Elder Taysom is arriving home today from his mission in Bahia Blanca Argentina!!! He reports his mission this Sunday Oct. 11, 2015 at 11:00am at our chapel on 2450 south. Thanks for all the prayers and support these last 2 years! This is the last email sent from the mission field...




Hey everyone,

Well I've only got about 10 min. thats all they gave me! but i just wanted to thank everyone for all your support and love over these last 2 years! i have grown by your cards and testimonies! i hope to see and hug you all this week and give you all big kisses! haha 

I do feel a little weird! but not sad or happy yet! in my mind i know that im going home, but my heart has not accepted the sad/happy truth. I think it will finally hit me when im in the plane, but until then i still feel at least, like the same old missionary that will go out and work tomorrow!

Well to answer some questions from mom, i would love to go out and eat somewhere. im really down for anything, its hard to decide what to do first because there is so much i want to do! well i love you all so much and cant wait to hug you all! if i can ill try to call, but it might be like 3 in the morning if i do! haha well love you all again and ill see you all later!!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Sounds like everyone is doing well! I like the pics of homecoming! i sure hope the weather stays warm as well, its still pretty cold here sometimes which is really a surprise. but other than that im doing well!! haha and nobody said anything about byu this week so im guessing they must not have done so well! haha

This week was good! it was my last normal sunday and somehow the bishop found out so i had to speak this week! i feel like he was inspired because my topic was about the blessing of waking up and going to be early! i had planned to get back and be able to sleep in after quite a while of waking up early, but i think my plans have changed alittle! haha but it was a great chance to kind of say a good-by to the ward! i dont feel like the mission is ending, but at the same time i do because eveyone is reminding me! but i think the best of this week was when i spoke with the stake president, and i also served in his home ward about a year and a half ago, and he mentioned how much i had grown spiritually! i think i have as well, but its hard to tell if one has grown sometimes, but he testified of how one changes so much in the mission. The change i have undergone in the mission is huge, and it was so sweet to see that others have seen my spiritual growth!

Well im not sure if this is the last time i write or not, im not really sure how next monday will work, but if i find time i will try to write a quick note! i love you all so much and i want to thank you all for the love and support you send my way, and have for the past 2 years! i will see you all soon and be able to hug you!! that is going to be great! love you all again,

Love Elder Taysom

Ps. the pics are of me and that elder that looks like dad, and of the catholic church here in mar del plata!

Hey everyone,

Sounds like everyone is doing well! its crazy that there has been some flash flooding so big that it could take a couple of vans with it! i sure hope everything works out and everyone is ok! im still jealous of the heat you guys still have though, its pretty cold here!

This week was good! i felt a lot better and only have a slight cough now! we also had a baptism in the ward of a girl that i taught a couple of times, she was very doubtful about baptism, but she finally worked though it! we are also progressing with some investigators , but unfortunately the family we were teaching isnt progressing very well, but there is hope so we are going to keep up the good work! that is awesome that you guys heard from elder ballard, his talk sounded good and we kind of heard the same things here when elder hales and cook spoke! the church is really focusing on keeping the Sabbath day holy! 

Well i finally went golfing, and i need to practice!! haha but it wasnt as bad as i thought it would be, i had 4 par putts!!!! but 3 of them ended up as bogeys! and id rather not talk about the other 5 holes!! but i will be able to practice in a short while so im not too worried! tanner and dad cant have gotten that good! haha oh and dad i would love that job!! i was about to ask if there were opening like that at the hospital so sign me up please! well theres not much more than that going on! just excited to be here still and thanks for all your prayers and love you send my way! im better because of it! love you all!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone

How is everyone doing? Im doing good and its finially starting to heat up here!! it looks like you guys are all doing good as well! i still hope it is warm up there. even though its warmer here, i still miss the dry heat!

This week was good, but sadly i have been sick for the last couple of days. I dont get it, ive been sick more in this area than  my whole mission! but i guess thats how it works. we are still finding alot of people to teach which is good! i feel wierd at this time in my mission. ive heard of ending the mission my whole time out hear, but never thought it would come, and now that it has it doesnt feel like it! i guess thats how the secound  coming will kind of be right'? we hear about it all the time, but think, " oh thats so far away" but it will come and we might not be ready or feel like it is really here! just some thoughts ive been having! we also had elder tiexra visit the mission! it was great and it was really inspiring! he invited the latins to learn english and the gringos to better their spanish and english! did you know that if you speak spanish and english you can speak with 92 percent of the  members of the church! cool right!

Well even though i dont like to talk about it i guess i better give some heads up! i really like cafe rio pork salads, or anything that mom cooks! i really miss any food that mom cooks! oh and today im going golfing so ill let you guys know if ive lost my shot or not!! well i love you all so very much and i miss you, but ill see you all soon. take care and thanks for everything you do for me!

Love ELder Taysom

Hey everyone!

Looks like everyone is doing good!! haha im glad that at least one person could catch a fish! Haha if it wasnt for tan, i think our family would be gathers, not the hunters! haha

This week was good! just working like every other week!. We are starting to find more families!!!!! its too early to tell if they are super prepared. but they said they would come to church and were really receptive! we also had alot of less active people come to church last sunday too! the ward is starting to help us a lot more and we are just waiting for some for the spirit to touch the hearts of our investigators!! this week we are also going to get a visit for an elder from the seventies! it should be good and the whole mission is excited!

To answer some questions im not quite sure what i want to eat first yet. dont really like to think about it, but ill let you guys know! i dont really know why i had the glasses on, they were from my comp, but theyre not real, i forgot to take them off! haha well i got to go, but i love you all and thanks for everything, ill see ya soon!!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Sounds like everythings going good! its still hot there then right? thats crazy because its starting to warm up here! yesterday and the day before were amazing! and today is not to bad either! but i do miss the hot DRY weather,!!

This week was good! we had a stake conference!  it was by satellite and we heard from elder cook and elder hales! it was good and they talked a lot about keeping the Sabbath day holy, the importance of doing spiritual things that day! it was good! we are still on the search for a family, but no luck so far, well we have found families, but they're not quite ready to accept the gospel as a family yet! we are having sucess with a couple people, but they still are not quite ready to be baptized yet, but they're getting there, maybe i wont be here to see them enter the waters, but getting in is the important thing! other than that we are doing great and are having a ton success with some less active families!

Oh and we also cleaned in front of the church this week and i had to bury like 2 dead dogs and wow did they smell bad. if you think poking a deer's stomach smells bad, try to move a dead dog that had no more facial features! thats hard!Well i havent gotten to play golf yet, but next week im going to try to get someone to come with me! its still a bit cold sometimes to play, but its heating up fast! did my letters get there yet? if not i might send some new ones again! well i love you all and thanks for everything, i love you all a lot and ill see you soon!

Love ELder Taysom

Hey everyone,

How is everyone doing? Just loving the first week of school right! its still pretty cold here so it is weird to think that you just started school! but the good news is that it had not rained in like a week, but it rained pretty hard on Saturday, but today is really nice!

This week was a good week. Me and my comp were part of a stake activity called the one day mtc. We were teachers and all the youth of the stake came and they were missionaries for one day, with comps, and rules and everything! it was really fun and you could really tell the kids that were preparing very well for the missions! i love the spirit of the youth and they excitement to go on missions! We are doing ok in the work, but we really want a family to teach. we are going to try to find some families to teach because it is super fun to see families come together and enjoy the gospel! We also had transfers this week!!! but im staying with my same comp. in the same area! I'm super happy cause i didnt want to change my last transfer to and area where i dont know the members well! So im just super happy!

To answer some questions, i found someone to play golf with me so this next week or so we should be able to get in a few holes!! im excited!! and on a normal Pday we  play soccer now! today we are going to play with a bunch of elders so it should be fun! well i got to run, but i love you all and i miss you too, but ill see you all soon! thanks for everything!

Love Elder Taysom

Ps i sent the pics in another email! they are of me at a nice beach outside of mar del plata!

Hey everyone,

Ha everyone is looking good and tan! so school finally started right, that is crazy it feels like summer just started! it is also crazy to think of all my freinds that are already back, i feel really old haha and i dont like to think about it! i also loved the video of dal on the sky coaster, im going to have to try that when i get back!

This week was good we had a new investgator come to church which was great! his name is carlos and he is great! he is very baptist , but he beileves that what we teach is true. my comp found him on divisions with another elder and they gave him a blessing cause he was feeling very sick and he got better! He had us over again on saturday and told us he wanted to get baptized, we didnt even have to invite him, he wanted to do it! he still has to learn alot, but he is on his way! He liked to pray alot and in a wierd way like the baptists do, but we got him to start praying right. we also have many other invesitgators that are progressing, but they are all kind of older and really sick because of the waether!  but when it heats up it will be good!

Haha i find it funny that  mom wrote the AP´s  again, everyone in the office thinks your crazy, but i love it! haha to answer some questions we normally play soccer or basketball. we want to play some volleyball but we cant find any courts hear! and i want to play golf next week, but cant find  anyone to go with me, but i will convince someone this week im sure! today we are going to play with the whole zone, but sometimes we play w ith other zones too! well i love you all sooooo much, sorry my camera isnt working agian so next week i  will find a better cyber shop! i love you all and thanks for everything you do for me!! ill see ya in a few!

Love Elder Taysom 

Hey everyone.

How is everyone doing? i cant believe that school is starting. it is crazy how fast summer ( winter for me) is passing, but looks like everyone is doing well and staying healthy. sorry for  writing late we had our p day on thursday this week becuase of a confrence we had.

This  week was pretty good. we have some investigators  that are progressing, but for some reason they  have trouble coming to church. it has rained here like the past 2 weeks straight and it gets complicated to come to church i guess, but other than that we are doing good and finding new people to teach  everyday. we also have been working some less active families that have started to come to church agian which is awesome. it is great to see people feel the spirit and recognize the great joy the church is after so long of being out of it. well also it looks like we ate somthing expired yesterday cause me and my  comp. and another elder that lives with us are all sick, but i feel way better today than yesterday.

To answer some questions i am very happy that we can play sports now, but i just realized how hard it is after so much time without physical  excersize. imy body is so sore!!!! hahaha  and the package got hear so thanks so much  for  the stuff you sent! im so excited to try salsa. did my letters get there yet or are the still in the mail? well not much really happend other than that this wee k, sorry for the short letter but not much else happend. i love you all so much and thanks for all the love you send my way and for everything you guys do for me! love you all

Love Elder Taysom

ps sorry for not sending pics, my pics wont load!

Hey everyone,

Looks like everyone is doing good. i cant believe that everyone is so big, it literally blows my mind! I saw all the kids from our ward and thought they all looked huge!

THis week was pretty good. we received some awesome references from the members and we are just trying to set up appointments with the members so they can come help us teach more. we found some good people this week as well and we are just trying to help the ward grow. i do feel a little weird at this stage of my mission, i dont feel like im old or at the end, i dont think i have come to accept it yet, but at the same time i no longer feel scared to end like i have  my whole mission, well not scared just like i dont have enough time to do all  that is expected of me, but i no longer feel like that, and many things have come into perspective and i have decided that im just going to go on another mission right when i get home! hahahajk

But we do have some new news! we can play sports now! i have never been more excited  in the mission! hahaha just kidding, but yea we can play sports and drink coke and wear black ties now so it is going to be different from here on out i guess, but me and my comp just keep working hard and try to keep our minds focused on the work. well i do love you all and thanks for all the support and love you send my way, if you have any questions just ask!

Love Elder Taysom

Ps. the pics are of a food convention that the had here. there was a bunch of food from a bunch of different countries

 

Hey everyone,

everything sound like its going good! im doing good here and just enjoying life as a missionary. this week was pretty good.

We had marcelo come to church, and he actually came last week, but  he came at 9 instead of 9:30 and when he saw that no one was there he left and went home. he is progressing well and  very reseptive. we also have found a bunch of new people to teach this week. The mission is doing well also and i think we aer going to have interviews with the new pres. this week. we are just working hard here in the area and trying to do the work the lord wants us to do. 

this week i also studied alot about our true nature and how it is such an enemy to god. i have found that most people try to get as close as they can, without crossing it, to the bar set by god. it is our natural human drive to do that. you will see it a lot with missionaries that had problems with following the rules on the mission where the bar set by god is very short. They will have problems when they return because  the bar is a lot higher! just for an example, it is very unlikely that a missionary will break the word of wisdom on the mission because the bar set by god is very far from it, but there are some missionaries who have a lot of trouble with coke, which is a rule in our mission not to drink. when they get back, i fear they might have trouble with the word of wisdom because it is their natural tendency to get as close to the bar or fire as they can. they go through the mission instead of the letting the mission go through them. i have focused on this point and prayed that the lord will help me stay away from the bar, and i have seen great changes in me throughout my mission. i'm striving to stay as far a way from the bar as i can. and i am alot happier for it. just a thought! haha

To answer some questons we try to speak in spanish as much as we can, but sometimes an enlgish phase slips out like ¨you got this¨  or somthing like that! well i love you all and  thanks for the love and support and sorry my camera isnot accepted by the computer for some reason so no pics. :( love you all!!

Love elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

sounds like this past week was great and like you all had a good time, The video that you sent didnt quite work well, but next week ill try to get it to work so i can see dal surfing!

This week was an ok week, we did a lot of divisions in other areas so we didnt have any investigators come to church, but we are exctied for this week becuase we have some good plans to work with the members alittle more. we are working hard in the street and doing lots of contacts, but we need more references from the members so that we can get the ball rolling alittle bit more. the ward is really excited about missionary work so we are going to use them alot more. but other than that we are doing good and just looking for the people here that are ready to hear the gospel.

To answer some questions. i still use my sleeping bag sometimes, but sometimes i get hot in it so not every night. my comp and i are doing well, he is a good guy and likes to work alot. sometimes we have different ideas about things, but we are both very patient and willing to listen to one another so we dont fight or anything like that, we are good freinds! and The zone is a new zone again, the new pres likes small zones so he spilt our zone in half and now it is alot easier!!! haha but all is going great here and just loving life. by the way i sent the letters so they should be there already or get there soon, there are 2 one for the morris family and one for Bro. Bundy. Well i love you all and miss you too. thanks for everything you do and for all your prayers and love!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Looks like everyone is doing well and you are all so tan! haha it is weird because my legs are whiter than they have ever been in my life! haha and by the way the elder that looks like dad is elder Diaz from paraguay! haha funny though right?!

Well im doing well here in mar del plata! we are just working on getting more investigators because when i got here there werent many that were progressing! Emi and Sara are doing ok, it is hard for emi to come to church becuase she is pregnant and she is sick alot, but they are saying thier prayers and both want to be baptized, they just have trouble coming to church, but we did get this guy named marcelo to come and he liked it alot so we will see how he progresses. he is alittle crazy, but i think we can smack the crazy out of him! haha but over all im loving the area and have great spirtual expireinces  everyday! ( sorry for my english, i know its bad).

But ya im doing well and healthy and yesterday i got to see a famliy that got baptized about a year and a half ago and i was served in the ward about a week after they got baptized! we had a good get together in the terminal and their 2 sons are just sent in their mission papers!! im so excited for them! well i love you all and sorry for not being able to write much, kinda short on time this week, but next week ill right more! love you all and thanks for the support and love!!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everybody,

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! you guys are too sweet! it was a great day and we spent most of it contacitng and visiting people! it was my first sunday in the ward so nobody knew it was my birthday! but they all said they would bake me a cake this week so i hope i dont gain some serious wieght! haha

This week was pretty good as far as work goes. we dont have that many investigators so we are looking alot and have found some good people! we are teaching 2 young girls about 19 and 17 years old! Emi and Sara are their names and they are progressing well, but didnt come to church this sunday. we could use some prayers on thier behave so that the can come to church! i also met the new president and his wife! the best way to describe him is the exact opposite of pres. parreño! it is weird, but he seems like a very fun man. he is/was the vice president of World Wide Credit Union, so he is very succesfull and has very good ideas for the mission! im excited, but i sure will miss pres. parreño as well!

To Answer some questiones, i did return to the same stake but not the same ward! im in the next ward over, but we share the chapel now so i got to see some of the members from when i was here over a year ago! and the other day i was on divisions and this guy started to follow us on his bike and my comp. thought he was going to rob us, but the guy yelled TAYSOM? and i turned around and it was an old investigaodor of mine! haha it was so cool, we talked for a while and got his new direction and the other elders are going to stop by this week! it was so cool to think that some guy remembered my name after a year had past and i had only taught him twice! well i got to go, but just know i love you all and thanks for all the B-Day whishes and love you sent/send my way.

Love car

Fotos: one is of an elder in the mission that looks like dad! haha, the other is of my new mission pres. and us, you can tell how different he is from my last pres. just by the pic. and the last is of a burger i ate last week that was the biggest burger i have ever eaten! haha

Hey everyone,

sounds like eveyone is doing well other than that river rafting accident, but im happy to hear that everyone is ok now! you all look so tan which is funny cause i looked at my legs the other day and they are whiter that than white!!  I am almost sure that the fruit lehi saw in his dream were darker than my legs currently are, but that just is what happens to missionaries i guess!

Well exciting news happened yesterday, i was emergency transfered to Mar del Plata!! so just when i was getting used to santa rosa, they changed me, but im super excited to tell the truth. i love mar del plata and i was only here for a transfer last time so i hope i stay here alittle longer this time!! my new area is monolito 2 and my new comps name is Elder Rodriguez from argentina! i know him pretty well so we will get along great! i will sort of miss my last area though. we had 2 whole families come to church and i guess i wont get to be there when they get baptized, but i have also come into may areas and have seen people get baptized that other elders taught for a long time so in the end the ordinance of baptism is the important thing, and not whose there to see it or not.

 Well to answer some questions Ituzango 7222 Mar del Plata is our new direction of our appartement! we live 4 elders there in the house and 1 is from california, the other alaska! they are good elders and one loves to golf as well so we might go golfing some monday here in the near future and try to get my swing back, cause i know i lost it!! well i dont have much more time, but i love all of you soo much and thanks for all the letters and support that come my way!! love you all

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Sorry for writing late again, the day was pretty crazy yesterday, but it was sweet to hear from all of you! and HAPPY FATHERS DAY dad! hope the brothers spoiled you and i too agree than we should be able to skype on fathers day!

So the reason why yesterday was a little crazy was because sunday night we felt we needed to go to the terminal of long distance buses and get out a package that came for the zone! i normally do it on mondays, but we had a strong feeling that we sould go. so we went and package place was closed, and i knew it would be so i was really wondering why i went in the first place, but just as we were about to leave some lady approached us and said she was looking for us! she then explained that she was from Colombia and that she had had a pretty rough time getting to her destination of Bariloche which is another city here in argentina! her car had broken down and she was traveling with her daughter and her 2 elderly parents. their car had broken down just in the city before santa rosa and they had used all thier money to get it fixed and where just trying to get back home. the poor family had not slept in like 3 days and where planning on just sleeping in the car again and just wanted to know if we knew where a cheap auto shop was or something! we were rather suprised and very grateful that the lord gave us the chance to answer thier prayers, so that night we got them into a hotel and took the car to a members house so we could work on it. it needed a new starter and some serios carborator work so while the member worked on the carburetor we went out and got a new starter and installed it! at this piont i was just thinking that taking 4 years of auto shop class was the smartest choice i have ever made. ( besides serving a mission of course!) so we got everything fixed and starting driving to drop the car off to the lady and the enginge shorted and hit the battery and it exploded! it was insane so that night it was pretty late so we took them to one apartment and they slept there while the elders that lived there slept in ours! but today early we got a new battery and sent them on their way!

They were very thankful and there whole family from colombia called us and thanked us for all we did and for being answers to thier prayers! it was a great experience and i have learned that there are very little things that bring one more joy than feeling a spiritual promting and following only to find out you answered someones prayers. 

So that was a little long, sorry for that, but im doing great and are investigadores as well, i was able to baptize girl by the name of melani who is 14 years old which was a sweet experience, but i forgot my camera on the day of the baptism so sorry bout that!! no pics :( But to answer some questons, i still havent eaten all the peanut butter, im saving it and savoring it, but i have eaten 1 little cup! haha and it is dead winter now and there is ice on the streets which is very weird because last year in my last area there was no ice so i kind of just realized how much i actually miss snow! haha! well i better go, just know i love you all and thanks for all the prayers you send my way!!

Love Car

Hey everyone

How are you all doing? it is weird to see you all in swim suits cause it is really cold here! haha but it will get warm soon enough i guess! im doing great and just loving life down here in argentina!

This week was good  here in our area! we had many people come to church but some of them have to get married so we are just trying to work with them to help them get married so they can be baptized! We also have an investigador named gabreil. he is progressing quite well and should get baptized here in the next couple weeks or so! if you guys could keep him in your prayers that would be awesome. we also have another family named the familia garay! they are really just great. they come to church every sunday, but need to get married. they too could also use some prayers their way as well! but over all things are good and just loving the missionary life!

Thanks again for the package it was great, i have already eaten mac and cheese twice! haha and to answer your question i could use some salsa. man i miss that stuff. or some butterfingers would be great to!! but you know me pretty well and i love everything you send me! me and my comp. are doing good, we get along pretty well he is from arizona, but was born in chile! english is his first language so he still has our north american accent! well thats all the time i have for now! remember that i love you all so much and thanks for all the support and love you guys send my way from the great white north!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone

Sorry for writing late. we had a conference yesterday and i didnt get time to write! wow tan is looking pretty tan. haha didnt mean to do a play on words like that, but thats just how it worked! haha it is weird to hear all the people that are getting home from thier missions, and the ones that are getting ready to leave.

This week was a pretty good week. we had 5 people come to church and they all loved it! I also had a conference with president parreño yesterday. it was kind of like his good-bye one for all the zone leaders in the mission and it was really great! we talked alot about the importance of being a missionary and how short our time really is! He asked us what "coming to Christ" really means, because it is the purpose of a missionary. anyways "coming to Christ" is a 3 word phrase to explain the plan of salvation! i really enjoyed it and got some good pictures with hna. and pres. Parreño! Our investigators are doing well so thank you so much for praying for them.

 So to answer some questions, they took our 2 elders because the wave of the age change is coming to an end! 15 missionaries left this transfer, but only 5 came, and next transfer 20 leave and only 5 come again so i guess there will be some more areas closing as well! so pres. parreño is still the pres. until about the end of june. i guess that is when we will meet the new pres. and my comp. is a pretty good guy, but i dont get much time with him becuase we do divisons a lot so i guess i have to get to know him a little better, but with time im sure ill get to know him better.

Anyways speaking about time, i guess i have some news. well I talked to the secretary of the mission yesterday and he informed me that it is starting to get complicated with missionaries extending now and there were some missionaries that had problems with thier paper work that extended but then had to get sent home because the country wouldnt allow it, so to get rid of the problem they just kind of stopped letting missionaries extend unless you have enough days on your visa... guess who doesnt have enough days! well its me, and i have to come home on my original date so that is kind of sad, well actually really sad, but its give me more of an urgency to know that my time is even more limited! oh and im not sure why, but my package already arrived so thanx for all the birhtday wishes you sent and all the stuff! i love you guys soo much!! haha well my time is kind of up, but i love you all and thanks for everything you do and have done for me! i love you all!!

Love Elder Taysom

Ps. forgot the camera, but a member looked up my name in google and i guess she found a pic of me when i was young that she sent me, so ill share it with you.

Hey everyone

Wow i loved hear all your stories about the trek and all your spiritual experiances that you guys had! i remember my trek, wow time passes by way too fast. I find i funny that dad got sick. i think the lord was just blessing him so he didnt have to go trek, he probably would have broken his ankle!

This past week was good! we got transfers and my new comp. is elder Blackburn. He is from Mesa Arizona and has about the same time i do in the mission! seem like a good kid and we are excited to get some great work done in our area! we have a lot of investigadores now because they got rid of the other companionship in the ward so we got all thier investigaters as well. it kind of seems overwhelming at this point with so many people under our watch, but i think we will manage! 

This past week was good and we have had alot of good lessons and many people are progressing! it would be great if you guys could pray for them. they are: Mariano, Andres, Family Garay, Gabreil, and Abby! all of them have have baptismal date for this month! well i have no more time left but just know i love you all and thanks for all the love. sorry about the pics, my camera has a virus and they wont load. this was the only one and it is of an elder that is my freind! haha well love you all!

Love Car,

Ps. i will be looking for the package thanks!

Hey everyone,

How are you all doing? Sorry for writing late today, it is argentinas independence day and like every place was closed, but finally this place opened up for a while. it was super cool to see the grad pics that you sent me of caden and pierce, and sounds like dal is rockin it on the piano!

This week was good, we had church and had some people come. We are planning for some baptisms in the up coming weeks which will be great! andres is doing ok, but kind of took a turn for the worst becuase he got in a fight at school and his mom doest not want him to get baptized because of his behavior! we are working with him and should be able to help them get through this though! we also have some other investigators that are progressing so ill let you know how it goes!

i found a quote this week that i think will help you guys, and i like it alot and dont want anyone to quit the trek early! haha it is by c.s. leiws it says:

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness — they have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means — the only complete realist.”

It has helped me a lot. especially when it is hard to get out of bed or do things that require sacrifice, like a mission, but it will help you on trek im sure! well thanks for everything, sorry for not having fotos i forgot my camera, but next week i promise!!! love you all and thanx for everything! ill pray you dont freeze and that grandma gets better and can walk, cuz i aint carrying her!! love you all!!

Love car

Hey everyone,

Wow it is crazy to think that graduation is already here. i cant believe how time flys! but glad to hear that everyone is doing well and still kicking! im excited to hear how the trek will turn out and all the fun stuff people have planned for summer!

This week was really great! we had the temple dedacation of the cordoba temple and it was so cool! elder Christopherson came and he spoke is spanish the whole time. it is was cool because he served in the argentina north mission which at the time included cordoba. Elder Utchdorf also spoke, but in enlgish and they had a translator! it was very cool and I loved a part of elder utchdorfs talk because he said the ¨ temple is a preview of what awiats faithful members after this life" i loved that becuase i thought of it like movies. the preview are sweet and get us excited to see the real movie, but when we see the real movie it is way better than the previews. It is nice to think that what awaits us after this life is better than the most spiritual and peaceful place you can find in this life. it was a great experience!

To answer some questions, andres is doing great and is excited to get baptized! Im doing well and havent be sick is like years which is great! and yes my camera is still in gerneral pico so i will do my best to get you guys pics as soon as i can! i love you all and wish you all the best! thanks for all your love and support!!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone

it was great to talk to you guys yesterday! sounds like everything is going well and everyone looks way older than when i last saw them! ( i mean the cousins, the adults look about the same) haha.

This past week was good. i spent most of it in a city called general pico. it was a good time! Anders is doing well and is still attending seminary which is great and is planning on being baptized the 24th of this month which is going to be great! the church attendance is really up as well, and we had about 75 people come to church last sunday! we are pretty excited about the temple dedication as well and everyone is getting ready for it!

Well these days are always the hardest to write because we just spoke yesterday, but to answer some questions, our area is great, is kind of poor, but everyone lives in nice houses the the government gave out, and for some reason televisions i guess are in the "need category" because i have been in many houses that have huge plasma T.V.´s but dont even have enough seats in the house for every member of the family, which is kind of funny, but our area is great! and Many missionaries here get the big packages from the us, but if you just want to send an envelope that also gets in easily as well! well you will have to forgive me for not sending pics, i left my camera in General pico but i should get it tomorrow! And HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM AND GRANDMAS´!!! Love you all and thanks for all your support and prayersª

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone

Wow time flys. feels like i was just writing you guys yesterday and now here we are, it is pretty cold here now! i cant believe it because i see pics of you guys is shorts and stuff! haha

This past week was great. we had 5 investigators come to church and we had 2 people get baptized. It was so great, their names are omar and roxana. they are real troopers and even got married to be able to be baptized. it was really funny because Roxana was a little scared of the water so she asked the biggest elder in the zone to baptized her! it was a great day! and in 2 week we are going to have the temple dedication of the cordoba temple. they have canceled all church meetings that day to watch the temple dedication. the only bad part is the investigators cant come so we are trying to find a way to explain to them that they cant come on the 17th, but it feels weird telling people not to come to church! haha

My comp. and i are doing well and working hard. funny story is that today im writing kind of late because after the baptism yesterday we kind of forgot to turn of the hot water to the baptismal font! we remembered during our personal study today and when we got there it was a little flooded so we spent most the the morning cleaning up. but luckily the church ( and houses) dont have carpet, they are all equipped with tile so it wasnt that hard to clean up! haha well i have to go but know i love you all and that i can feel your prayers and support all the way down here. the work of the lord is moving forward and im happy to be a part of it!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Sounds like all is safe and sound back at home. that is way cool that dal won a belt buckle! and im guessing  the weather there is perfect right? it is starting to get quite cool here, and it didnt help that we had a little bit of an ash cloud over the city. nothing serious, it looked just like fog.

This week was pretty nice. we had 4 people come to church and we announced the baptism of Roxana and Omar. they are really good people and are really excited to get baptized! we are working a lot better with the members in the ward too. Missionary work always is better when the members and missionaries work together, but sometimes the members forget that, so we have been trying to help them understand the importance of working together. It has been working well so we are very excited with the growth we have seen in just one week!

Me and my new comp get along well. He is form Fresno California and is a real good guy. We live in an apartment building and the area is really nice. The people are very receptive to the message we have. Oh, and Mom, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! love you alot and hope you spend it well. i want to hear all about it! im not sure yet when we will be able to skype, but ill let you know next week! oh and if you could send like 10 pictures of our hunting trips that would be perfect! the people here really like to hunt and they want to see pictures of us hunting! well i love you all alot and thanks for all the letters and love and support you send my way! love you all!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

Wow st. george looks like the weather is perfect! it´s starting to get a little chilly here. and last thursday we drank hot chocolate and listened to christmas hymns because it feels like chirstmas!! hahaha and i didnt think my english was that bad dal, but then i re-read my last letter i sent and i guess you have a piont.

Well as you know there were transfers i got transfered to Santa Rosa which is in the pampa! the pampa is a different "State" ( here they say province). i have now served in 3 of the 

4 corners of the mission, and i was actually in the most south part doing divisions once so now i know the 4 poles of the mission! my new comps. name is elder shephard, he is from california and he seems like a cool guy! this is his last transfer so we are going to hit the streets hard and have some success!

Im going to miss my old comp. and area for sure though, it was the best and i saw many miracles while serving there! but i had time at least to say good bye to my converts and some of the members here! i told them that i would come back to visit when i have the money, so we will have to see how that goes! but im excited to be here. i know there are many people here for us to teach and the lord is preparing them. i feel the lord will help us even more in this new area than he did my last ( which was alot), and i know the lord will establish his church thourgh us!

Another funny thing that happened was i was returning from a different city this last week because we were doing divisions. my comp. and the 2 other elders were supposed to be there to pick me up when i got of the bus about 10 blocks from the house. when i got off i only saw a drunk guy with no shoes on and a wine bottle in his hand and 2 other guys huddled together in another corner. so i decided it wasnt the best idea to just hang there so i started walking towards the house thinking i would meet up with the elders who were running a little late. i got about a block and noticed the drunk guy and the other two were following me. then the drunk guy started yelling at me that he was going to rob me and kill me and other stuff. then he thew the wine bottle and it crashed about 20 feet away. i was alittle frightend but i figured if he caught up to me i would just hit him with all my strength and take off running as fast as i could. he caught up about 1/2 a block away form me and then i saw a taxi. i waved it down and hopped in, but just as we were leaving i saw the drunk guy and the other two running to the taxi waving there arms and saying" Elder taysom, its us". hahahahahaha turns out that it was the elders the whole time who dressed up like thieves to come get me! i was pretty freaked out, but it was so funny! well thats all folks. i love you all alot and am thankful for your prayers and love!

Love Elder Taysom  

Hey everyone

Things sound super solid up there! everything is going good down here, and i dont know why Norma is not smiling, but i think it is just an Argentine thing, they dont really smile that much in pictures! and I find it funny that big cam was making fun of my english! hahaha but its not that bad is it?

This week was good, we had some good lessons and are working with some solid investigators. Lucas is the most prepared so far to be baptized, he is part of a less active family. we reactivated the family and he hasnt been baptized yet, but the only problem is that the dad wants him to learn everything about the gospel before he can get baptized, but we are teaching the family well and he is really progressing, he even cried when he said the prayer for the first time! Transfers are this week so we will get to see if i stay here or what, but the last 6 months have been great. ive seen great blessings, had great comps, and grown personally! the lord never ceases to love!!!

Also this last saturday was the best experience i have had in my mission so far. Marco ( one of my converts from the area) baptized his son enzo! it was amazing, he bore his testomony and through many tears he shared how thankful he was for the opportunity that he had to baptize is son, and how much he loved the gospel and how grateful he was for the missionaries that taught him. he said his only disire was when he retires he wants to serve a mission and help people just like he was helped by us. Every pain, sadness, stress, and sorrow that i have experianced in my mission was instantly made up for when he said those words! i will always be so grateful for the chance i have to be a missionary!

Well i have to go, but remember i love you all and i am grateful for your love and support and prayers on my behave!

Love Elder Taysom

Ps. sorry for not sedding pics, the comp. isnt working!

Hey everyone,

What a great Easter weekend we just had right? The family is looking good and heathly and it looks like perfect wether! its starting to get kind of cold here, but during to day it is perfect.

Wow the conference was awesome right. I watched it is spanish because i like to focas on what they are saying, in english i find is easy to day dream about past talks and things like that! it was so cool, i tried to narrow down my favorite talk, but couldn`t! i loved them all! they were really focused on 2 things! Families, and Jesus Christ, his attonment, life, death and resureccion! it was great! i didnt get to see the priesthood session, but we are now downloading it and are going to watch it today!

We also had the baptisms of Norma and Sara! thanks so much for praying for them and supporting them! it was a very nice baptism! it seemed at one point that evey power of earth and hell combined to try to stop the baptims , but all went well! both the people we had assigned to give talks told us they couldn`t at the last minute, and no one wanted to stay to preside over the baptism. the members are great here, but dont quite understand the importance of baptism of supporting investigators who are getting baptized, but we are tying to help them! the other elders in our ward also baptized a person too so it turned out great!

To anwser some questions, yes they do sell huge chocolate eggs here, not like huge, but like 5 lbs eggs made of chocolate, i didnt buy any because they are pretty expensive! the mission is doing good! we have had a new vision these last couple of months in the mission. before we were really focused on member lessons, and teaching with the spirit, and getting people to church. those are all great things and we still do them, but now we are completly focused on Baptizing, Retaining, and Reactivating, we focus on teaching with the end goal in mind of baptism, not just taking them to church and bettering their lives! and we have seen some huge changes. we went from baptizing like 50 people a month to over 100 per month and now we are getting close to 150! we have seen great blessing and i have seen them personally in the lives of my investigators, and mine as well! well i love you all so much, just know im doing well and heathly! thanks for all the prayers and love you send my way! 

Love elder Taysom

Hey everyone

Things sound pretty normal i guess at home. I guess im a little ticked that they kicked the team out for not going to a meeting that they didnt even know about! But other than that super happy about life in general! except the fact that my english is getting worse everytime i right, but you all will just have to forgive me!

This week went quite well, we had some great lessons and almost spent the entire week in our own area! we had like 5 people come to church and 3 have batpismal dates for this month! Norma has to quit smoking, but she is going great so far so if you guys could pray for her we would really be grateful! we are also very excited because we are going to have gerneral conferance this weekend and we are doing somthing called " white afternoon" and the whole zone is going to have a big baptismal service of all the investigators that are ready to accept this great ordanance with heavenly father. ( seriosly it is very frustrating trying to writing in english, you have no idea)!

Sorry for righting late again this week, we had a meeting today, but ya now im here! haha, This week was rather normal as far as wierd stuff happening! oh we found a rat in our house ( but the house was clean i swear) and so we tried to get it out of the house but it ran under the stove, so an elder in the house had the great idea to try to burn it with a lighter and an axe bottle! didnt work so well, but we did manage to sing a few of the rats hair before it ran out and tried to go in my room!, well i did not want that to happen so i threw the 10 pound wieght i had in my hands ( dont know why i had the weight in my hands but i did) in the landed right on the rat and killed it! i must say im quite the hunter kinda like Nefi, but anyways that was the crazy story of the week! Well i love you all alot and thanks for a the support and prayers you send my way! love you all

Love Elder Taysom

ps: the pics are from my first day in the mission, and about 2 months ago!

Hey everyone,

That is so sweet that dad hung out with eric weddle!!! Man i would have liked to be there. but not more than here! And im glad to hear that the church ball team is still holding up! 

This week was good! We are starting to see some real growth in the area now which is great!! we had 5 people come to church which is good and one was a great miracle! we got a reference from a member in our ward that said a guy came up to him and asked him if he knew the mormon missionaries. he said yes, and the guys told him to send them to his house as soon as he could. so we stopped buy that night and found him! his name is carlos and the first thing he said to us was " you know, i am a mormon" and we were like "oh how long ago did you get baptized?" and he said, oh i havent been baptized yet, but ive been to church many times and believe in everything and i love it! then he showed us all the books he has from the church and explained that he wants us to keep stopping by to teach his whole family! and he came to church yesterday! he is one of the most prepared men that i have found, and it was a huge miracle, and something similar happened last week so the lord is really blessing us which is great! we should be able to bring some great people to the waters of baptism here in the next couple of weeks!

Um ya so to answer some questions, ya it is starting to cool down finally so we are stoked for winter. the zone was doing quite well, we broke the record for baptisms last month which was great, but this month we got left without many investigators so we are kind of behind, but we should be able to see  a lot of the lords children return to the straight and narrow this weekend! we´ll have to see how it goes! well i love you all! thanks for everything and your prayers!! love you

Love Elder Taysom

ps. the pics are of a service that we did, and playing some sting-pong!

Hey everyone,

Looks like everything is going well. Super cool that spence and quincy and zack got their mission calls. I feel so old now! things go by too fast. I dont like it but not much i can really do about it! 

This past week was good. we spent most of it in the area, but when sunday came around all the people that were going to come to church didnt come, so we left and went to go look for people. Even after like an hour of looking for someone to come to church, no one could still come. we walked back to the church and saw a guy walking in the street and we started to talk with him. One of the first things he said was " you know what, i need to be baptized now". we were pretty surprised because people dont normally say that, but turns out this guys has listened to the missionaries for years. he has read the book of mormon 4 times and D&C  2 times! he is super prepared and has been to the church like 5 or 6 times. he never got baptized because he felt he wasnt ready because he felt too prideful! i know! i couldnt believe my ears either, but for some reason now he feels ready. i would have baptized him that very day, but the bishop wouldnt let me, because he would like to announce the baptism in sacrament meeting, but really it was a very special experience and this man is super prepared! it was a great testimony builder that there is always someone the lord is preparing to hear the missionaries!

Well i dont have much time, but just know i love you all and i wish grandma a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY and Dal too in case i forgot. sorry for the lack of pics, for some reason they arent downloading. Well i love you all and thanks for all the prayers and support from your end in the great white north!!!!

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone,

So ya everything sound like it is going swell. I sure hope grandma gets better from that little accident, haha its funny because i was for sure dallin was going to be the one to have an accident that day, haha but grandma took the heat for him i guess. i sure hope she starts feeling better. 

This week was ok. Unfortunately most of it was spent in the hospital with sick sister missionaries, and even today we were in the hospital so thats why im writng late. it is kind of putting a damper on the missionary work in our area, but we are hoping that this week we will be able to get a little bit more done in the area! we had some people come to church this past week and Fernando is the closest person to be baptized, if we can get him to shut his mouth a little bit! haha but really i have never met a person that talks more than him in all my life. we could use some prayers for him so he can open his heart more and listen to what we have to say.

But ya this last week pretty normal. my comp. is a sinner!!! well he had to carry a sister missionary because she had a panic attack and had fainted! it was funny because he said after that she was heavier than he thought!! luckliy she was still out of it so she didnt hear him! hahaha ya but me and elder Bradford are doing great. i have never been in a companionship that meshes so well, and we get to stay together for at least another transfer! i didnt get transfered! so all is well! well i love you guys and thanks for all you do and for your love and support! love you all

Love Elder Taysom

Hey everyone!

Things sound like they are going good up there. so there was alot of snow? that is crazy so late in feb. now that i think about it, i can literaly say i havent seen snow in years! haha but im glad all is well.

This week was good, but we didnt work much in our area again, but i think this week we are going to be able to work more here in Maldonado. We did teach some great lessons with some new investigadors and we just keep finding more and more prepared people to teach. And this sunday Marco ( the guy that got baptized about 3 weeks ago) is going to get the preisthood and baptize his son!!! i sure hope i get to stay to see that, but transfers are this saturday so i guess we will have to see!

So alot of crazy things happened this past week. well first i went to a small town about 4 hours outside of bahia, and stayed there the night and almost 2 because i almos lost my bus ride back. haha but i got back in time and the next day was saturday and we went to villa longa, a small town about 3 hours outside of bahia, but in the other direction, it was planned that we would get back the same night, but there was a wreck on the highway so we got held up lik 2 hours. by the time we got in the town, the bus to come back had already left! haha normally it wouldnt be bad, but in villa longa, there are no missionaries or church. just like 2 members and we didnt know who they were. so we started to ask if there was a hotel in town, and guess what?!! there wasnt, but luckiy we ran into the members so we stayed with them the night and that was a blessing!! haha but that was just one cool thing that happend! well got to go, but just now i love you all and thanks for everything you do for me, and thanks for all the prayers.

Love Elder Taysom

ps my comp. got pooped on by a bird! hahaha