to finish packing and it just made things more difficult when I had to throw up or go outside and use the bathroom. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep so I’m hungry and tired and just not feeling my best.

On top of that I won’t get to my area until around 11pm tonight. What a long day of just sitting on busses. I guess that’s the life of being transferred.

I’ve been talking so much about wanting to leave and now that it’s happening I don’t want it to. We have some really good investigators and I have a feeling that they will get baptized soon and I won’t be there to see the fruits of my labor. I’m sure that I'll have some success in Santa Fe though and that’s why I’m going there.

I better get running because I’m only done with stage one of three in my transfer. I love you guys. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 15 October 2008

Hey Family,

It has been so hot this week! Everyday but today has been around 100 degrees. You all know how much I just love the heat so you should know that it’s killing me. It doesn’t matter what time of day or even night, it is always hot and humid. It’s even worse when you have to walk around in a shirt and tie around your neck but it’s something that we just live with. It’s part of the work.

We have been teaching a lot more as of late and we’ve been getting a little bit of help from the members in the form of references and we have one member that is willing to help us with lessons when she can.

It’s transfers again next week and I’m not going to say anything because every single time I say that I’m going to move and I stay right here. I have decided to take a different approach this time and just not say anything. I’ve given my goodbye testimony like four times in sacrament meeting and I’m hoping to not have to give it again…in this area.

So story time…
Yesterday we were walking to an appointment and I felt something on the back of my neck, assuming that it was just a bug like always I grabbed it to throw it off and it stung me! It was a bee and it hurt. I killed the bee with my fingers and pulled out the stinger and started to feel the pain. My neck started to stiffen up and its still kinda sore today but again…the life of a missionary in Argentina.

Well that’s all for this week but I love you guys. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 08 October 2008

Hey Fam,


So things are going well here and I loved Conference! It was so amazing. It’s a lot different down here for sure but it still gets here and it’s nice to get advice and comforting words from our leaders. It was cool because in the first session on Saturday two of the three from our area presidency took part in the session. Pres Bowen said the prayer and Elder Adukaitus spoke. We were also all really excited when they announced the building of the Cordoba Temple! I think everyone in the whole world was surprised and excited about the ROME, ITALY temple so I won’t go into that. Ha-ha.

It’s been a good week here, we found some new investigators and we got a couple of references from members and other Elders which should turn out to work for us really well and it’s really exciting. A couple of interesting things have happened in the last few days and they go as follows

1- I was cleaning up the pench and I found a little lizard under my luggage. I guess that pretty common here so nothing to worry about. We enlisted the help of our neighbor to help us get it out and everything is fine now.

2- We got the pench fumigated yesterday so that should help with the bugs and stuff that again are very common down here.

3- My companion and I started running 3 times a week a few weeks back but plans have changed on that one, we are now running to our gym everyday but Saturday and Sunday to go lift and work out. How cool is that! I’m for sure excited about that and I’m hoping to lose some of those lbs that I’ve put on. I’m ready to turn it into muscle.

Things have just been going well. Like I said we have a few new investigators and are working on these contacts to get more. It’s starting to really progress and I love it. We have been making some good contacts that aren’t too far away from the church and they seem really excited to listen. We went out contacting the other day and we clapped this house and a girl answered the door. Her name is Vanessa and she lives with her mom. We asked her about her religion and why she thought that there are so many these days and her response was...¨well we are catholic but we don’t really do anything¨ we laughed with her and she invited us in to talk to she and her mom. They are really nice and ready to listen and I hope they get baptized. I’m just happy to be where I am right now and ready to keep working with the people in Villa Angela. That’s all for this week but I love you guys.


Tay

Email Letter - 01 October 2008

Dearest Family,

It sounds like things are going well and that everyone is staying busy…but that’s football season in the king household. Things are going well down here as well.

We had interviews with President Del Castillo yesterday and they were great. We also worked on our contacts. We are trying a new thing in our mission and maybe in the area or even the world but we are starting to use the pass along cards along with the pamphlets. Now the pass along cards are really just for the states and Canada but we figured out a way to make it work. It’s another way to speed up contacts in the street. President is really stressing that we talk to everyone that we see and not just clap houses.

We have practiced lots a different ways to do and we had an awesome practice with the Assistants to the president yesterday. We are practicing just going straight into doctrine because we know that on the streets people don’t really have a ton of time to just sit and talk to us. It’s been really effective in getting us working more and finding more people in a more efficient way.

Last week was Service Day for all of Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay which is our area and we cleaned up a school. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work and it was so hot but it was cool to work all together as a Branch and not just us to missionaries. We worked hard and got a lot done.

It has been a good week and I’m looking forward to General Conference this week. We have had a lot of investigators say that they will come so I’m excited to see if they really will. The Area Presidency made some cool invitations for us to hand out and that has made it nice to invite people and a lot less work and money for us because now we don’t have to make them.

This hasn’t been a really busy cool week because we haven’t really been in our area so this email is short. I love you all. Take care and I’m sure that I'll have more to write next week.

Tay

Email Letter - 24 September 2008

Hey Family,

So this week has gone by so fast. We have been really busy doing lots of crazy stuff to get ready for meetings and conferences and lots of other things. On Monday we had zone conference which was...well a lot different to say the least and not a lot of people liked it. I mean it was good in a lot of ways but at the same time it was horrible because we didn’t eat and we didn’t have all of the zones we usually do so we didn’t get to see everyone. It was good because it moved to a smaller room in the church and we all got to participate a lot more with all the things he was teaching us. It’s just a change that we will all have to get used to.

Then yesterday my comp and I did divisions with the zone leaders. It was a lot of fun to work with an elder that was just excited to work. And when I told him that it was my ¨cumplames¨ which means that I just finished another month in the mission! I’m now 1/3 done with it all and it’s going by fast. It was just a fun day full of stories and hard work out in the heat.

We have started having some success this last week with getting into people’s houses and I’m enjoying the work. I hope that it continues. I’m getting excited for general conference and we are having a district priesthood meeting this Sunday with one of the counselors of the mission to talk about mission plans in branches and wards to help make the work progress. I hope that it all goes well and helps the members work a little bit harder to help us out.

Oh cool story...last night I was in Saenz Pena with Elder Hemmert one of my zone leaders and he woke up to a noise in the middle of the night and saw a man standing outside the window!! Uh scary! He decided not to wake me up but he sat there for a minute wonder whether or not he should go try to catch the guy. After a few minutes he decided that he didn’t want to risk it. So when we woke up in the morning he told me all about it and the power was off. We went outside and wires had been cut and they had stolen the motor for the water. So we are without water to shower and without electricity. It was kinda weird and a little scary but it’s all good. They should get it fixed and be alright. I’m just glad it’s not my area!

I’m gonna run for this week but I love you guys! Take care.

Tay

TK & President Del Castillo

At Zone Conference with the new President.

Email Letter - 17 September 2008

Hey Fam,

So things have been going really well down here and a lot has happened in the last week. The first thing is that I have started running in the mornings! It makes me feel good and I have talked Elder Adams into running with me and not just watching. I’ve realized that I need to get into shape now and not decide to when I get home.

I got a blender last week and we have enjoyed making shakes and there is an elder in our zone that worked at jamba juice and taught me how to make strawberries wild which is just amazing. It’s a wonderful thing to have and probably one of the best buys I’ve ever made in the mission. We have been eating with our dueno a lot. I’ve talked about him before, his name is Lucho and he’s just funny. All we have is asado which is just argentine bbq. We just eat steak and it’s great. He always tells us that there is nothing better in life than steak and coke. He`s on a quest to eat asado everyday for a week. His wife always gives a crap because she says that we eat so much asado that we won’t be able to walk anymore. That’s why I have stated to run. We haven’t eaten it with him every day but two of them we have and it’s been great. He wants me to send his love to you

Now that I have gotten all of that out of the way I’ll tell you how things with the work are going. We started contacting in a new area again that’s close to the church and we are finding lots of good people that seem like they are willing and ready to listen. We are going to work with them and keep trying to find more new people that we can teach and bless. I feel like we are getting close to the people that we need to find and I will keep praying that we do so that they can be as blessed as we are in our lives. I love this gospel and I know that it can bring many great blessings into peoples’ lives as well. I have felt so many blessings in my life because of this church and that’s why I’m here, to help others to feel the same.

I am very excited to keep working in this area. The other day we were walking to the church after making a few contacts because we had our weekly meeting with the branch president to talk about things that we can do to make things progress and one of the little kids from and old investigator family chased us down. When I realized that he was running after us we stopped and started to talk to him. I looked down at him and he said ¨my mom lost her Book of Mormon and she wants a new one so that she can keep reading¨ you don’t know how happy I was to hear that! I opened my bag and gave him one to give to her. We dropped this family about 3 months ago and it was sad for me because they are awesome. It’s the Benitez family, I don’t know if you remember them but they are so awesome and I was sad to leave them but she started working two other jobs so that she could take care of her six kids so we didn’t have time to teach her. They have been to church and activities and I know with just a little help that they’ll be ready to be baptized. He asked us when we could go by the house to teach them again and he told me that his mom stopped working one of the jobs and she’s home at night every night. We went by and set up an appointment. I’m so happy and I can’t even explain it. I hope that I can tell you soon that they are getting baptized.

At first I was mad that I was staying here and then this happened. I know now that I’m supposed to be here and I’m happy. I gotta run for this week but I love you guys. Take care and tell titan hi for me. Love you!!

Tay

Email Letter - 10 September 2008

Hey Fam,

So this last week was pretty fun. On Sunday we decided to take a trip out to Saenz Pena for the baptism of a guy that I know really well. It’s actually a pretty cool story. This guy’s family was baptized in January but he had a phobia about leaving his house and so he couldn’t go to church and couldn’t be baptized with his family. He has been in his house for two years and finally overcame it and started going to church and they baptized him on Sunday. He was so happy and we were all happy for him.

That night we went to a party with some members of a different branch and so there were six elders at this house with a bunch of members, we started to get bored so we livened it up a bit. We were trying to think of what we could do for a cool video and not tell the members what we were doing so we came up with someone was going to get slapped in the face. My comp volunteered and I volunteered to slap him. So one of the elders started filming and he went around the whole room asking people’s names and stuff then he went through all of the elders and ended with me and my comp. my comp turned his face and I gave him a good slap in the face. Oh my gosh we were all laughing so hard we were crying. The members were at first shocked at what had just happened that they didn’t started laughing until like 5 seconds passed. It was great. We didn’t tell the members that it was planned so they think that I was just mad at my comp or something. We are so funny I know.

After that we went outside and you guys don’t know this but there are always horses just wandering in the streets so my comp decided to mount one and we got some good video of that. It was a fun night.

We have been trying to come up with things to do when we get bored and we are all in the same area and last week we made a video called ¨the black ninja¨ I can’t really explain it but I’ll be sending it home pretty soon.

As you know we had transfers today and by now I’m sure you have guessed that I didn’t move once again. That means that I will be in my first area for at least 7 ½ months which is 1/3 of my mission in the field. I am kinda burned out in this area but I will just have to suck it up for another month and a half and keep working. It will be okay I think.

I’m excited to contact that area that I had mentioned about a week or two ago and I know that we will finally have a baptism this transfer. I am staying here with Elder Adams again so no new comp either. It will be a good transfer I think. I just have to look at it as a good thing that I’m staying here and that the lord has a purpose for me here. I love you guys. Take care.

Tay

GO14

Hot, Sweaty, Having fun? - It's hard to tell from this pic TK sent his little sister, but I'm guessing he's having a good time.

A fun item of note - the ball is imprinted with GO14, and TK's number is all sports he played was 14. How fun is that?

Email Letter - 3 September 2008

Family,

So not much has really happened this past week. We were out contacting a reference and it was in an area that I’ve never been and I was looking around and there were just tons of young families outside or out walking in the street and it was crazy. I looked at my comp and said we are coming back here to contact. He agreed with me because I’m the one that’s really in charge and we will be heading back there tomorrow I hope. I’m excited about that but I’m worried that we will find some awesome families and then I will get transferred next week. It will still be way awesome but and the same time I would love to work with them when we find them.

So I just kind of mentioned that we have transfers next week and I’m excited but a little nervous. I feel like it’s my time to move but at the same time I thought that last time and I stayed so we will see. It would be nice to move so that I can get to know other parts of Argentina and other members and missionaries as well. It is a different experience when you have no idea whether or not you will stay or go.

So this Friday my comp and I are in charge of doing the Fe En Dios...faith in god for the primary. I came up with this cool idea to buy preach my gospels for all of the little kids 8-12 years old and we are going to teach them how to use them and teach them how to talk to friends at school about the gospel. It’s a lot different when you don’t have a ward or stake to buy them for everyone and you have to do it but it makes you feel better I think. I’m so excited to teach them and show them how to use what I think of as more scriptures. It really is an amazing book that I know will bless them and their families. I also came up with this cool idea to put a picture of my comp and I inside of the cover with our testimonies about how the book has blessed our lives. It’s such an awesome thing. I hope that it goes well and that they understand everything that we are teaching them.

Just a quick update on that family that we found a few weeks back. They mom has been working more than she and we had thought so we haven’t had many opportunities to teach them. We call and go by to check up on the girls and make sure that they are reading and praying and I still have faith that they will get baptized even if I’m not the one to do it.

That’s pretty much all for this week. Know that I think about you often and that I love you all. Thanks for the support. Take care.

Tay

When Winter turns to Spring

You jones for a motorcycle ride and wish with all your heart that the President allowed this form of transportation.

Email Letter - 27 August 2008

Family,

So this week has been an okay one. It has started to get a little warmer because spring is right around the corner so it’s now anywhere from 95-110 degrees in our area with lots of wind that blows the dust up and it’s just horrible. We walk around eating dirt all day and it’s not my favorite thing but what can you do.

So it sounds like Josh’s farewell went awesome and I’m so excited for him. It seems like so much is going on and I’m missing out on all of it. I guess things can’t stay the same for two years.

Things are going well and we found a couple more people that we can go back and teach but none of them are really promising investigators but its people that are at least willing to listen so I’m excited about that.

Things are going well with my comp but he of course we still have our moments where I wanna strangle him.

The members are starting to give us more references and that is always so much better than just clapping houses because its people that have some idea of what we teach. It’s nice to finally have some help and it’s another thing that I’m excited about.

We have transfers in two weeks and I really think that I’ll be leaving this time because 6 months in one area is a long time and I’m really ready to go. Tomorrow we have divisions with our district leader and I’m excited because I’m staying in my area this time to do them and we are going to teach that awesome family. I’m planning on showing them the DVD of the restoration so that they can feel even more just how real and special it is. I hope that it goes well. It’s still been pretty hard to find really good promising families other than this one in our area but we are trying some different ways of finding good whole families that are ready to listen and to accept what we have to offer (eternal life) what a great gift.

It sounds like you are all staying pretty busy this with football and dance and work and booster stuff and just everything and it just sounds like a regular football season and I’m sad to be missing it. I know that I say that every week but I really do.

There is an elder from my zone that is going home in two weeks and it’s funny to hear him talk about what he’s going to do which includes getting married in November. He’s crazy but we love him. I hit 7 months on Quin's birthday last week and it’s still crazy to sit and think about how fast it has gone. I’m happy to be here and I feel like I’m learning so much. I love you all very much. Take care.

Tay

Hanging with the Zone

Watching the Olympics

Email letter - 20 August 2008

Family,

so it has been an okay week. After we got back to our area last Thursday morning I started listening to the tape that you made for me and guess what, it broke! Just my luck right? I got to listen to the whole first side all the way through which means that I just missed listening to dad. It’s rather unfortunate but what can you do? This started one of the worst days of my mission. After that it was all downhill, I won’t go into detail about everything but the night ended with me getting into a remis (taxi) and ripping my pants on one of the pockets. It was a long day to say the least. I’m just glad that we have nice members that are ready and willing to fix stuff like that.

I do have some good news though...WE FOUND A FAMILY TO TEACH!!! I’m so happy. It is just a lady and her two girls who are both teenagers. We invited the girls to seminary and they went and loved it. That’s a good sign. The mom has tons of good questions and really they have had a sad life. We taught them about the restoration the second time we went and again they had good questions. They read everything that we gave them and when I left that lesson I could tell that they were sincere and that they would read and pray. I know that if they do it they will get their answer. It has been so long since I have been this excited to teach someone.

We had our interviews with President Del Castillo yesterday and they went well. He is just so up front and open about everything which is pretty cool. At one point in the interview he looked at me and told me that I looked like a leader and he could tell that I was just be looking at me. I thought that that was pretty cool and I’m excited to show him just how right he is. (I hope that didn’t sound cocky) after all I am in the Lord's work. Ha-ha.

I’m pretty sick again, I know what a surprise. It’s really starting to frustrate me that I can’t get over this sickness but I'm hoping that it will pass at some point. I’m really sick of being sick. It sounds like everything is going well and that you’re all getting excited for football season to start. I am too but it’s a little different for me this year because I won’t be there to watch from the sidelines like I usually am.

I was also happy to hear that dad's 40TH birthday was a blast with and ice cream party and a bunch of people singing. I’m sorry I missed it.

Today we went to the zoo again because we have lots of new people that didn’t go last time and when we got done taking pictures and walking around we played ultimate Frisbee again and it was so fun. I’m happy to have my knee brace so that I can start playing the way I want to when we're all playing together. Well fam, I love you all very much and of course I miss you as well. Take care all.

Tay

Email Letter - 13 August 2008

Hey Family,

So things have been going well. We just had zone conference in Resistencia and it was great. It was our first one with President Del Castillo and his wife. It was a lot different for sure and we all miss President Shakespear but change is good. He is a lot more outspoken and up front with us about things. He asked us all at one point if we believed that we could have more baptisms, and of course we all said yes and then he said ¨Good because if we don’t do it who do you think will, the Jehovah’s Witnesses.¨ we all laughed so hard and then said that we could take care of it. He gave us lots of good ideas about a lot of things. He focused mostly on how we could get members to help us more and how to reactivate families. He is a funny guy. It was a great conference and I have a lot more knowledge of how to go about doing things that can help me be a better missionary.

After that like usual we went to the mission office for a few minutes so that we could get packages and other things like that...YES I FINALLY GOT IT!! Ha-ha. Thank you very much! I actually used one of the knee braces today when we played ultimate Frisbee as a zone in Saenz Pena.

Next week we have interviews with president and I’m excited to get to know him a little bit better. Not really a lot has gone on as of late and I wish that I had some families that I could tell you about but at this point I still don’t. It’s tough sometimes but I’m hoping that we can get back on track soon and get things moving again.

I’m excited for the boys to start football and school as well. Time is going by so fast and I just don’t realize it. When you sit down and think about how I’ve been here for almost 7 months it doesn’t really seem real. I still get homesick sometimes like right now when I think about dad and Quin's birthdays among many other in the family and birthdays of friends but I know that I’m here for a reason and its okay to miss a couple.

I’ve been a little under the weather the last few days but I think it’s just the fact that I’ve never really gotten over the sickness I had in the MTC. It’s not too bad but it’s just annoying sometimes. Overall I’m doing really well and I know that the lord will bless me if I keep doing his work. I love you all. Take care! HAPPY BITHDAY DAD!!!

Tay

Email Letter - 06 August 2008

Hey family,

So things are still a little tough here for now but it’s pretty hard for our whole zone to find people right now so I don’t feel quite so down for now.

In the last few days we have found out some pretty cool things about our area. For example: we found out that there is a golf course!! I was way excited about that so we are going to look more into that and maybe hit it up in a few weeks.

The second cool thing is that we found a dry cleaners!! How cool is that! It seems as though we can find just about everything but people that are willing to listen. We´ll just keep pushing along though.

This Sunday we will be traveling to Saenz Pena and early Monday morning we´ll continue on with the rest of our zone to Resistencia for our first zone conference with our new President. It will be a little different but I’m hoping that I’ll still learn a lot. We´ll get up on Monday morning at about 4:00am and leave around 5:00 in order to get to the conference in time. Then we´ll travel back to Saenz Pena and get there at around 11:00pm or midnight. It’s going to be a nice long day but usually it’s well worth the trip.

We´ll just stay in Saenz Pena and do divisions with our district leader on Tuesday and then have P-day on Wednesday as well. It is going to be a lot of time away from our area which really isn’t that good but we have to do what we have to do. I’m excited because I’ll be getting my package as conference as well.

I think it’s funny that school is just starting in the states but they just finished their winter break here. Ha-ha.

It’s a little different down here but it still feels like our summer in Utah which just doesn’t make sense. The people in my area were very happy to see me stay and they always talk about how much they will miss me when I leave. I think it’s because I’m just different than most people, as you all know oh so well. I like to make jokes with them...to the best of my ability of course and I’m just social while trying to get the work done. It’s a lot of fun here and I’m sure that I’ll miss it when I leave as well.

So other than that nothing really big has happened this week. We´ve just been trying to find people to teach and spending lots of time clapping houses. I hope that all is well at home and that my dog gets better. Take care all. Love you lots.

Tay

Email Letter - 30 July 2008

Family,

So I didn’t get transferred. Our new president wants everyone to stay in their areas for a lot longer than Pres Shakespear did. It’s a little weird that I´m going to be in my first area for at least 6 months but it’s possible that it will be even more than that. I had almost packed all of my things and spent the last two days saying goodbye to the members. Ha-ha. Oh well I guess we’ll just have to do it again in a month and a half.

I’m going to be staying with Elder Adams as well. We heard that there were only 30 changes were made out of the usual 100. It´s sure a lot different and it didn’t take President Castillo a long time to change things and I’m sure that there is more to come.

So last weekend we had a huge 3 day rock concert in our area and there were so many weird people from all over Argentina walking around drunk and just messed up. It was so funny but just so sad at the same time. We handed out a few pamphlets on the word of wisdom and I hope that they read them and change their lives. There were so many signs saying that it was the biggest party of the year. Our house is more than a mile away from where it was but it kept me up all night one night because it was so loud. Some of the members said that it was pretty good though. I think that the biggest issue that our little town had was trying to find places for the people to sleep. It was a good opportunity to try to get some references for some other elders in other missions in Argentina but we couldn’t even do that because everyone we found didn’t want to listen.

There really hasn’t been anything big that has happened in the last week other than we had a lot of going away lunches and parties for me that were all in vain. Ha-ha. It was really funny to be honest. I’m sorry that this is so short and so boring but I want you all to know how much I love you. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 23 July 2008

Family,

I Finished 6 months today!! It’s crazy how fast time is going for me and I wonder if it’s the same for all of you. Sometimes it seems to go by kinda slow but then I sit there at think about things are it has gone so fast. Tonight I will be burning a tie...of course not one of my own because you all know how I cherish those but my comp is giving me one of his to burn. What a nice guy and guess what! He didn’t have any accidents this week. Woo hoo!

It’s fun to get all of the updates on everything that is going on with all of you every week and I feel like I’m missing so much. I however don’t like to hear about how bad my poor little puppy boomer is doing. I hope everything works out with him and that he’s just fine.

So next week are transfers and although with President Shakespear it would be for sure that I’m moving we´re not so sure how the new president operates so we´ll see. It’s nice that everyone thinks I’m leaving and I’m milking it for all its worth because it’s getting us lunches everyday and I love it. It’s saving me money and its good food.

All and all things have been going well and we are still trying to find people to teach. We have been doing a lot of contacting without a lot of success but we will continue to do so and I’m sure that we´ll find someone that is ready to listen. We have been having some good success with our inactive members and we will continue to work with them as well. It is really hard to look at all the youth that go to seminary but don’t have the desire to go to church for one reason or another. There is one boy in particular that doesn’t understand why God lets bad things happen to people if he knows everything. They are just so thick headed and it’s really quite sad that they don’t even want to listen to an explanation. They just lack the faith that they need to be strong members. I guess that it’s just a little bit harder when you don’t live in Utah being surrounded by good influences. But just like with all the rest I have faith that they will figure it out in time and do what’s right.

I have been studying the talks from general conference and there is a part of President Uchtdorf´s talk from the priesthood session that hit me and that I love. He said...¨remember, the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of the gospel truth.¨ how cool is that. I love you all and pray for you as well. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 16 July 2008

Hey Family,

So to start of this week’s e-mail I’m going to tell you all a little story...We were on our way to Saenz Pena this morning in a remis (a remis is just a taxi basically) anyway we were on our way here and all the sudden my comp rolled down his window and I smelled something foul so I asked him, Did you pass gas? And he said yeah so I just shrugged it off but a few minutes went by and I asked him if he could roll up the window because there was a girl in the car that was cold and he said ¨dude I just crapped my pants¨ I just kinda looked at him in shock for a second and said that we only had about 20 more minutes to go until we were there so if he could hold the rest it would be good. About 3 minutes later he rolled down his window all the way and said that it was too late and that he had let it all go. How sad for him but how funny for me and the other missionaries.

When we got out of the car and walked into the pension (house) of the other elders he went straight to the bathroom and was in there for about an hour and a half just cleaning everything up. Needless to say it smelled so bad. All and all it was sad for him but oh so funny for me. Something I’ll never forget.

Other than that event this week has just been so slow. We can’t seem to find people to teach and it’s just depressing. I feel like I could be doing so much better here but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. We have transfers in two weeks and I think that it’s my turn to go. We obviously don’t know until the night before but I have been in this area for a long time and it’s really time for me to leave.

This Sunday I am giving a talk about missionary work and I’m excited about it this time because I can speak better and almost get what I want to say out in a way that everyone can understand. I’m going to be using quotes from preach my gospel and tell the members that they really need to step it up and help us out.

We just helped our branch president come up with a branch mission plan that is going to do wonders I think and really help to stress the importance of sharing the gospel with your friends and others that you meet so that they can have the same joy as we have in our lives. I hope that my talk will help them to progress and understand that it’s important for them to get the blessing of being a missionary in their homes as well. It’s an exciting work and I’m happy to be here doing it. That’s all I have for this week but as always I want you all to know how much I love you. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 10 July 2008

Hey Fam,

So last week on Thursday we met an ex-elder that is here visiting from the states with his girlfriend. They were so nice and it was fun to visit with them so much. The girlfriend didn’t know any Spanish so the elder was translating everything for her all the time. She was happy that she could speak some English to us while they were in villa Angela. They were so nice and they both bore their testimonies in church on Sunday, she started to cry. Ha-ha. On Monday we had a family home evening with them and with the branch president’s family and it was really fun and really spiritual. Whenever elder Harris would talk (that is the ex-elders name) I would translate for her so that she knew what was going on. It was fun and surprising that I was able to do it.

Also last Saturday I bought some hair clippers and buzzed my head down to 3/8in. which just looks so good. I actually like it...sometimes. On Sunday I joined the choir in our branch as well, they heard me sing one time and so on Sunday they cornered me and told me that I had to sing in the choir. Ha-ha. I don’t mind but I don’t feel like I can sing all that well, I guess they think otherwise. They sad thing is that I don’t think that I’ll be in this area next transfer so they won’t have me singing with them for much longer.

Yesterday was Independence Day here in Argie land and it was just a lot different than it is in the states. When you’re in the states you see flags and red, white, and blue everywhere but here you see a flag every few stores and they don’t seem to have a ton of pride. Other than that it was pretty much the same minus the parade.

We are in Saenz Pena and we went to one branch and had a bbq which was so good! We just ate chicken and rice but it was good. Then after that we went all the way to the other side of town and played soccer with another branch for like 6 hours. I’m not a big soccer guy but it was a lot of fun. It got pretty heated when it was members vs. elders and they beat us pretty bad but I’m surprised that there wasn’t more blood than there was. People were pushing and throwing elbows and just beating each other up. We had the strength but they had the skills. It was a lot of fun and no hard feelings between anyone...I don’t think.

It was a long day and I’m really tired and sun burned pretty bad but it was just a lot of fun. We aren’t having a lot of success in our area but I’m still trying to keep my comp going and we are working hard. That’s all for this week but I love you guys so much and as always I think about you often. Take care.

Tay

ps. here is a pic of me playing paddleball with my new haircut.

Email Letter - 02 July 2008

Hey family,

So things are going well and we found a new family the other day that we started teaching! I’m so excited because it has been a long time since we have found a good family. We just taught them about the restoration of course because that’s the start of it all. It was sad to see that my comp still can’t really teach all that well and I basically have to translate for him. It’s a tough situation to be in but I’m working on it as best as I can. I do all that I can to keep him animated as much as I can but he’s hard to keep up and smiling. I don’t really get why he’s so down all the time. I really feel like he doesn’t have the spirit with him because of all the worldly things on his mind all the time but I’m trying to work on that as well.

Today we met our new mission President, President Del Castillo and he is just so nice and so excited to be here. It was a really fast interview and I didn’t really get to talk to him all that much but he is just so busy right now seeing as how he’s only been here for 2 days and he’s trying to meet all of his missionaries so he doesn’t have a ton of time.

It’s hard to be gone at this time of year because it’s when we do the most family stuff I and really feel like I didn’t take enough advantage of that as I should have when I was there so it makes it that much harder. I really am so happy here though and as much as I want to be home this is such a great work and such a great thing to be doing...changing people’s lives.

So it’s really good to hear that everyone is so busy and that everyone is doing so well. I can’t tell you how happy I am that Jord is going back to school and its crazy how huge all of the boys are getting. I starting to put on some pounds but I’m trying to keep it to a low number. We eat a lot of pasta and don’t have a ton of time to exercise which is not a good combo. I have been told that the average missionary here looses about 15-30 pounds every summer which should help me out some. It’s just because we sweat so much that it just falls of like nothing. It’s not really the way I’d like to lose it but I guess it works. I just hate the heat and so it will suck.

Anyway I feel like I’m just rambling on with this one so I’ll just take off. I love you all so much. Take care and know that I think about you often. Tell the rest of the family hi for me at the reunion. Love you guys.

Tay

Picture - TK at the Zoo on June 11th

Sweet tie - I need one like that for the fourth...

Email Letter - 25 June 2008

Hey Fam,

So first things first, we had our last zone conference with President and Hermana Shakespear...for real this time. They are really leaving this weekend. He got up to give his doctrine lesson for this conference and starting by bearing his testimony of the work and of the gospel. It was really powerful and moving to hear him share his love for us. Next week we will meet President Castillo and his wife and two daughters that he’s bringing with him. It will be different but it will be good.

So I got my new comp finally ha-ha and he is a little bit different. His name is Elder Adams and he’s from Arizona, he has been here for 17 months and people still can’t understand him. More often than not I have to ¨translate¨ for our investigators and members. It’s a little hard because lots of times I don’t fully understand myself what he is saying or what our investigators are saying but I’m getting there. I would say that by the end of this transfer that I’ll be able to understand just about everything and then pretty soon after I’m hoping to be able to speak in the way that I want to.

I have had to work a lot with my patience with this one but it is helping me to grow for sure. I am very grateful for Elder Avalos and what he taught me with doing all the books and things because my comp doesn’t really like to help me with those either. He’s a little bit stuck on worldly things like girls and music but I’m doing my best to look past all of that and work with him. He has a bad past of breaking rules with other comps and that worries me a little bit but it also shows that president has a lot of confidence in me and trusts me to work hard and to help him to do the same.

I have been told that I should move up fast into leadership positions if I don’t get put into the office. It’s a little scary but I would love to be a zone leader or something for a long period of my mission. People think that I'll move up to district leader not next transfer but maybe the one after and then train and then move up from there. Scary thought for sure but it would be fun I think. Ha-ha.

Today we had the whole zone in Saenz Pena again and we played basketball and went out to lunch. It was way fun but I just found out that there are golf courses in Resistencia and in Posadas (Missiones) and so I wanna go there to hit up some golf. Ha-ha.

Overall things are going well and I’m getting better and things because I’m in a position where I have to. We will see how it all works out but I’m trying to be as positive as I can. I love you guys so much. Take care of yourselves.

Tay

Email Letter - 18 June 2008

Hey family,

So I’ll start with the phone call that I got on Saturday morning from my zone leaders saying that we needed to get to the supermarket and buy as much food as we could but enough for at least a week, it was really just in time and I know that President Shakespear must have received some revelation because Saturday night is when it got really bad. The markets ran out of milk among other things. Ha-ha. Life as a missionary in Argentina. Now I’ll explain why, the president of Argentina is making some bad decisions in the eyes of a lot of people but especially the farmers so they are blocking all of the major roads in almost every province in the country and won’t move.

This is especially bad because we are trying to do transfers this week and it’s just getting worse not any better. As of right now I’m stuck in Saenz Pena with my two zone leaders. I’m getting a new comp who is stuck and can’t get to me and my old comp left already. A quick side note, in order to get to Saenz Pena we had to take a taxi and go in dirt roads and stuff. It was so crazy but quite an experience. We are hoping that they will at least let some busses pass so that we can get missionaries to their areas but I’m pretty sure that there will be a lot of people taking back roads to get to where they need to be this week. It’s a little crazy but its fun as well.

So I’m sorry to hear about another water mess but look at the bright side...at least you have water.

As far as my package goes, that’s pretty sweet that Danny Russell is bringing it and I’m sure that it will get here way faster but just send it to the mission home and I’ll get it in a couple weeks when I’m there for zone conference. I had no idea that Danny was doing that kind of stuff but it’s pretty cool.

So other than the road blocks and no one having food things are going well. We have a few families that we are excited to teach and one that is progressing really well that I’m so ready to baptize. Ha-ha.

So the Hermana that feeds us every Saturday came down hard on the other Hermana's in our branch on Sunday. She was teaching them about missionary work and asked why none of them have been helping us with our appointments and why they haven’t been feeding us. That’s when the branch president’s wife chimed in and told all of them that we didn’t have any food and we don’t have any money to get food so they need to feed us. These two Hermanas would do anything for us and they are basically our moms here. One washes all of our clothes and the other feeds us every week. It was funny because that same day right after church we had two other Hermanas ask us when we could go have lunch at their houses. Hna Suarez and Hna Gomez are our life savers and we love them.

So my new companion that I haven’t met yet is a gringo which means that I get to speak English!!! (I’m not so sure that’s a good thing because my Spanish wont progress as fast) I’m still excited though. I hear mixed reviews about him so we´ll see how things go. I’m sure everything will be fine and I hope that we have lots of success together but I’ll have to tell you more about him next week because I don’t know him yet.

I’m a little bit sad to hear that they changed the regions around and that Provo won’t have the good old Timpview rivalry anymore but it will probably be good for both schools. It sounds like Provo got put into the weaker region though which is a little interesting but whatever.

Anyway I want you all to know how much I love you and appreciate all that you do for me. Take care and I’ll write next week. Love you!!!

Tay