Dear family and friends,
well, if you didn't notice, it was a long week this week. We got to go to the temple today, and consequently, today, (wednesday) became p-day. So. weekly news. Elder Bartelt and I officially decided that we have got to be here for someone. basically all our investigators are children, except one, but this week, after deciding that we just really need to step it up, we finally had lessons with people that we havent taught in ages, ran into emily and james again, started teaching yet another child, set a baptisimal date with that same child, got invited over for thanksgiving on saturday with bro. o'connor- which by the way will be very unique- he's Irish, and she's Samoan. Tarro will be served right next to the turkey cooked the italian way- whatever way that is. haha. anyway, we did heaps of tracting last week, and for the last couple of days, and have found a few really good potentials. unfortunately, most of them are YSA girls. i hope it has nothing to do with our ridiculously good looks. :P anyway. this week what else... OH! Elder Cook of the 12 came and did a special zone conference with Elder callister (area president), and elder gonzales (presidency of the 70). It was awesome! i got to shake their hands! Elder Cook is a great guy. He gave a really great talk, and i learned heaps- forgot my notes though, so i'll tell you bout the particulars next week. Elder Callister is the guy who wrote "the infinite atonement." dunno if yous have ever read it, but apparently its something akin to "the miracle of forgiveness" its the only other book that president richards allows us to read. anyway, he gave a special stake conference the next day, which was EXCCELLENT. he talked about the recent tsunami in samoa, which affected lots of people in the stake, and how he had gone to visit 8 member familes who had lost family- only 1 of the 8 families had been sealed in the temple. he then stressed that we should stop at nothing to enter the temple, specifically he mentioned giving up smoking and drinking. Alcohol by the way, almost comes out of kitchen sinks here, its the favorite pass time of the country- sad part is, im not even joking. so that is a huge problem for lots of people. but, this is the amazing part of the whole day. the conference started at 10. at 8:30 we got a call from sabrina who is the less-active mother of Isiah, who we have been trying to get baptized since day one in this area. She led a riotous life before she had children, and got married, and was sort of a hindernance to Isiah's progression. she's a great friend of ours though, she just didnt set a good example. anyway, she calls us out of the blue to ask when the conference was, we told her, and she freaked out cause she was still in bed. but, she came by herself. after Elder Callister's talk about the temple, and families being sealed, the conference ended and we went back and talked to her. She told us that right then and there, she quit smoking and drinking so that she could get her family into the temple. we were ecstatic! before that, she had told us that she had no desire to give up smoking or drinking. and now a total change of heart? she sealed the deal by going up to Elder Callister and telling him how his talk had affected her, and then within 2 seconds of finishing that conversation, she caught bishop Hannant and set up an appointment for her and her husband to come in. that happened yesterday. we also went over to her house on monday and went over exactly what she needed to do to become temple worthy. basically just taught the 4th lesson. she committed to live all of them. we were happy. amazing how the spirit works. she hadn't planned on coming to the conference, but she couldn't sleep anymore, and "something" kept telling her to get up, and get to that conference. life changer. :D Doesnt get much better than that. anyway, Anna, sounds like your room is going to look sweet as! :) keep being you, babe.
Cara- Aka, "big kahuna" :) i dunno if "big" is quite the right word, but hey, whatever gives you the title of "boss" is gonna be correct. but sounds like you're working miracles for KMM. keep up the awesome work! this world needs more people like you.
Collin- great to hear from you. :P
Mom- thanks for the hydration pack. :) its been a huge help. and your concert- sounds like it's going to be awesome! and looks like you've found a suitable replacement for me- haha, better even.
Dad- thanks for your email. made my day. your encouragement is a huge help to me, especially your reminder that that baptisms dont always mean success. or vice versa.
marissa and richard- glad you got to come up! im jealous. :) have fun!
rochelle and BJ and gabe- thanks for that email! it was cute to read the update on Gabe's walking around and talking. :) cant wait to see it!
Whitney- got your package. :) no birthday requests yet. :) i sent a letter and YOUR package back.
anyway, love you all!
Love,
Elder Tayler Christensen
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