TK on the Mish

Email Letter 28 December 2009

2009-12-28T14:23:00.002-07:00

Hey Fam,

Well it awesome to talk to you, it seems like it’s been so long but this time we won’t have to wait quite as long. Sounds like Christmas went by really well and that everyone is all doing so well. I don’t think that there is anything more important than to have your family around you for the holidays and I’m happy that I don’t have to miss that again. There are so many things that I’m grateful for and family is number one on that list so I’m happy that things are going so well.

The week went by really fast. We had a lot of success in finding people to teach. I think that I’m at an advantage because I’m opening this area where there hasn’t been missionaries for the last 3 years almost so there are a lot of people that haven’t ever listened to or even seen the missionaries so just about everyone we talk to is interested in listening to us. The other day we were a little bit late for an appointment but I saw this young family sitting outside their house and I looked at my comp and said we are late but we have to talk to these people first or I will regret it forever so we went and talked to them and they were so excited to listen. We didn’t have any Book of Mormons to give them but we told them that we would be passing by to give on to them a little bit later on so we left them with a pamphlet and went on to our other lesson. After the lesson we went back by to give them the book and we gave it to the wife and explained the part that we had marked and left, later on that night we saw them walking around and the dad asked when they had to read it by and when we were going to pass by to take the book back, I told him that it was theirs and that we didn’t want it back. I wish that you all could have seen the way his face lit up. He asked us when we could go by and talk to them a little bit more then and they went on their way. I’m super excited about this family and I can’t wait to talk to them again. There are so many awesome experiences like that that I won’t ever forget.

We are being so blessed in this area and I love it. We are getting the members excited to have missionaries back and to get back into the swing of working with us. It’s going to be a fun 4 more weeks! Other than that there’s not much else to say because we talked just a few days ago. It’s been super, super hot and it’s hard to sleep but we make do. I love this work! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 21 December 2009

2009-12-21T13:58:00.009-07:00

Hey Fam,

Well once again I’m writing from a new area and with a new companion. Who would have thought? Not me to be honest. I didn’t think that the lord would move me for my last transfer but it looks like I thought wrong. I’m training again for the second transfer in a row and I’m opening that area that I told you about “LAS LOMITAS” it’s just a little further east than my last area. It’s weird because both of my newbies are in the same district together. I’m going to be able to work with Elder Hansen in divisions and he will be able to work with his new brother Elder Wald.

Elder Wald is from Orem. Right close to home for me. He went to Timpanogos and he’s a good kid. He actually knows a lot of Spanish which is nice and he’s really ready to work. He’s going to keep me on my toes I think. It should be fun and we have already found some really good people to teach. He has a sister that just started her mission as well in Texas which is pretty cool. He’s my second companion with a sibling serving a mission at the same time (Elder Hogge had two sisters serving along with him) crazy stuff.

Well like I said, we opened up an area and that means we got here with an empty apartment. It’s been fun to go shopping though. When I got to Resistencia to pick Elder Wald up they gave me an envelope with 4500 pesos in it to buy everything. It’s so fun to just go out and buy a bunch of stuff and especially when it’s not your money. I actually feel bad with how much stuff costs because I know where the money comes from and so we have been buying the least expensive stuff but things that will last a long time. It’s been interesting to have to think about what exactly we need to be able to live and then go to a bunch of different stores to price things out to get the best price. I feel like such an adult.

So on the way here we got stuck in a really crappy bus. The air conditioners don’t work half the time in the busses out here in the middle of nowhere and it just so happened that on this horribly hot day that the air didn’t work on the bus we had to take. It was full of people so I had to stand the whole ride and it was like an oven inside. I think that I lost about 10lbs just in that hour and a half. It was a fun experience for my comps first few days in the mission. Ha-ha. But other than that traveling wasn’t too bad all things considered. I had to sleep on the floor for two nights in a row but I just look at it like you win some and you lose some and I only have a little over a month left so I can take one for the team now and then.

Yesterday in church we had 12 people and one of them was an investigator which was pretty cool. I gave a talk about the birth of Christ and how important it is to think about others at this time of year and not think so much about ourselves. It was a good meeting. And then last night we went out and found some really nice people, we actually taught a lesson in English which was a first for me in my mission. I have high hopes for this place and I know the Lord has put me here for a reason.

Well that’s about it for this week. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I love you all very much and I’m excited to be able to talk to some of you in a few days and the rest of you in uh....let’s see...let me think...oh yeah 39 DAYS AND COUNTING!

Tay

Pics

Me and Elder Hansen

Me and Elder Wald

My little friend Cinthia

Email Letter 14 December 2009

2009-12-14T13:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

Well it’s been a good week I guess. Not too eventful but nice and calm. I got an awesome birthday present from President del Castillo. He called me and started asking me about the other area that I’ve been working in. It’s called Las Lomitas and I have been begging him to put missionaries there. It’s been my dream to open and area and he is going to at least open it. We will find out tomorrow night if it’s going to be me or another missionary. I have a feeling that it’s not going to be me but it would be so cool if it is. I think that president finally got sick of my asking and decided to open it because there are enough missionaries coming that he will be able to do it. It’s going to be an interesting wait for sure. The cool thing was that I don’t think he even knew it was my birthday!

So today I officially started my last transfer. It’s an interesting feeling to think that in less than 7 weeks I will be home and in the freezing cold snow! I love that thought. I try not to think about it so much and I don’t really like talking about it to my comp, I think it might make him think about home even more than he already does and that makes me feel bad so I’m trying to do better. It’s pretty fun with Elder Hansen, he’s a riot! It’s going to be sad if I leave him this transfer.

So a few weeks ago my comp and I went around to all of the members houses and told them that I had to humble myself and ask for help from all of you. I told them that I really thought that I could go house to house and find baptisms which I really do believe but that it wasn’t the way that things needed to be done and that I needed their help. I gave them all goal sheets and told them all that they needed to find me a family to baptize this month. I told them that they didn’t have to do it if they didn’t want to but that if they said they would that they really needed to start looking. To be honest I think that it was the best idea I’ve had in my mission. I was thinking back to my last area and how I had so much success and realized that it was all the help from the members so I’m trying to do the same thing here and all of them are so excited to be helping. Every time I go to their houses my first question is... “Have you found someone that we can baptize yet” and they have all said yes!!! It’s been great. They are all excited and they are finding people like crazy. We have a few really good families that I’m really excited about but there is a lot of work to do with them until they are ready. I’m excited for the work and it keeps me thinking in the mission and not in home. We shall see what happens but like I always say to the members “hay algo dificil para dios?” or in English “is there anything hard for god to do?” the answer to that would be NO. It helps them realize that anything is possible. As long as I can keep them excited we should have lots of success.

Not much else has been going on. We are all excited for transfers and for Christmas for sure and I think about you guys all the time. Love you guys. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 07 December 2009

2009-12-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

It was a good week. We had our interviews with Pres. and it was awesome. I was waiting outside for him to finish an interview with a member and when he came out he just smile and hugged me and then pulled me into the office. We sat down and he just told me how much he loves me and appreciates me and the work I’m doing. He said that he knows wherever he puts me there will be results and that he completely trusts me in whatever I do. It was really quite awesome to hear that. I don’t think that I’ve had an interview quite like that. He was really happy because we had 116 baptisms in November which is a record a think for our mission. He’s just so happy and everyone can tell. It’s pretty cool to be honest. We just sat there for a few minutes and laughed and that was about it. He’s such a cool guy.

Other than that it rained a lot yesterday and there were only six of us in church! It was kinda sad and really hurt us as far as getting investigators in church because no one goes anywhere when it rains. The streets are flooded and muddy and it just hurt us as far as people in church. We had high hopes of having quite a few but when I woke up I told me comp that there wouldn’t be anyone there and that it would be us and four others and that’s exactly how it was.

We went to a member’s birthday party on Saturday, he turned 6 and it was a spider man party so my comp was a hit. It’s really funny how much he looks like “Peter Parker” that’s what the members call him. They all say “HEY! Elder Peter Parker” they love him. He’s famous!! All the little kids wanted to take their picture with him. It’s pretty funny. I told them all that I was going to start making people pay 5 pesos to shake hands with him and if they wanted a picture that it would be an additional 10 pesos. The funny thing is that I think they would all be willing to do it. Ha-ha!

Things are going slow but I’m loving my time here. I know that its short but I wouldn’t trade it for anything! We are having a lot of fun and I think that we are going to have a lot of success with the members this month. It’s hard to think that I turn 21 on Wednesday!!! And even more that I’m going home in less than two months. It’s just so crazy! I never thought that I would actually turn 21 or that my mission would ever end but here it is coming up quick. I love you guys and I’m excited to talk to you in a few weeks. Take care! Love you!

Tay

Email Letter 30 November 2009

2009-11-30T13:03:00.008-07:00

Hey Fam,

So it sounds like Thanksgiving was a hit. I’m very happy to hear that. I woke up on Thanksgiving and looked at my comp and said... “Its thanksgiving” and he looked at me and said... “Thanks for reminding me” it was funny. I felt bad for reminding him about his family since he just got here but to be honest after that I think we both just forgot about it all and went on out to work. It was just a normal day for us but it was a good day. It has been super hot here and the power gets cut sometimes during the night which makes it so much fun to try to sleep because that means that the fans don’t work and neither does our air conditioner that’s from the 70s that only works half the time anyway. You just roll around like you're in a swimming pool of your own sweat. It’s really nasty but it’s so true. We couldn’t sleep very well last night and I told my comp that he just needed to get used to it and he looked at me and said that it’s impossible to get used to it. He’s oh so right but I think that I can go without two months of sleep if it means that I can sleep in my waterbed again!! Ha-ha.

Like I told you all last week that we had a baptism and here are the promised pictures...

It was a pretty fun day. He was confirmed yesterday and he’s just super awesome.

To be honest nothing else has really happened this last week. Nothing ever really happens when you’re out in the middle of nowhere but we try to make things fun. We have our interviews with president del Castillo this week and those are always fun but other than that again this week with be another boring one. Next week is my birthday though! How cool is that. I’m not really that excited but it will be fun anyway. Well Fam I love you guys and I think about you often. Take care!

Tay

Other fun pics...

This is my friend Victoria.

TELL ME THAT HE DOESNT LOOK MY PETER PARKER FROM SPIDERMAN!!! Toby McGuire

He fell asleep.

Email Letter 23 November 2009

2009-11-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

So it’s been a pretty good week. Last Friday we had out zone conference in Formosa and it was a lot different. There is a new way that the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve want things to be taught and it was a little bit disappointing because it just wasn’t the same as it used to be. For example President del Castillo can’t get up and teach us doctrine from what he has studied like he has always done. He can’t just give us answers; we have to answer our own questions. It’s like a group discussion. Its different and he admitted that he doesn’t really like it because he doesn’t feel like he can teach us anything because that’s just not what he’s used to but we are all very supportive of the first presidency and we will learn to use it better and better every time. It was a very very spiritual conference though. At one point president asked us all to stand one by one and bear our testimony which is something he’s never done. It invited the spirit though and I think that we all loved it.

Yesterday we had our district conference and right after we had a baptism. I forgot my camera so you’re going to have to wait for pictures until tomorrow but it was very cool. We baptized a kid named Juan and he’s 20 years old. He’s so cool and he understands so well. He’s going to be a great asset to the church and the branch. We are all very excited and we are trying to find the people that are ready to listen so that we can help more people come to unto Christ and his true church.

Elder Hansen is progressing very quickly. He has learned a lot and is catching on to things pretty fast. I think he just needs a little bit more common sense and he would be perfect. Ha-ha. I think that it’s just from the shock of being here in Argentina because it’s just so different. I remember when I first started like it was yesterday. I was just so tired all the time from trying to understand and work in the heat and everything but it comes with time and he will figure it out.

Things are moving along and I find myself just loving the work and the people. It’s going to be hard to leave and just thinking about how I just have 9 weeks left is crazy!! It kinda makes me sad and happy at the same time. Its bittersweet but I really don’t think that it has hit me yet. I hope that all is well and know that I love you and think about you all often. Take care and Happy Thanksgiving!

Tay

Email Letter 16 November 2009

2009-11-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

So it’s been a good week. We have been working hard and trying to get some baptisms going on. We have been going through some rough times though with all of our investigators. It seems like they are so close and then they just fall away. It has been really hard for me. We will keep on keepin on though and see what we can get done.

To be honest there isn’t really anything to tell you. Not much has been going on. Things are good with my new little boy and he is learning quite quickly. We spoke in church yesterday and I’m not sure what the branch presidency was thinking making my comp speak in his second week here but he did a good job. I helped him write it out and he did well. He speaks so softly because he’s pretty shy but he got his point across. He spoke about missionary work and I spoke about talents and how all of us have certain ones that the lord has given us and we will lose them if we don’t work to get perfect. The lord wants us to progress and if we don’t he will take what he has given away and give it to someone else.

To be honest there hasn’t been anything big going on and I am out of things to say. I love you guys and I hope all is well. Take care and just think...10 more weeks!!!

Tay

Email Letter 09 November 2009

2009-11-09T13:01:00.002-07:00

Hey Fam,

So this week has been pretty hectic for sure. On Tuesday night we found out about transfers and as it turns out I was so right about what was going to happen. Elder Hogge left to Resistencia and I’m training!! I finally have a kid. His name is Elder Hansen and he’s from Cache Valley.

We are completely different as I’m sure you can tell from the pictures but it will be fun. He’s kind of a nerd and is super shell-shocked and it’s hilarious. You can just tell he is so scared and worried about everything. He seems a little clueless and sometimes I have to tell him something like five times before it clicks in his head but it will be all good. He doesn’t know any Spanish. I honestly don’t know what they teach anymore in the MTC because I’m pretty sure I knew a lot more Spanish before I got here. The members are trying to help him out though. I made him sit down with a ten year old kid and teach him about Joseph Smith just so that he could practice. I remember my first week or two in Argentina so I feel for him but it’s just really funny. Sometimes the members will mess with him and start talking Guarani which is a language from Paraguay. It’s pretty hilarious.

It’s still really hot here. It got up to 117 degrees the other day and the sun was killer but it rained pretty hard the other day and it’s been cloudy so the heat is bearable...for now. The weather here is just weird. Overnight it just changes from no clouds at all to rainy and humid with the streets covered in water to the knees almost and then the next day back to super hot and no clouds. I just don’t understand.

Overall things are just going normal. We have a few people that are getting close to baptism and I’m getting pretty excited. I’m doing everything possible to make sure that President has to open an area next transfer by trying to baptize a bunch there as well. I think that’s what keeps me going. And it’s pretty good incentive for me I guess.

I love all of you so much and think about you often. It’s not too much longer until we will all be sitting together talking about all the fun things that have happened over the last few years. Pray for me and know that I’m praying for you. Love you!

Tay

Email Letter 03 November 2009

2009-11-03T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

Well as you know once again I’m writing a day late. Let me explain...yesterday was our p-day as you know but it was also another holiday here in Argentina. It was “Dia de los muertos” or day of the dead. It’s not the Halloween but they all go to the cemetery and stuff like that. I don’t really understand the whole concept but that’s just what they do. Since it was a holiday the cyber was closed and we didn’t have any way at all to write. Sorry!

Today we are on divisions and we went out the Indian colony that is here close to the zone leaders area and there is a family there that has to cougars as pets

This is just one of them but it’s pretty sweet that they can say they have little cougars like other people have dogs!! It’s nice to know that most of you are not alone in being BYU fans because it would seem as though they like the cougars as well.

We did some service on Saturday and we helped the Hermana make some lunch afterwards...nioquis (gnocchi) are my favorite of course...

The food turned out great!

So now that I’m not in Libres I’m not with my little friend Karren anymore. On the bright side of things I have found a new little friend and her name is Cinthia

She’s the cutest little thing isn’t she!

Well on a side note I just went and threw up. Ha-ha I thought you all might want to know that. I think it’s just because of something I ate because the other elder that I ate the same thing with isn’t feeling very good either.

So tonight are transfers and I’m pretty excited. I think that I might train and that would be awesome since I haven’t done it yet.

We have been having a lot of success lately and we have a baptismal date for this Saturday. She is an awesome 23 year old girl and I think that I’ve told you about but we are so excited for her. I’m not sure that it will happen this Saturday because we still have a few things to teach her and not very much time to do it in especially if I have to train because I would be out of my area for 2 days with traveling and stuff but if it’s not this Saturday it will be the next. The lord has been blessing us like crazy and I can’t explain how blessed I feel. It’s been over 100 degrees the last few days and it has been killer but I know that because we keep working through it the lord is taking care of us as we take care of his work. It’s only getting hotter and hotter as we go though.

I love this work and I love being here. I miss you all and I know that this is the Lord's work and that we are all being blessed because I’m here. Take care and I’ll let you all know what goes on in transfers and the baptism next week.

Tay

P.s. HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARTER!!!!

Email Letter 26 October 2009

2009-10-26T13:09:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So it’s been another good week. I passed the 21 month mark on Friday! It was actually the worst day of my mission. I’ll explain. So we had to travel for a District meeting and the bus was supposed to leave at 9am so we got the place at a quarter til and it had already left. They said that it decided to leave at 8:30am for some reason. So we went out to the highway and hitched a ride after trying to get someone to stop and take us for a half hour. So we went and had the meeting at it went really well. Very spiritual and I loved it. After we got done with the meeting we all went to lunch and we had to catch a bus going back to my area at 2pm. So we got done eating and went to the terminal to catch the bus that never showed up. We were waiting for 3 hours until a bus arrived. It was a long wait and it made for a very long day. My comp wasn’t very happy at all and I told him that he just needs to get used to it because that’s just how the busses here in Argentina are...VERY UNRELIABLE. All and all it wasn’t that great of a day.

We spoke yesterday in church and I talked about how if the church is really true then nothing else should matter. We have problems with people being the only members in their families and they complain about how hard it is and how tired they are and how this and how that, now don’t get me wrong I understand where they are coming from because I’m sure it’s not easy but I spoke about how its shouldn’t matter if it’s really true. Just like the lord said in Matthew, seek ye first the lord and all the rest will be added. That’s not exactly how it goes but close enough. This is the true church and nothing else should matter if we just put our thoughts and actions in doing what he would have us do so that he can bless us.

So on Saturday there were two baptisms of ward members kids that turned 8. It was a lot of fun to be there and see how happy they were. There were 60 people there and we couldn’t all fit into the kitchen to see the baptisms. It was crazy. We had some investigators there and they loved it. We actually put a baptismal date with one of them and she is so excited. We put the date for the 7th of November. She’s a really nice girl and she’s studying English in college. We are excited to help with that as well.

On the upside of things my comp and I started running today. I’m pretty excited to get back into that. It’s been since my time with Elder Rapp since I’ve been running and it was pretty difficult but at the same time very refreshing. I’ve made the goal to go home in shape and I’m for sure going to get it done.

Well Fam that’s it for this week. I love you guys lot and think about you all the time. Hope things are going well and not too much longer before I get home.

Tay

Pictures 19 October 2009

2009-10-19T13:18:00.008-06:00

King on the Tower

King with Pokemon

King and Hogge

Email Letter 19 October 2009

2009-10-19T07:04:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So it’s been a good week. We had interviews with President del Castillo yesterday and he gave me hope that I might open the area that I want to badly to open. I talked to Elder Eliason who is one of the assistants and he came with me so we are good friends and I told him that I wanted to open this area and it looks like he talked to President for me. He also told me that President trusts what I think and that if it’s possible he will let me do it. Ha-ha. I love being loved. Interviews were good though and I also got my new Temple recommend because mine expires this month. Pres stayed for church and spoke about how important mothers are in our lives and how much they affect what we do in the future. It was awesome and very fitting because yesterday was mother’s day in Argentina.

We have been working hard and to honest even though it’s hot and I’m in the middle of nowhere and I’m getting to the end of my mission I want to work more now than I have my whole mission. It’s like I put it into 5th gear and I love it. I thought that I had worked pretty hard before but now I just have a love for it that can’t be stopped. My comp asked me why I wanna work so much and so hard in the heat at the end of my mission because his last comp was going home and didn’t really want to work at all. I just told him that I felt like there’s lots to do and that people need us and he said that he was happy that I wanted to work. It seems like it’s just easier and lots more fun to talk to people. I think that at the beginning of my mission I was scared but in Libres that all changed and now I’m just a Bold, direct missionary that won’t take a now from anybody. It’s an amazing thing to be able to speak in the name of the lord and the personal revelations that come to me from just talking to people. The promised blessings just flow out of my mouth and I don’t know where they come from or why I say them but I know that it’s not me talking.

Things are going well and even though I count down the months and transfers and p-days and everything I just feel good being here and I don’t really want to leave. I miss you guys and I love you. Know that I think about you often and pray for you always. Take care.

Tay

P.S. Mom I did know that Amber is engaged because Matt told me and I would love to see pictures of Tess and Paisley.

Pictures 13 October 2009

2009-10-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

Cinthia

Dinner before the Priesthood Session

Me and Elder Hogge

At the Baptism

Email Letter 13 October 2009

2009-10-13T07:24:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

So I’m a day late on writing. I forgot to tell you last week that I would be writing today due to the zone conference we had in Formosa Capital yesterday. The conference was amazing. The drive wasn’t so amazing but it was worth it like always. President del Castillo talked about God the Father and Jesus Christ. He explained how Christ could also be called the father and used so many scriptures to explain why. It’s a question that most people bring up because they get confused and think that they are one and not two different people but he was amazing in explaining it to us and the spirit like always was so strong. He bore testimony at the end that he knows that President Monson knows Christ and knows him in a way that can’t be explained. That he knows him so personally because he is his head representative here on earth and that he holds all the keys for our salvation. It’s unexplainable how powerfully he testifies. I love this gospel!

So back to last week. We had service and I learned how to build a house out of bricks and cement. They don’t use wood here, all of the houses and built with bricks. It was a lot of fun to learn. My comp and I built a wall much, much taller than I am and they said at the end that we had done a pretty good job for our first time. I got all dirty and stuff but it was worth it.

It’s been really, really hot lately and I just don’t like it. It’s incredible how hot it’s been and it’s just going to get much, much worse. Being out here in the middle of a desert isn’t quite what I had in mind to finish my mission but it should be fun. We eat dirt all day because of all the loose dirt and wind that we always have. I asked one of the members what the normal temperature is in summer here and they told me that it’s around 40º C which is converted is around 104º F. How fun huh. They said that it gets up to around 50º C sometimes which could kill someone for sure. Ha-ha. It’s just something to look forward to.

This Sunday are our interviews with President and I’m looking forward to them. I’m going to ask him if I can open an area and train. I’ll let you know what he says next week. It’s been a good week. I love you guys and miss you lots. Take care and stop getting sick!!

Tay

Email Letter 05 October 2009

2009-10-05T07:06:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Well it’s been a good week. Last Monday we went and had a lesson at one of the Sisters houses with one of her neighbors and it was one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission. It was amazing and you can really tell when they are paying attention and when they can feel the spirit as well. I can’t really explain it because it’s just one of those things but we focused a lot on the Book of Mormon and I can only testify of my love for it. It might not be as convincing as Elder Holland’s testimony but I do love that book with all my heart.

On to much better news...we baptized three people on Saturday! They are an amazing family that should have been baptized a long time ago but because of their travels they never could. Well we got them in the water and they were so happy. They even asked me how long they have to wait to go through the temple (Another Navarro family!) ha-ha. The dad is from Corrientes so we would talk like the Correntinos do and it was so fun. I love them already.

Conference was amazing! At least what I saw of it. We got most of it but the power kept cutting out. (Welcome to the middle of nowhere Formosa, Argentina) ha-ha. I especially like Elder Ballard's talk in priesthood. He talked about the three most important things are for both fathers and sons. It was amazing and its things that I’m going to try to work on as much as I can for the rest of my life. It was funny to listen and to say to myself, but that’s exactly how my communication is with my dad. I think that that’s why I have always said that Dad and I are more like friends that father and son and I feel the same way with Mom and that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing today. Thanks mom and dad!

Not much else to report. It’s been a good week and I’m still working with Elder Hogge to see how we can work better together. I love you guys and I love this work. Don’t be Trunky!!

Tay

Email Letter 28 September 2009

2009-09-28T11:25:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So I’m in my new area, I got here last Thursday afternoon. The place is called ESTANISLADO DEL CAMPO and it’s in the middle of nowhere. We don’t even have a place with computers to write so we come every week to the zone leader’s area which is IBARRETA just a half hour away to write and have p-day. My zone is really small but it should be good. I’m district leader which I really didn’t want, I wanted to just be nice and without commitment for the rest of my mission but I guess it’s what the lord wants so that’s what I’m going to do.

My comp is Elder Hogge and he’s from Sacramento, California. I just don’t get blessed with the Latino elders I guess. He’s a good kid and he’s pretty new. He’s got 4 months in the mission and you can tell that he’s really new. It’s going to take a lot of patience on my part to keep things going. We shall see how it goes. I think that we will have a ton of success here though and I think that I should be training next transfer so that’s something to look forward to. Our branch varies from 45-70 people in church every week which is awesome and there are a lot of priesthood holders which is something I haven’t had in awhile. I’m going to be doing a lot of changing here though with the way things are run. They are just kind of sloppy and I had to be Mr. Bad guy yesterday to get things going right. It should be a fun task though for sure. I’m going to try to clean up the list of members like Elder Rapp and I did in Pasos and that’s going to keep me busy. We have four Baptismal dates for the next two weeks and that’s exciting and we have lots of other investigators that have lots of potential to make it to baptism as well. The people are a little bit lazier here so I’m going to have to kick them all in the butt to get them going but it will be good.

So over the weekend there was a Stake President here from Buenos Aires and we got to work with him a little bit. He was here on business and he was like another missionary. Every time we ran into him in the street he wanted to take us to another house of people that he was working with to teach them the gospel. He was so cool. He opened a lot of doors for us and he was just so excited to do the work and it gave me a big boost and got me really excited to get things going in CAMPO.

Well that’s about it for this week. I miss you guys and think about you often. Just four more short months and we will be talking about how amazing my mission was and how much I miss it but for now know that I’m doing well and that the work is progressing. Love you guys!!

Tay

Pictures 21 September 2009

2009-09-21T14:33:00.000-06:00

Behold your littles ones...

Pictures 21 September 2009

2009-09-21T14:32:00.000-06:00

Baptism Time

Pictures 21 September 2009

2009-09-21T14:30:00.001-06:00

Little Karen - Clearly a Florida fan too.

Email Letter 21 September 2009

2009-09-21T12:50:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a pretty good week. We have had a lot of work to do which has helped me focus more on the fact that I’m still here more than that I’m going to be having to leave soon. We find out about transfers tomorrow and we are almost positive that I’m leaving. I think that it’s been a hard thing for everyone. President dos Santos our district president feels like he’s losing a secretary and our branch president feels the same way. I think that they feel a little bit lost. I’ve had to do a lot for them in the last week to get everything ready for when I leave. We have also been going around to all of the members to give them the chance to write in my journal and it’s been really fun to just spend some time and talk about the gospel with the members. We have also been working hard in trying to find people to teach as well so it’s just been crazy.

Yesterday we spoke in church because it was the third Sunday and that’s missionary Sunday. When they announced the order of the talks the first counselor said that I would be speaking last and that I would also take some time to say goodbye which didn’t help at all I might add. My comp spoke about reactivation and I spoke about how amazing the Book of Mormon is and how we can use it better to help those that need it. In between the two talks my comp played Joseph Smiths first prayer and it helped me a lot to have the spirit with me while I spoke. My talk was going great and I was closing and bearing my testimony and I felt normal and when I say normal I mean I felt like I was going to make it through without crying…boy was I wrong. I made the mistake of looking up at one of the Sisters in the branch and I knew from the beginning that if I were to look at her or at the Navarro’s I would lose it and I still looked up at her and I just lost it. I think of these people as family. I’ve been here for so long that it’s too hard to say goodbye. I pray for a miracle that maybe the Lord will let me stay, that maybe there’s more for me to do here but I think that my time is up. It was a really good meeting none the less and I somehow made it through it. Today we are going to be going to see a few more families and then tomorrow we will have dinner with the dos Santos to finish my time here.

Not much else has happened. We have been working and waiting to see what will happen. I know that if I leave that the Lord has prepared someone for me in my new area. I love you guys and think about you often. Take care!

Tay

Football Video - 14 September 2009

2009-09-21T09:37:00.000-06:00

TK Plays Football with the kids in Argentina

Football Pics - 14 September 2009

2009-09-14T12:43:00.006-06:00

Email Letter 14 September 2009

2009-09-14T12:13:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a good week. We had our interviews on Wednesday and I just couldn’t ask Pres where I would go but I think he’s made it pretty clear that I’m leaving. Let me explain…

I called Elder Avalos (aka mi papi) and he had just gone to the mission office where President del Castillo has an office. In Presidents office there are pictures of all of the missionaries and where they are in the mission. Elder Avalos told me that President had already taken my picture out of my zone so I’m pretty sure that I’m done here. He said that he looked for me all over the board but President hadn’t put me back up anywhere so I still don’t know where I will be going.

It seems like things are going well at home though! I love hearing that the boys are doing well in their games and of course that Florida and BYU are still doing well as well. It’s sad that I’m not there to be a part of this time of year but I will send some pics of me showing the youth here how to play football. We went to the church this morning to play some soccer with them because they had the day off from school and I took my football. So after we all got sick of playing soccer I showed them how to throw the ball and we had a little game (no worries, my team won of course) I think that they liked it and it for sure was a lot of fun for me.

This week is going to be a week of visiting a lot of families to tell them goodbye. I think that this will be the hardest week of my mission because it will be like leaving home. These people are like my family and I’m sure that there will be some tears shed…BY THEM. Ha-ha.

Well I love you all! I’m glad to hear that all is well. Take care!

Tay

Ramdom Pics 07 September 2009

2009-09-07T12:20:00.001-06:00

Email Letter 07 September 2009

2009-09-07T12:20:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a good week I guess. Last Wednesday we were walking home and it started raining. And when I say raining I mean pouring. We didn’t have jackets or umbrellas so we got soaked. It was a lot of fun until that night when we went to bed the other elders that we live with decided that it was hot so they turned on the fan and when I woke up…you guessed it SICK!! It’s just so wonderful. I have decided that I won’t be healthy until I’m back at home in the states. I thought for sure that it was pneumonia but I called the church doctor and he told me that I should be just fine and that he doesn’t think its pneumonia and that in a few days I'll be better. That would be ideal but I have to travel again tomorrow and the busses just kill me. We shall see how it all turns out I guess.

The work is moving along nicely. We are going to have a lot of changes in the branch this week because I finally talked our branch president into changing around some callings and I guess the lord agreed with me. We are going to have the Relief Society Presidency full which is a first I think for the northern part of Argentina and we will have a new Young Womens president and a first and second counselor for her too and two new counselors in the Primary. They are all great changes and I’m excited for it on Sunday. We have had so much help from the members here and it’s just been a good experience.

We have our interviews on Wednesday with President del Castillo and it will be interesting to hear what he will tell me. I’m going to try to get him to tell me where or if I’ll be going anywhere but I’m sure he’s not going to say a word. It sure would be nice to know though. That’s the thing about the mission though, always with the surprises.

Other than all of that things are good here. I love the work and time is just flying. I love you guys so much and miss you lots but it will be too soon before I see you all. Take care!

Tay

P.S. I’m calling it now…FLORIDA vs. BYU in the national championship. Ha-ha. We all know Florida will be there but I’m not convinced on the BYU part yet.

Email Letter 31 August 2009

2009-08-31T08:05:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Well not much has happened since just Thursday but on Sunday Sylvana was confirmed and we had a total of 63 people in church. It was the second most I’ve seen while I’ve been in the mission in a regular sacrament meeting.

We are doing well. It’s about time for me to leave here though or get a new comp. I think that things are just getting old and I’m not as patient as I used to be. I love this area and I get along with the people just fine but I think it’s just having to babysit the elders and my comp and it’s just getting to me.

We are going to have another baptism this Saturday which means the miracles continue here in Pasos. I wish that I could stay here forever and just trade comps every once in awhile. Ha-ha.

There’s not much else to report because it hasn’t been very long since I’ve written you. I’m glad to hear that all is going well and I’m happy that the boys are playing well as well. I love to hear the success that they are having. I love you guys and I miss ya. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter 27 August 2009

2009-08-27T12:29:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

So it’s been a good week. Yesterday we traveled to Resistencia for our meetings with the other zone leaders. Once again we left at 1:30am yesterday morning from Pasos and got to Corrientes Capital at around 6:30am. We sat at the terminal and waited for some other elders and then when they got there we went to Wal-Mart and got donuts. Oh they were so good! Just like the states. Then we crossed the bridge into Resistencia and went to the mission office and had some lunch and from there we went to the mission home for the meetings that started at noon. We finished with the meetings and dinner at 7 and went back to the office for awhile and then crossed back over to Corrientes at around 9pm and went to the terminal to wait for our bus that left at 1am this morning. We pulled into the terminal here in Pasos at around 6 and went home and slept. I don’t mind traveling that much but I just can’t sleep on these busses. Some of them are really nice and some of them just aren’t.

I loved the meetings though. The best part is always President del Castillo’s doctrine. Yesterday he talked about how the Book of Mormon is really another testament of Jesus Christ. He used two chapters in Ether that have so much doctrine about Christ that you can’t find something that specific in any other Holy Writ. It was amazing and it was written 1200 years before Christ. He talked about all the things that happened during the translation and you can really tell that this book was a miracle that the Lord had just for our day.

On Sunday we had another baptism. Her name is Sylvana and she’s Debora’s (the little girl I baptized about a month ago) sister. It was a nice simple service and I’m glad that she finally decided to get baptized. We are going to try to have three more baptisms this Sunday but I’m not sure if we are going to pull it off because of all the traveling we’ve had to do. We shall see though.

We have had some obedience issues in the zone with some other Elders and it’s just so tiring. I guess I know what it’s like to be a parent now but with older kids that act like little kids. It’s tough sometimes. I’m sure it will all go away soon though and we will get it back together. It’s not anything serious just little dumb stuff so it will all be fine.

It’s starting to get hot again, I hate the heat!! It’s not too bad yet so I’m surviving but it’s still pretty warm outside.

Over all things are going pretty good. I didn’t get sick this time traveling which is a miracle! I love all of you and I hope that you’re all doing just as well as I am. Good luck boys in the game tomorrow and congrats on the big win. Hope you had a good birthday Quin!! Love you guys.

Tay

This means we're going home soon

2009-08-27T09:18:00.000-06:00

This means that we are going home soon. They are called trunky papers. Can you see the plane?!!!

Me and Elder Smith

2009-08-27T09:17:00.000-06:00

I love this kid!

At the Mission Office

2009-08-27T09:15:00.000-06:00

Mission Leadership Pic

2009-08-27T09:14:00.000-06:00

These are all the zone Readers and the APs alter the meetings yesterday. Im next to elder Avalos who was my trainer and leaves this transfer.

Sylvana's Baptism

2009-08-27T09:13:00.001-06:00

This is sylvana, shes deboras sister (the girl i baptized about a month ago) she decided to get baptized too. Now there is just one more of the family Left to go. She was baptized by our first counselor.

Email Letter 20 August 2009

2009-08-20T11:42:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

so it’s been a really good week. We spoke on Sunday again and it went really well. My comp talked about how we all need to become converted and that we need to change and leave all the bad behind so that we can become more united and work together and then I spoke about how we are all prodigal children of our Heavenly Father and I talked about the things that we need to do to make our way back starting right now. It went well and I think we all learned a lot.

Then on Monday it was Elder Hunsaker's birthday which we celebrated traveling to do a baptismal interview. We actually did get back to Pasos at around 7 and went and had family night with the Dos Santos family. They made cake and it was a lot of fun. I love them.

Things went really well at Zone Conference. I learned a lot from President and Hna del Castillo and from Elder and Hna. Zivic. They are really amazing people and the spirit was really strong. Elder Zivic is a member of our area presidency and he’s a member of the Seventy. I had the chance to talk to him and his wife quite a bit because I conducted the meeting and sat right next to him. He would often turn to me and make comments or just talk to me about what he expected. It was really a once in a lifetime experience and I took it to the fullest.

Not much else is going on. This weekend we have our District conference and a Baptism. It’s going to be another full week this week and next. Again I won’t be able to write next Wednesday because we will be back in Resistencia for meetings so more than likely I will be writing again on Thursday. Not much else has happened this week.

It’s been really going well and I’m so happy to be here. So to resolve any worries and stuff about when I’m going to be home, I will be going home on my regular date. Not later and not earlier. Elder Zivic mentioned that we will no longer be allowed to extend to cut short our two years. If we want permission for that we have to get it from the First Presidency. It’s been something that I’ve been struggling with but I got my answer.

I love you guys and I’m glad that you’re all in good health. Take care.

Tay

Pictures August 12, 2009

2009-08-12T12:37:00.004-06:00

At some statue

At Maria's Baptism

With Evita

Email Letter 12 August 2009

2009-08-12T10:15:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

This week as been pretty relax. We found out last night that I will be staying here with Elder Hunsaker for at least one more transfer. I’m happy that I’m staying because I feel like there is a lot of work still to be done and a lot of people still to be baptized.

We had the Baptism of Maria on Saturday and it went really well. It was pretty funny too. I have to keep lying to people and tell them that the water is really hot and that they will love it but when they take that first step into the ice cold water I love the reaction. She stepped in and screamed and backed back out and said that she wasn’t going to get in. our branch president was the one doing the baptism so he helped her in and she got baptized. It was pretty funny though. I’m still trying to figure out how we can get the heater fixed to give us some hot water for the next one but I just don’t know what to do. Ha-ha.

Things are going really well here and all of the members are really excited to help us in the work. I can’t ever explain how wonderful they are. Especially our Relief Society President. She is awesome!

I have a funny story, the other day we were walking home and we got to the railroad tracks and the train was coming. It’s hard to understand this next part because this could never happen in the states but just hang with me. The people always pass through the railroad arms if the train isn’t quite there yet but at this point they weren’t even down and the train was getting closer and closer. (They have people put they arms down manually, it’s not automatic) so people were going through and there was this guy on his scooter that started to go through and decided that the train was too close so he stopped and as the railroad arms went down it hit him in the head. Ha-ha. Luckily he was wearing a helmet which is really rare here or he would have been knocked out. That’s my funny story for the week. If you didn’t laugh I don’t blame you because I’m sure it’s one of those things you have to be there for to really enjoy. It’s also not as funny as what happened to carter and mom. Good one guys!

Well I love you all. Hope all is well and I will be praying for Gramp.

Tay

Email Letter 05 August 2009

2009-08-05T11:58:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things have been going really well. We are getting ready for our baptism this Saturday of a girl named Maria. She is 22 and a family friend of our first counselor in the branch. Then next week we have the baptism of that little girl Debora’s brother and sister. We have been working with them a lot and they have finally budged and want to get baptized. I can’t explain it, well I think I can. The Lord has been blessing us and our area. We are finding all the right people and we are having lots of success.

On Saturday we had our interviews with President del Castillo and I went in and we sat down and the first thing he said to me was “Elder King, President dos Santos just begged me to keep you here, what makes him think that you’re leaving?” our district President had asked him if I could stay at least one more transfer. I thought that it was really cool that he did that and it shows that maybe they like me just a little bit here in Pasos. I don’t think that I will be leaving because president del Castillo said well Elder I don’t have any plans for making changes here but the Lord is the one that says who stays and who goes. I think that everyone, including me is praying that I stay. I love this place and I don’t think that there are members like this anywhere else.

Not much else has gone on. We continue to see the miracles and I thank the Lord every day. I think that after Pres. Castillo talked about prayer my prayers have become more meaningful and I can feel the spirit much more and I know that’s why we are working so well right now.

It sounds like things are going really well at home and I’m sad that I’m going to have to miss another football season but I can’t complain because I know I’m supposed to be here. I love you all. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 29 July 2009

2009-07-29T11:46:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a good week and we did baptize little Debora. Her mom was so happy that one of her kids finally decided to get baptized and now we are working on the other ones. The problem is that they are just shy so we will have to see.

On Sunday Hugo and Graciela Navarro received their callings. Hugo is our branch mission leader and Graciela is first counselor in the young women. They are very happy.

We are having lots of success and I thank the lord every day for the miracles that we are seeing. I really don’t want to get transferred and I think that I’m going to tell that to President Del Castillo this weekend when we have our interviews.

I love this place and we are going to have a lot of baptisms in August. President has set the goal of 96 Baptisms in August and told the zone leaders when we were in Resistencia a few weeks ago how he knows that we as a mission can do it and he knows because he has received personal revelation that its possible. When he said that I felt something strange and didn’t really think that we could do it. I prayed the other day and I know as well that it’s possible and we have a baptism planned for every weekend in august except for this Saturday. I know that the lord is blessing me and our area and I’m so excited.

Still working out the kinks with Elder Hunsaker and we are doing better but still have a long way to go.

We had a lesson with that young family that we found again the other night and it was awesome. They had both read and they had marked the book and had lots of questions. They seem so excited about listening and learning and we are praying lots for them. We invited them to pray and they said that they would because it seemed like something important for them to do. They are only 21 years old, the both of them but they understand really well. We are going to go by again tonight and see how they are doing. We already have members visiting them and Graciela Navarro is super happy to be able to help because of all the help they received from members while they were investigating. I have high hope for this family and I promise to send a picture of their little baby girl next week if they let me hold her. She’s always sleeping though so we will see.

Nothing else has happened in the last week so I will end for now. I love you guys and miss you like crazy but I know this is where I need to be. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter 22 July 2009

2009-07-22T12:58:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So no real big news this week. I’m feeling much better and I should be just fine within a few days.

So I told you about that young family that we found didn’t I? Well they are amazing! I’m very excited to keep teaching them. The other night we watched the restoration movie with them and they loved it. It was a good lesson. Their little baby is just so cute. She’s almost two weeks old too. Her name is Jennifer and she’s tiny! As we were walking out Alexander (the dad) said… “Wait! You didn’t mark anything for us to read.” I can’t say that I’ve had investigators say that to me very many times. They seem to be really excited to listen. They are both 21 so we get along with them really well.

Not much else has happened. Tomorrow we have a baptism of one of the kids of a new convert. Elder Rapp and I had been trying to get some of these kids baptized but they just wouldn’t budge and then the other day we went over there and I asked them again if they wanted to get baptized because it had been a long time since we’ve asked and one of them said YES! I want you to baptize me on my birthday. She turns 9 tomorrow and she wants me to baptize her. We are going to keep working on the other two but for now I’m happy that at least one of the three wants to.

We are being really blessed here and it’s amazing how things change. This area didn’t have a baptism for a year and then in January they had one and we’ve had 7 since and one more tomorrow. The members are going crazy and they love helping us. I can’t explain how much I love these people and how amazing they are. Things are just great!

Elder Hunsaker and I still have some things to work out but I’m sure at some point we will get it. It has to come or things won’t keep going like this.

On Sunday we spoke in Sacrament meeting and I came down hard on the members and myself really. I spoke on Pride and I took a lot of stuff from one of my favorite talks “Beware of Pride” by President Benson. I loved speaking and I think it went really well. I hope that we can all change to be better people. I think my next talk will be taken from Elder Holland’s talk “The other Prodigal” it’s also really good.

Its sounds like everything is going well at home and I love hearing about that.

Take care everyone! Love you all.

Tay

Email Letter 15 July 2009

2009-07-15T10:41:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things have gone well this week other than I’m sick again. I just can’t seem to stay healthy.

So last week as you know we had our zone leader meetings in Resistencia and just as I was sitting down to eat breakfast with all of the other elders the zone leader from Reconquista (my last area) came up and said “elder king I have some bad news for you, Pico (my first baptism) died about three weeks ago. I’m sorry” I guess he died in his sleep. He was only 24 years old but had some health issues and it just got to him. I’m grateful that he accepted the gospel when he did though and now I don’t have to worry about whether or not I'll see him again.

On a lighter note, we had our zone conference yesterday and it was amazing as usual. President talked about prayer and it made me and I think everyone else realize that we have no idea how to pray. He said that he had and still has a lot to change about his prayers but that we can make them more meaningful and sincere as we study. I just love when he teaches.

As sick and horrible as I felt yesterday I built up the strength to just sit and listen and it helped me so much. It’s just reaffirming every time he talks that he really is called of God to be leading this mission right now.

Not much has been going on as of late but we did find this young family that we are teaching. They are really nice and they had a baby on Friday. It’s so cute and I’m excited to see them progress. This is a short one this week but not much is going on so just know that I love you. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 08 July 2009

2009-07-08T14:52:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Well today we are in Corrientes Capital hanging out with lots of other elders and some Sisters as well. We all met up at the mall and had breakfast at McDonalds and then went and played soccer for 2 hours at this indoor soccer place with like 30-40 missionaries which was awesome. It was a lot of fun hanging out with lots of friends that I don’t see very often.

We have our meetings in Resistencia again tomorrow for zone leaders which is why we are here. I’m pretty excited for the meetings. Alter we played we went back to the mall for lunch and then we went bowling. It’s been a good day so far. It’s been at interesting week. Let’s just say that my new comp is not Elder Rapp…and leave it at that. He’s from Las Vegas and is the youngest of 10 kids. Overall he’s a nice guy but it’s going to take awhile for us to get along I think.

So on Sunday Hugo Navarro got ordained a Priest so they now have Priesthood in the house which they love and then that night we went over to set goals with the family because I’m trying to do that with all of the families in the Branch. It’s a new idea that I’m trying out and it’s working well. We started talking about the temple and how there is a temple trip planned for Friday and Saturday this week and I could tell that Solange the 16 year old was a little down so I asked her if she wanted to go, she looked up and me with a smile and said… “I can go?” and so we explained that she could go and do baptisms if she wanted so I left her with all the sections of doctrine and covenants that talk about it for her to read and told her that I would pay for her if she wanted to go. You guessed it; she had her interview last night and is so excited to go. I’m really excited that she’s going as well. I think that it will help her a lot and that she will get a much stronger testimony after having done the work for her ancestors. They leave on Friday night and come home Saturday night. I love that family!

Other than that things are pretty much normal. I have a huge testimony of fasting and to talking to everyone we see. It’s been so amazing what blessings the two together bring. I love this work. I miss you guys and pray for you often. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter 01 July 2009

2009-07-01T07:48:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

We had our baptism on Saturday and it was amazing!

Let’s go back to Friday though. At 10:30am Graciela and Hugo got married and they had their parents that traveled to see it and a few other friends and lots of members for support. That night our Relief Society President and Solange got a surprise party ready as a reception. It went perfectly! Everyone cried at some point and we ate empanadas and pizza and cake and they all danced around and it was lots of fun. I think that it changed the way a lot of the family thinks about the church because our members are so amazing and are so loving.

Then on Saturday they got baptized. The water was so cold but it didn’t matter! The service was so spiritual. One of the other elders and I sang and the primary girls did as well. The spirit was so strong and we were all so happy. On Sunday they got confirmed and Graciela gave her first talk and didn’t really even use notes!!! I also talked about fathers and the role that they have in the family. All and all it was really an amazing experience. They are so amazing that I can’t explain it with words.

There are Preach my Gospel DVDs that the church has made and we gave those to them to watch because they want to be missionaries and want to know how to do it. They have given away many copies of the Book of Mormon with their testimonies inside and have taught people how to pray. I honestly can’t tell you how happy I am and how blessed we were to find them. It was a miracle and they lord did bless us.

So as you know I have a new comp because Elder Rapp’s two years are up. I’m staying here in Paso de los Libres and Zone Leader 1 or senior companion. My new comp is Elder Hunsaker and I don’t know him. I know that he goes home in 4 months which is 3 more transfers. I’m excited to meet him. Things are good and ill have lots more to tell you about my new comp next week. Love you guys!!

Tay

Email Letter 24 June 2009

2009-06-24T09:07:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things are going well here. We are having our long awaited baptism this Saturday. It’s a miracle that its happening after all we had to go through to get her divorced. The law system in this country are not the best when you want to get things done fast. I don’t know how we did it but the lord heard our prayers and has blessed us so much. They passed their interviews last night and the Elder that interviewed them said that they know more about the gospel than he does. They study so much and they are just amazing people. Elder Rapp and I have been talking a lot about coming back next July to be at their sealing in the temple. I don’t know how realistic that will be for me but they are excited about getting there too which makes me want to try hard to make it back.

Next week are transfers and that means I will be getting a new comp. I’m sad about that because Elder Rapp and I work so well together. Everyone says that we compliment each other so well and that’s why we are having so much success. It’s been an awesome 4 ½ months with him and now I’ll just have to hope that I get someone just like him.

There isn’t a lot to report for this week. I missed church on Sunday because I was sick…YES AGAIN. I’m feeling better now though so it’s all good. I’m going to be speaking in church on Sunday and I’m going to be talking about fathers. I’m going to use the talk “Let us be Men” by Elder Christofferson of the twelve. It’s an awesome talk and since I missed being able to speak on father’s day because of sickness I feel that I should give the same talk because it’s going to help lots of people here and most of all its going to help me.

I love all of you and think about you as much as I can while staying busy. Take care and ill have some pictures of 6 people dressed in white for you next week.

Tay

Email Letter 17 June 2009

2009-06-17T08:25:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things this week have been really good. On Saturday we had our interviews with President Del Castillo and then we went out to work and we got him to go along with us.

This was my second time working with him and I feel very privileged because of it. We went to two lessons and he taught with such power. He is like the perfect companion!! The spirit was in both lessons and I loved it. We had such a good time. Then on Sunday we had our District conference which was actually an area conference because they sent it via satellite to all of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. In it our old area President spoke (Elder Lynn G. Robbins) and he spoke about the differences in the verbs “SER” and “HACER” which in English are “TO BE” and “TO DO” he talked about which is which when it comes to talking to your kids and how we need to spend more time with the family and things like that. It was really good for all of our investigators that were there and then Elder Perry spoke and it was a little bit harder to follow because he had a translator and they would take turns back and forth talking so it made it a little bit harder but he talked about Christ’s role in all things. To finish the conference President Eyring talked. I can’t explain how much I love that man. I remember when I was younger and I didn’t like conference because I didn’t really understand or just didn’t want to that President Eyring was one of the few that I always enjoyed and now as I’m older I appreciate it that much more. He spoke with such power to members and then to investigators about how this is the one true church and how we are so blessed to be members of it or at least to be listening to it. He talked about how much everyone needs this in their lives and how it’s our responsibility to share it with everyone we come in contact with. He gets so emotional when he speaks and he just has a voice of thunder. It’s amazing to listen to him.

Things have been going so well and I love it here. I have just two more weeks with Elder Rapp which is a little sad but we are so excited about the Navarro’s baptism that we don’t really think about anything else. We have lots of good investigators and I can see the Lords hand in this work. I love you guys and think about you often. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 10 June 2009

2009-06-10T08:39:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things are great as usual. We had an awesome lesson the other day! what happened was that we went to teach our awesome family that is going to get baptized (the Navarro's) and the 16 year old girl of the family invited one of her friends so we started teaching about the restoration and the family was basically teaching it for us because they have been studying so much and when we got to the first vision the 16 year old (Solange is her name) asked if she could tell the story so we let her. she started talking about how confused Joseph Smith was and how he had gone to lots of different churches just like she has looking for the truth and at that moment the room filled with the spirit. she went on and got the first vision and she told it in her own little way and I had to fight back the tears listening to an investigator that wasn’t really sure if she wanted to get baptized until last week talk so spiritually about the single greatest thing that has happened since Christ came to the world. It was amazing to see how much it has changed her life since when we met the family just 2 months ago. They all testified even the ten year old girl and they told the friend that she just needed to pray and to read and that she could feel the same. It was an amazing lesson and I don’t think that I’ve had much compare to it.

We have planned the baptism of the family for July 1st which is the day that Elder Rapp leaves. We are planning on doing it and then he will get on a bus 4 hours later. We are so excited about the progress that all of our investigators are making and I can tell that we are being blessed. It sounds like things are going really well at home and I’m glad to hear it. It’s going to be a lot different having dad sit with us in church when I get home and I’m sure it’s crazy for you already. I’ve need to go but I love you all and I think about you all the time. Take care. Love you

Tay

Email Letter 03 June 2009

2009-06-03T11:35:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

This last week has been really good. I haven’t really been feeling much better because of all of the traveling but I talked to the area doctor yesterday because he and his wife came to our zone conference and he gave me some stuff to take. He says that it’s probably just allergies. He said that it’s common not to have any in one part of the world and go to another that’s completely different and have problems. We will have to see what happens.

So going all the way back to last Wednesday, we went out to the Capital and spent the day there like I told you last week and we played soccer with all of the missionaries and we all went to McDonalds and we went bowling and to Wal-Mart. It was a pretty fun day.

On Thursday we went to Resistencia for our zone leader meetings and it was once again amazing. President talked to us about the Restoration and all the small things that no one really looks at for his Doctrinal part. And we had a bunch of other stuff that they talked about as well. The cool thing was that President basically told all of the zone leaders that Elder Rapp and I are his favorites. Of course he didn’t just come out and say that just like parents wouldn’t just come out and say that they have a favorite child but it was pretty sweet and Elder Rapp and I loved it.

Then that night we were in our Taxi going back across the bridge from Resistencia to Corrientes Capital and there was a protest and we almost had to walk across which would have been horrible because we were in suits and had bags and it was raining and you never know who you might find that wants your stuff. In the end we made it across in the taxi and all was well. Then yesterday we went back to Capital for zone conference and I can’t explain once again how amazing it was. President talked about the first vision and again went into deep detail and the spirit filled the room. It made it worth the five hour ride and having to get up at 2am in order to get there on time.

Elder Rapp gave his last testimony yesterday because it’s his last transfer and they always ask the people going home to bear their testimony and it was amazing! He is such an amazing elder and I’m gonna miss him. This transfer doesn’t end until the 1st of July so I have a little bit of time left to keep working with him until I get a new comp. We were talking to President and His wife after conference and the Hermana Del Castillo told Elder Rapp that President is going to miss him. I think that we are all really attached to him. When he bore his testimony he talked about how he knows that President was called of the Lord to guide us and to get revelation just for our mission and that no one compares to him. I in that moment received that same confirmation and believe that he was called to lead us at just the right time. I love my mission and although it’s hard I wouldn’t trade my time here for anything. I love you guys and I think about you often. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter 27 May 2009

2009-05-27T07:31:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Like always things are going good here. I’m doing much better as well. I went to the doctor last Thursday and he told me that I had an infection because I had gotten sick and didn’t give myself enough time to heal which caused the real sickness. I’m much better now and I’ve been working since.

Today we are in Corrientes Capital because tomorrow we have our Zone Leader meetings all day. We traveled late last night to get here and I’m really tired but the bus was amazing because we went on a different bus line that costs less and was ten times better. They gave us food and we had a waitress. It was like a plane. We are going to be playing soccer here with all of the elders which is like 50 or so and as much as I don’t like soccer I’m looking forward to playing with everyone.

On Sunday we had 6 investigators at church which was a mission high and we are working really hard. We should have had 8 but two ended up having to work. Things are going so well for us now but when we finally went out and worked last week all we got was rejections. One of the nights we were out clapping houses and we contacted 47 houses without anyone letting us in it was a night of rejection but now we are doing much better now.

Yesterday we went and taught a family that goes to our English class and they have lots and lots of money. They understood everything and it was such a good lesson. They ended up inviting us to stay and eat with them which was so fun. I have lots of hope for them but we will see.

On Sunday we went to the Catholic Church and it just made me feel so sick. It just made me see just how true our church really is. For every single thing they did Elder Rapp and I found scriptures in the bible that would have just ripped them apart but we sat there quietly and respectfully but it was just so horrible. I don’t like talking bad about other churches but you can just tell from going to ours and theirs that there is just much more happiness and love in our church.

That’s all that has happened in the last week but just know that I’m doing much better and I love the work. I love all of you guys! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter 20 May 2009

2009-05-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things are going really well here! I’m actually really really sick and haven’t worked in three days but other than that it’s going well. Ha-ha. I’ll be fine so don’t worry.

Transfers were today but I’m staying with Elder Rapp for his last transfer. I’m actually really happy about that. I didn’t want another comp because of how well we get along. There is however a change in our house. Elder Dueñas is leaving us and Elder Humphries will be training so we will be getting a new face in the house. We are all pretty sad about the change but also really excited to get to help train a new missionary.

The week has been pretty boring because of my sickness so there really isn’t much to report. I wasn’t even able to go to church on Sunday which was really sad. I just don’t have any energy at all to move around which makes it hard to walk around all day. I’m sure that I will get better soon and get back to work.

Sorry this is so short but I love you guys and I think about you all the time. I hope you had a good birthday mom!!!

Tay

Email Letter 15 May 2009

2009-05-15T10:35:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So not much has gone on since we talked on Sunday but the AP’s did come visit and it was horrible. I got sick on Tuesday so I couldn’t go out and work with them on Wednesday until about 8pm. It was fun to work with Elder Gosdinski though. He goes home next week but he’s an awesome missionary. I did go out again on Thursday morning with him again and elder Rapp worked with Elder Whitaker. They are two really good missionaries and helped us a lot.

I am feeling a lot better now though so no worries. It’s been really cold here the last two days and I hope it keeps it up. It’s been super windy and I love it. It’s so nice not to be sweating before we even walk out the door to go work and we look so good with our sweaters on. Ha-ha.

Tonight we are going to be having an activity to show people how to use the new family search website to find their ancestors and to do the work for them in the temple because they will be traveling to the temple as a district in July so we are trying to help everyone get ready for that. We are excited to help them with that and to be able to show them on paper what our pedigree charts look like thanks to much work from our families.

Nothing else has really gone on since Sunday so this is going to be a short one but know that I love you guys and I think of you often. Take care!!

Tay

Email Letter - 06 May 2009

2009-05-06T11:18:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been another good week and we have found a lot of new people to teach. We have been working a lot with the members to get references from them so that we can focus more on teaching with them as well. All of the members are so excited and we think that it’s because of the success we are having with the Navarro’s. It has really lifted the branch up to another level with excitement.

Tonight we have an activity planned for after our English class. We are going to watch the Testaments and we have invited all the members of both branches and told them that they could only come in if they bring a friend. Ha-ha. We are so mean. We have been working really hard to get them going and it’s starting to work.

President Del Castillo came on Monday to do our interviews and he is just so funny. My interview was just us two laughing and talking. He an amazing guy and puts so much trust into his leaders. The best part though was when he first got there I went out to greet him and he looked and me and said “Elder King, you look like you’ve lost weight!” it was so great! I loved it. I just wish I could have said the same for him. Ha-ha.

Things are going really well for us and we aren’t having any problems with the other elders in the zone like we were before. It looks like they have finally got a clue and are starting to work hard.

So it’s crazy to think that it’s already time to call home again. The time just keeps going faster and faster. I think now that I’m in an area that I really love with a companion that’s excited about the work as well it’s just been flying.

I love the people here and they love us and trust us. This morning we helped a couple members with their family history here in the cyber. We got onto the church family history website and helped them send names to the Temple and to check on the ones that they had already sent. It was my first time working with someone on that and I was very impressed with how cool it is. It makes me want to do it but I know that I don’t have to because both grandmas are working hard on it already.

It’s one of the things that we like to talk about with lots of people is how well the church has organized family history stuff and it gets us into a lot of houses because people are really interested in that kind of stuff.

Overall things are going really well and it’s been starting to cool off a bit so I’m really happy. I love you guys and ill talk to you on Sunday!! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 29 April 2009

2009-04-29T13:34:00.002-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a pretty good week I guess it’s been pretty uneventful though. We did have another sweet lesson the other day with the Navarro’s. We went to teach them about the plan of salvation and it was amazing. We went with our branch president and his wife and quickly the conversation had turned into temple sealing. What happened is we had given the Gospel Principles book to study with because that’s the class that all investigators get and they had been reading about eternal families that morning and are already talking about being sealed in a year! They are so awesome and they are going to make it there and they will be so happy. It was also cool that we went with the branch president and his wife because they testified about their temple experience and the spirit filled the room again. I want to be at that house everyday!

Also we were on divisions and I was working with Elder Dueñas in my area and we were walking by the park and I saw a young family so I told him that be basically had to run to get to them before they crossed the street so we booked to them and did and awesome contact, it turns out that the guys brother was baptized about a month ago in the other branch. I feel like it was my job to have found this family because I was in the lesson that made the other guy stop smoking and get baptized. I actually took his cigarettes away and he promised me never to smoke again and he hasn’t! We went and taught them two days after we made the contact and they are so awesome! They are both 20 years old and have a little boy named Santiago (James in English) and they are exactly what we have been looking for. We are excited to see them progress and we will see how it goes.

On Sunday I spoke in church and I decided to speak about the atonement and the last week of Christ’s life. It was very powerful to be able to speak about our Savior and what he did and the example he was for us. I spoke mostly about the whole last week of his life and how big of an example he was by going to the temple three times in four days. I encouraged everyone to follow his example if at all possible and it was really cool.

Other than that nothing has been any different.

We have our interviews with President Del Castillo next Monday which I always look forward to and I will be sure to let you know how those go. I love you all and I’m glad to hear that everything is going well. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 22 April 2009

2009-04-22T11:41:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been an awesome week! Yesterday was Zone Conference which means I had to travel again to Corrientes Capital which was horrible and my back kills but it was so worth it. When President talks to us it’s so amazing. He spoke yesterday about the last week of Christ’s life. He explained with such detail and reverence that the room just filled with the spirit. To finish he bore testimony about the atonement and how in the pre-earthly council we raised our hands in favor to have the only begotten of the father be our Savior and our king. He spoke about how we sustained him then and we are now in his work sustaining his prophet. I can’t explain with words just how amazing it was but we could tell that he has a much better understanding of what Christ went through than we do. It made me think about how much more I need to study so that I can understand as well. I think that the doctrine that he teaches and the way he understands things are just like the Apostles. He speaks with such love and authority it’s amazing.

We have been working hard to keep things going here in the Branch and with our Investigators and we have had lots of success. We Put a Baptismal date with the Navarro’s and they accepted but then they said that it was too far away and that they wanted to moved it up a week so we have a date in the middle of May. They wanted us to be able to call home and tell our families first thing that we had baptized and awesome family. Ha-ha. They are so cool.

Other than them we aren’t really teaching anyone that’s looking very promising but we are praying to find more people that are ready to learn and progress and we are also praying that the ones we have will soften their hearts and move along in the gospel.

Other than that not much has been going on. Just same old same old. I love you all very much. Take care!!

Tay

Email Letter - 16 April 2009

2009-04-16T15:18:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

So this is a day late but its better late than never. Things are going well here. I’m actually in Resistencia today because we came for our zone leader meetings with President Castillo. They were awesome! He spoke to us about keeping our thoughts clean. He also talked to us about the work that we are doing. He showed us that the lord forgets our sins if we stay focused and work our very hardest to build his kingdom. He speaks with such power it’s awesome! We had to travel all night to get here but President always makes it worth it.

The Navarro family has been progressing like crazy and they told us that they have their answer and are ready to get baptized. We have to work through a divorce first but there are some pretty good friends of the district president that are lawyers and are moving quickly to get it done. It’s not like the states so most divorces take about a year here but they said that they can get it done in a month for us and make it cheaper as well. It’s amazing how the Lord blesses those that are making the right choices.

We have been working hard and we can see the Lord's hand in his work! Other than that there’s nothing really big that has happened. Elder Rapp and I are excited to keep working together and we are having lots of success. I love you guys and hope all is well! Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 08 April 2008

2009-04-08T11:43:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

So how great was conference!! We actually missed the first session here because there was a huge storm that knocked over power lines and trees about an hour before the session started and there wasn’t any power. We were fortunate enough to get it back in time to watch the other sessions though. It was a great conference and I learned a lot.

The family that is investigating went to all of the sessions and they loved it. They quizzed us after to see if we were paying attention. How sweet is that! We went over and taught them again on Monday and when the mom finished the lesson with the prayer she asked a special blessing for president Monson. Ha-ha. I’m so excited about them.

Like I said on Friday President Castillo came for our interviews and he gave a lesson about the book of Mormon to the members and investigators. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to hear about all of the things that happened so that we can have that book today. It was a miracle how it all came together. The lord must have known just how much we need that book.

Other than conference and that lesson from President Castillo not much has happened. It’s been super hot but I still love it here. Things are great.

Today is transfers but I’m going to be staying with Elder Rapp which I’m also very happy about. I feel like we work really well together so it should be good. Sorry this one is so short this week but I can only bear testimony of how true this work is and how blessed we are to have a living prophet of god to lead and guide us today. There is nothing better in life than to be blessed by this gospel and have a family that has accepted it so that I can bless others with it as well. I love you guys.

Take care!!

Tay

Email Letter - 01 April 2009

2009-04-01T11:09:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things are going very well here. We have been working a lot with members and we’ve been having success. So I have to tell you about what happened on Sunday. We found an awesome family last week which was an answer to our prayers. We have been fasting and praying to find a family to be baptized this month and I think we’ve got them.

So here’s what went down on Sunday. Well it actually goes all the way back to last Tuesday when we taught the family for the first time. It was a good lesson and then they went to our English class on Wednesday then we had another awesome lesson with them on Friday and then on Saturday the mom and the two girls went to the Transmission for the young women and loved it!! The whole family went to church on Sunday as well. They showed up and were very welcomed by everyone.

In our Branch we have the District President and his family and they are just perfect! They are helping us so much with befriending the family. Sister Dos Santos which is the District Presidents wife spoke about talents and I have to admit it’s probably the best talk I’ve ever heard a woman give. I’m sorry but it’s the truth.

After the meeting ended she went straight to the family along with like 5 other members to talk to them and then she looked at me and said “Elder are we going to teach Gospel Principles?” she said that in English by the way so that no one knew what she was asking and I said “we don’t have a teacher” she looked at me and said “Elder I want to teach them about eternal families so I will teach it” it was an awesome class and at the end she bore her testimony and the spirit filled the room. It was so amazing how powerful it was. After the class they stayed and asked her a few more questions and she was just another missionary.

I wish that you all could have been there. I can’t explain it with words. She’s probably my favorite member here in Argentina.

We went to teach them last night and they loved it all and are ready for conference. We also have President Castillo coming this Friday to give a missionary lesson for all members and investigators which is going to be awesome and they said that they are going to go to that also. If all of that wasn’t enough President Dos Santos and his family are going to have a family night with this family tomorrow and talk about prophets. I have so much faith that this is all going to work out and I’m counting my many blessings.

On another note we had divisions with some other Elders in our zone on Monday and I worked with Elder Avalos (my trainer) which was really fun and yesterday we had a district meeting where Elder Rapp and I talked about Unity. We have high hopes for our zone and I’m so happy to be here. That’s all for this week. I love you guys. Take care!!

Tay

Email Letter - 25 March 2009

2009-03-25T13:33:00.001-06:00

Hey Fam,

Things are going amazing here. We had two more baptisms on Saturday and then the other Elders that are here in the other Branch had one last night. Our Baptisms were awesome! They went off without a hitch and I have no doubt that the Lord is looking out for us in our work.

We have been working with the list of members trying to clean it up, or take off the people that have moved away or passed away so that we can make it more accurate. The first presidency has also asked that we start working on reactivating men that are not ordained and have sent a plan for us to follow. They want 50% more ordinations than there was the last few years and the plan is to work to get that done before the dedication of the Temple in Cordoba.

What I’m getting at is we are using the list of members and we are baptizing lots of people to reactive those that are already members. We have a few more lined up for the 4th of April which we will do after the second session of conference and before Priesthood. We are excited with how much the members are helping us and keeping the work moving forward.

We are about to call a Branch mission leader and Branch missionaries! It’s so great to have the help that we’ve got. We have just been working hard and we have been finding a lot of people that are excited to listen. We contacted a couple in the street on our way home the other night and they told us that we could go by there house and yesterday we did. They woman has listened to the missionaries before but the man had not. The lesson was awesome and they have two girls that listened as well. We have been looking and praying for a family lately and this was a blessing. We are so excited to go back on Friday and I think that they are excited for conference and the mom and the girls said that they wanted to go to the session for them this Saturday.

A couple weeks ago we starting teaching an English class and we are getting lots of kids coming that need help with homework and stuff like that because classes just started again here. We are hoping to have lots of success finding people to teach from that as well. We have put up signs everywhere and we have been handing out lots of flyers as well. We are excited to see that progressing as well.

I love this work and as much as I miss home I know I’m here to help the Lords work progress. I love you all so much and hope that all is well. Take care. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEAN!!!

Tay

Email Letter - 18 March 2009

2009-03-18T09:24:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a really good week!! We have been working so hard and we are getting blessed and seeing many miracles here. We have two baptisms this Saturday which I have been telling you about and we are so excited for them.

We get a lot of help from the members here with reactivating and they help us a lot with keeping the baptisms active which doesn’t happen very much here. Last week we had 57 in church!! It doesn’t seem like a lot but it’s the most I’ve seen since I was at home. The lord is blessing us tenfold.

Last week we went to one of the old areas in the zone where they just recently took out the elders to clean out their house. We had to load all of the stuff of in a truck and take it to the church to store it for when they put missionaries back in. it was a fun day. The place is called Monte Caceros or in English (baked mountain) ha-ha.

We left here at about noon and got there at about two and starting cleaning and loading stuff up. Luckily we had another companionship go with us to help out. We got it all done in about 2 hours and we had the whole rest of the day to go site seeing because we weren’t allowed to work in a closed area. We went down to the river and took pictures which was cool because this place is so far south that we were taking pictures of Uruguay! I have now in my mission taken pictures of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. It was a lot of fun.

This week we don’t have to travel anywhere which I am so excited for. I’m sick of sitting in hot busses driving across the middle of nowhere. Other than our trip nothing much has happened. I love you all lots and think of you often. Take care!!

Tay

Email Letter - 11 March 2009

2009-03-11T09:38:00.002-06:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a good week but a lot of traveling. I’m starting to feel a lot better though. We went to Resistencia like I said last week and it was really good. President talked to us about Easter and told us that he wants to have a "white" Easter. Every companionship in the mission has to find at least one family to baptize in the month of April. The cool thing is that we have been praying and praying to find one and on Monday I think we found it! They are a very young couple with two little kids. We found them just at the right time. They are looking to change their lives and have been looking for a church to help them with it. It was an awesome lesson and I can’t wait to go back to see if they have read and prayed. They seemed so happy to have us there and it was a miracle that we found them just at the right time.

We moved our two baptisms from the 14th to the 21st because they came a little late to church. They are so excited though. It’s a 16 year old girl and her little cousin named Walter. He’s 10. They passed their interviews and are ready to go.
Yesterday we went to Corrientes capital for zone conference which was my first one outside of Chaco.

It was a lot different because the chapel is a lot smaller but it was still good. President spoke about how we need to work with the members more and use more scriptures in our lessons to help people understand better. He also told us that we talk way too much and don’t let the spirit in to help us. He helped us learn lots of different ways to help with that and practiced with us. It was really good and very helpful. It was also my first conference with Sister Missionaries there. I ran into one that is from Pleasant Grove and knows Aimee and Emalee and she know Michelle Markham (Bott) as well. It was fun to talk to her for a couple of minutes.

The area is great and the members are working hard to help us out. I’m so excited to be here and I know that we are going to be blessed. That’s all for this week. I love you guys. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 04 March 2009

2009-03-05T10:29:00.003-07:00

Hey Family,

I got to Paso De Los Libres early Thursday morning last week just dead tired and not feeling well. I’m still pretty sick and my comp Elder Rapp is as well. I’m very excited to be here and I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of success here. We had a baptism on Saturday of a 15 year old kid named Alfredo. He is way awesome and will help a bunch.

I’m excited not to have a calling other than missionary in this area. We have a full functional Branch here. My comp was branch president in his last area as well so we both have lots of experience and often look at the books to make sure that everything was processed correctly. They have asked us to do that because sometimes they just aren’t sure.

We spent the whole morning cleaning the house because it was just horrible. We live with two other Elders and it looks like none of them have cleaned anything in who knows how long so I got on them a bit and now things are a lot better and a lot more clean. Tomorrow Elder Rapp and I are traveling to Resistencia for meetings all day. We leave at 1am and the meetings start at 8am and end at 4pm. It is going to be a long day and make our sicknesses even worse. We are hoping to stop in Corrientes the Capital to go to Wal-Mart and as of like a month ago there is also a McDonalds that we are hoping to get to know.

We have been working a lot with the list of members that are old enough to be baptized but aren’t because they are in inactive families and I think that we are going to have a ton of success with that. We have 2 people getting baptized on the 14th of this month and that will almost finish this family. We also have a few other baptismal dates set up for the end of the month or early next month. We are really excited and we get a lot of help from the members here. We also have lunch every day but p-day and Sundays!! It’s amazing and something I’ve never had.

My comp is pretty cool. Like I said he’s from California and it’s really his way or the highway which will make things pretty interesting. I’ve learned to bite my tongue so we will be just fine. Other than that not much is going on.

We went down to the river the other day to look across at Brazil which was pretty cool and we will probably take some pictures one day which ill be sure to send. Its super hot here but nothing I haven’t already had to put up with so ill just learn to live with it.

On Monday we have our zone conference in Corrientes so I will be traveling a lot this week and we are staying really busy.

Well not much else to report. I love you guys and hope that all is well. I pray for you often. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 25 February 2009

2009-02-25T09:52:00.002-07:00

Hey Fam,

So some big news this week…IM MOVING!! I’ll be moving to a place called Paso De Los Libres, Corrientes. It’s just right across the river from Brazil. I’m pretty excited and I’m going to be a Zone Leader as well. My new comp is Elder Rapp. I don’t know him but I hear he’s pretty cool. One of the coolest things is that Elder Avalos (my trainer) is in that zone as well so I will have the chance to work with him again.

I guess hard work does pay off. President Del Castillo called me yesterday morning to tell me the news. I was very happy. I answered the phone and he said “Elder King the Lord has called you to be a Zone Leader” I found that very cool the way that he said it. Not I have called you but the Lord has called you. It made me think a lot about why I’m here and what I’m doing and who it’s for.

The Lord has called me to serve him and now I have an even greater responsibility to do it in his way. I’m sure that it will be very humbling which is always a good thing for me and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

I have learned a lot here in Reconquista and I won’t ever forget the people or the branch that my comp and I with the Lords help have put together to function. It has helped me prepare for where I’m going now and for other leadership opportunities that I will have in the future. I’m happy to be putting my reading of the church instructions book down and to start reading Preach my Gospel again.

I will have about a 12 hour bus ride which is something that I’m not looking forward to but I will willing sacrifice my night in a bed for a night in the bus to get to my other area.

I have seen miracles here in Reconquista and it was very emotional yesterday saying goodbye to the people here and in Villa Ocampo. The Speranza which is the family that has been trying to reactivate was probably the most emotional because they kept thanking me for helping get them back to church and back on track in what they know is true. It was hard to say goodbye to them and to my baptisms but I know that they will be taken care of by Elder Alarcón and his new comp.

I’m looking forward to writing next week to let you all know about my new comp and area. I love you guys and hope all is well. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 18 February 2009

2009-02-18T12:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

Things here are still really good. We are actually really bored on P-days because there is nothing to do. I think that today we are going to try to see if the Catholics will let two Mormon missionaries into the cathedral to take pictures. You will be sure to know how that goes because I’ll send pictures if they allow it. That’s the fun that we have here in Reconquista.

Nothing really cool has happened this week to tell you about. Last Saturday we went and taught that girl that we did the practice baptism with two weeks ago to put a baptismal date with her for this week and she told us that she didn’t want to get baptized. Yup you read correctly, she doesn’t want to get baptized. She still comes to church and goes to young women but doesn’t want to get baptized. It was like a dagger to the heart. It’s sad when you know that someone has a testimony and does everything like a member and nothing is keeping them from receiving salvation but they just don’t want to. It was a hard day for me but we will continue to try to work with her.

One big thing did happen on Sunday! The story goes all the way back to before I even got here. While I was in Resistencia waiting for my bus to come here I had like 5 Elders come up to me and tell me about a less active family that has two ex-missionaries that live right by our house and the church. These 5 Elders told me that if I could get this family in church that this place would turn around and guess what....THEY CAME ON SUNDAY!!! They are awesome. One of them was branch president right after his mission which was less than a year ago and now he’s dating a non member that wants to get baptized so she is dragging the whole family to church with her. I’m so excited! They are going to start working hard to help us with this girl so that she can change her life around and so that they can do the same with theirs. There is hope again in Reconquista! Ha-ha.

We also had a visit from an ex-missionary from Chile. She was way funny and loved to talk. We took some pictures with her which I’ll send sometime but it was cool and she is the second ex-missionary that I’ve met while being here. They always have funny stories to tell. Other than that it’s been just another week.

I think of you all very often and love you lots! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 11 February 2009

2009-02-11T11:13:00.001-07:00

Hey Fam,

This week has been a good one. Our practice baptism went well and I think that we will put a date with her to get baptized next week sometime.

It has been really, really hot the last few days because it rains in the mornings and then the sun comes out in the afternoon and makes it super humid. I feel like I’m in the middle of a football game but with a shirt and tie on because I sweat so much. It’s crazy. Yesterday there were some members laughing at us because we were sweating so much and then they reminded me that it’s snowing in Utah right now. It was a shot to the heart to hear about the snow.

We have been working hard and actually have had a lot of success finding people to teach. The problem is that I think most of them just want to listen and not really read or pray and that’s the key! If they don’t do that how are they ever going to get a testimony? Its hard sometimes to know what we’ve got and teach people that don’t really want it for themselves.

The Branch is wearing me out. My comp always talks about how stressful it is for him but all he does are interviews and leaves everything else to me. I’m stressed and it’s hard to take care of a Branch and be a missionary. I think that maybe in the next set of transfers we will get some help or I will get moved.

Even though it’s hard finding new people to teach and actually having people come to church it has helped me to stay happy and focused in the Lord's work.

I think about you often and I appreciate your prayers on my behalf. I love you guys. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 04 February 2008

2009-02-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

Hey Fam,

It’s been a good week. On Sunday we had President here visiting for a capacitation (training) for all of the branch presidencies. We also had our interviews with him that night. With all of the stuff going on and all of the interviews he had I had lots of time to talk with Hna Del Castillo and their granddaughters that are here visiting from Buenos Aires. They were really funny.

We asked the Hna if she could drive us somewhere and she responded “Elder King I don’t know how to drive and when I tried to do it in Resistencia I got in an accident so President said that I can’t drive anymore.” We all thought that it was pretty funny. We tried to tell her that it’s a lot more calm on the streets here and that we would help her but she just wasn’t going for it. She’s a nice lady.

Last week we had two of our investigators tell us that they had gotten answers! It was a little weird but as they explained what had happened and how they got it the Spirit filled the room. It was an awesome experience. We explained to them the importance to follow that answer and they agreed to get baptized. That’s just the first step though. They have a long wait to go but we are hoping to have a baptismal date for the end of this month.

Also I will be doing something pretty unusual for the first time this Saturday. We were talking with another one of our investigators whose family just got baptized a few months ago and she was telling us that she knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet but that she wasn’t going to get baptized so I started asking her questions like Are you afraid of water? Would you get baptized if Christ himself told you to or would you tell him no as well? She told me that if Christ told her to get baptized that she would so we opened up to Matthew where it says if you’re not baptized you can’t enter into the kingdom of god and explained that importance of that and then she said that she was afraid of water so we told her that we could have a practice baptism this Saturday to see if she likes it and then we will just baptize her next week. It’s weird that we are going to be practicing a baptism but if that’s what it takes we will do it for sure. It’s this girl’s salvation! I’ll be sure to let you know how that goes next week. Ha-ha.

That’s all really that has been going on. We are all good here and just busy busy busy all the time with the branch and the work. I love you guys. Take care!

Tay

Email Letter - 28 January 2009

2009-01-28T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Fam,

This week has been a good one. We are still working hard of course and seeing results.

On Sunday I wasn’t able to be at the confirmation of my baptism because I had to speak in another branch with one of our zone leaders. It was rather sad for me because I think he wanted me to be the one to do it but it didn’t work out that way. I guess maybe I’ll be the one to give him is priesthood this week!

We had our zone conference on Monday in Resistencia and yes I got my package. The conference was awesome! I really love listening to President talk about doctrine. I guess it always helps to have a President that was in the Seventy before this calling. He talked to us about how important it is to have the spirit with us and how it affects those that we teach. When he teaches it’s like a race through the scriptures and I love it. He always speaks with such power so that we know he’s serious about how it can help us. He is awesome.

On Sunday when I spoke it was about charity and about how we need to serve others that are in need. I tied it into missionary work as well. I like to think that it really hit the people in the meeting but I’m just not sure. I love speaking in meetings as you know and it’s really been a blessing to be able to speak so much here.

On Sunday President Castillo will be coming here to give a capacitation on helping members financially because we have lots of problems with that here and he’s sick of it so he’s coming to “drop cane” as we like to say. It should be interesting. He’ll also be taking care of doing Temple Recommend interviews for the members that are traveling to the temple next month because they just installed the Recommends with barcodes here. After all of that he will be doing our regular missionary interviews.

I’m hoping that he will have some good news for me like I’m leaving to go to another area or something but I don’t think that is going to happen. Not much else has happened this past week other than I finished my year and burned a shirt...ill sent the video sometime and it’s been really hot. We should be putting a baptismal date with the mom of my first baptism this week so we will see how that goes.

I love you guys! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 21 January 2009

2009-01-21T10:06:00.002-07:00

Hey Fam,

Things are going well here and we had our baptism on Saturday. We have been working hard and we are seeing the blessings in the work that we are doing. Seeing the change that this brother did in his life to accept the gospel is amazing. He stopped drinking and smoking which is no easy task. He has gained a strong testimony of the gospel and with the help of his wife he overcame all odds and was baptized. It is amazing the way the Lord works to touch the people that are ready in that moment.

After the actual baptism we invite the converts to share their testimony and I don’t think that there was a dry eye in the room while he spoke. It was very powerful for us and for the four investigators that were there to see this special ordinance take place. We watched the video that the church made for family night with the poem “The touch of the Master’s hand” what an amazing video that was. It was something very special and I’m glad that I was there to share that moment with Hno Dimartino and the members and investigators that were there. I never thought that I would have such strong witnesses that this gospel is true but just like the poem says that when you can see, hear, or feel the touch of the master’s hand it makes all the difference.

This gospel changes lives and it for sure has changed mine. We will continue to keep working as hard as we can to keep the Lord’s work progressing.

It’s crazy that on Friday I will finish one full year in the mission. The time has gone by so fast and it feels like just yesterday that I was at home with you guys. I don’t think that we will do anything special to celebrate. I might burn a shirt which is tradition but an old shirt that isn’t mine. Ha-ha. And maybe we will get some ice cream or something.

We have an activity for all of the Priesthood planned for that night and we also have mutual for the young women that night as well so it should just be a normal day.

Not much else has really happened since last week. We have our zone conference next week which I always love and so we will be going to Resistencia but other than that we are just working like always. I love you guys so much! Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 14 January 2009

2009-01-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

Hey Family,

This week has been an interesting one with lots of ups and downs. I will be staying here with Elder Alarcón for the next six weeks again. We are staying just us two because of the lack of missionaries. That’s a little sad to say but it’s the truth. We will continue to work with faith and try to do our best with the big area and our responsibilities in the Branch.

Even with all of the work we have found time in our busy schedule to have a baptism this Saturday! We are going to be baptizing a guy named Hugo Dimartino. He is about 50 and his wife is a member. We had a lesson with him on Friday night and finished up everything which included tithing which on Sunday he paid! It is a blessing to have someone so willing and ready with such a great testimony and to be here to see his baptism happen.

I guess having to work in this huge area with just the two of us has its blessings for not only us missionaries but for Hugo as well. It has been great to watch him grow in faith and to help him get to this day. We have been working hard with everything we do and we are receiving many blessings for the work that we are doing and I can see it every day.

I love being here...yes even with the heat and even though it’s been a bad week. This one is a short one because nothing really cool happened this week but I love you guys and I hope all is well with you. Take care.

Tay

Email Letter - 07 January 2009

2009-01-13T23:48:00.001-07:00

Hey Family,

So this week has gone by really fast. I think that it’s because we have been so busy with our three areas and our duties as the branch presidency. I can honestly say that this week has been one of the best of my whole mission.

Last Thursday I went out in the afternoon with Elder Johnson on divisions and the afternoon started out slow and I didn’t have much hope for it to be a good day but then after a few contacts I decided that we should go see one of our investigators. His name is Gabriel and he is the husband of one of our members. We went to the house and I told Elder Johnson that I wanted to teach about eternal families so we went in and we started talking about families and how we can live together forever and he said that he wanted to believe like we did but he just couldn’t so Elder Johnson testified and so did it and the spirit came into the room and then Elder Johnson looked at Gabi and asked if he really wanted to believe like really really wanted to believe and Gabi said that it would be nice to know that he could be with his family forever so Elder Johnson asked Gabi if we could kneel down and pray and asked him if he would do it. Gabi said that he didn’t want to so Elder Johnson looked at me and said “well can Elder King do it then?” Gabi of course agreed so we knelt down and the spirit was overwhelming.

I don’t think that I would ever be able to explain how powerful it was. I knelt down and had no idea what to say, my mind went blank but somehow the words just came out. When I finished the prayer and opened my eyes everyone was crying. It was amazing and it’s something that I could never forget. I learned so much that day and I can feel myself progressing every day.

Then on Saturday we went out to Vera which is another area in our zone for divisions with Elder Johnson and Elder Martin because we wanted to be there for their baptism. We had a lot of good contacts but the best part was of course the Baptism. It was and older guy that had a stroke when he was younger so he can’t really express himself but he wanted to be baptized so they taught him and the branch president did the baptism. This man can’t really talk but you could just tell from the smile on his face just how happy he was. The smile says everything. This gospel brings happiness!

On Sunday we had our testimony meeting and I felt that if I didn’t get up and share those experiences with the members than it’s like I’m ungrateful so I got up and bore my testimony about my experiences from the last week. I cried and so did many others. I would obviously brag about that because I cried but I just want you all to know how grateful I am for this opportunity I have to serve right now. I love you guys so much and I think about you often. Take care and enjoy the snow...BECAUSE YOU HAVE IT!!!

Tay

Email Letter - 31 December 2008

2008-12-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-12-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

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

2008-12-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-12-10T13:57:00.002-07:00

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

2008-12-03T13:03:00.001-07:00

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

2008-11-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-19T13:00:00.002-07:00

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

2008-11-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-11-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T10:58:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-22T09:15:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-15T17:20:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

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

2008-10-01T14:36:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-24T12:02:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-22T13:23:00.000-06:00

At Zone Conference with the new President.

Email Letter - 17 September 2008

2008-09-17T17:12:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-10T14:40:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-05T10:44:00.003-06:00

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

2008-09-03T16:18:00.000-06:00

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

2008-09-03T15:18:00.002-06:00

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

2008-08-27T13:08:00.002-06:00

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

2008-08-20T17:10:00.000-06:00

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

2008-08-13T17:55:00.000-06:00

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

2008-08-06T12:31:00.000-06:00

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

2008-07-30T15:36:00.000-06:00

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

2008-07-23T13:45:00.000-06:00

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

2008-07-16T12:07:00.000-06:00

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

2008-07-10T07:59:00.002-06:00

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

2008-07-02T13:49:00.000-06:00

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

2008-06-30T12:53:00.003-06:00

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

Email Letter - 25 June 2008

2008-06-25T13:10:00.002-06:00

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

2008-06-18T11:43:00.000-06:00

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

Email Letter - 11 June 2008

2008-06-11T12:07:00.000-06:00

Hey Fam,

So some bad news to start of this letter, we ran into some serious problems with Nora...the lady that I was supposed to baptize this weekend. She had some things that she wasn’t really honest with us about but that came out in her interview so we won’t be able to baptize her now but maybe a ways down the road. It was hard to take but I’m glad that she chose to work it out now.

We have some really great investigators right now and things are going well. I’m starting to understand more now but it’s still tough to get used to because they speak in vos here (I don’t know if I explained that) anyway things are getting better.

We have transfers next week which will be fun because there is a very very good chance that either I’ll get moved or my trainer will, more likely him because he´s almost at the end of the allotted amount of time that you can have in one area. I got word that President Shakespear will be here for the next round of zone conferences to introduce the new president. That will be weird not to have pres. Shakespear anymore but it will be good for him to get home to his family.

So today we are in Saenz Pena again for p-day but today we went to the zoo here which was pretty fun and I took lots of crazy pictures.

Overall things are going really well and I’m starting to take over lessons more and more when I can understand and answer in the way that I want to. I get a lot of compliments on how well I’m speaking from members and from my comp and even from the assistants to the president. I still can’t really talk the way that I want to but people understand what I’m trying to say so I’m making progress.

I’m always glad to hear that things are going so well with everyone and I can’t wait for the football season to start so that I can hear how well the boys are doing and Hayleigh with her dance as well. I want you all to know how much I love and miss you. Take care.

Tay