Week 7: A little out of order but still here. "The ultimate secret to life is: PRAY TO GOD"

To: Kelly Taylor , crystal.noel@mac.com, steve@6taylors.com

Well another week has flown by and it is just about time to be leaving to Romania.  I'm definitely ready to leave although not fully prepared.  But they don't expect us to be.  Much of the learning takes place right in the thick of it.  I'm really enjoying the MTC.  It is incomprehensible how much learning goes on in such a short period of time.  The best part is being able to watch yourself grow.  You don't have to look back ten years and say wow I've learned so much, You can look at your notes from last week and say wow, I have learned sooooooo much.  They've changed the curriculum quite a bit, even since I first arrived.  My district was in the middle of the change and so we've been using a lot of the new curriculum and a little of the old.  I love how they do things here though, I can't imagine going into the field without the experience that I've gained here, however small that may be. 
 
I'm not sure if I already mentioned this but we got a new district that was just five sisters.  That hasn't happened before as far as my teachers know and for the moment I'm acting as their district leader.  The district is doing great.  It's been nice to have such friendly and supportive Elders and Sisters with me as I've been here. 
 
One thing I've been thinking about a lot lately and offering a lot of is prayer.  One of my teachers, Fratele Miles, was in a coaching study with Elder Peterson and I one day (coaching study is just the teacher giving you some guidance or ideas for you study) and he said, "Do you Elders wanna know what the ultimate secret to life is? You might want to sit up for this..."  He simply said, "Pray to God." That's what the scriptures tell us to do over and over in the Bible and the Book of Mormon and I'm sure in other scripture.  It is how we repent, receive answers, help, guidance, strength, give thanks, and express literally anything to God.  It is a way to talk to God.  Knowing what I do now I would be lonely without prayer.  It is readily accessible at anytime and can help with anything.  My prayers are much more sincere now and it's helped tremendously.  I learn a lot when I pray.  One characteristic of the way I pray is gratitude.  I give thanks and usually I end up realizing there's too much and I need to eat or go to bed or get ready for the day etc.  But it's the best.  My advice, pray.
 
I'm excited to be involved in a new culture.  Romania has so many interesting things to offer.  I find it sad that the younger generation cares about english and the American culture.  English is great and useful and all and America has history but there is nothing as rich or fascinating to me as the cultures of Europe and most anywhere else on the globe.  I love the language.  It's not a language that can be used too much once I return but I know that I will be able to use it once I return whether that be for translating, teaching, or just speaking with random Romanians I may find someday.  In case you were wondering there are very few native missionaries from Romania serving in Romania. If they choose to serve they are often called to England, learn English and see a country in better circumstances and then they return to Romania and use the language and insight to help improve their homeland.  There are a couple natives serving there though.  One of our teachers who shows up every once in a while is a native although she has lived here for about eight years.  She's awesome though.  She talks so fast I want to cry but she told me, "Oh don't worry they [Romanians] speak faster." So I'm not worried. The advice I've received is smile and when you realize they're complaining about something nod your head like you can empathize and when they laugh, laugh.  Etc.  Most of the returned-missionaries have said don't even worry about the language, it will just come from be immersed in it.  I'm not worried really, I'm very excited. 
 
We had a Fireside on Sunday night from one of the Administrative brethren here at the MTC. He focused his message on missionary success and gave a fantastic talk.  Many missionaries worry about baptisms.  They want to have them.  He spoke on how that part of missionary work is a gift from God.  We may do all we can and still not have those baptisms but that doesn't make us unsuccessful.  People have their agency and even God respects that.  I just thought that was really interesting.  For me, I would love to baptize but if I don't and I just get to interact with the Romanians and share my beliefs and passions and the Gospel and serve people and show them that they can change for better, for more happiness, for me that's all I want. I had a friend serving in Germany write me the other day and after he joked with me for about a page he said, "Isn't it crazy how we're just doing the same work Jesus did?" It is and it's awesome.  I'm glad I can be a part of it.
 
So I got brownies yesterday, a lot of them...
There aren't that many left. And I feel somewhat sick. 
My weight is representative of politicians and weathermen/women -- inconsistent.
 
Thank you everyone for all of the letters and goodies and support, it means a lot to me. Again please ask me questions so I know what to write!
 
Hey Marcellus.
 
Please pray for Dylan (Elder Swarts). He had an MRI today to see if he either needs a surgery along with a four-week recovery or a surgery with like a four-month recovery. 
 
Another quick thought.  I watched this video on LDS.org with some scientist talking about his beliefs in God and the universe and he quoted Sir Arthur Eddington who said, "The more we learn about the Universe, the less it looks like a great Maching and the more it looks like a Great Thought [A great thought of God]." Just a thought.
 
I'm happy! always tired but happy.  Hope everyone is well.  I love you all!
 
Love,
Elder Taylor

Week 9: Juices here in Romania are usually carbonated.

So I'm here in Oradea, Romania.  It's been crazy, I'm still kind of in a dream but it's fun.

 So the MTC concluded with just infield training, nothing too different from the usual but it was fun.  Then Monday we were at the Salt Lake Airport too early and I didn't know really how much my bags weighed yet.  This was one of the most tense moments of my life... I was also wearing my giant trench coat all day so I was like five hundred degrees and receiving quite a few concerned looks.  My first bag was 61 pounds and I just started laughing when I saw that but luckily the second bag was under so I moved things around and put all the heavy books in a pillow case and made it.  I was super blessed this whole day when It came to luggage.  For some reason they didn't charge us for having two checked bags.  For some reason Lufthansa, the second airline we used, weighed everyone's carry-on except for the missionaries and didn't care that my personal item was larger than most carry-ons.  Somehow I made it through security in Utah and Germany with a substantial amount of liquids and razors in my carry-on... and I mean substantial. Anyways so I saw Steve Lund in the SLC airport which was awesome.  The worst part was the flight from Chicago to Germany because it was over seven hours and the guy on my right just blasted his techno music and drank the whole time while the guy on my left watched crazy movies and drank the whole time.  Neither spoke English nor Romanian and so the only contact I had was when I reached down to grab my pillow to try and sleep and I accidentally grabbed the guy-to-my-left's foot.... He just laughed and looked at me like I was crazy and I just said sorry and worried severely about the reputation of LDS missionaries. 

Anyways we landed safely in Germany and began the foreign adventures there.  Two other elders from my MTC district and I met a black man named Shadrac.  He was on his way to Tunisia to work with refugees and after about an hour of getting to know him and spent an hour or so getting to know the gospel.  He doesn't believe in God and he wants nothing to do with religion but I had an english copy of the Book of Mormon that I couldn't give away much longer and after discussing his beliefs for a while he took it with him to read on the plane.  It was definitely the hardest teaching I've had to do yet.... But awesome to get to know someone so different. 

Even more interesting was the two hour flight from Germany to Romania.  I sat next to an old couple who didn't speak a lick of English.  They were talking to each other quietly and I spent the first twenty minutes trying to convince myself that it was Romanian.  Then I began to speak with them and we talked the whole way to Romania! Gigi and Neascu from Brasov.  They were so cute and very nice (and patient).  Our teachers told us at the MTC how much Romanians love to see pictures of your family so I turned to one in my little photo album and she snatched it from me and proceeded to look through all my photos and ask me about each person.  Then she pulled out a stack of pictures they had from visiting their daughter in Canada.  They were an awesome couple and really curious as to why I was coming to Romania for two years without going home at all.  I had Gigi read a little verse out of Mosiah and then gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon.  They were trying to pay me and asking me how much it cost and when I finally understood I just handed it over.  I thought they were saying they didn't want it.  Anyways they gladly accepted it.  It was fun to actually get to know them and break those foreign ties and then share a little gospel with them.  I wish I'd had more time to answer their questions but I told them find the missionaries in Brasov! or go to mormonii.ro.  I think the best part is when Gigi started talking about how much he hated Communism and told me the whole story about Ceasescau and reenacted the execution.  It was intense. Actually the best part is when we stood up at the end of the flight and I realized they were both like at my belly-button. 

Anyways, Bucuresti is crazy.  Romania in General.  It's like a combination of what I've seen in South America and what I've seen in Europe.  A lot of advancement and progress and a lot of sad, unorganized, dirty chaos.  The driving here is insane.  Worse than Guatemala or Honduras.  I know that's hard to believe but it's true.  Maybe it's just the assistants driving.  But I may be driving one day.  It's an exciting prospect constantly worrying about your life.... just kidding.  So that day we got our health checked off by a doctor and then I spent the night with the office elders there in Bucuresti.  The next day we all went to Chismigiu park where the country was dedicated for missionary work and read that prayer and contacted a little.  Then we ate at the mission home and I got paired up with the awesome Elder Barney and we went to the train station! There I met up with some of the previous district and met a few of the others serving in Romania.  We contacted for a bit and then took the 13 hour train ride to Oradea.  We got a tiny little sleeper car but I slept amazing. 

When we got to Oradea we unpacked and went outside.  First we went and did a member visit with a Sora Torge and Anda.  We were fed some delicious sarmale.  The juices here in Romania are usually carbonated but they are so amazing... Anyways and then we contacted a little and met with the Geambasu family (another member family) who are awesome and they speak english really well.  Their two year old, Ammon, was humming the tunes to several hymns while we were there. I could never have done that that young.  He just handed me toys the whole time.  Anyways.  That night I met the Branch President who is hard to understand.  He seems uptight but Romanians are really different in the way they express emotion.  And I don't speak Romanian.  So they can be very difficult for me to understand but he was nice.  The next day we contacted and visited a less active member Sora Gotha.  She talks so crazy fast but she was very nice with me and patient with my Romanian.  Sometimes I have to fight to be able to say anything in a lesson.  My companion had a companion before me and he got used to not letting him talk as much because of the crazy things he would say so now I need to prove to him I can say meaningful things, no matter how broken my Romanglish is.  We have a progressing investigator as well Named Rulunca.  We taught her saturday the restoration (she's heard it before but forgot most).  She's read into Mosiah which is fantastic.  We had a fantastic lesson and then at the end she prayed in front of us (a beautiful prayer) and she had never done that before.  Hopefully we'll get her to church soon. 

Everyone here is super excited that I play the piano because nobody here does!  They just have a little keyboard that I played on on Sunday but it was fun to be able to have some affiliation with my old pal music again.  I bore my testimony to the Branch and met them all, they're all crazy nice and very strong.  There are only about twenty active out of over 100 baptized... There's a lot to be done.  We don't baptize for numbers and still we have a lot of trouble with inactivity here.  The biggest problem was when the EU came along, tons left Oradea for better jobs and such and that's where most the members went. But there are less (in) actives all over Romania.  And then that night we visited Bela, an awesome member who is hungarian and served in Hungary but resides in Oradea.  We're gonna try to contact his brother and reactivate him.

Romania is so awesome.  There are so many interesting quirks. Incredible architecture.  It's beautiful and hundreds of years old.  There's a lot of smoking and drinking, a lot of homeless and insane, but they're all great to talk to and get to know.  We talk with all sorts of different people and they think we're weird and crazy but it's so interesting and often fun.  Yesterday I just sat down with this kid on a bench and talked about God and being judged by those in your congregation, something that causes a lot of inactivity.  He was an Orthodox but not really religious.  Awesome conversation though.  Anyways I need to go.  I'm doing great, I love you all!

Love,
Elder Taylorw

Letter from the Mission President... He has arrived.

Dear Brother and Sister Taylor,
 
Tuesday afternoon we were very pleased to greet Elder Taylor at the Bucharest airport.  He seemed very excited to be in Romania at last after a long flight.  On Wednesday morning we visited the beautiful Cismigiu Gardens in the downtown area of the city.  On this spot on February 9th, 1990, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated Romania for preaching the Gospel.  We stood with our arriving missionaries, read that profound dedicatory prayer and then asked the missionaries to think how their missions might help fulfill the promises contained in Elder Nelson's words. 
 
That afternoon we assigned Elder Taylor to serve with Elder Barney, an experienced and outstanding missionary, in the city of Oradea. 
Thank you very much for sending us such a well-prepared and dedicated missionary.  Sister Hill and I are so happy to have him with us. Attached are two photos you might enjoy.
 
Gratefully,
 
President and Sister Ned C. Hill
Romania Bucharest Mission 

Week 8: Elder Smiley

So I leave on Monday which is absurd because I can't speak Romanian but I'm very excited.  I fly out at 8:00 a.m. Monday to Chicago and I'm in Chicago from 12:03 to 3:40 (I'm not sure if that's our time or if it's already given to me in Chicago Time but I think that it's just in Utah time so I'll call around then). Then we fly to Frankfurt through the night and get to Bucharest sometime someday.  Pretty crazy.  We'll spend our first night at the mission home and then the next day we're shipped off all over the country with an experienced companion and begin teaching and preaching and doing as the missionaries do. 
 
This week has been very interesting.  Every monday we do a TRC where volunteers come and we teach them in Romanian and there is a native girl, Luiză, who has come several times but Elder Peterson and I were able to teach her this last time and she spoke so fast I couldn't believe it. But it was so beautiful, a language I hadn't even heard before.  She was the only one from her family who converted to Mormonism from Romanian Orthodox and her family still lives there in Romania.  It was very intimidating but also a great help.  It forced me to listen and to really try to speak fast and correctly while enunciating and pronouncing my best. 
 
Sunday was great, I was able to play piano for like an hour and I also played a number in Sacrament meeting.  I can't wait to play a little in Romania and hopefully on an organ.  That would be fantastic. 
 
The exciting things that happened:
I got a little athlete's foot... Gross I know but on the plus side it means I'm an athlete. And it's pretty much taken care of already. 
I hit my head so hard on a coat rack I was bleeding but don't worry that's all healed up too...
I ate an entire loaf of banana bread today.
 
Sister Sellers of the ASL district came up with a bunch of signs for people's name.  She dubbed me Elder Smiley because she said she always sees me smiling which really caught me off guard.  I don't ever remember smiling that much.  But I suppose that's a good thing.  I have such a great respect for those who have gone through live with huge physical burdens and obstacles like these deaf and hard-of-hearing missionaries.  In their case, they are greatly limited in who they can connect with and really how close they can become.  There is one Elder who is 100% deaf and we just can't connect.  I can say hi and thank you and simple things like that and we can like each other and be "friends" but think about what we have with our voices and ears.  Think about being deaf in high school.  Many of them were home-schooled and there are some deaf high schools but there not at everybody's use. 
 
Monday night I had asked an Elder and his companion to report to me on something and we made our way into an empty room.  Then one Elder expressed the desire for a blessing so my companion and I stood in while that was administered and then my companion out of the blue asked me for just a blessing of comfort.  I was terrified but it was interesting to see how the Lord works through others, and to feel that.  I didn't have to worry about saying anything. 
 
One funny characteristic of Romanian I'll share is they borrow a lot of english words and just throw on a certain verb ending or noun pluralization rule to make in Romanian.  Even more funny is they love to show off that they know and can use these words.  For example Fratele Jepsen told me about one time when he was waiting in line at a bank and the Romanian man in front of him was on his cell phone.  Who ever was on the end of the line had asked him for a favor and the man replied, "Nu pot acum pentru că sunt managez foarte mult tascuri....." which just means I can't right now because I'm managing very many tasks.  I don't know maybe that's more funny to me because I understand a little of the language. 
 
The MTC is great and all but I'm excited to leave.  I'm ready in the sense that I have that desire to teach and preach.  It'll be a while before I can understand what people are saying to me and I'll be refining and learning the whole two years but It'll be fantastic.  I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing right now.  I'm not sure how writing will work.  If you want, just e-mail me.  I've heard rumors that dearelders are free if you just send them to the pouch downtown but I don't know.  There is an address I'll have posted for the mission home in romania.  But they don't really tell us anything about that.  Mom, maybe you know???? And I know a lot of the info is in my call packet I'm just not sure if that's with you or me... Maybe I should look.
 
For more interesting videos go watch the profile videos on Mormon.org.  They do a fantastic job of showing the world, all sorts of lives and perspectives, and that you can be yourself, do what you like, be happy, love life, etc. A kid that went to my high school who is now a pro skateboarder has an awesome video on there.  Or I really like the blind french guy.  Anyways...
 
Hope everyone is doing well.  I'm very tired (I don't always sleep too great(that's what happens when the bed is regular size and I'm not regular size)) but I'm happy. I love you all! Thanks for the letters, packages, and support.
 
Love, Elder Taylor

Week 6: instead of purses or briefcases or even backpacks, they just use grocery bags.

So time is flying.  It's unreal how soon I will be leaving for Romania.  I'm excited!
 
Romania is full of dogs.  In București alone there are 50,000 street dogs. My teachers advice was do not run and just act like you are picking up a rock and they'll run away.  Another interesting colloquialism is instead of purses or briefcases or even backpacks, they just use grocery bags.  So in an attempt to attain native maturity my companion and I have been carrying around our books in some Macey's bags (Thank you Matthew and Audrey). They really advise to not use backpacks in the larger, busier areas due to thieves and the like. 
 
It's been very interesting to learn of how Romania was "prepared" to be opened up to missionary work. Normally the Church has to approach a country's department of religion or whatever it may be called.  Under communism (the official religion being atheism) they had no department or council.  So the Church approached I believe the Medical Department of Romania and the head of the department just said sure come right in.  The country was then open to missionaries and proselyting.  It's a longer more interesting story but I'm afraid I can't retell it too well. 
 
The language is still a struggle.  In German there are only like four cases and you don't really have to conjugate like we do.  Romanian has too many cases for me to remember.  And there is a slavic case.  There are often two words for one english word -- one being slavic and the other being a latin word.  It's somewhat fascinating to learn grammar, my commendations to whoever sat down and established all these obnoxious rules. 
 
Elder Swarts, a great friend from Draper, has been recovering from a foot injury here at the MTC and now has to stay here a total of fifteen or so weeks.... Pray for him.  One because his foot needs to heal, two because fifteen weeks is too long. 
 
Last night we had a great devotional.  We heard from Cecil Samuelson, the president of BYU.  He shared some of the following quotes and thoughts that I really enjoyed:
 
"You won't be judged by what positions you held but by how many people you served." -I believe that is from President Monson or one of the prophets...
 
"We won't be perfect in everything, but we can be perfect in some things." -President Samuelson
 
"Often those who need the most love are those that are the least loveable." -President Samuelson
 
He spoke a lot out of Paul's discourse to Timothy and how we need to be examples in everything.  Not just now but in our lives.  I related these quotes to the Atonement.  Something I have been studying every day now.  I have been reading some talks from Hugh Nibley (a genius to say the least) who wrote a four part message on the atonement.  This is fascinating.  Hugh Nibley knew and studied greek, egyptian, aramaic, arabic, german, latin, and other languages and cultures.  Reading his talks is actually easier than it sounds because of how clear he presents things.  I think most anyone would love his message on the Atonement. 
 
Basketball continues to be fruitful.  My feet hurt pretty bad from wearing my destroyed asics and then wearing church shoes the rest of the day.  We have been playing so hard lately, but nobody's been seriously inujured.... yet. 
 
Mom thank you for the Banana Bread.  I sat down today and ate the entire loaf by myself........... I shared like two pieces but I missed good banana bread.  Thank you :)
 
Crystal that card blew my mind, especially since the guitar moved. I think i'll leave that for the next residents to find when I leave.  It's something that should be passed on.  I'll put your address in it so they can write you. 
 
I'm still working on the combover.  Every since I got a haircut here the back just stands straight up.  It's not really a haircut anyways.  They ask you what you want, pretend their going to do that for you, and then shave your head. One interesting thing is that in Romanian you don't say, "I got a haircut" you say, "I mowed my hair today."  There are all sorts of funny things like that.  Another one is if you're talking with your pals or whatever and are referring to the cool person or the ripped jock who has it all (me) you call him the man who carries the sledge-hammer.  And if you want to say you slept really well, you say, "I slept like a lumberjack"
 
I continually thank you for your letters and support.  I'm having a great time and learning so much about myself, about the ecclectisism (is that a word?) of the world, and the importance of self-progression.  I hope you are all doing fantastic, I miss you all. Even Marcellus.
 
Love,
Elder Taylor. 

Letter 5. " For man looketh on the outer appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

So I think I'm on week five and It's still going great! I forgot to say that I was somewhat ill two weeks ago as was my whole district.  Just head colds. But it went away after a couple days so I forgot to tell you and evoke pity.  Evoke? I can't tell if that's the right word...
 
So the language is coming together still and sometimes I spit out certain sentences so fast I blow myself away.  Of course most of those are either gospel related or commonly used day-to-day sentences.  When I try to speak it all the time it takes forever, especially if I want to use the correct grammar.  But I love the Language. And I love learning about the culture.  The more I learn of their past the more i feel for the Romanians.  Sorry if any of you reading this are communist but I really dislike what communism has done to that country. Luckily, through stories from my teachers, it sounds like there is still plenty of culture to be experienced.  Most of it remains in the people but there are still villages, castles, cathedrals, and other monuments of the culture. One thing our teacher's spoke about was English Classes.  When we're in Romania we'll have opportunities to teach english.  There are beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes.  The advanced classes you just have conversations in english. But they use it as a means of getting to know the people and building a bond with them and then of course if anyone is interested we would teach them.  We don't really worry about grammar when teaching, mainly because the average American (myself) uses little or no grammar in their speech.  We try to explain the reason for saying things like "I've got to catch a plane" or when we use "it" for everything. 
 
I will get to play piano in about an hour by the way. I'm pretty excited!
 
On sunday we had another fantastic fireside from Robert P. Swensen.  He spoke on Jesus Christ and Love.  One thing that he emphasized was giving our lives for something or someone.  That is real love.  Marriage, raising a family, teaching, etc. are all ways of giving your life to something/someone. And since Sunday I have been studying love which led to my constant study about Jesus Christ.  He is a very complex man once you get past the basic ministry in the four gospels. I spoke with one of our teachers, Fratele Miles, and after thirty minutes of discussing I had another week or two or ideeas for studying.  I know I didn't spell ideas right. sorry.
 
I was able to get on LDS.org the other day and watch some videos, read some talks, etc. but I was watching some of the Christmas devotional that I believe was from last year and I was blown away by that performance of What Shall We Give?. It's my new favorite song. And audrey and her mom are in one of the videos. They're famous.
 
We have watched in class two incredible talks that just blew my mind.  The first is "the miracle of missionary work" which is an MTC address from Elder Holland and is directed towards missionaries but the other is an MTC address from Elder Bednar about the Holy Ghost and I would highly recommend it to members.  For nonmembers I would recommend going and seeing the Joseph Smith movie.  Not necessarily to investigate the church but just to better understand.  I promise you it will help.  I was able to watch it Sunday night (once again with Elder Swarts and Elder Eve) and even though the version here is a little shorter it's a great portrayal of the beginnings of the church and the life and trials of the prophet.  And no we do not worship Joseph Smith, we worship Jesus Christ.  Sorry this may seem blunt and forward but I just don't have time to be eloquent.
 
Speaking of church history, I would absolutely love if Brother Al Jensen would send me some stories of Porter Rockwell and/or the Prophet Joseph Smith.  I love church history. 
 
Speaking of church history some more, Elder Gerald N. Lund spoke to us last night on Faith.  It was a great presentation on how to exercise faith, learn by faith, and grow your faith.  Faith is hard, that's a fact for me, but very rewarding.  One thing he said that many of you may have heard that doesn't necessarily have to do with faith is "Good judgement comes from experience.  Experience comes from poor judgement"  My advice in regards to that one-liner is learn from your mistakes and poor judgement so that you can gain experience.  Don't continue in the same poor judgement. 
 
Dad Helaman's camp was a tremendous help.  There's all the feedback you need.
 
Me and my companion are getting along.  One thing I really appreciate about him is that even though he is more in shape and ten times better at basketball then me, he never puts me down.  He always compliments me on what I can do.  I still hit a three yesterday with him in my face. 
 
I've been told that I speak too much of Marcellus so I won't mention him in this e-mail. 
 
Mom, thank you for all you helped me with (clothes, luggage, etc.) it's all serving me very well and making the experience better. Dad, thank you for you advice, I love every word of it.
 
A good scripture for anyone to study and apply is 1 Samuel 16:7.  It's something I have to work with every day. 
 
Thank you so much for all of the mail and goodies, I couldn't ask for more.  Thank you for the support and encouragement.  I miss you all and love you but I am enjoying it here and can't wait for Romania. 

Letter 4: "Do not be afraid to embrace the Refiner's fire. It is with resistance that we grow."

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

Letter 3 "I am really begining to miss music."

Buna ziua everybody!
 
So quite a bit has happened this last week.  The Romanian district ahead of us departed on Monday and they're all now officially laboring in Romania.  It's crazy, I'm not that far away although it can often seem that way.  Romanian is still coming along although I have stopped studying the language so hard and started studying scripture more to familiarize myself better with the Bible and Book of Mormon.  Along with Fratele Jepsen and Irion, we have a teacher that just kind of fills in when needed and his name is Fratele Miles.  He is incredibly full of energy. I've never heard anyone speak english that fast.  He has incredible insights about the gospel and is a great friend to our district. 
 
The district is doing well although I've had some interesting problems to confront this week.  Luckily for me I am under the direction of a phenomenal branch presidency and two great zone leaders. 
 
I'm taking a lot of pictures and ordered prints for several this morning so in the next letter home I'll throw those in and it'll be up to my family to scan them and let everybody see! Our teachers teach in 100% Romanian and I'm doing great at understanding, it's just speaking it that is going to take years and years.  I've been learning a little here and there about Romania and the People.  There are little villages (if even that is appropriate) on outskirts of towns where shepherds in fur coats guide their sheep with crooks with castles and horse-drawn carts in the background.  And in the larger cities like Constanță and București they're pretty much up to date.  Their government is still suffering from corruption and it will take a long time for Romania to rebuild. 
 
As a district leader I'm learning a lot about including everyone and loving everyone.  In most settings we can pick and choose who we want to associate with and how so but in my position I need to be including everyone, paying attention to each individual, and meeting their needs.  It takes effort but it is incredibly rewarding.  
 
Fun fact: I shook President Brown's hand the other day.  He's always running around the most random places and even though he appears to be in a rush, he'll stop, shake your hand, ask you about your mission and district and just be incredibly sweet.  He's the MTC presdient by the way. Last night we had a devotional from a couple -- elder and sister sonne.  They both gave wonderful messages but the best was Elder sonne is a musical guy and his wife made him sing for us.  He has that beautiful old man voice.  Some of you will understand what I'm talking about.  And then he requested we sing called to serve MTC style which is hard to explain other than it's incredible.  Maybe It's on youtube somewhere.  But I can't remember what YouTube is really...
 
How's Marcellus?? He was a good friend to me.  Even though he was a horrible example in regards to healthy living. 
 
The other day I was in line to get a salad... I'm not ashamed. And two people ahead of me stood Brother Grossen! He told me he'd be here on the 18th and so I wasn't surprised but rather elated.  If anyone knows the Grossens they know they are always smiling and Brother Grossen has always made me feel great about myself.  He's a wonderful guy. I run into friends all the time.  Elder Matthews, Swarts, DeVisser, and I live in the same building as Elder Eve (Birch) and Elder Eggbert.  I am very lucky!
 
Would somebody please get me the addresses of Garret Robison (Togo), Geoffrey Davis (Chile), David Price (Germany), and Bryson Winebrenner (Probably in Utah).  That'd be greatly appreciated.  Sorry I have no incentives for you
 
I am beginning to miss music.  Everybody here whistles and sings and bangs on things and we're all going a little crazy.  I can't wait to get into a church or even a cathedral or even a home in Romania and just play some piano.  Hopefully I'll be able to build a drumset while I'm there.  Just Kidding.
 
I've learned how to sign about ten things thanks to Elder Nelsen.  One thing that is awesome is if a deaf elder ever baptized someone of gave them a blessing, they would sign it. 
 
The MTC can get rough, you can get worried about the most insignificant things and it'll put you in a bad mood.  But once you figure it out, it's usually something simple and you get over it.  So far this week has been fantastic, although I miss the other district already. 
 
Yes the gym is reopened I know you were all curious. They refinished the floor and we've been playing basketball everyday.  All though my shot was horrible I probably had twenty rebounds yesterday with about fifteen of those going back up for points.  I do not boast in my own strength though... just in my height. 
 
Having a companion can be difficult but my companion's great because if i'm doing something unnecessary he'll remind me where I need to be and I return the favor.  We get along pretty well, but to do so we have to forget a lot of our differences.  It's necessary.  Sacrifice is necessary. 
 
Teaching is going pretty well in that we are learning a lot.  Even if we get dropped by our investigators we'll look back on this as the greatest learning experience here at the MTC.  It requires a lot of preparation, a lot of patience, and a lot of spirit.  I am learning that many of the thoughts, words, and scriptures that come to mind are not my own.  And I love it. 
 
We clean buildings every friday and we have a BYU student who oversees our work.  He keeps us posted on the outside world.  I hear Harry Potter was fantastic although I figured it would be.  He doesn't know anything about politics or sports though so neither do we.  Which is great. 
 
Crystal I hope EFY is fantastic, stay away from the boys, they are not fantastic. 
Mom and Dad, yes I love the dear Elders, please keep those up.
These craver's cookies are amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing. 
 
I love mail, I love questions, I love this work and that I can be a part of it and I love you all.
 
Love,
Elder Taylor

Letter 2. The Softball King

Hey everybody!
 
So it's week two in the MTC and things have started to move a little faster.  The days are long but this week went by ridiculously fast. 
 
We are now teaching in 100% percent Romanian everyday and still learning all sorts of new grammar principles. I have two teachers, Fratele Jepsen and Fratele Irion and anybody who works with them will tell you they love them.  They're great guys.  We've learned a bit about the history of Romania -- mainly the communist era and the countries digression under the rule of Ceausescu.  It's sad because Romania was once a wonderful place.  It was called "little Paris" and was the place to go in Eastern Europe.  Hopefully it can start making a move towards rebuilding. 
 
One thing I forgot to mention last week was the many countries that are represented here just by those who entered the same day.  There were missionaries from South Korea, Japan, Kenya, Chile, Brazil, Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, England, Austria, Australia, Samoa, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, and more.  Also, they now have proselyting missionaries going to India.  Which is pretty cool.  It used to just be service missionaries. 
 
My favorite missionaries here are the signing missionaries.  There are four and two are deaf and the other two are not.  They are incredibly friendly and watching them speak and sing and express themselves is more beautiful than any other language I have heard.  They live just two doors down from me in the residence and I'm able to pick up new words in sign language every night. 
 
Not much is different... oh except the gym is closed because they're refinishing the floor so we've been outside everyday playing softball.  Don't laugh.  The soccer field is too packed and we're pretty good.  I dominate in the outfield and even caught one parallel with the ground the other day (i was horizontal and airborne).  The first night we played we all got bit like twenty times by mosquitos... only on our legs though. 
 
I am now the District leader which in the MTC doesn't require much other than a few lessons and meetings during the week but I get to pick up the mail.  Thanks again for all the letters and packages.  I try to eat well in the cafeteria but then I get these packages full of candy and delicious baked goods and i'm not gonna let them go to waste. That's selfish. So thanks.
 
Our teachers act as progressive investigators for us.  They play roles of people they know from Romania and include questions and characteristics of themselves as well.  It sounds strange and maybe even fake.  That's what we all thought at first but it is incredibly real and helpful. I have stopped trying so hard to memorize sentences and paragraphs and instead have been studying words and conjugations.  When I teach I am able to string together sentence after sentence and although it's broken and the grammar is probably horrendous the investigator understands. We also teach every monday to volunteers who come to the MTC.  There are like fifteen in provo who speak Romanian, three of which are natives. 
 
The district before us is getting ready to leave on Monday which will be awesome but sad because we're all friends now and it's going to get awfully quiet and focused... And we're going to lose Elder Friel for sports.  Then we'll spend three weeks alone and then have three weeks with a new district. 
 
I don't know what people want to know so this is difficult.  It's also getting more difficult to think in correct english so bear with me.  If you want to know something please ask! Me and my companion are still getting along, he's got great insights and he keeps us awake and smiling.  My district consists of three surori (sisters) and eight elders.  We all come from idaho, utah, california, and canada. 
 
I get up at 5:45 every morning to run which was awful at first but It's getting better.
 
We learned what gestures romanians use including what they will do to let you know you are being pickpocketed.  The Romanian people are very funny, due to communist culture, if they see a line they will simply stand in it until they reach the front and find out what its for.  Even for hours.  Many of them who live in the communist blocks do not even know their neighbour who lives ten feet away.  They are very mistrusting due to the secret police and dishonesty that raged during ceausescu's rule.  But, Fratele Irion said that once you show them you care and aren't there for money or food or whatever, they let you into their whole life and are very endearing. 
 
Well please send me questions!
 
Love you all,
Elder Taylor

Letter 1 Bucureşti pretty much means Joy Town

Subject: Ce Faceti!

So they hardly give us any time to read all our fan mail and then reply so I will be hustling and will make many a mistake.
 
The MTC has been great! I don't know why everyone was saying it's so hard from day one and just make it through the MTC because I've had a great as has my companion and my district and my friends.  Speaking of which I have seen so many people here and it's been a blessing for me.  I've seen Elders DeVisser, Swarts, Matthews, Tanner, Bruneel, Davis, about fifteen of my college friends, I ran into some of Jenni Schmidt's relatives, I ran into a lady from the fifth ward, I ran into a friends Grandma and was elated to hear he was serving, and one of my teachers is my brother's good friend. It's made the experience very enjoyable. 
 
Thanks for those who have already  written me, missionaries love getting And the encouragement helps.  If anyone could get me Geoffrey Davis's address and David Price's i would be very appreciative! If you want to write me, just use dear elder and they'll send it same day to the MTC for free. Once I'm in Romania you don't have to write me... But i'd love it. 
 
So we came in the first day and I was just full of excitement.  Five hundred and seven of us were herded into a room where we were greeted by the presidency and we sang several hymns.  Already I had been overwhelmed by the spirit.  My companion, Elder Peterson, is from Bluffdale Utah and we get along great. My district is awesome, we all get along well as long as we leave out politics.  There is another Romanian District that has been here for six weeks and they have been fantastic as examples and friends.  I feel so blessed to have been welcomed in such a way.  There are other companionships and districts I see where there is competition and unnecessary tensions.  I am very grateful for what I've got.  I feel this is where I'm supposed to be.
 
The language is beautiful! Not as dramatic as Italian and therefore not as fun to speak but we all love learning it.  I can already pray, bear testimony, have five minute greeting conversations, invite people to be baptize, and for the most part sing and read in Romanian.  Italian has really helped with understanding the grammar and conjugation but at the end of the day, Romanian is a whole new language. 
 
We have focused a lot this first week on getting to know people and ultimately investigators.  There are two websites that I would highly recommend to anyone, they are not church-owned and are fantastic projects.  The first is 6 billion others. This project was undertaken by some French people I believe and they went to many of the world's countries (most I think) and interviewed hundreds of people on their history, their faith, their happiness, their families, their youth, their trials, etc.  It is incredible what we can learn from others.  Being in a district with kids from all walks of life, I have seen just how diverse everyone is and how everyone has something unique and useful to bring to the table.  The other is a NY Times project I think and it's called 1 in 8 million.  I prefer the first but this one is still very interesting. 
 
Saturday night we had a fireside to celebrate the birth of the nation and we had excellent music and speakers but the best part was after the conclusion we went outside and had surreal amounts of haagen-daazzzz Ice cream ( i don't know how to spell that) and watched the Stadium of Fire fireworks display.  I've never seen boys look up at a fireworks show like that, we all were like five-year olds.  Then Sunday night we were so lucky to have Jenny Oaks Baker come play and speak to us.  I had no idea how incredibly talented she was.  Her husband spoke for a little as well and she also had her kids (one age 6 and two age 8) play.  All girls.  one played cello, the other violin, and the last piano.  They were incredible.... and they got a standing ovation which was pretty awesome because we didn't clap for Jenny Oaks Baker just due to the setting. Anyways, it's a blast being here.
 
My companion's best friend is in the district ahead of us, Elder Friel.  He played Basketball at SUU and dunks it in my face.  But he's the nicest guy.  Our Zone Leaders Elder Groberg and Elder Cox are awesome kids too.  Everyone gets along so far.  Yes Elder Groberg is related to the General authority, it's like his dad's cousin. 
 
We spend about eight hours a day in the classroom if not more studying doctrine and the language.  It's pretty easy until we have to practice by teaching others.  That's intense... It hasn't made me too stressed out yet, in fact i'm fine and loving it.  I love my teachers, Fratele Irion şi Fratele Jepsen, they are great examples and know how to prepare us. 
 
One of the best times is GYM TIME. it's a big deal.  Sitting in a classroom for eight hours will make you work out harder than you ever dreamed.... The food is great, you just have to know what to eat and what to run from.
 
Mother, do you have any scripture cases you could send me? they're like thirty bucks here.... If you don't I'll just buy one.  Thanks for the package the other day!  Also you may want to call the bank and tell them I'll be in Romania for two years so they don't hold my card
 
Thanks for the letters, i really appreciate them! This week I will be teaching lessons for thirty five minutes in 100% Romanian! is crazy...
 
Anyways I don't know what you all want to know.  I love you all, miss you a little too, thanks for the support and everything.  I love what I am doing and it's where I'm supposed to be. 
 
în Romaneşte, te iubesc şi voi vedez noalte ziua! La revedere, etc, etc. Da suntem mult ferice cu colegii noastre şi a dormi buştian. 
 
Love,
 
Elder Daniel James Taylor
 
p.s. bucureşti pretty much means joy town