Taylor - June 22, 2015

Taylor with his companions Elder Wolfe and Elder Nielsen

Hey Family,

The trio is working out well and we are getting used to working in one, though we still need a little bit of work. Elder Nielsen is from El Paso, Texas but also has a house in Chihuahua, Mexico. The house in Mexico is kinda like a little white colony as he describes it. Almost everyone in that area speaks English and a lot of them are members so his whole ward is white. He did learn Spanish there though obviously because there are still Latins and he also grew up learning that language in school so he is perfectly fluent. Elder Wolfe is from Roxborough Park, Colorado so he's definitely used to the snow! His Spanish is quite good and he's really dedicated to learning it! It's definitely cool to be a part of the work of the Lord.

I can't believe Spencer will be turning 17, that's crazy! Is he enjoying life at home without anyone there or no?  He's gonna love his birthday. Wish him happy birthday for me!! Sounds like you guys are going hard on the yard, believe it or not I kinda miss the yard work! Oh and that picture mom made for you Dad for Father's Day was super cool, it looks really good! And man it sounds like you had an awesome Father's Day dinner!!

To answer some of your questions, yes we do get fed every day because we're in a Latin ward and they always feed us! Haha  Maduros (fried plantains) are not my favorite though but luckily I do pretty well at getting everything down!  Oh and I know I need a lot of improvement, but the Spanish is going pretty well!  We are in a car now so that's good but also bad ;) We go to the track to run every morning though which is great! Although three laps around the track kill the other elders! So... we are going to have to work our way up slowly! Haha. Mom, you definitely cannot wake up early in the morning and play tennis here in Florida and hope it will be cooler! I believe it was 87 degrees when we started running this morning and that was at 6:30, plus the humidity is crazy!! But I love it...ok, ok, not all the time. Oh, by the way did I already tell you that in my first ward correlation meeting in our ward (which was in pure Spanish) I had to give the spiritual thought! Ya I was freakin out!! I chose Alma 7: 11-13 and it luckily it worked out. 

So I think that the family I talked about last week just wasn't quite ready to commit. They just don't realize the blessings in store for them and how important it is, they are kinda letting work get in the way. Haha, ya Dad, I need all the advice I can get!  It is definitely true, sincerity is something we're always working on but I admit after knocking for a while you're just so exhausted that all you want to do is lay down. It's definitely difficult to be sincere! 

A big miracle happened this week when we were knocking an area and we just didn't feel good about it so we spotted a different place a little bit away that we thought would be good. Not too long after, we found Daisy and Maria! It's a daughter and her mother and they are super boss! They loved the prayer and wanted to come to church.. which they did the next day! They came for all 3 hours and really liked it, the ward did an awesome job fellowshipping them as well! During the gospel principles class they were kinda being drilled by the teacher and the teacher TOTALLY threw down on them about the authority and how their pastor that baptized them didn't have the authority. Also, every question the teacher asked during the lesson was directed towards them.  I totally felt bad and so did  Elder Nielsen and Elder Wolfe. We were sweating it big time! Luckily we still got a return appointment with them! Their biggest problem is that they don't believe at all in prophets because they said all men are liars. Anyways we had a super boss member come out with us to the next lesson. We taught about the restoration and Jesus Christ and ultimately we invited them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know of the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ, of the Book of Mormon, and of having a living prophet on the earth today. I truly know that they will be able to receive their answer as they do it with real intent, and we're super excited to continue to help them and teach them the truth! We definitely would like them to get baptized but my comps and I are going to be patient. They're pretty elect though and we're meeting with them again tonight so it should be awesome! 

Anyways, I don't think I say this enough but I love you guys a ton. You are the best parents ever, I hope I can be like you guys when I grow up. I truly thank you guys for all you do for me, all the support and love and time spent answering my questions and concerns. Thanks for all your prayers and thank you so much for being awesome examples to me! Love ya! Have a great week!

Elder Dunn