This is Taylor's Dad. This is another very short, but funny/cute video that was taken when Taylor and his zone thought they were posing for a picture, but...the camera was recording :-)
We just finished watching the Saratov Approach as a zone with permission from President Lapierre. I cried many times. I remember the first time that I watched this movie in theaters with 5 of my best guy friends, I cried. This time I was crying the whole time. I realized the pain those parents must have gone through but as I contemplated the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I realized how hard it must have been for our Heavenly Parents to allow their first born son to die to allow us to live. They must have felt so much pain. In Mosiah 15 and also in John 17 (I think) it explains how God himself suffered for our sins. There are many ways you can understand this, but I feel that more than anything, these scriptures show that perhaps the greatest pain suffered was suffered by our Heavenly Parents, allowing their Son to suffer, while the whole time they could save Him and He could save Himself. I love my Savior and my Father in Heaven.
I was able to help 2 people (as well as 3 others from other companionships in this ward) come unto Christ and better understand the sacrifice of their Savior. Fabiana was able to be baptized by Elder Cancino. She was very content and the whole family was there to support her. Carolina and Sonia were there and are all very happy to help their cousin on their way towards Jesus. What a blessing it was to see her go under the waters of baptism and even better seeing her receive the Holy Ghost the following day. One of the baptisms of the sister missionaries here in Ciudad del Este chose me to baptize her. Her name is Aira Celeste Gimenez and it has been really amazing to see her and her family grow in their testimonio.
Truly my heart is full right now because of this movie we watched. I am ready to go out and preach the gospel to all of the people here. I am trying to set the right goals to help me have the best last months in my mission. I feel somewhat saddened knowing that this experience as a missionary will have to end and I can only hope that I can take advantage of EVERY moment that I have left.
I love this gospel!
This is Taylor's Dad. Taylor had a unique opportunity to write a midweek letter that I did not have time to post until now. Here it is:
Taylor's Dec 9, 2015 letter:
Well, I get an opportunity to write now luckily, and with the fact that I
already wrote a hand written part in my blog entry, I just wanted to
add a quick story to the entry. We were in Posadas Argentina in a
meeting with all the leaders of the mission including a 70 named Elder
Salaz. He truly inspired, us and has really helped me get enthusiastic
about spreading this gospel.
We have to spend the
night in Argentina, and that means that the mission either has to find
us a hotel to stay in, or we find a pension of others to stay in. In our
case, we ALWAYS stay in the pension of other elders. The Monday before the Leaders
Conference we work in the area where we are planning on sleeping. I was
so lucky, that I was assigned (I pleaded and begged the office elders)
to spend the night in my old area in Garupa! We got there at night at
about
8 o'clock
and we had about an hour to work. The other elders were sick, so I
decided I was going to just make one visit. Angelica Balbuena. She is
the one that I had the opportunity to baptize on my last day in Garupa.
The only problem was that she lives about an hour away walking, so... we
walked REALLY FAST... We got to her house at about
8:50 (we have to be in our pension at
10:00
at the latest in this mission) and I had one of the most special
experiences in seeing her! She saw me from about 50 feet away, and
thought that we were the other elders visiting, but thought it was
strange that they hadn't let her know that they were going to come. She
told us to come to the door, and as I got closer, she screamed, put her
arms out wide like eagle wings and started running at me ready to give
me a huge bear hug. Well... we know that's not allowed in the mission...
but there was nothing I could do. Although, in reality because it is a
rule to not hug, I should have felt very uncomfortable, but what I felt
was very happy, in seeing how happy she was.
She is doing great and
going strong in the church. She actually told me that she had had some
doubts about the church (although she kept going to sacrament meeting.)
If you all remember, she is the one, about 5 months ago who had been
praying that someone would come to her door to show her the way, and
then we showed up to her house. A very similar thing happened as we
arrived this Monday. She said that as doubts attacked her, and as she
felt insecure in her testimony, that she prayed that God would re
confirm her testimony. Later that day, I showed up and she says that yet
again God has answered her prayers.
I know God lives and knows each of us. His hope for us is that we get to know Him.
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2. Send letters through the Church Pouch Mail Only postcards or one-page correspondences (no envelopes).
Fold the letter in thirds, secure the long side with tape about one inch in from each end. Do not seal the ends. Stamp and address the blank side as you would an envelope. Use the following mailing address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Argentina Posadas Mission
POB 30150
Salt Lake City, UT
84130-0150
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3. Physical Mailing Address:
Elder Taylor Graves
Córdoba 1243
Posadas, Misiones 3300
Casilla 12
Argentina
I
