Our neighborhood friend, Alex Hill and his wife, Victoria and their little Liam live in Brazil right now.
Scott recently met one of Alex's sales men and they sent us this great picture! It's just fun to see him with a friend of a friend!
Monday, July 28, 2014
A friend of a friend!
July 28, 2014
Our neighborhood friend, Alex Hill and his wife, Victoria and their little Liam live in Brazil right now.
Scott recently met one of Alex's sales men and they sent us this great picture! It's just fun to see him with a friend of a friend!
Our neighborhood friend, Alex Hill and his wife, Victoria and their little Liam live in Brazil right now.
Scott recently met one of Alex's sales men and they sent us this great picture! It's just fun to see him with a friend of a friend!
Smoke. Funk. Muleques.
July 28, 2014
Ha. Welcome to Brazil. I'm sitting here in the internet cafe where someone somewhere is smoking and it stinks. the majority of people here are teenage boys (Muleques, it's kind of offensive to call people that. but not really... It's like punk.) and they're just playing video games and listening to funk. If you've never heard Brazilian Funk, be grateful. Ha. If you have, I'm sorry.
But this week was pretty good! It started raining on Wednesday, and didn't stop until Sunday! It was really good because Aracatuba doesn't get a whole lot of rain. Remember how everyone thinks Brazil is all jungle and rain? Hope. That's just Manaus. I'm basically in the Arizona of Brazil. Ha. It gets REALLY hot. And yes, mom, it was cold this week. That picture of me in the sweater, I was SOAKED. Ha. but it's still not very cold. It probably was about 50 degrees. That is FREEZING for the people here. Haha. When I tell them that it gets about 10 degrees during the winter they ask me why I would want to live there. They've never seen snow in their lives.
But anyway, sadly, the two baptisms we had this week didn't happen. We ran into some problems, but both of them will be baptized soon. We actually are having a lot of really spiritual experiences with them and they are really getting to understand the Lord's timing and the Atonement. I've been studying the atonement a lot to help them. I still don't comprehend it totally. I don't know that any of us do. But just take a moment to think about all that the Savior did and still does for us. It's incredible. It's more than incredible. It really is without words. I know that he is our Savior.
We were privileged to find 3 families this week and we are praying and fasting and working to see more families live the gospel. I love my family and I can't imagine not being with them. So I want these blessings for everyone.
I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week.
Choose the Right,. Even when it's hard. Remember that Jesus Christ was killed for choosing the right. It's always worth it to choose the right.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
PS Sorry no pictures this week, this computer struggles.
Ha. Welcome to Brazil. I'm sitting here in the internet cafe where someone somewhere is smoking and it stinks. the majority of people here are teenage boys (Muleques, it's kind of offensive to call people that. but not really... It's like punk.) and they're just playing video games and listening to funk. If you've never heard Brazilian Funk, be grateful. Ha. If you have, I'm sorry.
But this week was pretty good! It started raining on Wednesday, and didn't stop until Sunday! It was really good because Aracatuba doesn't get a whole lot of rain. Remember how everyone thinks Brazil is all jungle and rain? Hope. That's just Manaus. I'm basically in the Arizona of Brazil. Ha. It gets REALLY hot. And yes, mom, it was cold this week. That picture of me in the sweater, I was SOAKED. Ha. but it's still not very cold. It probably was about 50 degrees. That is FREEZING for the people here. Haha. When I tell them that it gets about 10 degrees during the winter they ask me why I would want to live there. They've never seen snow in their lives.
But anyway, sadly, the two baptisms we had this week didn't happen. We ran into some problems, but both of them will be baptized soon. We actually are having a lot of really spiritual experiences with them and they are really getting to understand the Lord's timing and the Atonement. I've been studying the atonement a lot to help them. I still don't comprehend it totally. I don't know that any of us do. But just take a moment to think about all that the Savior did and still does for us. It's incredible. It's more than incredible. It really is without words. I know that he is our Savior.
We were privileged to find 3 families this week and we are praying and fasting and working to see more families live the gospel. I love my family and I can't imagine not being with them. So I want these blessings for everyone.
I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week.
Choose the Right,. Even when it's hard. Remember that Jesus Christ was killed for choosing the right. It's always worth it to choose the right.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
PS Sorry no pictures this week, this computer struggles.
ARIZONA IS OFFICIALLY GONE!!!
July 21, 2014
So you see that Arizona is officially gone right? That includes the MTC. Why? Because when I started my mission I was a certain weight. Then I gained 30 pounds and was FAT. And this week I weighed again, and it was exactly what I started with. I love Brasil!!
Sounds like you all had a crazy week. I'm glad that the reunion went well! And the picture of Big D was the best. Oh, how I miss my grandparents. Really. I lived with a missionary from Nephi and told him all about my Grandparents in Richfield. And I tell everyone about my Grandma in Las Vegas. And they all get really surprised when I say my Grandma lives in Vegas!
And, Abby Gibbs. I'm a horrible friend. I still haven't written her back. but tell her good luck and giver her a big hug for me (because I'm still not allowed to do that. ha) But that's so cool. she'll be an awesome missionary. Tell Nat not to be too sad. Ha. She just got married!
This week was awesome. The highlight was Aline and her daughter Luana, sadly Luana doesn't count numbers wise for us, but she counts in my mind. Ha. She turns 8 in two months. So, Aline received some anti from her uncle who "read the Book of Mormon". Yes, I put quotations because it was a lie. How do I know? Because he said it's about the Devil and not about our Savior. But she told us that she just got tired of him talking and tuned him out. So that was good. And guess what??? SHE FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!! And who was speaking? That's right, the missionaries. Want an awesome Sacrament meeting? Ask the missionaries to speak. Yep, I'm totally bragging right now. Ha. But seriously. It was good. We had a lesson with her last night to follow up on how Church was. And SHE LOVED IT!!! She talked about how she felt a peace that she hasn't felt for years. so we read Galatians 5:22 and invited her to be baptized and I felt I should ask, "How long do you think it will be before you are prepared?" AND SHE SAID SHE IS READY NOW. So, she will be baptized THIS SUNDAY. It was so awesome. I'm so happy right now.
I also did something really cool this week. I finished the book of Mormon for the first time in Portuguese. Yep. Cover to cover. I decided once again to take Mornoni's challenge and said a quick, personal and heartfelt prayer. I've been feeling A LOT of anxiety lately, but after that prayer was the most calm I have felt on the mission. It just felt like everything was right. I know the Book of Mormon is true, because the peace that I feel now can only come from God.
I also said a prayer this morning. And a couple day ago. IN SPANISH! Me and my Chilean companion switch every night between English and Spanish. It's awesome.
We also had another awesome experience. We had had a really tough time finding new investigators. And until Saturday, we didn't have any this week. We were knocking doors to say a prayer with people, but everyone was too busy...so we decided to say a prayer, and we asked specifically for a new investigator. We passed 2 houses and decided to knock. And we entered. Said a prayer. Taught a lesson. And found 2 new investigators. Prayer works.
I love you all and hope you have an incredible week. I want you all to know that I know this church truly is the church of Jesus Christ. The one and only.
Have a great week!!!!
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
So you see that Arizona is officially gone right? That includes the MTC. Why? Because when I started my mission I was a certain weight. Then I gained 30 pounds and was FAT. And this week I weighed again, and it was exactly what I started with. I love Brasil!!
Sounds like you all had a crazy week. I'm glad that the reunion went well! And the picture of Big D was the best. Oh, how I miss my grandparents. Really. I lived with a missionary from Nephi and told him all about my Grandparents in Richfield. And I tell everyone about my Grandma in Las Vegas. And they all get really surprised when I say my Grandma lives in Vegas!
And, Abby Gibbs. I'm a horrible friend. I still haven't written her back. but tell her good luck and giver her a big hug for me (because I'm still not allowed to do that. ha) But that's so cool. she'll be an awesome missionary. Tell Nat not to be too sad. Ha. She just got married!
This week was awesome. The highlight was Aline and her daughter Luana, sadly Luana doesn't count numbers wise for us, but she counts in my mind. Ha. She turns 8 in two months. So, Aline received some anti from her uncle who "read the Book of Mormon". Yes, I put quotations because it was a lie. How do I know? Because he said it's about the Devil and not about our Savior. But she told us that she just got tired of him talking and tuned him out. So that was good. And guess what??? SHE FINALLY CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!! And who was speaking? That's right, the missionaries. Want an awesome Sacrament meeting? Ask the missionaries to speak. Yep, I'm totally bragging right now. Ha. But seriously. It was good. We had a lesson with her last night to follow up on how Church was. And SHE LOVED IT!!! She talked about how she felt a peace that she hasn't felt for years. so we read Galatians 5:22 and invited her to be baptized and I felt I should ask, "How long do you think it will be before you are prepared?" AND SHE SAID SHE IS READY NOW. So, she will be baptized THIS SUNDAY. It was so awesome. I'm so happy right now.
I also did something really cool this week. I finished the book of Mormon for the first time in Portuguese. Yep. Cover to cover. I decided once again to take Mornoni's challenge and said a quick, personal and heartfelt prayer. I've been feeling A LOT of anxiety lately, but after that prayer was the most calm I have felt on the mission. It just felt like everything was right. I know the Book of Mormon is true, because the peace that I feel now can only come from God.
I also said a prayer this morning. And a couple day ago. IN SPANISH! Me and my Chilean companion switch every night between English and Spanish. It's awesome.
We also had another awesome experience. We had had a really tough time finding new investigators. And until Saturday, we didn't have any this week. We were knocking doors to say a prayer with people, but everyone was too busy...so we decided to say a prayer, and we asked specifically for a new investigator. We passed 2 houses and decided to knock. And we entered. Said a prayer. Taught a lesson. And found 2 new investigators. Prayer works.
I love you all and hope you have an incredible week. I want you all to know that I know this church truly is the church of Jesus Christ. The one and only.
Have a great week!!!!
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
CHURRASCO!!
Holy cow the barbecue here is the best. 5 bucks for all this.
I didn't eat it all. 2 of them were for my companion. SO GOOD!!
The tags and the mission languages.
Elder Fernandez is a visa waiter for Equador.
GERMANY
July 14, 2014
Ha. So much about Germany this week. So, white people here are from Germany. Alemano. So people think I'm German. Tuesday that was a bad thing. Now it's really good.
This week was good. But tough. It was really good until yesterday. We had some really good lessons with Aline and she finally committed to go to Church. But when we went to pick her up, she sent her daughter to tell us that she was sick. That was really hard. So we were sitting there and we thought that we didn't have any investigators at Church. so we were sad. I almost cried. It was hard. but then when I went to count how many people were at Church, one of our investigators had popped in without us noticing! It was awesome!
I also had a really cool study this week. I noticed that, for a missionary, my prayers were a bit weak. So I decided to study prayer. In Preach my Gospel there is a nice little section about the prayer of faith. I also read the talk of Elder Eyring in Conference. He had an awesome quote. I'm translating, so it's not exact, but he said, "All of us pray, but the Priesthood holder (or person) you ought to be prays frequently and with real intent. At night, you should kneel down and thank the Lord for the blessings of the day. You should thank him for your teachers, your excellent examples, and your parents. You should describe specifically in your prayers at night who blessed your life that day and how. This will require more than just a couple of minutes and more than just a little effort to remember. It is something that will change you. As you ask forgiveness, you will begin to forgive others. As you thank God for his kindness, you will think of other, who needed your kindness. Again, this experience will help you every day, and with time, will change you."
so how bout that.
This week was awesome.
I love you all.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
Ha. So much about Germany this week. So, white people here are from Germany. Alemano. So people think I'm German. Tuesday that was a bad thing. Now it's really good.
This week was good. But tough. It was really good until yesterday. We had some really good lessons with Aline and she finally committed to go to Church. But when we went to pick her up, she sent her daughter to tell us that she was sick. That was really hard. So we were sitting there and we thought that we didn't have any investigators at Church. so we were sad. I almost cried. It was hard. but then when I went to count how many people were at Church, one of our investigators had popped in without us noticing! It was awesome!
I also had a really cool study this week. I noticed that, for a missionary, my prayers were a bit weak. So I decided to study prayer. In Preach my Gospel there is a nice little section about the prayer of faith. I also read the talk of Elder Eyring in Conference. He had an awesome quote. I'm translating, so it's not exact, but he said, "All of us pray, but the Priesthood holder (or person) you ought to be prays frequently and with real intent. At night, you should kneel down and thank the Lord for the blessings of the day. You should thank him for your teachers, your excellent examples, and your parents. You should describe specifically in your prayers at night who blessed your life that day and how. This will require more than just a couple of minutes and more than just a little effort to remember. It is something that will change you. As you ask forgiveness, you will begin to forgive others. As you thank God for his kindness, you will think of other, who needed your kindness. Again, this experience will help you every day, and with time, will change you."
so how bout that.
This week was awesome.
I love you all.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
There's literally no one in the street when Brasil is playing!
Celebrating the victory with Irmao anor!!!!!!!!!
Pizza de alemanha (Germany)
Yep. We don't have an ironing board.
So, we iron our shirts on our beds....ironing beds.
Me and Elder Barlow. District Leader.
Eating ice cream.... YUM!!
Well......
July 7, 2014
You did not forget me again..................
So I made a goal on my mission to focus more on my email to my family and not as much to my friends. sorry friends. I love you all but I have to be with my family forever. ha.
THAT WAS UNTIL THEY DIDN'T SEND ME AN EMAIL.........AGAIN!!
Last time I was worried. This time I'm bugged. But I still love you guys.
This week has actually been really good. We worked a lot. We decided it was time to doa cleaning of the area. Meaning invite people to baptism and if they didn't want to commit we needed to give them some time. The awesome news. We marked 2 solid dates that day. The first one is named Danielle. She's pretty cool. Her boyfriend was a member who went on a mission, so she knows A LOT that normal investigators don't and it's causing her to get a lot of things confused. So we taught the basics. If the book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a Prophet. The Church has the Authority of God, and we have a prophet today who guides and leads the church through revelation from God. Meaning everything is true. She committed to the 26th of July and She actually keeps commitments like reading. What a blessing.
We also visited an investigator that has had a lot of time with missionaries. Her name is Aline. We reviewed the Restoration, watched the 20 minute DVD, and invited her to read and be baptized on the 26th. SHE SAID YES. It was awesome. She also is very chique.
Sadly, they were both sick on Sunday and didn't go to Church. But, they will. Danielle has already been going for 6 months and the missionaries never really taught her.
We also found 2 more Alines. They are both way cool. One went to church for about a month with a recent convert friend, and the missionaries never taught her too. But we did. And also marked a date for the 26th. She's really cool.
The other we met last night and had a quick lesson. It was one where they know something is different about you, and they can feel the spirit, so they do everything they can to keep you there a little longer because they don't know what they're feeling. Or maybe it was just gas! Just kidding. It wasn't. We had to go but we will return to teach her this week.
That's the news. I love you all and hope you're alive. thanks for forgetting me again. I still love you.
Work cup is INSANE!! Brazil is in the semi finals. But Neymar fractured a vertebrate. So people are worried here. I'm worried that they and Argentina will both win, and all the Argentine missionaries here will die. Seriously. Take BYU vs. UTAH and literally times it by 1000. YEP, And that's still not how much they dislike each other!
BUT CHEER FOR BRASIL.
And watch it for me. Because we're still not allowed to. But we hear the fireworks.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
You did not forget me again..................
So I made a goal on my mission to focus more on my email to my family and not as much to my friends. sorry friends. I love you all but I have to be with my family forever. ha.
THAT WAS UNTIL THEY DIDN'T SEND ME AN EMAIL.........AGAIN!!
Last time I was worried. This time I'm bugged. But I still love you guys.
This week has actually been really good. We worked a lot. We decided it was time to doa cleaning of the area. Meaning invite people to baptism and if they didn't want to commit we needed to give them some time. The awesome news. We marked 2 solid dates that day. The first one is named Danielle. She's pretty cool. Her boyfriend was a member who went on a mission, so she knows A LOT that normal investigators don't and it's causing her to get a lot of things confused. So we taught the basics. If the book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was a Prophet. The Church has the Authority of God, and we have a prophet today who guides and leads the church through revelation from God. Meaning everything is true. She committed to the 26th of July and She actually keeps commitments like reading. What a blessing.
We also visited an investigator that has had a lot of time with missionaries. Her name is Aline. We reviewed the Restoration, watched the 20 minute DVD, and invited her to read and be baptized on the 26th. SHE SAID YES. It was awesome. She also is very chique.
Sadly, they were both sick on Sunday and didn't go to Church. But, they will. Danielle has already been going for 6 months and the missionaries never really taught her.
We also found 2 more Alines. They are both way cool. One went to church for about a month with a recent convert friend, and the missionaries never taught her too. But we did. And also marked a date for the 26th. She's really cool.
The other we met last night and had a quick lesson. It was one where they know something is different about you, and they can feel the spirit, so they do everything they can to keep you there a little longer because they don't know what they're feeling. Or maybe it was just gas! Just kidding. It wasn't. We had to go but we will return to teach her this week.
That's the news. I love you all and hope you're alive. thanks for forgetting me again. I still love you.
Work cup is INSANE!! Brazil is in the semi finals. But Neymar fractured a vertebrate. So people are worried here. I'm worried that they and Argentina will both win, and all the Argentine missionaries here will die. Seriously. Take BYU vs. UTAH and literally times it by 1000. YEP, And that's still not how much they dislike each other!
BUT CHEER FOR BRASIL.
And watch it for me. Because we're still not allowed to. But we hear the fireworks.
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
Sunday, July 27, 2014
New Area
June 30, 2014
First, thank you Mom and Dad for passing down the anxiety gene. I've had plenty this week being in a new area and adjusting to everything being new.
But it's also been a good week. I got to know the area pretty well and teach quite a few lessons. We've got a lot of work to do in this area and I'm excited. This ward is a lot smaller than any I've ever attended. Ha. It's about half of Vila, and I thought Vila was small. It's interesting and It'll definitely be a learning experience.
This week we had a pretty cool lesson. Yesterday we taught a couple who is really firm i their church. But allowed us in and we tau
ght the restoration. They're a really young couple who are planning to get married and they are very smart. But it was really cool. When we shared the first vision, he got really excited. He talked about how cool it would be to have the privilege of being visited by Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Apostles. He talked about how amazing that is and if ti's true then it has to be big because God wouldn't send them for something small. I don't know that he really realized what he was saying, because he didn't commit to baptism, but he committed to read and pray. but I realized what he was saying. It reminded me of Elder Uchtdorf's talk about sleeping during the Restoration. Do we realize how big it is? What happened and what's still happening? It was so cool to realize that. We also had a lady who talked about how awful the world is. We also had a man like this in Arizona. It's interesting, they talk about how they don't know how to help in this world. But we do. In fact, we have 90,000 youth out in all parts of the world sharing how we can have goo in the world, and sharing hte only way to have pace and happiness in the world after.
It was pretty cool. It's the first week in a new area, so I don't have a whole lot to say because my head is ready to explode with all the new stuff.
But I love you all.
That's what I have to say. I love you all. I hope you miss me. :)
Love, Elder Scott Jackson Taylor
First, thank you Mom and Dad for passing down the anxiety gene. I've had plenty this week being in a new area and adjusting to everything being new.
But it's also been a good week. I got to know the area pretty well and teach quite a few lessons. We've got a lot of work to do in this area and I'm excited. This ward is a lot smaller than any I've ever attended. Ha. It's about half of Vila, and I thought Vila was small. It's interesting and It'll definitely be a learning experience.
This week we had a pretty cool lesson. Yesterday we taught a couple who is really firm i their church. But allowed us in and we tau
It was pretty cool. It's the first week in a new area, so I don't have a whole lot to say because my head is ready to explode with all the new stuff.
But I love you all.
That's what I have to say. I love you all. I hope you miss me. :)
Love, Elder Scott Jackson Taylor
Me and my new companion!!! Elder J. Fernandez
Three parrots sitting on the antenna right outside our window. Brasil!
Our balcony here in Aracatuba.
I converted. Vai Corinthians!!
The Voyage
June 23, 2014
Well, sorry I am emailing so late today. I had a long voyage.
So we got transfer calls on Friday!! Elder Jackson....FOI!!! (that means I got transferred) So today I was traveling ALL DAY. Literally.
I am now in the city of Aracatuba. In the area Boa Vista B. Aracatuba is literally on the other side of the mission. It's like getting transferred from Kaysville to St. George. It was a bus ride of 7 hours. SO LONG. But I'm here and I'm alive. so that's good.
My new companion is Elder J. Fernandez from Santiago, Chile. He has already been here is this area for 4 months. but I am now the Senior companion for the first time in my mission. There will be more info coming. I just got here, so I don't know all that much.
AND I LEFT WITH A BAPTISM!
It was incredible. We visited Josenita last Monday and she had had a wonderful experience. she still wasn't quite sure about her baptism date, but she met a woman that said she should get baptized. She doesn't know this woman, and neither do we. But the baptism was fantastic. She invited friends that we started to teach. Elder Souza is still there and will train again. I will miss Vila and Elder Souza, he was awesome. But I'm excited for Aracatuba.
That's the big news. Last week was really good. I'm now in a new area and it doesn't feel real. I'm really nervous right now.
And it's nice to know that Trev and Nat actually got married!!! Mom, yes it was a little early, but we can get on the earliest at about 7:30 am Utah time. So be ready by then. Haha!
I hope you are all well. I hope the honeymoon went well.
I love you all!
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
Well, sorry I am emailing so late today. I had a long voyage.
So we got transfer calls on Friday!! Elder Jackson....FOI!!! (that means I got transferred) So today I was traveling ALL DAY. Literally.
I am now in the city of Aracatuba. In the area Boa Vista B. Aracatuba is literally on the other side of the mission. It's like getting transferred from Kaysville to St. George. It was a bus ride of 7 hours. SO LONG. But I'm here and I'm alive. so that's good.
My new companion is Elder J. Fernandez from Santiago, Chile. He has already been here is this area for 4 months. but I am now the Senior companion for the first time in my mission. There will be more info coming. I just got here, so I don't know all that much.
AND I LEFT WITH A BAPTISM!
It was incredible. We visited Josenita last Monday and she had had a wonderful experience. she still wasn't quite sure about her baptism date, but she met a woman that said she should get baptized. She doesn't know this woman, and neither do we. But the baptism was fantastic. She invited friends that we started to teach. Elder Souza is still there and will train again. I will miss Vila and Elder Souza, he was awesome. But I'm excited for Aracatuba.
That's the big news. Last week was really good. I'm now in a new area and it doesn't feel real. I'm really nervous right now.
And it's nice to know that Trev and Nat actually got married!!! Mom, yes it was a little early, but we can get on the earliest at about 7:30 am Utah time. So be ready by then. Haha!
I hope you are all well. I hope the honeymoon went well.
I love you all!
Love, Elder Scott JACKSON Taylor
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