Down to... 36 Hours

This week was pretty good. On the 24th for the Sunday Devotional we had the Nashville Tribute Band come and sing. It was a good change from having a talk every Sunday

This week Elder Walker got pink eye. It never got super bad, but we didn't want him spreading it around here, or in Nicaragua. So we went to the medical office here and they prescribed him some eye drops. But we had to walk to the Pharmacy a mile away to pick it up. On our way there, we saw some people and most of them where like "Hey Elders" and what not. But there was one lady who was with her kids, and when we got closer to them (we were walking in different directions toward each other) she told her kids to start moving faster and ignored us when we said hello. It was kind of funny. I was wondering why she would walk near the MTC if she didn't want to see missionaries. But hey, good times.

On Friday we had In Field Orientation. It was pretty much an all day thing that taught us how to be better missionaries and how to use the skills I learned here when we are in the field. I wish that there would have been some Nicaragua training. But I'll get a lot of that in 2-3 days.

Then last night, our investigator Ivette, brought us all Thank You cards for teaching her. I don't think she has done that for any other missionaries that have taught here. Or at least the ones that we knew.

Well that's all that really happened this week. Hopefully there will be more to write about next week. At least I've got some more pics this week. 

 Until then, stay frosty!​

-Elder Taylor

​Elder Cole thought my crossed eyes were funny, so he took a pic​

The Nicaraguan Flag on my Door

​Good Companionship​

​District Picture after last class with one of our teachers

​Us at the Temple this morning with zone members​

The backup plan is my real plan...

"Not Slytherin.. Not Slytherin..." -Harry Potter

In Just 9 days, I will be in the Jungle of Nicaragua! In 3 days, I will be the part of the oldest district in the zone. All of the people that were here when I showed up will be in the field. It's a weird thought.

Last Sunday we had the usual devotional. They made it appear as though the speaker didn't show up. We watched an Elder Bednar talk to start out. Which is weird because we usually watch a movie after the speaker. But when it ended, Elder Bednar was there in person. He didn't give a talk, but instead had a Q&A. It was pretty cool to have him there. That night we also beat, our previous record for choir attendance, we had 1400 missionaries. (The MTC had about 3000 missionaries last week)

Our zone is starting to become a mini Hollywood. We have many famous sounding/looking missionaries. For example: Elder "Lightning" McQueen, Elder Batman (See Photo for proof), Elder "Holy" McGrail, and Hermana Bond. And our Elder Rich is pretty much a real life Mr. Incredible.

The MTC decided to bless us with a one month gift. I rained here for the first time the entire time i've been here. Just a cool side note.

The past 2 weeks, when we went to the Temple, we got breakfast there as well. You can get 3 biscuits and gravy, with hashbrowns and a drink for $5. Its pretty awesome!

Yesterday I got a haircut. Elder Perry went to get his hair cut because we need one before we leave the MTC. I didn't plan on getting one but they had an open seat so my awesome locks are gone :( But it will feel good in the jungle.

That's all ive got this week. Hopefully ive got some more to write about when I get into Nicaragua. But till then, Have a great Pioneer day!

-Elder Taylor

Elder Batman and me (That's his "I'm Batman" face)

Batman's Name Tag

Pic with the Nicaraguan flag that now hangs in our room

And a pic with my favorite hat!
(A treasure passed down for generations) 

HUMP DAY!!!

This week is a good one because it means that I am past the halfway point in the MTC! I leave 2 weeks from Monday (AUG 1). 

Last Sunday was a good one. My companions and I taught priesthood. I think that it went well. And we got to know the new elders better. I also found out on Sunday we are now the Sacrament Coordinators. The Elders that were doing it shipped out to Costa Rica, so they chose us. Basically, we just choose people to bless and pass the sacrament each week. And we prepare it. 

I'm not sure if I've written about One Shots yet, but I'll write about it anyways. At breakfast there is almost always doughnuts. So we try every once in a while to eat the entire doughnut in one bite. Its harder than it sounds. Elder Christensen has also "one shotted" an apple, orange, giant rice krispy treat, and a cinnamon roll. It is really impressive. (He cut the apple up and then put it all in his mouth)

On Wednesday, I had the opportunity to host 4 of  the new 690 missionaries that came in that day. (31 new missionaries in our zone alone) I was the guy that takes you from your family. The Elders that I helped, really didn't seem that fazed to be leaving their families. 2 of the Elders almost forgot to hug their mothers. But it got me out of class for a few hours. When you drop them off at their class, its like they forget about you. They open the door and *poof* you are forgotten. But its fun seeing them around the MTC.

This week we taught our investigator Ivette. She is really progressing. She is not afraid of the Book of Mormon anymore and is reading first Nephi. She really likes learning and is feeling the spirit. We have asked her to be baptized but is hesitant. I will keep you updated

Is Pokemon Go really such a big thing? I think it must be, because I have heard about it from several sources here in the MTC.

Well, that's all for this week,

-Elder Taylor

My District
(Top- Miller, Perry, Me, Walker   Bottom- Cole, Moody, Christensen)

Showing off our new shirts
(Me, Elder Miller, Elder Cole)

Elder Nabo and me
(An elder that is really cool that left on Monday. Soccer Rookie OTY at Maryland U)​

Old Men and Flying Birds

This week I decided to write down things that I wanted to write home about. So hopefully this one will have some more meat.

On Sundays and Tuesdays, we have choir practice. My companion really likes to sing, so I go too. The first week here, we had the largest choir in the world. Approximately 950 members. We just sing for the Tuesday night devotionals. That many people are really loud, it was cool.

On Wednesday mornings, we have to do an hour of assigned service. For us, that means we take a hose into the bathrooms and put a thing of acid on the end of it and spray down the showers. Then we take off the bottle of acid and spray it down with water. Compared to the other jobs that I have seen(sweeping the cement, taking out garbage, etc) we have it pretty nice. And we just get to shoot water everywhere!

We have this one elder in our District named Elder Christensen. He likes being on the mission, but really likes getting off topic. Last week, he started setting up a game of Dungeons And Dragons that we can play when we all get home from out missions. He gave us options of different characters and how they live their lives. I was a Halfling that was super evil and liked to party. I guess that's good? Yesterday he got tired and wanted to take a nap in class. He put a book bag on his head and laid across three chairs. Right as he put his head down, a teacher came in to the room. It was pretty funny.

This week we got to teach our first real investigator. Her name is Ivette. She from El Salvador and is going to BYU learning English. The first 2 times that we taught her, she didn't really want to open up. She would ask a lot of questions, and she thought that the Book of Mormon is evil. But on the last lesson we had with her she said that she had started reading the Book of Mormon and had prayed about it. That was a huge step. We'll see how the lessons progress.

Elder Walker gave me a new band name: Daily Deaconitis. He said it because everyday he somehow manages to have some tie poking out from his collar.

We got some new elders and one new sister in our zone this week. They are alright but I haven't had much opportunity to talk to them. There is one black kid that came in, who is also a Ginger. I thought that was cool. This week I get to be a host that welcomes the new missionaries and takes them to their rooms.It should be fun.

That is all I've got, don't take any wooden nickels

--

-Elder Taylor

The 4th of July

The Provo Temple

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

This week was a good one here at the MTC. Sunday was a bit different than I thought that it would be. There was usual sleep in till 11 :(. 

We started out with priesthood meeting at about 9. Then instead of staying here for lunch, we walked over to BYU and had a big meal. They did not hold back! When we returned, we had some study time.( There is a lot of study time at the MTC!) During that study time I wrote a talk. Every missionary has to write a talk, because they randomly choose 2-3 missionaries on the spot to give a talk. I didn't get chosen this time. The meeting is completely in Spanish, From the hymns, to speakers, to the sacrament prayers. It's kinda cool. 

Every day this week we have taught our "investigator" Martha. We had to prepare a lesson every day with something new to teach her. On Thursday, we had no time to prepare a lesson because we had a sub teacher that told us how to prepare for a lesson but then gave us no time to do so. We just went in to the lesson and taught about how the gospel can bless families. And how they can be together forever. It went well I thought.

Yesterday, we found out that our class actually has 2 teachers.(We thought that we only had one this whole time) It turned out that Martha was actually our teacher! It was kind of strange having our "investigator"  be our teacher.

Our zone really likes to play 4 square during our exersize time. I have played it three times this week! I feel like im back in 5th grade. The other days my companions and I play soccer out at the field.  The weather is always hot though. But its better than cold weather I think! (Good thing I'm going to Nicaragua rather than Alaska)

It turns out that most of my zone is goofballs like myself. We all came up with out own dance moves and Elder Walker loves to do his a lot. (See Video: Elder Cole in Blue, me, Then elder Walker)

I get along with my companions all right, we all have a good time together. 

A funny thing that happened yesterday, Elder Walker woke up, and the first thing that he did was get a handful of jelly beans, then went and took a shower. 

Well talk to you next week!
-Elder Lukas Taylor

Me, Elder Perry, Elder Walker

Elder Walker and me

A bunch of hot air balloons outside our window

The Dance

Hey Everyone!

You may have been expecting my first letter home to be on Monday but my P-day is on Saturday.

First off, I'll tell you about my companions. I actually have 2 companions. Elder Walker and Elder Perry. Elder Walker is from Cheyenne Wyoming. He really likes computers and is the first member of his family to serve a mission. He is 18 years old. Elder Perry is From Athens, Georgia. He really loves soccer and making jokes. He is 20 years old. On the first day here, Elder Perry didn't arrive until around 4:30. Both of his flights were delayed and he missed his connecting flights because of it. So Elder Walker and I were the only ones around for a while. We are all going to Nicaragua together.

The food here is really good. I think it's because all of the mission presidents and their wives are here and so are The Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency. But we never get to see them. We all eat in the gym and are not allowed into the main building till next Tuesday. The food that we have had that is worth noting- Bagels and maple bars for breakfast each day. For lunch it is usually some type of sandwich. Yesterday we actually had Subway for lunch. But it wasn't as good as it could have been because there was only lettuce, mustard, and mayo on them. Nothing like I could have made when I was working. For dinner, we have had Taco bell, and pizza. It is all pretty good food.

In class, we only speak Spanish. So far, we have learned how to teach a lesson in Spanish (and we  actually taught a lesson in Spanish yesterday). We always try to pray in Spanish as well. The more that we try to speak it, the better that we can understand what is being taught and contribute more to the lessons.

I was surprised to only have 1 email so far. But then again I have only been gone for 4 days! It seems like time here moves slower.

We have no sisters/hermanas in our district, but there are seven elders including me and my companions. There are Elders Cole(District leader), Miller, Moody, and Christenson. So far we have been getting along great.

Today we all went to the temple before it closes for 2 weeks. We got to exercise today. I played kickball and soccer. And tonight I will get to meet my new mission president, because he is here for training.

That's all I've got for this week.

Stay Frosty,

-Elder Taylor

Suprise!!!!

Hey,

I know that this is really soon. But I've only been here an hour and they are letting me write you! I know that makes Mom really happy! We found my room alright. I have 2 companions. I have only seen one, but haven't had the opportunity to talk to them yet. I don't remember their last names. 

I got a 10 lb bag of books to carry with me! I saw Coleman already. Apparently he had the same host I did! 

I just watched a little orientation video. And now I think I'm going back to class. 

My guide said that there are about 750 new missionaries today alone! The cafeteria didn't have time to make us all of the food. So I got an apple, granola bar, and chips. Thank goodness I got that MaChicken!

Well, best be off to class!

Love, Elder Taylor

P.S - I should have worn a short sleeved shirt!