Hey everybody!
This last week was pretty great as they seem to always be. It's only been four weeks but at the same time it has already been four weeks. Make sense? It's funny how confusing pioneer day is to anyone outside of Utah (and Snowflake). We didn't really have a program in honor of it but there was a great talk given in sacrament about the many ways we can be and are pioneers. I was constantly thinking back to the incredible message Grandpa Taylor gave (one year ago?) in the Snowflake chapel. I would love a copy of that if possible.
That night we were lucky to hear from Stephen B. Allen. He has been at the head of homefront productions for the Church since they began. The homefronts are the cheesy commercials that say things like "isn't it about time?" Anyways he is a hilarious man and very bold. His message was how to adapt to a new culture. Not necessarily the various cultures we will be serving in but the culture of missionary life and especially the MTC. It can be very hard for kids to adapt and so he'd show a homefront and apply the punchline or moral to us missionaries. It was perfect and I think it helped many missionaries to hear that. Some of those commercials are very humorous too and I'd bet that they're on the YouTube thesedays...
Everyone here knows about Marcellus. I have a few pictures up by my desk, one of them being Marcellus and me hangin' out because we did that a lot. We were pretty good friends. Everyone sees that and thinks I'm pretty weird but I'm sure he'll be happy to know he's well-known here.
After the firesides on Sundays we can either go study or go watch one of the several films playing around the MTC. On the twenty fourth I stayed in the gym and watched Legacy with Elder Swarts and Elder Eve and my companion. It's somewhat choppy but it really shows how much the pioneers went through and was a great movie for me to watch again. I think it should be remade. I wish you could have seen the gym though. There were a thousand or so elders and anytime there was even the slightest hint of romance the elders would "ooooooooooooooooooooo" and if there was a kiss they'd cheer and we just looked like shawshank redemption inmates. ( I saw that edited by the way)
There are four people here from my italian class. Three are going to Italy. Two of those are companions. The fourth is a girl that was in my class and every monday we teach a lesson to a volunteer that speaks Romanian and they act as an investigator and I saw her at one and turns out she served in Romania! Crazy stuff. Anyways. We had a fireside last night as well from an Elder Simmons who gave an incredible message about sanctification and how that applies to a mission. The one thing I would share with everybody from that is do not be afraid to embrace the Refiner's fire. It is with resistance that we grow. Without resistance things become "easy" and our progression comes to a halt. One Elder gave me an analogy that I loved and it comes from one of the brethren in a talk but the story goes that a girl was out in the back yard and had set up the necessary fixtures to practice the high jump. She had set the bar at the minimum requirement for state and was satisfied that she was able to perform such. Her father came out, noticed what she was doing, and asked something like "well how will you ever know how high you can jump if you don't try." They proceeded to raise the bar and it goes on but the point is don't settle for minimum. Try to do the hard thing and the reward is so much more.
Gym continues to be a necessary avenue for stress. I've lost something like five pounds but don't worry I'm eating ridiculous amounts of food. I always think I'm going to eat better and then I get a package of cookies or something and I promise you those packages don't go to waste. They make a lot of Elders very happy:)
The only address I still need is Garrett Robison's by the way...
Everybody, I can't thank you enough for the mail and for the packages. It really brightens our day.
The language continues to come. It's strange how almost no americans actually know english grammar, myself included. I know Romanian grammar far better already. Our teachers are awesome, I couldn't ask for better and we have a blast.
We watched the opening song of the pioneer memorial day concert commemoration extravaganza and then had class so I didn't get to see much but that arrangement of Come, Come ye saints is so beautiful... Why didn't the church archive that broadcast. I'm so bitter. Audrey, ask Brother Wilberg for the video. Thanks.
That's one thing I really can't wait for is to listen to music again. Especially Mack Wilberg's arrangements. And sometime I would love a recording of the Prayer of the Children. It's always in my head for some reason. I'm really enjoying my time out here. I can't wait to get to Romania and interact with a new culture. There's nothing more interesting to me than other cultures. They are all so beautiful and we can learn so much from them. If you haven't looked up that 6 billion others project yet, go do so.
I do sport a combover several times a week. I also got glasses due to my horrible eyesight. I look pretty sophisticated you might say. Thanks again for the support, it's a great blessing!
I love being a district leader. The biggest blessing from that is getting to work with the Branch Presidency more. They are all very charismatic men and they'll come hang out with us in the residence halls at night and just chat with us. They have so much to tell. I love to speak with people who have lived a life already. Or those who just have different perspectives. It's refreshing. Anyways, I love you all!
Love,
Elder Taylor
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