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
Sunday, November 28, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, November 8, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, November 1, 2010
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
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