March Progress

hello my family and my friends!
well, this has been a very interesting week. it was pretty slow to begin with, but the last couple days were pretty hectic. it all started on thursday. we were a little late leaving the flat after lunch, and i was a little grumpy with myself for being slow, but as we said the prayer to leave the flat, i felt calm, and i was thinking about what order we would see people in, and the thought that we should go see the H.'s (less active family) first was strongly impressed on my mind. so we went there first. Good thing too. we go to visit them at work, because they live really far out of town. turned out sis. H. was on the verge of breaking down. she was over-exerting, and her daughter j. had recently been through a very traumatic experience, and was not handling it well. she asked us to come around on Saturday to give her a blessing, and we agreed. and then she just talked to us. i dont know what happened exactly, but it seems pretty intense. so we just helped her off-load and then we went and took care of out other errands. then we drove down to kawana waters (and hours drive), and stayed the night, and then elder Jensen (DL) and I went to the leadership training meeting. far out. i know why i was never in leadership. those leaders are intense, and they're like the best teachers ever. i got smashed by them! it was a little scary how inadequate i was feeling. it was a good introspection opportunity though and i have made several goals for myself to achieve before the end of my mission. so that was good. then it took us 3.5 hours to get back to kawana waters from brisbane, because we had to pick up bikes for me, cause gympie doesnt have any, and then crutches for another missionary in the district, and then it was pouring rain, and peak traffic. it was yuck. it should only have taken us an hour to get back. we ended up having to cancel our appointments before 6, and then i got to drive for an hour in more peak traffic, with heavy rain, and a trailer with bikes in it. that was fun. that was friday. then saturday we did our weekly planning, and went and gave the blessing to j.. it was kinda a cool experience. i got to be voice, and i was praying hard to be the mouthpiece of God for j., and i felt the spirit so strongly while i gave the blessing. i felt kinda like how Richard explained it to me- i could FEEL what God wanted me to say, but then i had to put it into words. that was the first time that i really felt that. it was really cool, and they were all very grateful. so i set them up with the bishop and a few other people that they trust in the ward, to really get the ball rolling to help j., and the family recover. so i felt very helpful. then that night, we had dinner with b.. it was such a good visit. if you remember i told yous about her when i first got to gympie- she's the one with multiple personalities (17) and who pretty much is a dry mormon. we've been trying to help her decide to get baptized for ages. like over 6 months. so finally after dinner, on our way out, she gave a tie to elder Nai (i already have one from her) and told him he had to wear it in 2 weeks, and that i did too. she'd been going on about what she was going to do in 2 weeks all night, and i had just thought it had something to do with me going home or something, but we finally asked what she was going to do in 2 weeks, and she said "i dont want to go through any more missionaries." at first i thought she was dropping us, and then i realized what she meant as she said,"so i'm getting baptized in 2 weeks. the 19th." i was in shock. i was totally speechless. i had NOT been expecting that. so that was pretty sweet. she was like, i need 2 weeks, because i'll have both kids with me in 2 weeks, and i have to stop smoking for 7 days, so i have some medication and the 15 step program, and i'm going to do them. and then she pulled out her own copy of preach my gospel, told us she read the whole thing, and then told us that she would be able to answer all the interview questions. shock again. i think i might actually hit my 4 baptisms goal. we have a few other people lined up, that we just need to commit. hopefully it goes well. i'm way excited. so that was pretty much the week.

anyway, times up, gotta go. i love you all so much! have a good week!
Love,
Elder Tayler Christensen

ps- mum, thanks for taking care of college stuff, its really taken a load off of me. really appreciate it. love you!