Hey hey hey everybody! This is Elder Taylor! I have officially arrived in New York! But more about that later, and don't you worry, we will be discussing the title of my email for sure hahaha!
Well. This week has been CRAZY long let me tell you. To start with we have to go all the way back to Saturday the 3rd of July which is when you all heard from me last! I was still in the MTC back in those days, and that was our P day! We got to go to the temple which was just incredible once again, and had an amazing time there! Because it was the 3rd the Stadium of Fire had their fireworks show that night, and we as missionaries were actually allowed to watch it! It was a late night though, and it was hard to keep awake in church on Sunday because we still had to get up at 6:30 even though we went to bed around 12. But Saturday was great! I really will miss the temple so much while on my mission, because the Holy Spirit is just so powerful there! If you get the chance to go to the temple, please do!
Sunday, like I said, was hard because I was so very tired, but I managed to stay alert through my meetings and survive the day. One really awesome thing that happened was that I had an amazing experience learning about how fasting (going without food and giving the money you would have spent on that food away to the poor) and the Atonement of Jesus Christ (the sacrifice He made for all of us) are all connected. If you want to know more about that please let me know because it was a really powerful Spiritual journey let me tell you!
Monday was the hardest day in the MTC for sure. This is because half of my dear district members left the MTC and those who stayed behind had nothing to do. We had to get up at 5 am to help those missionaries leave, so once again we were missing our sleep really badly, but I will never pass up the opportunity to say goodbye. We really missed those 6 that left for a long time, but we had some fun, and I totally DOMINATED in Uno for a couple hours! But I did not dominate in knockout (a basketball game) at all. I am really bad at basketball. But anyone could've told you that. We did not have a lot to do though, like I said, but we made the best of it and got to get some ice cream with the MTC president as a late 4th of July celebration!
Tuesday was finally the day that I left behind the MTC. We reported to the travel desk at a crisp 4:30 AM (yay, four hours of sleep due to packing for me!) And then we were bussed over to the airport! Well. I was tired. For sure. But it was nice because I got to go to the airport and fly with my beloved companion. We didn't get to sit next to one another though which was very sad. But I met lost of other missionaries! There were about 15 in total that were all going from the MTC to the Syracuse New York mission!! It was crazy! Crazy AWESOME! I slept a little on the first plane for a bit, but we had a two hour layover in Atlanta Georgia. During the layover, I volunteered to watch everyone's luggage while they got lunch, and during that time I kept thinking, "you should look around and see who the Spirit tells you to talk to". So, I started looking around! And these two little old ladies were not too far away talking about their families! And I just knew. I knew what the Spirit wanted me to do. So, I looked at my companion and said, "is the Spirit telling you we need to talk to someone?" And he said, "not really, but what is it telling you?" So with a deep breath we stood up. Straightened our ties. And walked over.
We got both the old ladies numbers. I never thought I would be so excited about getting old lady numbers before, but we got them! Because they both live in Syracuse, I was able to pass those numbers on to the Mission President and his assistants, and it was really cool. Definitely started my mission off on the right foot. I think.
But we got to New York! And oh boy it is HUMID here! Way more than Arizona! But I'll get used to it eventually! I got to meet some of the senior missionaries here, and then the Elders spent the night in a hotel. I was so tired, I fell asleep on the way there. Needless to say, I slept great in that queen bed. Last time I'll sleep like that for about 2 years I think.
The next morning. we had a little training (bed bugs are way scary and a big issue apparently) and then I met my trainer! His name is Elder Mabey, and you wouldn't believe it, he is taller than ME!!! He is SO TALL! And that was quite the surprise for me! But I'm also in a trio, I have two companions! My other companion is Elder Price, and they are both just the BEST missionaries I've ever met! We went back to our apartment in Canastota New York and I learned what missionary work is like right now! Basically, we take a phone number, call the phone number twice and if we don't get an answer then we send a text. After that, we change the last digit either one up, or one down, and then move along. We call a lot of random numbers. And send a lot of texts. And get a lot of strange replies. And it's GREAT.
On Thursday we got up and started our day with some good old exercise! I bought some grip strengthener thingies from the MTC bookstore so that's kinda cool! They will make my forearms HUGE! (that's some foreshadowing for a story hahaha) oh by the way, I will be living in this area for the next 12 weeks, so if you want to send me a letter, please do!!! I will out my address on the bottom!! (this is the nice way for me to beg for physical mail, missionaries love physical mail) We actually witnessed a small miracle today when we prepare a lesson for someone and ended up teaching it to someone else! Our original plans had fallen though, you see, but we still needed that lesson plan for someone who asked a really hard question about the Law of Chastity! Not much else happened on this day, just a lot of calling random numbers!
On Friday we had some training online with President and Sister Gentry, and we learned that we can get out of the house more!! We need a minimum of FOUR WHOLE HOURS OUTSIDE now!!! It was such good news to hear let me tell YOU!!!! We had a funny experience right outside of the post office where this little man asked us to pray with us right then and there! It was really cool to see that people recognize us as missionaries of God, and that we were able to serve someone in that small way!!
Saturday was good, but I was really scared that I was going to run out of laundry (don't worry mom, I made it) But other than that, it was really good day! We did a lot of planning, but then we went through our list of people that don't really want to be taught by us anymore, and decided to reach out to ask if they wanted to keep learning from us or not. BUT!!! Every. Single. Person. We reached out to? Wanted us to keep meeting with them!!!! And so we set up some appointments!! It was amazing, and I learned that we need to give everyone a second chance.
Sunday was really interesting because theres about.... eight.... active branch members. So the missionaries make up half of the church attendance. BUT! It was fun because I got to pass the sacrament for the first time in YEARS!! After that we got to go home and teach a lot of lessons, and had some really powerful discussions! Here is where the story of my title comes from! Are you ready???? This email is LONG oh my...
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I bought these grip workout thingies. You like, squeeze them and they build the muscles in your forearm. And I have been working with them every day the past few days, and my forearms are getting pretty big! So we were sitting around the phone, and I flexed my arm (as one does) and commented on how big it was, and then we just hear this child SCREAM about three streets over! We start laughing because it was so random, and Elder Price goes, "flex it again and see if it happens again." AND IT DID!!! This child just yelled again, perfectly in sync with when I flexed my forearm. It was rather funny!
Today was the first P Day in the field, and we got a lot done! I had LOT of laundry to do, and many groceries to buy, but I made it! Then I sat down and wrote this mighty large email. So yeah. Not a lot happened today, but I know the Lord loves you, and I love you for somehow managing to scroll this far in my email. I might just be writing a whole book each week at this rate, am I right?
Before I go, I just want to share a verse I found in 2 Nephi 2 verse 24 which says, "all things have been done in wisdom of him who knoweth all things" and I love this verse because it comforts us when we may not understand why we are going through hard things!
I just want you all to know I love you, and continue to be amazing! You are a child of God!!
Love,
Elder Taylor
Canastota New York
If you want that address, please let me know! I'll send it your way!
Elders Price, Mabey, and Taylor!
The temple with the district!
I'm focused
The district
Elder Price and I
A good view
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