MERRY CHRISTMAS

hey,

how are you doing? I'm super home sick this past week. It is strange to think I'm not going to have a mom nagging me to stay home and not go out with kait on Christmas. haha just kidding.

this week has been a real blur. I really cant remember anything that happened. Tuesday we had zone conference. President Gonzalez came up and talked with us. We talked about supporting the members and investigators and helping them remember the importance of Christ. Just helping them remember why he came. A lot of the time they start to remember the baby. they remember him but not what he did. We were challenged to help them remember why he came. We use Alma 7:11-13 something like that. It explains that he came suffering temptation sickness.....etc. We have had a good reaction from them with it.

Wed. night i went on an exchange with the zone leaders. Elder Taylor and i worked in the English area they cover. I hated it. I have decided Mexican people are better to teach. We talked to so many people. We had door after door slammed in our face. We had people yell at us. There were some people who listened, but i don't think anything is going to come of it. We did get the chance to teach a guy named Aaron. He had a heart attack and is a little more open to listening to the gospel.

Sunday we had two baptisms. Wwere supposed to have three but we couldn't find one of the candidates for the life of us. We called called and called, went by and nothing. Oh well i guess. We are going to have him baptized next week i guess. He will have to have another interview but no big deal. The people who were baptized were Salvador and Alfonso. It was really good i helped Elder Martinez translate the meeting. We had some English investigators in the stake come to the baptism. I looked up the scriptures for him. He translated everything else. It was fun.

Well that is pretty much my week. I cant really remember anything else. It has been really hard this week for me. Elder Martinez is going home and I'm really sad. He is heartbroken over it too. He cries when people bring it up. I got to the point to tell people to shut up. They are starting to get it now. He is a good missionary. I'm glad i got to learn from him.

Anyway i love you lots. Be safe during Christmas. I will be calling about 6 oclock my time about 7 yours. is that ok. i hope so because that is when i am calling. good i love you lots. be safe.

love your brother and son

Elder Taylor Paskett

Breakin' the Pinata

Hey family,

How is everyone doing?

I am doing really good. this last week was crazy. We had five baptisms on Sunday. It was so much fun. We were crunched for time trying to get everyone ready in white clothes, getting the font filled and getting my self dressed.

lLast week i went on a exchange with elder grannis. We worked in the north part of Modesto. It was a little different covering a huge area on bikes. We taught a few lessons. I extended a baptismal commitment but got turned down. She said that she was already baptized and was too stubborn to realize that it really didn't count. That night elder Martinez called me when i was with elder grannis. He was crying. I had now idea what happened. He just told me we would talk when we exchanged back. Later that night we had the interview with president McAndrews. While we waited i prayed like crazy. I got a feeling that everything was ok. We didn't need to worry at all. They passed the interview. Everything was fine.

Sunday we had 5 baptisms! Brenda, Jackie, Mayra, Juan, and Moises. It was incredible. i baptized Juan. He is about my size. The water was low and when he saw that he looked at me and said "there is no way i am going to get under that far." haha. I looked at him and said I'm gonna make you don't worry. So we got in there said the prayer and i dunked him. I had to lay on him to get him to go under the water. After the baptism his family said that I looked funny when i was doing it. I told them what i had to do and they laughed so so hard. Jackie (9 years old) had to be dunked 4 times. She would panic when she went under. I felt really bad. Itwas really exciting.

The Christmas party was crazy. It was kinda like great grandmas parties. Loud. Not that good of food, and a pinata. I loved it. We had recent converts tons of investigators and members that feel like family. Elder Martinez took a swing at the pinata and instead of breaking the pinata he broke the stick. The other half flew off and whacked a kid in the face. i had to tackle a kid who was swinging at the pinata. He was blind folded and going crazy and the kids were all diving in for the candy. I got hit in the leg....hard. The branch president said thank you after that.

My companion and my roommates are like my best friends now. We get along so well. for the most part. I argue with the Peruvian a lot, ha ha, but that is ok. We do the dumbest things at night before bed. I will show you all the crazy pictures i have when i get home. I'm to lazy to print them all off. Anyway.

i love you all so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so much. I pray for you often. I know you love me lots. Don't miss me too much. I promise i am well. Love you lots

Love your brother and son,

Elder Paskett

Christmas Nativities

Hey family,

How is everyone? Sorry my preparation day wasn't till today. We had a temple trip today. It was really good to get a spiritual recharge. I was getting really tired.

This week was really good. We are teaching a family, Linda and Gabriel. They are the parents of a little girl named Jackie, who is nine. She is LD (learning disabled). So they didn't think that she would be ready to be baptized so we didn't really focus on her. We talked with them a little later and they asked if she needed to be baptized. We said that she could and if she had the holy ghost that it would help her through her life. Elder Martinez shared a story about a man who received the holy ghost and walked to his seat afterward. The thing is he couldn't walk. He was in a wheel chair. He said after he received the gift he wanted to walk to his seat, so he did. He is now back in the wheel chair but he knew he could do it when he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. So she is going to be baptized on Sunday, along with Brenda who has been waiting so long to be baptized, Myra, Juan and Moises will be baptized as well. It is going to be really exciting.

Linda and Gabriel are having their wedding not this week but next week and getting baptized the next day.

Alfonso is an investigator who has golden written on his forehead. He ended up in the hospital one day from drinking and realized he needed to change. We talked to him and told him that we could help him change. He said please and we started teaching. We found out that he went to church in Mexico but was never baptized. He loves it. He loves to see us. We told him we could move his date to the 12 but he said he wanted to wait so he could be as ready as possible so we kept it on the 19th.

Nancy (recent convert) had her baby boy. We went and visited her in the hospital. It was really fun. I cant really understand her all that well but i know that she teases me a lot.

Spanish sometimes stresses me out. I don't know what to do sometimes. I panic when people talk to me, and I'm usually to scared to ask them to repeat themselves.

I'm getting really good at teaching. I have been helped out a lot by my companion and of course very blessed by my heavenly father. This work couldn't go on if he didn't help. We are nothing with out him. I realize that everyday.

Our car still doesn't work so we walk in the cold, the rain, the fog, and the occasional 70 degree weather. It is unpredictable here. i don't know if i need to wear a sweater or not i usually have to check outside.

I miss you guys a lot. especially with the Christmas season coming up. We went to a stake activity called the Nativity festival. People in the stake lent their nativities to the stake and they were set up with a note next to them, like where they came from, who made it, what it was made of. It was really cool. There were 250ish of them, they had a scavenger hunt, too. It was a lot of fun. We had investigators come, and then we were able to watch the Christmas devotional.

The Lord lives, and he loves us. All we have to do is follow him. I love you all so much. Keep praying for me I need it.

Love your brother and son

Baptism Talk

hey family,
how is everyone doing? im doing really good. i just got done with my sixth week here. i love it so much. however i feel that someone is calling my name in mexico. it is a strange feeling too. i have a feeling the lord is going to work a miracle and get me to mexico very soon. im ready too.
this past week started off with service for an investigator. sister babilonia she isnt progressing but she is still interested. her husband is kinda anti. our car decided to quit working so we have one car for the four of us. it is a big pain in the but. we took the car to the dealer to get it fixed we should have it back by tomorrow. we have done alot of walking in the rain and cold. yes it is cold here. we are now requiered to wear suits after 5. i dont mind it helps keep me warm. brenda is now getting baptized. her dad wasnt going to let her but my companion talked to him and helped him understand why she wants to and what it means. she is super excited.
lupes baptism was on sunday. she is ten. getting her ready for the interview was painful. we would ask her who is heavenly father............i dont know. are you kidding me?!!!! who is president monson................i dont know? you are kidding?!!!!! she didnt remember anything. it was so painful to go through everything. over and over. and over and over and over till she remembered. she passed.
i got to speak at her baptism. i was nervous. well i was terrified. i did good tho. my companion looked over at me when i was done gave me the thumbs up. i sat down next to him and he said "why cant you teach like that too". it was a big boost for me. it helped shed some light on the doubts i have had about spanish. after the baptism we talked to her sister. she said that she wanted to get baptized. we are starting to teach her. her baptism is next month.
we talked with linda and gabriel. they are going to be married on the 18th. and baptized the next day. they are almost done with the lessons. President jimenez also talked with them and they know what they need to do to get the paper work. hopefully i am here for that.
i am still losing weight. i had to punch another whole in my belt. i promise im eating. i eat all them time. it just isnt junk food. maybe that is the difference.
we now have 6 missionaries in the branch. that isnt normal. usually there are just 2 missionaries in each ward or branch. president gonzalez feels that there is alot of work to be done. we are excited to have them covering the north part of the area. we havent had alot of time to go up there yet. so the branch should grow quickly now. we are really happy about that.
we set 2 baptismal dates with two youth. one is solid. he likes church the other. i dont know what his problem is but he wont come to church. we are going to visit him tonight to ask.
anyway. that is all that happend. i love you all lots. i hope all is well. have fun at thanksgiving. ill let you know how my mexican thanksgiving goes. dont miss me too much.
love you lots
Love,
Elder Taylor Paskett

3 Months

hey family,
how is everyone? can you believe i have been out for three months already? i made it through my first transfer. i was stressing for the last week. i didnt want to leave this area it is incredible. the calls were supposed to come on saturday but they didnt the president wasnt done he had to change things because of the visa waiters haha.so we waited till monday morning (today) im staying in modesto in the spanish branch. i was so excited. we have so much here to do. they are sending 2 more elders to the branch so we will have 6 missionaries here working. that doesnt happen often.
anyway monday night my companion had a feeling to go to a former investigators house. so tuesday we went and talked with faviola and beto. while talking with them outside, we ran in to linda (who had a baptismal date) and her boyfriends gabriel. they had gotten back together and moved into the same apartment. so sadly linda cant get baptized. BUT we talked with gabriel and asked if he wanted to go on a church tour. he said yes only if beto came. he said yes too. we went to the church and walked through doing the normal church tour going into the chapel explaining the sacrament who the bishop is and what not going to the font saying we are baptized to follow christ then we sat down and taught the last half of lesson one. after we commited them both to baptism. gabriel said yes right off. beto was a little slower but he said he would fight the fight. beto's wife wants to get baptized. she asked my companion the other day what she has to do and my companion said to her that she already knew. he had taught her before but they just didnt try to come to church or stop drinking so the dropped them. we are picking them back up and it should go better this time.
later we talked with linda and gabriel and convinced them to get married so that they can be baptized. they have an interview with the branch president to see what will happen with that.
pedro is someone we have taught twice. we went over to teach him again and the member with us told him we could go do a church tour. he said i have time now lets go. so we went. we went through and talked about he apostles of christ and said that they had the power to preach. he said that it is important to him to have the power again to baptize. so when we commited him to baptism he said yes. he was nervous at first. he said he was a sinner and didnt deserve it. we told him we would help him learn what he needs to do to repent and we have baptism to wash ALL our sins away. after that he was excited. as we were leaving we ran into the other elders giving a church tour to someone else. we introduced the investigators and as we walked away pedro asked if he could go with the other elders on the church tour again. this guy is golden. he helped commit the other guy to baptism. so we set 4 baptismal dates in one day. sadly his wife doesnt really understand so it is discouraging him so we are going to try and teach them both or at least talk to her to support him.
we are helping a few families here get into the process of getting married. they are all coming to church and in class we are talking about families and eternal families. it is perfect. one lady said that she is going to get married, alejandra, and her boyfriend Fransisco is just going to have to deal with it. haha. they have 2 kids. i love them alot. we got them into an interview with the branch president as well.
the mom of alejandra loves church she has come with them a couple of times. and we have taught her a few times as well. she is still unsure but we are going to commit her to baptism this week. hopefully it goes well. her name is myra.
brenda is 15. We are trying to help her overcome her struggles and temptations. we talked with her dad about bapitsm he doesnt like the idea but she has been taught everything reads everyday and hasnt missed church. she is just standing at the font waiting. it is driving us crazy. we have an appointment to talk with him this week. we are going to talk it out with him. he says she doesnt deserve to get baptized because she makes to many mistakes. she argues with him to much. ditches school. so he says no. we asked her to be on her best behavior to see if it helps. we talked with him and said if she can prove she wants it will you let her. he seemed to like that.
anyway that is my week. the church is true. miracles do happen. i have seem them. i was sick last week. my face was as white as my shirt and i wanted to die. i prayed to get better if i continued to work hard. 1 hour later i was better. it was incredible. this is real. god lives. he loves us. he wants us to be happy i promise that. i love you guys. be safe.
Love Elder paskett.

I like it here

Hey Family,
I'm doing good this week. We did service on Saturday. We painted Nancy's house. (She is the one that lives in the smallest house in the world with 4 kids and one on the way.) Luckily, dad made me work with him at home so I knew what I was doing. Elder valencia didn't have a clue. he looked like he lived in Peru. Ha ha Me and my comp did most of the work. We get to paint another house coming up, too. This one we have to do a good job because it is a little nicer home. I give my best always. I just have to make up for Valencia and his lack of skill. Oh well, we are in this together. We had a baptism on Sunday for Nancy's son. It isn't a convert baptism. He just turned 8. But we went because Nancy is a recent convert and asked my comp to babtize him. We have had a lot of member help lately. With that, we see more success. They seem to connect with the people a little better then we can. So if the missionaries ask if you can help with anything food, referrals, service stuff please help them. It makes an incredible difference. We met a boy named Juan (member refferal). He is golden. He wasn't looking for anything, but he is sincere and likes to learn. He came to church and really liked it. He asked us to talk to his mom to see if it was ok that we keep coming over to teach him. She said yes and we are going to do that today. (See what good comes from the members? :) I'm getting really close with the people here. I can't always understand everything, but I can joke with them. I'm starting to get relaxed around them, but still be a missionary. I didn't like looking like a stiff at first. Some of the investigators really like me and like to joke around with me. I love helping them. I love this work so much. I'm sorry that this isn't much longer. I don't have tons of time today. I love you all so much. Keep reading please. I just ask you to finish the Book of Mormon over the next 22 months. I'm doing it in a month so don't tell me that it isn't possible haha. I love you all so much, be safe. Sorr this email isn't really detailed. Ps. No word on my visa. I really don't care. I like it here. I'll let you know when I know something. The church is true. I know that through following Christ we can be strenghthened, blessed, and gain a testimony of this gospel. The atonement is real. I feel it. I feel Christ in my life strenghtening me. I know you can feel it too. Please strive to come clsoer to him. He is the way. He is the light in the darkness. I love you all lots.
Love your son and brother,
Elder Paskett
Ps send me pictures. I like to see what you are doing. Just a few here and there of anything and everything.

Candy Withdrawals

hey mom and family.

How is everyone? doing good i hope. im doing good here. it is getting colder and im loving it. i love the cold.

so my week has been kind of interesting. wed. i went on exchange with elder taylor. (this was fun. everytime i introduced my self i wanted to call myself taylor.) but anyway it was all english. we talked with evreyone when we were biking. we stopped and talked to alot of nice people. one lived in utah for five years. he said he loved it. especially temple square. he loved the feeling that was there. so we asked if he wanted to do a church tour. the church tours are things we take investigators on and walk thourgh the church and use the paintings of christ and the chapel to teach the first lesson about christs life, and we use the baptismal font to teach about baptism then we do the joseph smith story and bam baptismal commitment. haha. but he rejected. i asked if he would ever pass an opportunity to feel the spirit he felt at temple square. he said no. then i said it is the same feeling. the same joy he felt there. .......he still said no. we talked to one lady who got mad at us. she thought solicitation of gospel is wrong. she was catholic. so much for proclaiming the gospel to all the world like the bible says huh. we talked with a few other people who kindly accpeted a book of mormon and others who invited us back. it felt good doing this seeing a different side of missionary work. we dont get alot of opportunities to do this when we are in a car.

the next day back with my companion. we realized we didnt have a lot of miles left on our car ( we are only allowed so many amonth just so we dont drive all over and over use the cars.) we did the math and we realized we had about 80 for 4 days.) we usually drive about 40 a day. so we planned alittle better and tried to hit one area where we had people who wanted to talk. the next day we tried hard to get a member team up but having only like 15 men in the ward who can help and 7 of them have cars. no one could help. so we had the other elders drop us off and we walked. everywhere. it wouldnt have been a big deal if we were going from door to door knocking and teaching. we had to walk 45 minutes from appointment to appointment because the spanish speakers dont always live in the same area. yea and it was raining hard. and i dont have a jacket for rain haha. missionary life is fun......most of the time.

sunday (yesterday) the branch mission leader got up to speak and called all four missionaries up. yeah i had to speak. in spanish. on anything i wanted. i had nothing prepared and i didnt have my scriptures on the stand with me. i left them on the bench down below. We were supposed to sing in church the four of us. and i thought that was what we were doing. we walked up he said sit down you are next. haha it was fun. i think i did ok. i just talked about christ what he did for us and what we need to do to follow him. my companion said i did good but i think he has to say that. haha.

we sang after the four of us spoke. we sang lead kindly light. (in spanish divina luz) i like singing. i would rather do that then speak.

we still dont have word on our visas which isnt that big of a deal. i dont mind it here at all. so what ever happens happens. plus when i get home from where ever we can come back here and meet people i taught. i love the people here alot. i cant understand everything they say but i love them and can feel the love from them. it is incredible what the spirit can convey. we dont even have to talk to know that they are struggling. there is a member family going through a rough time and my companion and i didnt know until we walked in talked for a bit and could just tell something was wrong. we are visiting them more often to see what we can do to help.

i love you all so much. How is the book of mormon reading coming? good i hope. read everyday. it makes a difference in your day i promise that. i love you so much be safe.

Love you brother and son

oh last thing. i hope everything was fun for halloween. i had to stay indoors all night. we arent allowed to drive the car or go anywhere with out a member so we sat with the elders next door and talked for a little while. we couldnt get members to go with us anywhere and we didnt have any appointments. they saw a picture of kait and started saying she wasnt going to wait. it hurt alot. im just starting to not miss home and have everything fine then they went and salted the wound. oh well. what can you do. ill ljust ignore it and keep going. anyway. im sad i didnt get to eat out of the candy bowl this year. i wanted to eat candy last night so bad. i miss moms extra supply we get every year. anyway i love you lots.

love elder paskett

Livin' the Life

hey mom and family.

how are you doing. I'm doing ok here. really stressed. yesterday in church i helped give 12 blessings or 13 i cant remember 4 confirmations 6 baby blessing (they weren't all babies some were little kids.) we are working our way through the primary to give them records and what not and then a bunch of blessings to those who are sick. i got to give one of the baby blessing....in Spanish. wow i was super nervous. i had some time to practice before so i did ok. she was the cutest little girl I'm going to get a picture with her before i leave.

the next blessing that night that i helped with is to a girl named Brenda. she has been through a lot. was part of a gang. addicted to a marijuana. and she is only 15. she wants to be better. but her family doesn't support her in baptism it is really sad. so we are teaching just her. but anyway she has been hearing voices in her head and they scare her so we gave her a blessing and are going to call her every night to check up on how she is doing. nothing really exciting happened this week. we did set a couple baptismal dates with Lucas and Lupe an old man and the girl he looks out for guardian of. they are going to get baptized on the 14 of November. however on Sunday Lupe came to church but Lucas didn't. we asked them to come together and read together to give each other the support that they need but the first assignment didn't even go through right. i was a little upset.

Spanish is slowly getting better. it is hard to think that i still have to wait 5 more months till I'm as good as i want to be haha. but i think about it and realize 2 months i go i couldn't even understand Spanish. now i can teach lessons and understand some conversation about other stuff. my vocab is limited to the church so it is hard sometimes to just talk. but it is growing quickly. i should probably talk more in Spanish with my companion but he doesn't understand sometimes. especially when i ask questions on how to say something he cant explain it. he has been speaking in Spanish he whole life. he just does it. so with practice and listening ill get it.

we had a trainer trainee meeting. it was so good. it made me feel better about everything. I'm so scared that i am not good enough. but we watched a clip from facing the giants. and it is all about giving it your best. that is all he asks. that is all he asks in life. duh really easy huh. i know if i try my hardest and do my best he will be pleased with me. I'm going to work as hard as i can and i know good will come of it.

anyway how is everyone doing. good i hope. is it cold. snowing. it has rained here for like 2 days. and is starting to get cold and i am still packed like i am going to Mexico. it is really hard being transferred. i don't have anything i need here. and mom no don't send me anything. haha. like blankets, haha everyone brought the ones they have. i wasn't told to so i just have a sheet it isn't so bad. or a pillow haha. i use my sweatshirt. i don't have my jacket for the rain. that is dumb. ill get one in Mexico like i planned. anyway even with all that fun stuff. and including not having light in my bedroom. or in the main room. (no fixtures and no lamps yet.) I'm pretty sure i feel like a missionary should feel haha.

we have a lot planned for this week. we have a baptism on Sunday. my comp thinks I'm going to baptize. we will see. i kinda don't want to. I'm to scared still. but i have to do it sooner or later right. it will be a good experience.

the members here or most of them really support missionary work. they are pushing us so hard to do more and more. I'm exhausted at the end of each day. i love it. anyway. i love you all so much i have to go shopping now for food. I'll email you next week. be safe and be good. you are all wonderful. Tell client hi for me.

love your brother and son.

Elder Paskett

ps mom thank you so much for the letter it was the best thing this week

Rockin' Modesto

hey mom and family.

How are you all doing. I'm pretty much in Mexico.I don't understand anyone and cant read anything. I'm in a Spanish branch in Modesto California. woot woot. it is pretty fun. i got here met president Gonzalez and my companion elder Martinez. they got to know me a bit. and we were off from Fresno to Modesto. we got to our apartment, what i imagined it to be. two small rooms one bathroom and a small kitchen. there are four of us. we are kind of one big companionship but we go out separately my other "comp" is from Peru. Elder Valencia. the last is Elder Krebs he is going to Mexico too. anyway, we went to our appointment with Silvia. she is a recent convert. she speaks English and Spanish but more Spanish. kinda Spanglish. i could understand most of what she said. probably because it was part English. haha. she asked for a blessing and we gave her one then went home. our apartment didn't have electricity that night they hadn't turned it on for us yet. so we planned in the dark with flashlights. and got ready for bed. the next day we visited Nancy a recent convert. i couldn't understand her at all. ya it stressed me out.

next we went to Alejandra and Fransisco's. They are a couple living together they want to get baptized but have to get married first. they are waiting for legal papers to become citizens first. so as soon as that happens they are good to go. Later, we went back to Nancy 's to teach her daughter who was also baptized recently. we could speak English and Spanish with her. i tried mostly in Spanish but when i couldn't i talked a bit in English. we drove around a lot from house to house to our appointments and no one was home big shock. :( not really.

anyway, to continue about my week we taught a man in the hospital, named Molesio, he is a little brain damaged. i couldn't understand him but he wants us to teach his sister. he told his sister to call us and she did. we teach her wed. this week at the hospital with her brother. we are excited. Mari Cruz and Cesar are a family who i met last week who had a baptismal date for Sunday (yesterday) they got married Saturday. i help with that set up clean up what not. then the next day Sunday night they and their 2 daughters that could get baptized got baptized. it was wonderful. i was so happy for them. when they were changing after being baptized me and Elder Krebs, were in charge of giving a lesson. yeah i was freaking out. but we taught about Joseph smith and the book of Mormon and it was all good. oh i also had to get up and tell about myself on Sunday. bear my testimony and what not. that wasn't so bad either.

we found a lady who wanted a copy of finding faith in Christ. (a DVD) we took it to her and she knows quite a bit. (she has nephews that are missionaries) he contacted her and we need to go back to teach her more. I'm excited my companion is making me extend the baptismal date. I'm nervous. i hope i say it right.

every girl likes my blue eyes. it freaks me out a little there is a girl that flirts with me and my companion. he both hate it. i act super awkward when i talk to her. which feels weird because talking to girls isn't hard for me haha. my companion told her she needed to stop it. i was grateful for that. we are going to drop the family of that girl. I'm really sad to do it because well you know. they just aren't keeping commitments or coming to church. it makes me sad.

oh David and Elva have a date we are just waiting for them to get married too. they have an interview with president Jimenez of the branch. then we can finalize the date for them. I'm excited for that.

well i don't have much more to say other then I'm doing my best out here. trying my hardest to learn Spanish. slowly i am starting to understand more and more. but not the pace that i want. oh well i am on the lords time.

i love you all so so much. keep up the good work. keep praying and reading. how is the book of Mormon coming. don't give up please. i love you all.

mom I'm gaining weight again. i am eating so much here. it makes me sick haha.

I'm doing good. don't worry about me just pray.

i love you

love your son and brother,

Elder Taylor Paskett

Quick note in Fresno

Hey family,

i made it to Fresno in one piece. really tired tho. i love my mission president and the other elders that i have met so far. it is going to be really good here. i dont know what else to tell you. well sorry this is short. i dont know what else to say. i love you all so much. ill be able to tell you more next week on monday. (pday). um i am doing really good. i get to start knocking doors tonight. be safe and keep praying for me. i love you all so so much and i miss you.

love Elder Paskett

Off to Fresno

We were able to talk to Taylor again this morning. He his headed off to Fresno for about a month. Funny story, he saw Great Grandma and Wes at the airport! I thought it was super neat that he was able to say hi to them. I guess Great Grandma was really excited about it :) Taylor is extremely excited to get out of "jail" (That's what our family refers to as the MTC, ha ha) and into the field to teach. He is most likely going to be speaking Spanish there, which will be nice. He also said pictures are on their way so as soon as I get a hold of them I will be sure to post them on here! Hope everyone is loving life!

Much love,
The Pasketts

Phone call!

We talked to Taylor today! Unfortunately, it was only for 5 minutes. However, it was really, really nice to hear his voice. He sounds like he is doing really well. Anyway, big question on everyone's mind is where is Taylor being temporarily transferred? ........................Fresno, California! He flies out super early on Tuesday, October 12. We will also be able to hear from him that morning from the airport so that will be nice. I will be sure to update more after that! He sends his love to everyone, and wants you all to know that he thinks about you often. He appreciates all of your letters and he hopes to see more from ya. Thanks for all of your great support. Our family appreciates all of your prayers.

Love,
Paskett Family

No Visa October 6, 2010

Hey everyone!!!!!!
How are you doing? Can you believe that I have been here for 8 weeks? I can't it has felt like nothing really. I"m so excited to leave here. I'm so excited to go and help people. Connor wrote me and said he is speaking Spanish in Texas, Forth Worth mission. He loves it. He is teaching 4 progressive invets. I'm so jealous that he is gone, but guess what! I didn't get my visa, so I got reassigned guess where! Come on guess. I'm going to... I don't know yet ha ha. I find out tonight or tomorrow. So I will be calling home Friday, (don't forget). Sometime around 6 ish, if this is a problem write me and tell me a good time. I am pretty flexible and my comps understand. We are all going to find a good time for each of us even if we have to do it separate times. Anyway, we had our last meeting with Josue. We taught him the plan of salvation and it went pretty good but not perfect. We couldn't find a way to apply it to him other then the atonement will help you in your trials and he said that he really doesn't have any trials and didn't express and concerns. Oh well. We got him to pray often and keep reading the Book of Mormon. So some success. We teach a guy named Daniel. He is tough. He is an investigator that you probably wouldn't go back to teach. When you show up at his "house" class room really, he says he is too busy but you just stay stubborn and he lets you in. Then, he gets talking we start to teach and then he says "what do you know? How old are you?" and what not. Next time we teach we are going to talk about tithing and fast offerings and what not because he doesn't believe you are a disciple of Christ unless you show love for your fellow men. So I have thought of some examples of charity our family has done and charity we have received and things we have seen. Then talk about why I am on my mission, the ultimate service and sacrifice I can do in my life. Hopefully, it goes well. Please pray for me to be patient with him. My temper flares when he bashes me. Big surprise right? Que mas? Conference was amazing. I love it so so so much. We left at one thirty for salt lake. We got there and went into the little theater they have and practiced and watched a little bit of the afternoon session. We had a snack practiced some more. Then, went into the big room. We practiced once and sat down. All the members of the seventy were all turned around at the start smiling at us and just looking so proud of us. Then, when we started to sing one by one, all of the seventy and some of the apostles, I think started to turn around and watch us instead of the T.V. screen. It felt so incredible, when all the missionaries were asked to stand. I started to cry cause I knew that all around the world an army of believers were standing shoulder to shoulder along with the general authorities to bring to pass god's work and his glory. To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. It was so wonderful. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk on focusing on the important things in times of strife. I think that has been a problem for me while I have been here. I thought the harder I worked the faster I got through it. It was so nice to hear that I can slow down here but still work hard. Makenna I'm so glad to hear you scored a goal in soccer. guess what, I scored one too. Pretty much everyday ha ha. But I play goalie a lot too. My body is bruised from soccer and volley ball and diving on the ground, but it is fun. Jon I haven't heard from you in a while, but I love you lots, keep up the good work. You are wonderful and have a lot of potential. tanner I was so glad to hear about band. You are amazing and your determination will help you in the mission field and I still think it is weird you are driving so..... stop. Alli keep up the good work at school. Be patient in everything. You are the best older sister I could have hoped for, thank you. Mom and dad I love you so much. I am doing well and working hard. I love you so much. I love your love for me and the gospel. You are the reason I love this. I know that I would not have done will if it weren't for your unending support for me. I am out of time. Let the WHOLE family know I am doing better, and thank them for the letters the sent. I'm going to write them too, so just eif you see them tank them for me.
I love you so so so much, all of you.

Love
Elder Taylor Paskett

Where's Taylor?

Taylor sang in the priesthood session of Conference. See if you can find him in the crowd!

Hark all ye nations
http://new.lds.org/general-conference/music/2010/10?lang=eng&session=3&song=1&media=video

Called to serve
http://new.lds.org/general-conference/music/2010/10?lang=eng&session=3&song=10&media=video

Spanish Week September 29, 2010

Hola familia,
como esta? bueno. how is everything? everybody doing good? i really hope so. things are going really good here. it is spanish week where we cant say anything in english. well i slip up ALOT. but im trying. it is really making it difficult to get along with my companion elder leive because he doesnt understand me and i dont understand him. so basically we just get frustrated and dont talk but......in mexico i wont be able to say what i want for awhile to my native companions but oh well. the lord will provide.
yesterday we had a devotional and it was elder clayton of the seventy (i think) anyway he talk about the dream the nebacanzer (i know i spelled it wrong) anyway the dream is in danial and it talks about a stone cut from the mountian without hands. then rolling and feeling the whole earth. the stone is the church and it is growing rapidly already starting to fill parts around the world. over the past years prophets have said the church is growing fast and they keep saying "this is only the begining" i thought that 333 mission was incredible but if this is only the beginning i wonder what it will be like when we get going faster. im excited to be apart of the rolling stone we all are. we are examples through the way we live our lives. i love you guys keep doing your best to follow the gospel of jesus christ. we are so so so lucky to have it.
we taught josue again. it was really difficult because we had things to teach him and he had questions and we only had 15 minutes. my companions kept going with the lesson and i tried to answer his questions. like stuff about the god head. my companions dont listen i think to the investigator. they are to busy thinking what to say next. i try and listen and understand the best i can. it is really difficult when we are all strong in different areas of spanish. at the end of the lesson he said he likes praying it makes him feel good. but he doesnt ask for anything for himself. he wont ask about the BOM and he needs to. so i think we are going to address that next time.
we didnt get to teach ashley this week. (she had someone take her shift in the TEC) so i dont have an update one her.
we are starting to teach lesson 2 (the plan of salvation alot) it has a lot of vocab in there that is hard to explain. atonement is hard to explain in spanish. haha. but with pracitice ill get it.
conference is this weekend and i am so excited to go to salt lake feel close to home again. well closer then i feel now. pracitces have been way good to help me relax. they are in the morning so it is a good way to start my day. we are singing hark all ye nations, go ye messengers of heaven and of course called to serve. it is alot of fun. i love the music staff that is helping us. they make it relaxing and rewarding.
other then that there isnt anything to exciting. i feel better then i have ever felt in a long time. with the wieght that i have lost. (im not gonna say becuase mom will send me more food so i get fat again.) i feel so great everyone in the district saw a picture that was taken of me one the first day....they said i look great. where everyone else (except my companion elder hansen) looks fatter. haha. i feel so good about my self. im not where i want to be but i feel so much better. anyway im out of time for today we havea service assignment to do today before the new elders come in today (like scotty)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!im so so so so so so excited to see him again. i have missed him a ton. oh and connor left for texas fort worth. he got reasigned for a bit. i will most likely be put state side for a bit so ill call (yes i get to call) when i get that so be waiting to hear from me next week or so. ilove you guys so so so so much. keep of the good work. i love you and the lord loves you
love
ELDER TAYLOR PASKETT

Singing in Conference September 22, 2010

Hey family,

How is everyone? how is school, work, and playing? the lake sounded fun but honestly I'm not to upset i missed it. i have been working to hard to miss it. p day is hard not to think about it though especially when the day is nice i want to be at the lake and just swim in the water. oh well.

anyway freaking amazing news.....guess what i get to do....that is right sing in conference for the priesthood session!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited there are four of us in our zone that get to go. (sadly my comp elder hansen didn't make it) i tried to give my permission slip to him and have him go the first day. he wanted it more then i did but he wouldn't take it. any way our first practice was this morning and I'm so excited for it. it is so nice to sing again. we sing in class and Sundays but not as intense as it was this morning. so boys look for me when the choir sings. mom alli makenna you will be able to watch it later. on lds.org you can watch the conference online when it is up. just look at the top above the speakers and click on listen to music or something of the sort. dad you are smart and can find it im sure. i might be on camera a time or two so just look for me.

my companion elder levie is now senior companion and operates a little slower then elder hansen and i. during planning half way through he says take time and plan personal study for tomorrow. well elder hansen and i are done with that part. i think it bothers him a little when we are a few steps ahead of him. i don't know how to slow down very well without getting lazy or feeling lazy but I'm learning to just go with it. i have many hours to study during the day so if a little time is lost to help him out it is ok i just push harder during my time.

i got 2 new investigators. (pretend ones but I'm going to talk like they are real because they feel real) we have a place called the TE which means teaching evaluation where teachers pretend to be investigators. this is where i go to teach them.

anyway. Ashley is my English one. we have taught her 3 times now. she doesn't understand why it had to be joseph smith why couldn't it be someone else who wanted truth. also she doesn't understand why our church is the only people who get to go to heaven. I'm thinking we need to teach the plan of salvation all the way through so that she understands the spirit world and the kingdoms of glory. we tell her that everyone will get a chance to hear the gospel but she argues that there is no way we can teach the people in the amazon. we brought up the spirit world when she brought that up and still argued good people will go to heaven even if they don't join as she calls it "our" church. it isn't our church and we tell her that. it is Christ's church. we asked her to go to church with her friend and she said yes. we haven't had a chance to check up on her yet. (it is hard to get appointments in the TE) but hopefully she went and felt good. in short slowly but surely she is making progress. anyway that is that one in short.

josue is our Spanish investigator. holy cow. i don't understand anything he says. I'm going to be freaking out when i get to Mexico. any way, he is having a hard time believing that god answers his prayers. we asked him to pray to him. well he forgot and i was super upset. it drove me crazy. i told him the only way for him to know is to ask. god doesn't answer the desires of your heart unless you present them to him. DUH! anyway we asked him to read for the book of mormon in 3 nephi chaps 11-12 and he said he would. we told him a little about the book of mormon and he has read a little bit and says it is just like the bible. he has a hard time thinking that the gospel blessed his family. his parents are separated and doesn't understand why god let that happen. i tried to bring up agency but my Spanish was seriously lacking. it was super stressful.

our last one we have had for a few weeks but i haven't really said anything about him so here you go. diego. he likes the idea of god. doesn't know if he is there for sure or not but likes the idea and if he did exsist he knows that he would love him and knows that he would be a child of god. he feels really good when reading the book of mormon and really liked when we sat down and read with him. we discussed scriptures in the chapter as we went a long explaining things and answering questions. he is making really good progress

lets see what else. oh the little district (the newish one) loves me i always have TONS of food for them and i like to talk with them. a lot of them have come to me asking for advice about companionships it stress me out cause i want to help but I'm afraid ill make it worse. most of them have come to me for more advice after some problems get fixed after i help them. i have gotten a few to quit writing there girlfriends everyday and obsessing over them. they have realized it is only harder if they let it occupy their time. and plus it is against the rules to write everyday. haha.

i love you guys lots I'm glad you are safe. i am feeling much better then i was last week. I'm starting to sleep much better and wake up feeling better then i was last week. I'm still not 100% but almost. i just need to keep working. que mas? i love getting mail you can never write to much. i love hearing anything and everything.

yes mom i have been taking my vitamins don't worry. (they taste gross, just like the food.) and i have stopped losing weight. i haven't weighed my self in a while so i cant give you a number but i feel good about myself. more energetic.

kids I'm sorry soccer hasn't always been a win for you but try and have fun always. it makes everything better. during gym we play soccer and when people get upset when they are losing it sucks the fun out of it fast.

thanks for going to scotty's farewell. i love how you can be close with my friends. they mean a lot to me especially scotty. i cant wait to see him.

I'm praying for you dad and your job stuff. i don't know what exactly goes on but keep me posted i would like to hear.

tanner i don't know how you got so popular but keep it up. keep working hard.

jon keep working hard to. life is better when you work hard and see results.

makenna don't bruise your butt again haha.

alli i love you so much and think of you everyday. my zone still thinks your super cute and love your hair.

mom i love you so much. i miss you like crazy. and I'm not dying i promise.

dad your advice keeps me going and was it bednars talk about missionary and becoming one i love that talk

Anyway i am out of time. i love you all be safe

love elder paskett

ps please email this to kait and her mom.

Coughing up a Lung September 15, 2010

HELLO!!!!!!!!

this last week has been a very very long week. after getting out of isolation. we had huge contention in our companionship fighting over just about everything. ( I think it was because of lack of sleep) but anyway all that happened we went to bed and i didn't sleep at all i was coughing blowing my nose all night long. the next day i went back to the doctors cause i felt worse. ya sucks trust me i know. he suggested i go back to isolation. so i did for another day. i met an elder named elder chapel we got along really well but i slept quite a bit this time around. i got let out the next day again only fearing that i would feel worse again the next day. well i did feel worse but it was because i cant sleep. so my branch president told me to sleep when i needed. it has helped a lot I'm feeling a little better but I'm pretty sure i keep coughing up a lung and having to put it back in sometimes.

the contention in our trio was solved to we all sat down together and had comp inventory( which pretty much means fix your problems with each other) we talked it all out said what bothered us and all promised to work on things.

Before this tho i talked to my zone leader about it elder donnor, i love him, and he looked at me and said maybe it is you that has the problem that needs to be fixed. he asked me when we did comp inventory to swallow my pride(you guys know how stubborn i am) and change. i did just that. i humbled myself and said that i would work on the things that bothered them and after all of that they thanked me for my willingness to change to help them. that caused them to want to help me as much as possible. it was really good. we work a lot better now.

Spanish is coming along very well. it took leaps and bounds this week. i taught three lessons in Spanish (all lesson one (the restoration)) and i got taught 4 or 5 lessons in Spanish. the other district in my zone taught me a bunch. i have them teach me for my language study. instead of studying Spanish i do Spanish i like it a lot more and it helps me out a bunch.

I'm sorry i don't write home more then just my email pday is one of the worst days here because everything is so rushed I'm going to try and get time to write everyone a letter before i leave the mtc. i love you so much and wish i could write everyday but it is against the rules and I'm trying so hard to be 100% obedient.

i would have loved a subway sandwich and chicken salad sounded amazing the day it came. however i don't pick up my own mail. My district leader has to. so i cant check it all day looking for the food to come. and it is mtc policy anything that comes through the mail system that needs to be refrigerated or kept warm needs to be thrown away. especially if i comes through the mail like it has been. they don't know if it has been in a hot truck for hours or just a few minutes so they go through the packages that come from the service you sent it through to check so the missionaries don't get sick. i love you so much that you are trying to feed me. and im sad that it didn't work out ( i was really upset the second time, my whole district had to calm me down) but i am OK. I'm losing weight because im praying for help. i don't drink soda i don't eat desserts (mainly cause they aren't all that good) and because of this control I'm losing weight. it isn't because I'm not eating. i eat every meal. i promise mom.

i got your tape and bawled the whole time. i miss all of you so much. i will start working on the tape when i can control my cough a little more. it sounds gross. haha. i never thought that i would miss tanner playing the piano. strange right? i miss the chaos of home. i really do. i love you all so much. however i have noticed all of you (except for jon)(JK) have grown up a lot.

mom i am sorry about your work stuff i really didn't understand it all that much i don't know all your PTC LMNOP stuff are it is over my head. i know scriptures tho. feel free to talk about those haha. i am doing well. i am getting better slowly but surely. i have enough junk food in my room to feed all of the army of helaman. (haha you know you are a missionary when....you crack that joke) the oreos are so good. elder johnson helped me finish the ooey gooey mix he loved it. and i still have tons of food left. What do you want me to do with the cooler and the containers? i cant attempt to send them home when i send the tape. just let me know. mommy i love you so much. i know i am doing the right thing tho. i know like it says in D&C 31 my family will be blest in this time of service. please be safe and help the family be safe. i promise i am a big boy now and can take care of myself however the lord is taking care of me more then you or i can imagine. continue to pray for me. i pray for you always. i love you.

all of you please be safe. please work hard. please continue to draw close to the savior. in alma 37:44 it says it is easy to live the gospel. remember that don't make it harder to come to Christ then it really is. i love you all so much.

PS brit left a week or so ago i got to say good bye the night before. connor is still here and we have the same meal times so we talk a lot.

i love you all so much be safe please.

Love your son and brother and friend.

TAYLOR (elder paskett)

Isolation September 8, 2010

Hey everyone,

sorry i didn't email earlier. i was in isolation. i got the flu and they put me on a floor me and my comp who was sick for 24 hours we got out this morning. it was a test for me for sure. i was praying to get along with my comp. i was praying for the ability to get along next thing i know i was put in a room to ourselves with only three people to talk to him, myself and god. it was a test for sure but i learned more about him. he isn't so much like tanner anymore. he was like him because he was forgetful and moves at his own pace. (i love you tanner) but anyway i had time to evaluate my experience here. to evaluate my work ethic. i have been slacking but no more. i haven't been lazy just not working my hardest. isolation wasn't to bad. cold showers cold food one room. one floor for the two of us. it felt like three days I'm so glad we were only in there for one. I'm not sure why they let us out. I'm still a little sick but feeling better. I'm not complaining they let me out. i love the fresh air.

anyway we got new teachers i haven't met them yet because of isolation but i here they are awesome. I'm going to miss my old teachers tho they were in credible. they pushed me and really cared for me. I'm sure they made incredible missionaries because well you could just tell.

lets see what else. it really isn't exciting here. the food is getting grosser my pants keep getting bigger and bigger the suit that i thought wasn't going to fit by the end of the mtc is close to falling off of me. i have lost at least 12 pounds. I'm so excited I'm going to weigh my self tomorrow. i really just had to stop drinking soda. it was so bad for me. i feel so much better since i haven't chugged it like i did. um what else. this is really boring I'm sorry. there hasn't been a whole lot of excitement since we got sick we had to cancel all our appointments to teach mock progressive investigators. i have been staying with my comp in the room before isolation because he was to tired to get up. then i got sick. and now i am here. this is so boring I'm really sorry haha.

I'm starting to think in Spanish in fact it is messing my English up. i cant spell anymore because either the Spanish comes to mind first or i try and spell it like i would in Spanish. it is getting pretty bad . i like it though.

I'm sorry i cant really respond to letter you wrote me i don't have them with me i didn't think i would be emailing right now. it has been so crazy the past day. p day was almost over. i didn't have time to do laundry. and now I'm emailing shortly before the temple. which i am so excited for.

i love you guys so much. being away has made me love you so much more then i could ever imagine. i pray for you every night and i know the lord is helping you with all your trails and challenges i know he answers prayers. he answered mine when i prayed for a warm shower. yeah I'm serious in isolation the showers were freezing so i prayed and knew he would help me. he did. it was awesome. pray to him for everything. if you have the faith he will answer your prayers he will. i can testify of that. he loves you so much and wants you happy. he can only make you happy if you believe he can.\

mom i love you so much. i miss you more then you can imagine.

dad i love you too. thank you for preparing me for this.

alli you are amazing i couldnt ask for a better example.

tanner. i didnt say this enough but i love you . you are wonderful

jon stay away from girls. (tanner you too.) and i love you

makenna stay away from boys. and i love you so much.

keep working hard all of you. you are amazing and the lord will bless you for your efforts. please know i love you. please know that the lord loves you. be safe always.

love your son brother and friend

ELDER TAYLOR PASKETT

3 Weeks

Hey mom (everyone),

How are you guys doing? how is school going for you guys? how is work? i hope everything is going well for you.

This week wasn't to eventful. we had a teacher leave and we got a new one his name is hermano paz soldan. he is really good i love the way he teaches he made me feel better about my spanish and my teaching skills im really excited to learn more from him.

my new companionship has been a little rough beacuse one of my companions is like.....tanner. yeah thats right tanner. thanks for preparing me for this tanner haha i love you. things are going to get better i just have to be used to it. it took me two weeks to get used to elder jensen so give it one more week and i will be used to being in a trio.

Oh everyone in my zone thinks that alli is a hottie. elder hansen is writing her already and three more people want to write her. i think that it is really funny. i constantly have people coming in my room saying sonso said that your sister is cute do you have a picture. so alli if you get a few letters this week, its beacuse elders think you are really cute.

i loved hearing from everybody this week dont be afraid to write me alot because mail is better then christmas. you know how i hated getting up early for christmas....well i would get up at four if the mail came that early. it is so wonderful hearing from you guys. knowing that you are ok comforts me big time because i miss home alot.

elder hinckley came last night. (gordon b.'s son haha) i loved his talk alot. he gave nine tips in becoming a good missionary and being safe as a missionary. one thing he said that stuck to me is this. "you are going to chase away darkness. you are going to chase way sadness. you are going to be the light on the hill that cannot be hid." just thinking that i will be walking into homes where sadness dwells or where anger rules, and chasing those feelings away. wow i cant think of anything better.

three weeks down in the mtc 5 to go. it has gone so fast here each day feels like forever (probbaly because i get up at 6) but each week feels like a day. It kinda feels like there are 3 days here the first day here and driving here getting ready and what not, everyday after that is the second day and day three is today. so before i know it i will be in mexico, next ill be out a year. and at that point all my teachers say that they prayed for time to slow down because they cant keep up. im so excited.

thank you so much for the packages i have been getting. you have made it really hard to lose wait in the mtc. last week i was down eight pounds!!! not that im not eating i just havent had a soda in three weeks i dont eat three plates of food like everyone else and not eating at 11 at night has probably helped alot. but if you send me anything send me pictures there is nothing better then seeing the things and hearing about the things you are doing. i love it that way i dont feel like im missing out on it so much.

Anyway, i just want you to know that this church is true. why would it not be. god loves us so much. why wouldn't he give us his gospel. why wouldnt he want total happiness for us. dad wants the best for us why wouldnt our heavenly father? i love this so much i have never been so full of gozo (joy) in my life when it comes to the gospel. i am pumped everyday knowing i get the next 16 hours to read pray study something that is vital to my eternal life. i cant wait to get home and share my knowledge with you because not only am i inviting people to come unto to christ by helping them receive of the restored gospel thought faith in jesus christ and his atonement, repentance, baptism, recieving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. i am coming unto christ. learning more then i ever thought i would. learning to love him more then i thought i could. please strive everyday to come unto christ it is so important. he loves you and is there to help you return and receive of the blessings that heavenly father has for us. i love you guys so much. you are the reason i am here. through your examples, the lessons you have taught me and all the love you have for me. i would be nothing with our you guys. (i look funny crying at the computer in the laundry room by the way)
i love you guys be strong have faith in jesus christ and the love that he has for you. he knows you better then you. he will carry your burdens if and only if you come unto him and ask him plead with him to help you carry the things you ahve to carry. i love you guys. remember you are god children, hiers to everything he has so be worthy in this life to recieve it so we me be together forever in happiness

Love elder paskett

Two weeks, WOW August 25

Hey family,

How are you guys doing. i miss you lots and lots. this week has been quite the interesting week for me. i am now in a trio with elder levie (levi sounds like that) and elder hansen my roommates. they are from arizona lake havasu area and witchita kansas. we are getting along great it has only been one day but i love them alot. it is strange having to keep an eye on two elders instead of one. any way im sorry to hear about my room. and it is kinda gross thinking gross chicken juice was leaking in to my room.

elder holland came and spoke last night and it was so intense. he is so bold and powerful when he speaks i tried to write as fast as i could to take notes but it was really hard to keep up with everything i want to write down.

good news there was a whole distrcit of elders who got there visas to mexico so it sounds like it is getting better but we will see. i will get transfered state side if it doesnt come with in the next 7 weeks. that is fine with me i just get to serve in two different places. my spanish is picking up but getting harder. i am learning to get rid of all english and just go in spanish like comida is comida not food. does that make sense.

the food is getting worse i can barley look at it with out gagging sometimes. each day is a hit and miss type of thing somedays there is something that is ok and others it is all just bad. oh well. i am going to mexico so im trying to be positive about he food while i at least get food everyday.

i miss cooking so much. i miss real food so much. they served chicken and broc. at dinner one day and i was really excited took a bite and went this is not chicken and broc. i was so mad but i ate it any way. i just want to walk back there and say move im cooking for me.

I talked with brit alot yesterday at the devotional. he is doing really good and he leaves in less then 2 weeks he has all his travel plans and everything that he needs in order to go. im super excited of him.

i am the envy of the district i get mail everyday and everybody hates it. i feel loved. thanks alli and makenna for the jacket it was much needed it is cold in the morning so i love having something to throw on for gym and the like.

Has it felt like 2 weeks for you guys because it has felt like 12 for me. every day seems forever but sunday always seems to come faster then i think. i love being busy with something all the time. i never have time during the day to relax and take a minute and somehow i love it.

so how is everything how was school for you kids? how is working goin? does the boat have a tower yet? is the bathroom finished? if not get on both of those. oh makenna you will hate purddy for sience just to let you know. i thought she was awful. tanner stay away from girls at school they are icky and strange. you will never understand them. im sorry to break it to you. JON.......i love you. i love you all. and miss you guys so much. sorry i dont have tons to say. i said it all last week really and all the weeks here are pretty much the same except spanish get better and the spirit is stronger.

i love you all so much and i pray for you everyday. you guys are so wonderful. i dont know what i would do if i didn't have support from you guys. it keeps me going. you are wonderful and the lord loves you. i love you

the church is true. i promise.

Love your brother, son, and friend

I'm still alive August 18, 2010

so this is going to be really rough with alot of mistakes because there is a timer in the corner of the screen counting down time. it is really intimidating. Anyway, first dear elder me everytime you write me because i can read them whenever and emails i read once a week and it takes up time i could use to write to you guys.

i think the mtc trains those that go to mexico to be ready for cold showers because out of the ten times i have showered in the morning and after gym i have had 2 warm showes the rest are freezing cold. like i said the food isnt going to kill me but im kinda getting sick of it. they have different names for the meals but essentially they are all the same. i am at the point where i just eat cereal and a fruit of somesort.

Class is really awesome my teachers are so incredible. the spirit is so strong when we are all discussing and sharing our thoughts and ideas. i love my distrcit i get along with everyone. one of the elders in there is named elder porter who i was friends with up at college. spanish is coming along great i am at the point where i can understand the instructions in class when they speak in spanish but im not quiet at the point where i can express myself. i can pray and give a simple testimont but that is about it. im getting there i think that is really good for only one week. (semana)

I saw brit on sunday. we have 2 totally differnet schedules. but we got to talk for 30 minutes while we were waiting for our sunday fireside. it was really good to see someone so close to express myself and just ya know talk. i see elder dustin (connor) the kid i played soccer with, alot. he has helped me through the past couple of days with all my fears and stuff. we tried to teach the first discussion, My companion and i, and it was awful. like if i was the investogator i would have either fallen asleep or just rejected it quick. connor gave me ideas on how to prepare for it the next time i did so during personal time i made my lesson plan a little better and the next time we did it it was incredible.......until my companion bourght up the possiblity the god might not exsist. it is really confusing and complicated but ya he threw us under the bus. we recovered well when i just interuppted and got back on topic.

being jr companion is super hard for me knowing we have been here the same amount of time. maybe i just dont like being led. i like being in charge. i feel special.

I am still waiting for a package to make me feel special. i love getting letters it is like the best time of the day. so tell alli to post on my blog or whatever it is to tell people to write me on dear elder. but just hearing about your day about school work tv music games whatever even what you ate for breakfast would be cool. it is just nice to know you guys are doing ok.

i love you guys so much. being here has humbled me so much. i have never felt so weak in my life. even though i am struggling i know that the lord will provide a way to follow and return to him. i know that he loves me. se que dios es mi padre celestial. el amo mucho. how was that dad. also, being here has testified to me that families are important knowing that you guys miss me and support me keep me going. you have no idea, excpet for maybe dad, what it is like to go to bed and wake up to realize that this is real and it isnt a dream. sometimes i think that im going to wake and come upstairs and see you guys but it is ok that i dont.

ps before i forget a sweatshirt from my room would be awesome. it is supper cold in my room in the morning and i would love a sweatshirt to put on in the morning or in the middle of the night if i get cold. no hurry or anything but it is only going to get colder.

overall im doing good here. it has felt like a months time of being here tho. im ready to go to mexico so i dont have to keep sitting in the same spot eating the same food and just going through a routine.

I love all of you so much. remember to send this to family like grandpa and what not becuase im sure they would like to know how i am doing. remember the lord loves you and is with me and you all the time. strengthening you and pushing you to our heavenly father. please i beg that you will choose him always and forever. love him more then you think you can. he will bless you in all you time of need. la igelsia es verdadera. ( the church is true) Yo se que es la iglesia as verdadera.

I love you all and miss you so much. i pray for you and am thinking of you. (when im not focusing on his work haha which isnt very often) but i do find time to remember you and all that you have done for me thank you.

Love,

Elder Paskett

First Day August 11, 2010

Hey Familia,
Today was tough. I felt like I hit a wall. Everyone speaks Spanish and hopes I understand. I'm not lovin that. Anyway, I still love it. The spirit is so strong. Elder Jensen and I get along really well. We work well together. Everything here, the rooms and the classrooms, are waht I thought they would be, but the food isn't bad. It isn't great, but it isn't bad. I won't die at least!
We got to listen to the MTC President. President Smith, he is really cool. He made me feel like I was seriously needed.
Anywho, I'll email you guys on Wednesday. I love you guys so much.

Love,
Elder Paskett

P.S. Only 729 days left.