Saturday, December 27, 2008 - Baptising Fatima - Second Area

Happy Day for Fatima and me!!!

Elder Martinez, Fatima, Evalyn and me.

Our Christmas tree and all my packages from home!!!!

Elder Martinez, Fatima and Evalyn's Family, and me.

Oh Holy Night!!!!

Our District by some cool arches.....

My first baptism of Joaquin (first area).

Maybe Joaquin's son and his wife and little girl.

Elder Winkfield, Joaquin and ME.

First Day in Guadalajara with GOOSE, aka Elder Crowther.

This letter is going to be unusually short because I have maybe 10 minutes to write, I´ve been dinking around with photos. Good news is I´ve uploaded every photo from the mission and on to Walmart.com. I don´t know if you need to login to see them or not, I don´t know. Anyway I hope you enjoy! THis computer will die before I leave. Small itty bitty pieces of happy relief!! If I get my way I´ll be writing again. Also forgive me if I´m missing a few spaces, the space button doesn´t work very well. To start off, I´m glad that I´m getting a few emails from David now, the last was a little short, but very happy Christmas wishes and all that jazz. The happy part is the two baptisms we had, Evalyn and her sister Fatima. I baptized Fatima, it was pretty funny because I had to lean WAY forward to dunk her. Lol. You´ll see how small she is. Only 8 years old. ...Fatima´s cool, we´re buddies, but not as much with Evalyn. We received a 5 minute video of photos of all the different baptisms we´ve received with some really cool video clips and music. I can watch it a million times in a row and enjoy it. Lol. Now they´re going to have 2 of me. Lol. I read Elder Kellly´s emails andhe seems an infinitely better misionary than I. I woke up on time at 6:30 P day or no pday. Exercizedfor roughly 25 minutes. I don´t seem to be getting much stronger but then again I only manage to do it every 3-4 days. It´s 15 after 5 and we had district classs at 5 so Im going to wrap up a few things. I want to just love my companion and forget the little gnats that bite at our relationship. The little bites are the ones you shove aside but when you get hit by a brick,you flinch and pick it up. Always heal every wound. Lest it begins to bleed. Or attract more knats. Or mosquitos. ... or dogs. that one actually happens. Writing is beginning to clear my mind. I know my desires and now Ineedto meditate. Clean tidy, organized, loving, receptive, obedient, wise, thrifty, brave, reverent, representative, and many more.... We prepped a little and then went to playbasketball at the stake center with a few other elders. One of the elders was a little good. Even then his knowledge of rules and afew things ofthe sort was abit .... off. The rest weren´t quite as talented . LOl. Afterwards we went tobowl. 3.10 dollars for one game. Already it was 2:30 we went to lunch. KFC! turnedout to be a nightmare 6.50 for a chicken nugget. (metaphor) . Before this point though, I learnedtheydon´t accept credit cards. Iwent to anATM. To learn that 500 pesos are missing from my account. So we´ll see. Fortunately I haver you guys, andI don´t needto worry about much, exceptthatI´m going to guard the money I take from an ATM, because we think it´s hidden charges of un imaginable sorts that is the problem. I´mgoing to roll.I apologize for this horrible email.Excepttoend with a good note. I´m learning I´m in the fire and I´m not just sitting init, I´m being molded. Adios!-Jaker-----Original Message-----

December 22, 2008

I felt like saying that in the subject. Well, here is your long awaited reply! May I start off by saying, that reading your and David´s letters, (yes he emailed me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) have given me the warmest feeling I´ve felt in quite a long while. My heart sizzles with your Christmas wishes. I feel I´m going to put a few insights into this letter also. I´d also appreciate it if you´d forward it to a few people. karlfranzemporer@aol.com, priceboy007@gmail. (David and Daniel). This week has been tough, I´ve begun to find out why I don´t agree with a few things though, why things aren´t the way I imagined. THERE IS NO REASON THIS ENTIRE DOESN´T BAPTIZE 1 PERSON EVERY SUNDAY! Absolutely no reason. Not everyweek we´re going to have one, we´re not going to snap a finger and start having baptisms. But let me recount a few things that we do and you can tell me if it´s missionary. The initial problem is I´ve been having a few struggles with my comp. Well, first off there´s a language barrier, there always is. But I love the kid, he´s great we have a lot of fun and such. I get along with him for the most part. The rough part is there´s rules and thigns he doesn´t want to do, that are utterly senseless. FIrst off getting up, when I arrived he told me ¨what time do you get up? caus if you get up late, we get up at 6:30 here¨. We don´t usually get up. I can get up at 6:30. I can get up on time if I have enough sleep. That´s the problem. we don´t get home til 10:10 or 10:30. That´s the CURFEW! I asked him, I told him, ¨It´s a rule to be in the house before 9:30 and sleep by 10:30. The zone leaders told me the President said, no excuses be in the hosue by 9:30 unless the bus doesn´t show or you have a really late lesson but plan to be home by 9:30. My companion replied. Well no the President said it doesn´t matter what time you get home, and after about 5 or 6 months, you don´t go to bed util 11 or 12. Uh.... No it´s a rule, ou can´t argue that, most of the time we don´t use our time wisely. I conflicted his reply and he responded. Well, next change you´re going to set a great example, but for now we´re going to bed at 11:30. Holy poooP!! I asked him, where are we? He replys look at the map..... Ok,....... I can stare at the map all day long, but if I don´t know wher I am ... it´s not going to do anything. He tells me we´re at Aurelia Guevara. Ok... this street crosses the entire map. Where are we? He points at he map, we´re right here! I look at the street signs on the corner and contest, no we´re right here. He disagrees no we´re right here. I reply, no look, the streets are right here! He finishes exactly and why can´t you figure that out? Like he was right in the first place and I´m a bafoon! Oh! Then he asks ¨You know what you´re problem is...?¨ That´s my vent. We´re working on that, other than this though we´re good. He did just tell me though that we have to leave. I really wanted to write alot more, maybe I can arrange to come back. We´ll see, I´m really sorry I cant write more! I have so much to say and all I did was complain about him. Ugh... I´m going to kill myself with trying to be who I want to be. President Wright sent us a letter with a quote from President form Elder Holland that put afew things in perspective about the speed of the work. I still believe it could be alot better here. Alot better. The point that I started with is that this is a Frito mission, frito meaning fried this refers to the missionarys that don´t do anything. We had a companionship that went on exchanges for 3 days, without permission caus they don´t like their companions. One complained to the President, ¨But he´s not who I wanted to be with!¨ We screw around so much... I don´t know. Here´s the tid bit of information I have concerning Christmas. I´ll have to tell you the rest then I think. I´m going to be with a sister whose number is - 33353201 at 11 in the morning. You need to find out the rest. That is the family´s number. call the operator, or something ask about country codes area codes long distance. I´m sorry, we don´t know much more than that. I love you so much. I ´know my Father in Heaven loves me and when I pray I receive an answer. But to hear from you both and finally from David. He said so many things that made me cry. I want to talk to you all. I understand alot I have ideas. No matter what happens the time will pass. Take it or leave it. You can serve God or you can not, you can seek to improve or you can not. YOU CHOOSE YOUR LIFE! The hardships make us stronger, the afflictions make us broader and the tears make us softer. But always if we are obedient if we open our hearts to the SPIRIT , if we just try it! If we just want to believe. If we just listen. Yet we will always be frail, too weak to do it. Always we need our Father. Pride is the first thing in this world that will lead to our own self destruction. Hardening our hearts for reaons beyond reason. I have to go. Love is my footstool right now. And if it falls, so will I. Til Christmas.Friend, child, leader, lover-Jake Taylor

Monday, December 15, 2008

I´m going to answer dad´s questions really quick, I don´t have alot of time. I kind of miss my area, because I finally knew what´s up and I had a lot of ideas, but it´s too late now, I feel like I failed my chance in that area, there were so many things we could have done if I had spoken up or done something that I knew I should have. Too late now. I like this area, except a few things, we got called gringos and guerro´s alot back in Sante Fe, but here I´ve heard more and been harrassed more in this first week than the whole change there. It´s so frustrating! I want to reply, say something, but I can´t. I don´t know. It´s just really annoying. Sorry agian if this letters not quite a piece of wonder bread. This morning was both very upsetting and very good. Very upsetting because I didn´t get out of bed til 8 because of exhaustion. And good caus I have about half of this house cleaned too. Every missionary house has one thing in common. They´re about as clean as a hobo´s cardboard shack behind the hedges. So I did alot of that. Swept all of it, moved the furniture and stacked some mattresses, each bed has a new mattress, so I put the old ones under it and now we have doublle stacked beds! Lol. Our little Christmas tree I put on top of a dresser on top of a teddy bear blanket, very cute, and I put our Ferrero Rocher´s beneath, and all the other gifts we´ll get. Lol. Organized our missionary book case, all the phamphlets and items, books etc. Filled a black garbage bag with poop. (Not literally) Random thought, I´m going to investigate the mail system this week with the members, Lol. I want to send a few Christmas letters, like I said before you might be getting most of them and run a few errands. Lol, sorry! = ) Christmas here is as of now doesn´t look too bright, Christmas eve I think we´ll just be working til 9:30 or 10. Elder Martinez likes to stay up a little later, so we get home really late and basically plan then sleep. I don´t like it and am trying to change it a little. This just means I don´t have time to brush my teeth, organize the area book or write in my journal... nothing much, lol. Christmas day, we call home, I don´t know when or how. But we´re going to. Lol. Then we leave and work ... walk around all day. Yesterday was bad, and this is why I like and dislike the area. The members are all realy good, fóod´s alot better, more hand made tortillas and such. = P The area is alot nicer, not much trash, and most of the houses are rather nice, bigger decorated and all. Some are still poor and others just trashy. Every part has its ghetto. The bad part, yesterday though we heard a gun shot and 10 minutes later an ambulance showed up, so I´m a little scared. There are a ton of drunks too, this mixed with eh harrassment, I don´t like walking around like we do at night, there´s one part of the city that´s down a little hill, or slope. And the whole things filed with mist, this whole little valley. This and there´s half as many street lights, it was incredibly scary. I think I´m going to talk to Elder Martinez about reserving nights to the other part of the city and avoiding dark streets or streets where we know there are kids and such to annoy us. Speaking of your avocado tree. I had one yesterday... can´t anything but feel the creamy texture. Weird. I don´t know. Spanish is good, interesting story. Wednesday or Thursday I just lost everything, it all left me. I couldn´t understand anything ELder Martinez told me let alone the other people. It was sudden, in the afternoon. All that morning I was fine, then we went to an appointment. ANd it was all gone! The next day too. Alot of praying, but then the NEXT day, I could speak, better than before. I have a million miles for improvement. But Sunday I could nderstand alot! Of coruse I don´t understand eerything, alot of idioms that I don´t get and words of course I still have yet to learn. One day I started to talk to someone who´s door we had knocked and said, Hola soy elder taylor este es mi compañero Elder Martinez somos missioneros, y nos gustaria compartir un mensaje de Jesucristo con usted. She replied, sorry I don´t speak English, of course in Spanish, but still. Grr.. I don´t believe these photos are going to go through, again. I´ve been struggling with alot lately, this last week has been a race for my mind. Alot of struggling, I´ve just felt so down lately. I don´t know what or who I´m going to be, but as of now I enjoy the growth I get from a mission. I need to go REALLY soon. I HATE contacting, well I did, it´s become easier in the last few days, but stopping somebody on the street and introducing ourselves and our message. That sounds easy, and there are somepeople just sitting around who are happy to talk, but others don´t care who we are. We have to contact 180 people every week with Elder Winkfield we´d SCHEDULE 2 hours or so more or less to do it, and just interrupt everybody's busy life. Get addresses and interested people and never visit them. Here I only contact if I feel like I should. 2 or 3 of the which have responded yes please come in, one of which has a baptismal date for the 27th. I beleive in contacting. I just can´t bring myself to like it! I don´t know, knocking is easier now too. I don´t know, I´ve been down on myself as a missinoary this whole week. In terms of people, we have two people who just need to go to church 1 time and they can be baptized, but they just don´t want to come. They´ve received a testimony and such, but just don´t come. One her mom is a member and her kid is a member, but she doesn´t care. A few others, but as of now I don´t know what direction this is going. We have just over 300 members in the ward and the attendance yesterday was around 70. So we´ll see. References and lessons with members are hard to come by unless we´re teaching the kids of a member which is a freebee. We have a lot of work to do. Maybe if Dad has ideas how we can motivate the ward and help these people. For this Sis. Dean. Has she asked? Has she searched for the answer. Ask and it shall be given seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened up to you. I believe this is a process for finding answers to all of our problems or questions. I firmly believe it means Pray-Scriptures-Act. People develop a testimony by living there lives in a way that is good. When we conform our lives to the way we should as taught by the Savior, we see that it is good. Pray.... I love the news about sweet cakes on trade! Lol, that´s amazing! I love hearing about the houses and the family and everything. I hope Rena´s doing ok, I never finished her letter before I got here, and as such never sent it. Oh well. It´s hard here, I don´t know what to think. I have hope for a brighter future and that everything will work out and I know either way the times going to pass, it doesn´t matter WHAT you do, the times going to pass. You can choose to slack or you can choose to use it, plan ahead cause there is no going back. I just hate being inadequate. I love growing but I´m so pathetic, I know so little my testimony and skills are so weak. I just need some loving. I only have like 300-400 pesos for the rest of the month. I lost 200, taxi was 130 and our lunch appointment fell through 50 and I bought some toiletries 100. I´m not going to use your money either caus I´ve been a fool with it. But I´m going to reduce my consumption a little. There´s good news though, I seem to act depending on the cleanliness around me. Once the house was clean I really spruced up, bought some gel, popped up and Im´beamin! I love you guys, I really miss you and the guys more than anything else. I feel I´m going to be pleasantly surprised for Christmas but as of now my hopes a little gloomy. Elder Martinez is cool, a little different at times. And this week has just been hard. I don´t know. My thoughts are all over the board. Maybe I´ll finish them in a hand written letter! Lol. A good meal sounds good, we´re going to that buffet today! I actually will use my card for that though. Lol. Buy that sign from Sweet cakes and the Ferrerro Rocher chocolates. Yesterday I thought about asking you to buy them so we´d be a little piece of chocolatecloser together! THANK YOU FOR THE PACKAGES!!!! I havent´gotten them but the thought of a little Christmas present warms my heart. I think I found something for David, lol. We´ll see, I hope to buy a few things in Vallarta if given the chance! Lol. The comment Dad made ¨At this speed, I will be dead soon¨ actually made my heart sink. I hate the thought of how many years you both´ll have when I get back. ... ............I want a little joy in my life. I KNOW ALL OF MY PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED! I know, my Spanish came back in full force, I gaind a desire to find people to knock doors and contact. Everythings going good with this member. I know he´s watching out for me, I just feel so pathetic for my sincere collage of weaknesses and follies. This member though, story until I wrap it up. The bishop´s son has been back from his mission for about 7 years now, he´s who we wash our clothes with. LOl. He asked me for 500 bucks the other day, not pesos. D.O.L.L.A.R.S. He´s ´trying´to open a ´business´and needs ´my help´. I was told two days before he asked me though by an inactive sister that he asks every white missionary, all the ´gringos´. So I had a very fortuante heads up. I know it´s all good though, no problems or anything such. Mom/Dad, friends, Christmas. Those have been my longings. I hardly thought about video games too this week. I´ve seen a few pictures of Christmas lights as seen in the states, I miss the music, the beautiful lights, sittin back and drinking hot coco. My friends, everything. I saw a really nice starbucks over in the center of the city and I long so bad to just go grab a nice hot chocolate and chill. IN a nice building. Relax by the fire. ... This is tough. My thoughts are gone. Í don´t know. Everything will come around though. I know. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH! I thank you indefinately for everything you´ve done for me. I still look at the intials you scribbled on my garments and the occasional smiley face or heart. and it warms my heart so much, the little things that went into packing. I cried the other day again to think of how I acted the night before I left. You worked so diligently to help me go, with a warm heart knowing what was going to happen. I just wanted to fluff around. I hate myself for the pain I´ve put you through. I want to think about something happy though. I get your packages tomorrow, I believe! Tomorrów´s zone conference, and if they´ve gotten to Mexico, I get ém tomorrow! A few requests though, that you can just slip into a package that you send in the next few months. Chocolate, gum, mints, like altoids and icebreakers, Five gum and Stride. A few more pairs of those awesome socks you sent me lol! Don´t rush it or anything, just some surprises I wouldn't mind seeing again in my life. Lol. one week left though, to get a letter from the guys for Christmas, I´m going to start praying. Caus´that´s on the top of my list. I know it´s Christmas, but I wouldn´t mind chatting with maybe a few of them on Christmas too. I´m outa here, I love you guys! Remember remember remember. Send me photos too! I LOVED THE one of you and dad and Jason´s kids, it was good to see you two in Pine, and all the rest too! LOVE YOU!!!!!!! Until next Monday = )Love and Sincerity,-Jacob Daniel Taylor, Elder
-----

Monday, December 8, 2008 - Transferred to Reforma in the District of Zapopan, (Pueblo) just an hour outside of Guadalajara

Subject: Line reads: Do wa shi-diddly-do-wap-bo-wap.....so I think he's happy today!!!! I´m not entirely sure what the subject means but it was pretty cool. Lol, well I´m sorry about the photos, lol. But I guess you know what my laundry and living conditions are like. That couch, I was not allowed to sit ANYWHERE else. Elder LG is such a stubborn dwarf that he would yell at me if I sat on another couch or in his room. Frickin gnome. Today too, before we left! He´s getting ready to go and I sit down to tie my shoe or something, yeah I put on my shoes and he says, ¨Hey your couch is over there, that´s mine.¨ In his disgruntled muffled blubber. And of course it´s in Spanish. Lots has happened, and at the same time I can´t remember most of it. Yesterday was fantastic and horrible. Usually they're just horrible or ok. It depends on how much crap I get from LG and WInklepuff. For example. If nothing happens all day, it´s just a day, a good old fashioned usual day. If he gives me crap it´s a bad day, if something breakthrough happens or we have some good relationship time with someone else it´s a good day. Nothing else really affects my days. No matter what they´re successful, always we´re making an impression, and always something happens that leads to something good happenening. That´s our presence as a missionary. What makes it good is when we have a ¨I know Joseph Smith was a prophet¨ or we break through and make a friend with a neighbor. If I have a blister or get hurt, that doesn´t make it a bad day for me, even though I did get a little upset juggling my bag today. If I lose money it´s not a bad day, if a family isn´t home or didn´t pray, it´s not a bad day. A little bummed but I keep popping and a few minutes later I´m happy. The only other thing is that if a family stops progressing, your spirit sinks. Any, why yesterday was good and horrible. Horrible, first, because Elder Binky decided to cry and get his way all day (like usual). This usually consists of ¨Que hacemos¨ (what do we do). ¨Well I think we should visit with this family, because they´re progressing,¨ I reply. ¨No that´s stupid, do you have all your contacts?¨ That´s his fettish. We´ll have days with 0 ... listen, ZERO!!!!! lessons taught, but we have 45 contacts. That´s all he ever wanted to do. But that´s why it was bad. Now for why it was terrific! First off, church was great! I talked with a ton of members and I can understand more or less what they´re saying. After church I played for the Church Choir, Angels We Have Heard on High, on the piano to help them practice, and I was going to play for their Christmas performance! Afterwards, we're convinced the Relief Society President hates us... completely. Just had a few flojo frito (lazy, fried) elders in her ward maybe, we don´t know, but no nos caya bien (we do not fall well with her....that´s actually an expression here). Well our lunch appointment fell through with Hna. Mijez and as such we went to eat with her. The first half was as usual, not talking much with us. I began to chat about the Relief Society and how they´re doing, what they´ve been up too. She mentioned they have a problem with menosactivos, or obviously, innactives; which I have been putting a great deal of thought. They´re are 500 +/- registered members in that ward. Less than 100 are in attendance at any given week. We talked a little about that, and I thanked her diligently for the food, seriously not just thanks, we really are grateful for what you do, as President and for the food. Breakthrough! After that we visited... like... one person and went home early, because yesterday was the day of... cambeos. Changes...The second reason yesterday was good, as you´ve probably been able to tell from some of my implied language, I´ve been using a unique past tense tone. I was changed yesterday. Elder Stinkywinky stayed. I now email you from the area of Reforma in the City of Guadalajara. District - Zapopan. Quiet little suburb, referred to as Pueblo here. Actually either means, suburb like thing or town. An hour from the mission offices, not too far from civilization. The foods cheap, there is food. And an Hermana has a 2-n-1 washer and dryer. I have clothes that I haven´t washed since I´ve been here... which I had the glorious opportunity to wash. Before I move on, I was changed. Last night while we were packing, Elder Wink me preguntó (asked me). Do you hate me Elder. Not even a question, just a .. just saying it to be the ¨Oh, yeah, um, I´m a jerk, but I´m, uh, innocent, so I´m going to make this look like, uh, it´s com, uh, pletely your fault, yup... yeah.¨ Up to this point I avoid it, and apparently I´ve done fairly good. I replied, looking throughthe door at him, ¨is that a joke?¨ I said ¨Well I wouldn´t put it quite that far, but more or less, yeah.¨ He still didn´t get it. Enough of the past. My new companion has already stated, ¨You can forget about all of the past cause this is a new change.¨ We´re going to have fun." El nombre de mí nuevo compañero es Elder Martinez. Éste es un pocito chistoso porque mí último líder de distrito, Elder Del Angel, tenía un compañero se llama Elder Martinez, y en los classes de distrito iríamos y ver Elder Del Angel Y Elder Martinez y los dos son bien chidos. Pero, tenían algunas problemas entres ellos mismos y necesitaban cambeos. Entonces, tres semanas aqui ellos cambearon. My new companion's name is Elder Martinez. This is a little bit funny because my last district leader, Elder Del Angel, had a cmopanion named Elder Martinez, and in the district classes we would go and see Elder´s Del Angel and Martinez and they´re both cool guys. But, they had a some problems between themselves and needed a change. Then, three weks here they changed. Elder Del Angel got a new companion, and Elder Martinez went to Reforma. He was an awesome guy, really cool. Well, I heard my new companions name yesterday and it´s Elder martinez, the same one! So here I am with him. He´s awesome, I feel kind of funny for some reason. He´s just such a good guy though, helps with Spanish I help him with English, this is before too, just when we would meet! This is what I needed. I had alot of fear who my next companion was going to be, but when I heard his name, well it went like this. ¨...YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!¨I was happy. This area's pretty slick, he´s awesome. We´re friends, workers, we´re here WHILE our laundry is washing. The members are awesome, well this one family I´ve met so far. He speaks a little English, and loves to talk with me. I´m excited for next Monday, so I can report on how everything went! Cool, well on to the other stuff!Well Last night, Elder Wink didn´t want to, obviously, go to the stake center to see the Devotional, nothing happened. But I sure wish I could have seen it. I did not know that Elder Kelly had been there 6 months! Wow, I´m going to miss that bugger, you should stock with some stuff to go home with. Will he be here for Christmas? Give him a present, and some food along with our address and phone number, I want to call that kid when he´s done. Brad Carter going to The Ukraine. It would be interesting to see David´s response to that. David´s grandparents are from the Ukraine, fled during World War II and he loves the Ukraine... I gave David a book of Mormon in Ukraine and English, I told him to start reading it, I wonder if he did? Speaking of David, did you call him, or he call you? It´s good to know he´s trying, that really raises my heart a lot. I hope the others are trying too. I love the guys, I´ve been really torn lately, I´m having more mental conflicts. One of those things, I´m consciously aware of everything I do wrong.... As such I want to appreciate my friends and more over, you two, much more than before. I just love you guys. I thought about all of the little trips we´ve had recently, lol. Six Flags, Disneyland, MUN, Orgington, cause we didn´t quite make it to Washington. Lol, all of them. I love my friends, I look back at them and desire the best for them. Still haven´t heard from any of them except one from David, while in the MTC, at least I know he´s trying... I would like to hear from Ben, and hopefully I get that letter from Jon. Lol. That´s funny you saw the picture of the Applebee´s we ate at. Lol. We met up with two other misionaries, I don´t know if I told you that. One of which was in my district in the MTC! Elder Marcusen. I don´t know how Christmas works, we´ll probably go to a member´s home, I´ll call you and let you call us back maybe? I don´t know. Hopefully we´ll work something out! Kind of exciting huh? Speaking of Christmas, I left my two strands of Christmas lights with Elder Hoffman, I hope he enjoys his Christmas. I bought this cute little Christmas house, oh wait I told you. Lol 4 bucks. It´s really cute! I did just buy one of my ¨Up to Christmas¨ things. Something to enjoy during the season. A 32 set of Ferrero Rocher chocolates. Lol. I´m sure you know what those are. The little crunchy ball things? Kind of pricey, 17 bucks, lol. I wanted to enjoy something leading up til Christmas day. Christmas we´ll probably go to eat with a member I´m told, but on Preparation day we´re going for some good food! Just for you guys, lol. Thanks for the money, I feel bad everytime I spend it, every purchase I feel is unworthy of your love and money and selfish and spoiled. That and usually expensive. Lol. I spent a little bit more of it, not sure how much. I hope not much at all. = ( I still don´t know what I´m going to do about pictures, but I´ll figure it out next week, probably. I think I´m going to get alot done this change. I´m sorry to hear of Rena´s mom. That´s really unfortunate. It is an opportunity to share the Plan of Salvation with her though, I´m sure she doesn´t know much about that. Ernie, You named the cat ... ernie. Wow... I sure do miss Puff. It´s a rule not to have pets in the field, but It´s sure a temptation to do otherwise! Christmas presents are a sign of appreciaton. A birthday, we show appreciation for another wonderful year celebrated with the life of this person. The life of the Savior, his birth, his entrance into this life and world. Don´t buy presents caus´we´re supposed too. Presents are a service. My thoughts are disorganized on this. I don´t know, but I thank you for whatever you get me cause I know it´s a symbol of love and adoration! Appreciation! I wish I could send something back, but I haven´t found anything interesting, good or unique. So Dad wrote his letter during the Westwood Christmas program, must´ve been good. Lol. Well, the letter, sorry, but it´s pretty much set. Maybe there is, but I don´t like to deal with it, especially since I change so often. And at best I´ll get them eventually. Just write the things you don´t put in the emails. That´s what I´m doing, lol. I laughed when I saw dad write ´lol´ or say it, I know Mom typed it, haha Small tree...? That´s blasphemy, or at least from what I can see, Oh what glee can a small Christmas tree be? The houses sound awesome, I´m excited to go to Josh´s house to play games and stuff! Where exactly is it? Mi Español esta veniendo, poco a poco es mejor. Con mi compañero ahorita voy a aprender mucho. Pienso que Daniel quiere que ´correct´ mi Español, aunque él no sabe nada. Lol Puedo ´roll´mis r´s, todo está bien alla! Haha Lo amé el cosa sobre ¨El Espíritu del Cristo¨ como ¨El Espiritu de la Navidad¨ I want to love everyone into the church. Well I have to go. Please kick my friends in the butt and tell them I beg them for a Christmas card, or letter. Tell them what´s up with the post. I got two letters from Carrie already, standard mail. They were posted or written the 17th, I picked them up the 30th. Dance in the Rain, thank you for your support. I hope it isn´t dwindling yet, and you´re not used to having me out of the house cause I still need some lovin´. I hope everyone´s staying in contact and you´re doing what you can do bring more to the gospel. Thank you for everything, cosas amor y aun las cosas que son ´implied´. I love you so much, I still think of you, and consciously ponder how I´m going to spend my time with you when I get home. I´m going to sacrifice so much more just to spend time and bond and bind this family. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pues, hasta luego! La vida no es sobre esperando para pasar la tormenta. ¡Es para aprender a bailar

December 1, 2008

Hey! I´m replying in this one caus I´m attaching photos on another and it takes for frik dang ever, so I´m multitasking. Even with this I wilil only be able to send a chunch. Never mind it just deleted all of them... I hate this email service. I hope this doesn´t screw anything up. Anyway, I´m going to have to type really fast and really messy probably. Lol. I want to send some of these bloody photos to you. Later I´ll research that walmart thing you did for me... K, well first off. Elder Winkfield is still Elder Winkfield. I don´t know what else to say. We are working better together now, this week more so than last week too. Thursday we all went to the President´s house for a Thanksgiving dinner! It was amazing! It was just nice to have a day off too. That was probably the best, especially since that morning up til we played basketball 10 minutes before my interview with the president I was feeling horribly inadequate. He said there will be a change. I might go, Elder Wink might go, I don´t know. But ´there will be a change´. I hope to high heaven though taht Elder Hoffman gets a change. I can´t refrain from saying much more. The last 4 or so days I´ve been making whip sounds to Elder Hoffman whenever Gonzo demands something. I refer to Elder Gonzalez now too as ´Lawn Gnome´ He´s 5' tall and kind of chubby, this parts serious too. If I find a pointy red hat, like a dunce hat, I´m going to buy it, then I´m goign to make him squat in the lawn and I´m going to get a picture! Elder Hoffman´s been struggling as much as I have, but he´s been denying it, or so I feel. At the 3 week mark, I asked him about it, and he got a little uptight, not mad or heated even, but you could tell he was serious, and he defended Elder LG (Lawn Gnome) and said he was going to learn what he could and accept what he says cause maybe it is all true. Lately he´s taken to my side. We chat every night now and he told me early about a 1/2 hour. I can´t relax when he´s around. Which is true. We got back from the store to buy Elder LG something and we walked in the door and Elder LG says Listo? (Ready?) made a few clicking noises while pointing to Elder Hoffman´s room and said now! or something of the sorts. He thinks he has all control, and it drives me nuts. I´ve learned alot from Elder Winkfield, he didn´t teach me crap, but I learned... I haven´t finished learning either, but I´m getting better and not letting Elder WInkfield and his crud affect my happiness and attitude. It´s still hard at times, but it´s alot better than before. But watching Elder Hoffman being put through this is insane. So either way, my companionship is going to change, I´m really nervous though, what if the second is just as bad? How can I make my next companionship work? What can I do to make us friends. I know that if something I don´t like happens, I´m going to tell him. Let him know,´He´s my companion too, not my boss that´s going to be known. I don´t feel prepared. This is an absolute joke, I can only send 3 pictures at a time, I´m sorry. But I´m going to have to find something else to do with pictures... I don´t know, I´m filled with confusion right now. I´m going to focus a little on your email and see if I can chill a little. I´m glad thanksgiving went well! It´s a shame about Josh and Erin, though. I got an email from Josh finally! I feel bad cause I can´t reply, I got one from Linda too, she knows I can´t reply but I want to, just tell her and the fam I said a million thanks and a wink. And to keep em coming. The water product thing Josh and I invested in comes out January now, Nu2o, you should check it out next month, I´m curious. Speaking of stocks, one of the Urinals in Applebee´s had a newspaper above it to read while you pee and I saw the dow is up 8,000 points! Seems everythigns going back up. Speaking of Applebee´s too. We went there today for lunch, we´re going to Sirloin Stockade next week too I hope! To celebrate my freedom and release! It´s kind of funny that today´s the first and Elder Winky gets changed the 7th. On the first day God created the Earth, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and on the 7th day he rested... ahhh..... Lol. Dang I don´t have much time. I managed to get 4 days of laundry done today. Or less, hopefully I can do a little more tonight. Applebee´s was amazing, going back to my point. 8.50 bucks for a bacon cheseburger and 3 for a lemonade (free refills) kind of pricey but worth it. We haven´t eaten ´food´ for quite a while. The food sucks here, it sucks! It´s not like so bad everyonce in awhile or even all the time that you grow to like it, or deal with it, and appreciate other food. I just sucks, it´s not bad enough to adapt, but it´s just not good. Every meal is just, well that sucked... Just not that good, and all the time it´s just not that good. You don´t adjust. I eat cookies and miik for dinner and Zucaritas the Mexican equivalent of Frosted Flakes, even has Tony the Tiger just a diffferent name and a little Orange Juice. 2 Liters of Orange Juice is only 90 cents though, which is good. I still feel bad for spending so much of your money, especially that Rolex. That´s funny about Erin´s, mine broke that night. So I just went another week with out a watch, and didn´t buy one today either, so we´ll see what happens, lol. Mexican food in the states is just a completely different type of food. It´s also funy that you mentioned Jordan´s, caus I had a craving for that and for Burrito Express. I´ve had two actual tacos sicne I´ve been here, and 10 fake ones. That´s kind of hard to explain so I´ll leave it for later. I have 10 minutes, I´m sorry. This email is pathetic. Well, there are SOME American foods. like pringles and such, but it´s insane. The price is insane. It´s not worth it for you to give me the money, it´s just insane. There are monters, but they are 3.50 bucks, so maybe I´ll ask for a little money to buy one of those around Christmas, lol. I´m looking at your email, I don´t think that Omega will be much better... the other watch, my Fossil, is just dead. Same problem as before I left. I don´t know, maybe you can take my other one and see what´s wrong, I´m just curious! Being in American situations, or maybe just relaxing situations do relax me, when I´m away from my thoughts of what I have to deal with. Elder winkfield.... everything else is fine. I´m not saying he´s the only bad ting in the world, but I can enjoy the house, I can´t wait to rearrange it when the other two leave. IF... the people here I love. There´s a lot of crap and bad stuff my I just love em. That kitten sounds hilarious btw, you should send me a pick, does he like to hang arond Pikachu´s cage? Lol, I think he would. Here´s a random thought. BTW, tell me how Piky is! But I was playing the piano here, and they all sound clanky. I remember dad can´t tell the difference between our two pianos, but wow. Our piano is luxurious. Lol. Is incredible. Not just because I´m grateful cause of these other pianos...ok, maybe it is... but still, it´s great and I knw it was, but now I miss it. I want to play more, I know what I have to do to learn, it´s not fun but I know. Pingpong sounds fun, reminds me of pool when we played the other week, one of the picture I would have sent you was a picture of that... but oh well... Government in the U.S. sucks.. what´s new... Christmas will be interesting. I´m just so nervous about the new companion, he could be awesome, and that would free me to enjoy myself. But I want to enjoy it. There are cheap things here, but you have to differentiate yourself from what you might have wanted and what you really would enjoy. I found this little Christmas house with snowman and a santa, it´s just adorable. And it´s 4 bucks. Like that little Halloween house I used to have?! But twice as big for 4 dollars. Twix and snickers are a 1. You have to separate yourself from what you´re used to and find the good stuff. If only I could do that with watches. I just got 3 letters from Carrie today, btw dad. I got the letters you sent from the 13 th or so and from earlier. I just got mom´s from the 17th. I haven´t gotten any packages though, aside from the shoes. I did get the shoes and socks, I meant thank you for the ones you sent! They´re incredible also. My blisters are gone except for two new ones that came from playing basketball, which should be fine soon too! I think it was just everything that helped, shoes and socks, everything. Thank you! Thank you dad for your support. I can assume your sick of my complaining and it seems we´re both in the routine of talking on Monday´s and such, but I hope so dearly you´ll continue you´re support vocally. Email´s and everything! I just started writing hand letters today too, I still don´t know how it works, but I have a few sources I can ask... So hopefuly you´ll get one soon. Lol. I´m glad you´re getting the houses fixed up, it is unfortunate, though, that the business is slow, how about next summer though? Lol Sounds like everythings a blast. I can´t say my thoughts have been far from home. I´ve been thinking about all sorts of stuff. Kind of a distraction now. What I want to do when I get home, not the sort of longing, oh I want to go do whatever. Just thinking about it. I know what I want my car to look like though! Lol. Focusing on the work though is what I want though. I like to think about home it´s relaxing, but I don´t want it to impede me. Well, here´s a rap up. Shoes, thank you! Another pair in a while, like a long wjhile, will be good. Lol, but I´m tidied over for awhile though. Zune is great, thank you! The speakers blow through batteries though, so I´have to stock on those soon. Elder Hoffman is doing great, the bites are almost gone, very fortnately. The biggest blessings of this week were two nights ago. I went home after a rough day with the W and Elder Hoffman and I haven´t been talking as much lately, he´s been focusing on his comp, he joined my side! Lol, he came over and plopped himself on my little couch and we chatted for hours. and yesterday too, and today too. It´s great. Oh one thing, I looked up Bambino, it doens´t actually exist. Lol, I don´t mind though, it can be our word! Lol. Bug spray won´t do much our house is just an empty can in the local dump. Go get a bagel, tell ´em I said hi. and get a second one for me, maybe take David with you. He´ll get a pizza bagel on cheese with cookies and a coke. Test me on that. I´m goinn to try and send hand written letters but I might need you to make some deliveries. Thank you for your spiritual words too. I think the Lord is slowly tempering me too. I´m going to go love some peole now! Lol, LOVE YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

November 24, 2008 - 4th week in the field - First Baptism!!

Laundry Facilities

Sofa Decor - Each missionary has his own sofa - this is "mine":)

Hey!!!! I´m surprised that you had to bust through the door to get me an email! Usually you write immediately following mine, or early in the week. lol, but I´ll forgive you. I still can´t help but cry when I recevie anything from you...it´s just good to hear you, the other day I was thinking and I read D & C 121 about the Prophet Joseph Smith´s afflictions in Liberty Jail, and it notes ¨Your Family and Friends still by you and wait with open arms to receive you¨ ... after reading that, everytime I get down, or most of them, the thought pops in my head, without me even trying. ¨My parents love me sooo much, and my friends are just waiting for me to return, wishing me success and joy.¨ It´s about time I heard from them by the way... but anyway, I can visualize every square inch of our home, to see you bounding through to get to the computer. The garage to the front door, through the laundry and kitchen through the little arch into our living room past the lamp and dictionary down the 7 feet to the computer room and around the corner to fly into your little red chair, slide it up and pull out the key board with the other hand slapping the desk searching for the mouse. Scrambling onto your email.a..a =´( Well, the first thing I´m sure you´re waiting to hear is things are better. My companion and I, we´re not chumbs or buddies, friends or amigos but we´re working. We don´t talk that much, usually after a few hours, one of us (or the other) will ask a question. So Whats´your favorite movie, what do you want to do when you get back, how was your first area??? I don´t know, I don´t know if I mentioned I was having problems with Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hoffman´s companion, too. It´s better also, but I am having such a hard time letting things go, I´m trying to forgive´... I´ll kneel down and pray that I can forgive but ... I think I just need to try more often, to push the thoughts out of my head. Continuously, I just think he´s going to do something mean, or that he´s a jerk, usually everythings perfectly fine at that moment to. I don´t know, I know that everything´s getting better. I don´t know how long I´m going to be with him, but I have to say, I didn´t know Josh could pull out such words of wisdom. ¨The Lord has a place for him and he´ll move you in his time.¨ Wow... Kid´s got a testimony still, he just doesn´t want to go back, too many memories. I know I¨m here to learn something, and I´m grateful for my challenges now, I can´t yet see the result, but I´m starting to think that I know what I´m learning, I think. Patience and long suffering, LOVE your companion, we´re friends and we have to be so that we can... so much. Not just companions or co-workers but friends. This keyboard drives me nuts, alot of the keys are in different places and it gets in the way alot. Lately I´ve been thinking about my Spanish, and I haven´t been studying much, always growing, but I´m not showing forth much effort I think. I want to read a minimum half hour in the BofM everyday, that´s so I can understand, then I also want to read a half hour of in Spanish (and if I need, English) so I can learn. The Mission President told Elder Winkfield that he´s not allowed to speak English to me, or at least that he should speak mostly Spanish. The grand majority. It´s better now. Hatred isn´t a benefactor... I´m hoping for a lot of improvement by the time we split though. Two weeks minimum. I don´t know if he´s transfering out, if I´ll transfer out or if we´ll stay the same. Well a few other things now. Last week was Elder G´s birthday and we went to play pool (billiard´s) and went out to pizza afterwards (thanks to you two my birthday´s going to be a little more eventful! Lol. We didn´t do quite much this week. First and foremost, forgive me, I can not bloody remember to bring my camera, por nada. Once again I forgot it and I´ll HAVE to send you the photos next week. I´ll just attach´m to the email and you can have some fun later! Lol Nevertheless, you´ll have to wait another week. I have to apologize again, because this week I blew about 100 pesos on a bunch of CRAP! Ok it wasn´t full blown crap, but it could have been spent with a little more wisdom. Unfortunately it was not on a nice dinner, lol. First I got a Halo 3 Shirt, lol. Much to your disfortune. It´s horrible, quite pathetic actually, it´s just a paper print more or less ironed onto to the shirt, you can see the edges where they cut. Only from up close though, and it´s a good little shirt for while I´m here, I didn´t bargain with him though, well. 20 pesos I got off, but I still had to pay $100, or 10 bucks. Too much for this t-shirt. it´s fun to wear though. Next I bought, and I´ll send you the picture next week, but my watch is more broken now then before, it doesn´t just stop every morning for an hour anymore. Rather, most of the day it doesn´t tick. So for 30 I bought a knock off Rolex at San Juan de Dios, the biggest black market i´ve ever heard of. I probably told you a little bit, but everythings pirated and everything´s fake, I´m sure, it can´t be any other way, but I got the watch, I´m not very happy about it though, it fits and it ticks, but I like my Fossil better, it just looks better. This ones almost too fancy, there can be fancy with a very casual luxury, but this is all silver. There was another that I REALLY wanted to get but it was 50 bucks, so maybe for my birthday or something I´ll just get a little money, lol. It´s an Omega, and it´s nice. lol. No, I´m happy for now. I bought a black one at first, but it didn´t work, so we ran back in and traded it out. I went on divisions with the district leader Wed. and it helped me so much, I´m so satisfied with that and just plain happy. Unfortuantely however in our area the camion (bus) is only 5 pesos, 50 cents. We spent 20 bucks on buses though in that one day, so it wasn´t exactly in our favor, lol. So today I reimbursed the District Leader Elder Del Angel for my half. We haven´t eaten lunch yet, and I just had some cereal at 7 this morning, as such I´m really hungry, lol. We got back to the house an hour and a half ago after visiting heaven again... Walmart. I bought Ritz crackers and oreos, which should last me the week, A BLANKET! Lol, for 25 bucks, or such...argh. And ... oh, lol, grass seed and fertilizer. Just like dad told me he wishes he had taken a before and after photograph of the Dana and Maricopa houses, I wish I had taken one period of ours. Elder G and I scrapped the first half of the front yard and we´re planting grass. I put the seed and fertilizer in just before this, and managed to wash 4 of my dress shirts and 1 garment top. The rest... I don´t know. Lol. Hopefully, we can fnish up the yard and I can start having fun with the rest. We need to wait for Elder G and Elder Wink leave though, so I can remodel the interior, they´re rather ´satisfied´ with their 1/4´s of the house. it could definately use some shifting around. Lately we´ve been able to see our blessings pretty good. A member gave us a box of ritz crackers, or the knock of mexican brand called crackets (exactly the same) and some Emperadors, a more or less cookie like oreos. However I bought the REAL version of both today, the others are still great, and point and case she bought us a box of both, and it was amazing. Both amazingly nice, helpful, and just plain delicious. Elder Hoffman and Garcia´s area has a member who gave us a Christmas Tree! Lol. Today I´m going to buy some lights cause a whole strand is only 20 pesos, 2 bucks! Lol. I have a lot to do though, organizing and cleaning, studying and practicing. And lately my mind has been plagued with confusion. I want to KNOW; So much I just want to know. How to use my moneym, exchange rates and economies, how to talk in Spanish, how to talk with people more effectively, how to act in such a way that´s more refined and definate. So much, how to build things and study things, to know how things work and why, math, science, English, Spanish. I want to draw I want to make music, paint use a computer to create anything I want. I want to know. I ´can´t expect too much as in ´what´s going to happen, what´s going to happen December 7th? (The date of the changes, where I might get a new companion) Will I stay? Go? What should I do, how/what can I do to create a companionship, to get along and succeed. How can I impliment everything I want to do in the mission? I´m glad to hear Elder Kelly´s around, it´d be kind of fun to hear from him too, lol! He´s a great man, all around. He had an odd liking to me, but it was fun, it´s too bad Elder Goddfrey got transferred out already, but I know that he was probably looking for somewhere new to go. It´s kind of old after a while. I wouldn´t mind sticking around this area. There´s just so much that could be done. I don´t know. Only a few minutes left.I just got dad´s pouch letters from the 11th and earlier. It took a nice while. I heard that about the pouch though. For you guys, it may take a while to get WHATEVER I send, then again you know I can send stuff too often. They wait for the pouch to get full, and then take it out. I just got that Dear ELder you sent me too! The one about my shoes. LOl, btw. The blisters are fantastic, by that I mean almost gone, the shoes are incredibly comfy, and I put on my old ones yesterday for church and after walking around all that day afterwards I could feel it heating up. The new shoes and socks help incredibly, lol thanks a billion! Well, I think I should share this. Before I got here, and for some time, Elder Winkfield and his former companion had been teaching a man named Joaquin (Wah-keen) and he was just baptized yesterday. He´s a rather big guy and thus I baptized him. It was great! Felt amazing. I asked him about it afterwards and he has his confirmation. We have another one this week, a woman named Merceditas, then we have one on the 7th, maybe. That one´s a Fechas Fija (or a fixed date) but isn´t necessarily permanant. We work for that date and try to achieve it, but it´s up to them. I think it´ll go through, 3 weeks. I think there are some other families too that are close. Last week, we finished an appointment and then Elder Wink decided we should knock doors... again. When he asked me where we should knock, I said ´Let´s pray´ I prayed and the thought popped into my head cluster 4, I continued thinking of clusters closer, cluster 4 came again. So I said it, Let´s go to cluster four. On the complete other side of the city, honestly though I wasn´t even thinking about distance. We knocked an entire side of a street and nothing, then he said we should start the other side of the street and to pick a house. I said we should just cross the street and head back up the way we came. 3rd house we hit a family who is Christian not Catholic, has a sick daughter a 6 month year old grandson and the whole family, minus one daughter is out of work. We´ve been three times, I have confidence because I believe we were led there. They didn´t come to church though. The wife seems to love reading the book of mormon. We assigned her a chapter and then she said yeah I read it but I hope you don´t mind I read the next X chapters too. Uh, no that´s great, urgh,umm fine.. yeah that´s fine. Later we´ll return and see how it´s going. A chunk of investigators are in the loop, but we´ll see. I need to go, it´s been an hour. I love you all so much, I´m pretty focused on food and other such stuff right now. But I love you so much, thank you Dad SOOO MUCH! For sending the letters, receiving letters still drives me insanely happy. And to think of your love to sit and do that. Thank you, I love hearing how things are going with the houes and Kyrene schools. 3 schools next summer. That´s insane. 51 other schools... man. Merry Christmas. It´s about time I heard from the guys again too... could you get ahold of ´em? It´s time I got a lettler or an email. David said he sent a letter here for me before I left the mtc and if it wásn´t here when I got here to let him know. I want a Christmas letter. Nice and long. Could you do that for a crying giant? I love them. I love you more, but my friends and family stand by my side and stand with open arms to receive me, that is pìece of my foundation, and I cannot let it fall. I know my Savior loves me, and I can feel his love. Thank you for everything. Thank you for the apoyar (support) y amor (love) Thank you thank you. You need to be broken down to know how much it means. I always wanted to know that too. But love is a foundation. It´s something that doesn´t need anything but a thought, but can save lives. Faith can move mountains, but love keeps them in one piece when you try to set it back down. There is seriously sad love music playing in the background, in friggin´English... jeez... what a time. LOVE BEYONd MEASURE, Jake Taylor, Elder P.S. Pictures next week. Christmas still applies

November 17, 2008 - 3rd week in the field

I am still so blessed though! I know I´m learning. Mom, Dad. Before I left I was driving in the car, pondering. I thought to my self - quite randomly, I´m going to Mexico. With certainty, I just knew it. I got my letter and saw Mexico. My first thought was still, wow this blows. But the second was remembering that I thought that. In the MTC 2-3 days before I left, I again was pondering. "I´m going to have a trainer that because of who he is, I will be forced to learn everything on my own". And with very few exceptions that is true. I do not mimic many of his actions. I learn from others, my district leader and my two zone leaders are INCREDIBLE - but my trainer is a ... I can´t bring myself to type fool. He´s not the worst thing in the world, but I can´t stand it anymore and I can´t stand for it. He told me today if I do or say certain things he´s going to hit me. If he does I´ll break his neck! I feel horrible...I just want to take a day and cry. And today we don´t have much time to email caus we have to do laundry. I doubt we´ll get to do it anyway. I haven´t had time for laundry since I got here, lol. My nights usually include washing a pair of garments and a shirt. Elder Hoffman´s having it tough too, he doesn´t understand 75% of what his companion says and much of what he does understand he doesn´t agree with. He´s grown quiet and we don´t talk as much. Added to this he was bitten twice by a spider and it swelled up so big yesterday he couldn´t walk. Went to the hospital twice over the weekend and goes again tomorrow. THis isn´t the same spider but over our neighbors (well we don´t have neighbors in this house, but in this house next to us) window is a normal spider, not a tarantula or something like so, the size of my hand. MY hand... insane. Our house is a dump too, grass to my knees and two overgrown dwarf citrus trees hanging to the ground. The other day I cleared all the trash out of the grass and filled our entire garbage can and found a ton of rocks in the grass so I lined our walkpath with them, then I swept and mopped inside the house. Our walls are pealing and dead bugs line them as well. It´s not a bad house. Definately needs work, but has potential. Problem is, nobody´s cared for it. This is all last Monday before I emailed you. There´s so much to talk about it´s very easy to forget. But this morning, Elder Gonzalez (Elder Hoffman´s companion) used a pick and a shovel that he borrowed from a member and began to renovate the first half of our yard. I helped him and in an hour we cleared a 3 by 10 area of all the grass and leveled the dirt. He said we´re going to go buy grass too which I happily obliged. Thursday Friday, Saturday and Sunday were utter hell. Up until we ARRIVED at the temple rededication. Yesterday we didn´t have church like usual, the Mexico City Temple was rededicated and we went to the stake center in Guadalajara to watch it. Notice I said when we ARRIVED. Í´ll write that story in a letter or tal vez (maybe) I´ll tell it into my handy dandy voice recorder! You´ll have to forgive me, once again I forgot the cord to my camera, and though I have my camera in my pocket I forgot the cord so I won´t be sending any pictures. Hopefully next week, again. Lol. I´m losing track of my thoughts, so I´ll reply to a few things and hopefully I´ll remember. First off, thank you for the compliment on my emails! I thought they were all just usually gargled jargon. But apparantly they´re witty funny and informative (not in that order). I apologize if some of my usual ´wit´ is missing for the place of sincerity and formality. That´s my current mood, this is a random thought too (I´m glad you mentioned that because now I don´t feel bad for wandering thoughts, lol) but the more I learn Spanish, the more I think about English. The idioms we use, what is literal what is not, my vocab in English is slowly growing as it dies. When you´re forced into Spanish like this, there´s not any English, you forget words - but as much as I ponder I think my English is staying pretty strong. The language is coming good. I teach my entire part in the lessons, obviously badly but I don´t just testify, I teach and everything; understanding is my problem. I haven´t been able to understand anything up to lately. I still still struggle immensly, but now I can understand most of the points I´m told, meaning most of the time I get the jyst. Once I can understand I can use the words I hear too! Lol. Once I can hear how they speak I should be able to translate what I say a little better. It´s the difference the gift of languages and the gift of tongues. You can learn ´Spanish´ but not speak Mexican. I´m sure you get the drift, but for lack of a better way to describe it I had to ´drift´ it. I don´t know if I mentioned this last week or not, but they listen to more English music here than they to Spanish. I don´t think I did. It´s almost even, half the places we go to we hear English blairing out the window. It´s just as bad as we hear Mariachi and Banda everywhere. It´s horrible also. I can´t help but think though that I´ll be listening to a few of those stations when I get home. It´s been three weaks. I´m torn between ´It´s already been three weeks!´ and ´It´s only been three weeks?´. THoughts of home have plagued me lately, video games cars and you guys and else. It doesn´t defect me as much though anymore. I push it out after awhile. It´s great to focus on the work - and here´s a very good lesson I learned about it all. This is a way in which Satan works. He brings to thought many of the sensations that you feel, but emphasizes them. The first week we were here was fast Sunday. It sucked, we do full 24 hours, and it was bad because from 4:00 o´clock Saturday afteroon til 2:00 Sunday afternoon, nothing. Not even water.That was all I needed. We walk around these dusty roads and my throat was killing me. My sensation for the want of water, my thirst was impressive. Incredible. However, when I finally got that water, and I´ve been able to prove this several times since, wasn´t what you imagine. It´s good and just like everyother time. But it´s not that wonderful feeling you have. My thoughts of video games and home are the same. They seem so glorious and relieving. So worth it to indulge in. I think of the games I want to play and they seem SOO fun. Yes they´d be fun but they aren´t how I´m thinking. They´re exagerated. And this is what Satan does to taunt us...to make US think than something else is greater. I find it a tantilizing thought. Using this, whenever a temptaion of this nature hits me, usually quite quickly I think. No its not... it´s not that great. That gamé´s fun, I miss that. But it´s not quite that great. Anyway. I want to reply to the rest caus I do have to go soon! I´m so happy for the houses and the 5 year contract! You truly are blessed! OH! I have to talk about the principle of obedience too! I have a testimony that the Lord blesses us on principles of obedience, I also have a testimony of afflictions and trials of faith, that´s next. This is how I know: we have more or less 20 minutes to work out in the mornings. That´s nothing, I use a Nestle coffee can filled with dirt to work out, with a little stick poking out one end. With this and a few pushups I curl weights and work my biceps and triceps. Usually it´s not much, and in respect and comparatively, it´s nothing. I have grown stronger in the last three weeks than most of my time working out. My arms are growing, I don´t want to say excessively quite yet, but I´m going to test this theory and quizas (perhaps) next week. The Lord blesses us if we show the faith to just do what he asks, simple or whatever it seems. We will be blessed. It´s hard to apply to all things, but we have too. I do have to leave but I´ll tell you the rest another time! Mom I love you... and when I get home I will give you a kiss on the cheek and say it again. Dad I love and respect you, I always have but it´s grown. I Love you miss you and hope you grow as I do. Until later, I´ll write a letter too. When I have time, it will be interesting to do the one page thing. Sincerly with Love, Jacob D. Taylor, Elder

Monday, November 10, 2008 - Week 2 in the Field!!

Haha, HI! Well I hope you don´t expect to hear from me very often or get a letter for sure. I haven´t received any letters or packages yet so wé´ll see what happens. Now...I heard something about receiving letters and packages at the Zone conferences. I guess it gets stored in the mission office and then the Zone leaders come and pick it up. Luckly, tomorrow´s zone conference! So next Monday you´ll know if I got them! Well, after two weeks, and as you can certainly imagine there´s alot to talk about. First my compaion because you want to know. His name is Elder Winkfield. Nobody in Mexico can pronounce it´s usually weenfee-el! Kind of funny, anyway. He´s from Spokane, Washington, and he´s a little bit interesting, nothing just blatantly wrong, he likes to obey the rules, and he knows the area. It´s still amazing to me how large our area is, it´s incredible. Our little area is a bike mission for the missionaries in Arizona. A bike area here is still small. I can´t, I can not in English or any words, describe how big our area is. If you want to check it out go to Google Earth and look up Tlajolmulco, or something along those lines, my Area is ¨Sante Fe¨¨Chulavista¨¨COlmas del roble¨¨Villas del Hacienda¨ and ¨Los Frenos¨ if they show up. It´s huge. Anyway, my companion said on our first day sometimes he struggles to love the people. I can imagine why now. For the most part I love them. The problem is they are blood bred Catholic, like I probably said last week. Not the I´m Catholic but I really don´t know what that means. Not many people want to listen to us. Often. Well, until we say ¨Well we´re not actually from the Catholic CHurch, We´re from the CHurch of Jesus Chr...¨ And then they usually start saying they aren´t interested. The whole baptism as a child thing is also a problem, most people and other missions you say, well technically it doesn´t count, you did it wrong. And people agree. Here, you don´t say that unless you´re REALLY tired of your mission, because you´re going to die. My biggest problems with the area now is we don´t use our resources. We contact wherever we happen to be standing at the moment or Knock doors, kind of on a whim, I think we should prayerfully pick a spot and rely fully on the Lord for that. We have to do 180 contacts a week. I don´t understand that because we´ll usually get 30 addresses and visit one all week. Then 180 more the next week. And visit 2-3. I don´t know. I have a lot of improvement to make on the contacting too though. What to say to catch their attention, how I should do it, how can I know if they´re interested. Well the buses are still crazy, we hitch hike alot too. Which is funny, sometimes they don´t stop all the way, so you have to keep one foot planted. It does save alot of money. Everythings MORE expensive here. Somethings like the bread, yeah 30 cents. But drinks and everything are either the same or, In Walmart, more expensive. By a long shot. I´ve learned one valuable thing about Mexico though. If it says ´made in Mexico´... it sucks. I think I told you that last week too. But it really applies. That one drink Senzao is the name, and another are exceptions. A two liter of orange soda is 80 cents. It´s pretty good. I calculate everyting in american dollars too, for the record. It´s easier with smaller numbers, when you go buy a soda and it´s 11.50 it´s more or less, What?? So yeah, I bought a pillow for 68.00 today. Lol, in Pesos. So about 7 bucks. The last time I checked it was 12:1 Pesos:Dollars. Which is great. But it fluctuates I´m told. Also I´m really sorry, I´ve been using money like I own a bank here. I DID find a pair of shoes here! There´s a fat people store and I bought some shoes, they ´seem´more comfy, but I have to walk around for a day before I´m going to know. I really hope they work, I´m looking forward to the shoes you send. The others are so hard, it´s a hard leather like bottom, my old shoes, and every step is just a clunk. The blisters cover all the middle of my foot from the balls to the toes, so it´s pretty bad. I´ve been putting Neosporin on and doubling the socks which is good. Elder Gonzalez, Elder Hoffman's compaion drained them (which was very itneresting) and afterwards I soaked them in hot water with salt. Which is supposed to help. So the shoes were +/- $80 and I´ve spent about another 40 on just stuff. I feel reeeeeeeeeally bad! = (The store I got the shoes in is across from what´s called ¨San Juan de Dios¨ which is the biggest black market I´ve ever seen. It´s about the size of Superstition Springs mall or Chandler Fashion, but with 3-4 times the goods. Because every little inch of space is taken. Everythings bootlegged and pirated. All the games and movies are copies and every other store is a shoe store. I found a belt buckle today of metal and such of a Nintendo Controller for 80 pesos. Or 7-8 bucks. Lol. So I got that , I bought a pillow some Oreos and a drink at Walmart on the way back to the house. I didn´t have a pillow and I still don´t have a blanket, lol. I´m VERY glad I brought sheets! The other night I didn´t close my camel back all the way and it leaked all over my sheets. I took some pictures of my house and companion and other such things. Preparation days go by so fast. It´s horrible the other days go by fast too, especially for 10:30 to 9:00 oclock, almost 12 hours. But I wish we had a little more time to do the things we need to do. Today I cleaned the floors of the hours, because you couldn´t walk around barefoot without getting fungus. The house is disgusting, but slowly one week at a time it gets better. I don´t know if I told you the laundry thing last week. But yes I too wash my clothes in a bucket like tray thing protruding from the wall and a cup to scoop water from the bucket. I took pictures of that too. I need to get those too you. I can send them via email which I´ll do eventually but I still have stuff scattered everywhere. As you can also imagine I don´t have much time for that either. So I need to find my camera cord and I´ll send those to you. I´ll send em all to you. Delete the ones I send (except the ones I like) and let you stash em. This place is a ghetto...lol. I don´t mind it that much, and once I get everything implemented and hopefully we start teaching more then things will move a little bit faster. Everyone here says their first area went by pretty slowly but after that it goes by nuts. Just really fast. I hope to go to Vallerta too, I really want to go to Vallerta. Personally I don´t want to spend much more than a single change anywhere. I wouldn´t mind staying here, and I might for more changes, but I´d love to go all over. Vallerta the city in Guadalajara, maybe even the Pueblos. Our area is actually Condo´s and such. Really small houses. But one thing I heard in the MTC is most people here will have ghetto houses and then just an incredible speaker sound system. Which is amazingly true. We´ll go into some GHETTO houses and there on the shelf, a speaker system the size or our T.V. Thousands of dollars. Everyone blasts their ´banda´ too. Not too much Mariachi, actually none except for 4 guys playing at a restaurant that I saw today. I´ve eatin´rice with one meal since I´ve been here and I´ve eatin´beans once. It´s all just random stuff here. Fortunately there´s a member across the street from our house who sells burgers and that comes in rediculous handy! Lol. This is a long email, lol. Well, I don´t have time to write letters so it´ll have to do. = P What else, ... I´m glad to hear about Josh´s new house, I hope to hear from some of you soon in a letter. I´m kind of bumbed about the email situation, but I guess it´s not that bad, I don´t like wasting alot of time on here anyway. We have an hour, we´re only supposed to take 30 but it´s impossible, I´m on 45 min. now. Thank you for the emails and updating me! I´m afraid I´m not going to have much an opportunity to check out my blog spot... = ( but I´m going to leave that for you to watch over K ! Lol I´ll let you know how the shoes and socks are! And then what else... Tell Josh and Erin Hi for me, Todd and Catherine too, I never had a chance to say thanks for the cookies! Oh, back to the money. This sucks, we have 93 bucks a month. Lol. Last week for lunch we went to sirloin steakhouse, that buffet, I think I told you about it... but that was 100 pesos or 10 bucks, well... that´s 1/9 orf my money...A candy bar is essencially a buck and the drinks are roughly a buck too. If I got a candy bar and a drink everyday I´d have 30 dollars. For all the rest of my breakfasts and dinners. So we don´t snack often. Snacks are the mst expensive anyway. My usual breakfast is as so. A bowl of Chocolate Krispies which is a Mexico only Kellogg´s cereal, it´s like Rice Krispie´s but has a big brown Elephant on the box, lol. And a piece of bread. Good old fashioned oven baked bread. Which is where the expression ´Bread of life´comes from I´m sure. That´s 3 pesos, less than 30 cents. And so that makes a good breakfast. Dinner we either get a free burger or buy snacks. Lol. the lunch as I believe I said is with a member. There are about 400 listed members. Sacrament meetings we have about 80. I don´t know. That´s one of my goals too, is when we eat with members, who usually don´t even go to church, well seomtimes. I´m going to talk about going to church and inviting friends and family to church or neighbors. References, lol... you get the point. We´re going to the Bishops meeting with his Counselors this week by my demand and the bishop convinced himself after my desire to become involved with the ward to call a ward mission leader. This way maybe we´ll get some member lessons and ward activities for the investigators to go too, get the members and the others mingling so maybe they have a little more reason to go! One of Elder Winkfield´s investigator´s from before I got here is getting baptized next week, and we´re striving for some others too, we have to wait for one coule to get Married, which here is very time consuming and VERY expensive! Alot of work to do! I´m trying to keep my mind on the work. I wander to music and video games, cars ... well anything, quite often. I'm told and I know that the more you focus on the work the faster the time goes and the way I see it is you´ll get more done anyway. I´m really strengthening my faith overall, but in especially following your promptings, it´s difficult sometimes, it´s the little things, but they always lead out. And I say you can either worry about your problems or worry about the Lord´s problems and he´ll take care of yours. So either way you´ll get what you need to get done, done. But one other way you´ll do the Lord´s will too. I hope these blisters go away soon, the shoes are being put to the test tonight! I´m excited for the others too! I heard that anything I have to sign for will get here safely, other than that I´m not too excited about asking you to mail me anything... but food sure does sound good. Lol. Sorry again for the money spending thing, if I kept this up it´s be a pretty hefty price and I don´t want that. But at the same time I might take a quick trip to San Juan e Dios and look at movies just before Christmas ; ) I LOVE YOU MOM! I´ve been looking at all the little things you helped me with lately. I feel horrible for the way that I treated you and Dad. Everytime I look at a pair of my garments I see the little J.T. and a heart or a smiley face next to it and it seriously brings tears to my eyes. Every time I read a letter I start to cry. All the little odds and ends I brought from home made me swell up in side. The lucky shell...it´s a frickin shell. But it makes me cry...I love you so much Dad you too. I´ll love you more if you get that 5 year contract... lol. I love you anyway, I´m actually so incredibly happy you took my idea with the house thing. I ´ve thought on more than one occasion how I wish I were there to fix´em up with you! That´d be fun... But I´m on the Lord´s errand, and it´s hard. It´s tough. Most people help me with my Spanish but it sometimes feels like they think I´m the only one who can´t speak Spanish theír first 2 weeks here. It doesn´t matter though, it´s not true. The only burden is most people ask me In Spanish if I can speak Spanish (these are the Mexicans) and when I say not much they talk faster and use big words I ´don´t know...lol. I don´t want all that to come across negative though, I´ve learned so much, and after 2 weeks I can speak pretty good understanding too, I can understand alot more! I know taht the Lord is blessing me in this, this is not me. For me to understand these things and speak the things I do is a God given gift. I want to knjow that in my heart too, and not just say it! But it´s hard, and I´m glad I have a little hope for the future, cause I´m pretty tired already and I don´t want to go back out this week, If I don´t have some excitement, but I´m glad the Lord is working through me and with me and with/through the other elders. The kindness of everyone keeps us alive. We live off of generosity and we...or at least I feel horrible about taking it all the time, but we need! I hope you continue to feed Elder Kelly over there! Lol. Give him snacks, drinks let him know you appreciate what he´s doing. Caus this is hard. Anyway. I love you Mom...so much. I´m going to come home in two years and we´re going to have some kick butt Family Home Evenings, and we´re going to spend a little more time together...Thank you for your blessings and the support you´re giving me, caus Satan wants me to give up. And it´s hard. I received a blessing on my feet from Elder hasslehoff (Hoffman) and he said this is a test and if I endure it, my feet will be stronger. I know the Lord blesses you here and you too at home for principles of obedience. We have a half hour in the morning to work out. I have a Nestle can of cocoa now filled with dirt to lift with. That´s nthing, I don´t have anything, but If I use that time wisely I grow stronger, more than a can of cocoa would usually permit. If you go to bed on time, you sleep like a doll! Etc. Anyway. Tell everyone I love them. And maybe visit the guys again on Tuesday and tell em all I love them... LoVE THEM! Lol. Tell Dad I miss him. I loveHim, I respect him...even though I´m still smarter... I won´t admit that yet...lol. Not in everything, he has a wealth of knowledge and priceless experience and heart that would conquer the grinch. Tell him too keep that. Never let any one work over it... Thank Thank Thank You You YOu! I have to go. I love you.Love, Sincerely, Until we meet again.Jake Taylor - Elder-

11/3/08 First Week in Tlajomulco

Hey! Well, I have plenty of bad news! You know how we discussed how the email thing would work in the mission? And how some elders only got to email their parents? Well guess what. I´m only allowed to type two emails a week, one to the mission president and one to you. That´s it. I can´t send you two. Can´t reply keep reading and reply again. I can only send YOU one letter(period). So, this is going to be long and scarcastic. Alot has happened in one week, and yes I´ve had more Spanish than my whole life up to this point in just one week but I´ll talk more about that later. Sounds like things are all pokey dokey at home! So Josh just read my letter and...? Will I ever here from him again? Lol. Bumcat got his ear infected. 1,000 bucks is insane. Speaking of a hundred bucks, that´s all the money we get here per month is 1,000 pesos. $93 in American. That s and is not at the same time enough to live off of. It´s pretty scanty I used $20 this first week I used it from the 20 Dad slipped me before I left = D lol. It´s pretty tough here. The shoes I brought aren´t going to work. My feet are completely blistered above the ball and before the toes on both and along the outward sides of my feet completely blistard. Not good. Today is obviously our first Prep day here. And we took the Bus into Guadalajara but there weren´t any shoes my size. There was one store for bigger people but it was closed from 2-4 when we were looking for it. I´m stationed in Lomas Del Sur. A ´fraccionamiento´. Basically like LA, you have the city of LA but it´s ´divided´into San Bernadino La Crecenta etc. Each little ´area´. That´s what it is like here, except each ´fraccionamiento´ are about 15 of dirt away from eachother. Well I live in a pueblo with 3 other missionaries, one of which is Elder Hoffman! Lol, we´re stationed in the same house with our companions. My companion is Elder Winkfield. More to come about him. Of course the water´s filthy but the sink, I can´t fit my two hands in it. My ankles down hang off the bed. and when I sit on the couch my knees come almost to my head. That´s the ´size´of it. We have a portable stove and a fridge. By portable stove I mean that literally, it fits in my backpack VERY easily. All the dishes are washed by hand and and I wash my clothes with a pieceo of metal with some ridges on it. Yeah.... then hang them to dry. I don´t know what happens yet whe´n it rains. There´s a tacostand near our house but it´s two tacos fora buck but the tacos (both) can fit on one hand with room for more. They´re the size of ... well a baseball if it were flat. Fortunately there´s a member across the street from us that makes hamburgers, lol, for their work. And every coule of days we´ll go there. We went twice this week. There´s one little tienda here. Ok the houses are about the size of my bedroom and the guest bedroom, but as thin as just one room, but really long. And almost every house, the living or front room, is converted into a store. I´m in one right now typing. The whole house is filled with computers and such except the kitchen andone bedroom. Pretty successful though, there´s alot of people here! Anyway our little tienda is a Walmart that could fit in our living room. They have everything! Unfortunately the biggest lesson I´ve learned inthe week here, is that: Anything that´s made in MexicoSucks.Everything with the exception of one soda I´ve had called Zaoxen, or smething. I don´t know, but it´s amazing. It´s 50 cents in American, or roughly. 5 pesos here. Not very big, the steal is 75 cents gets you 500 or more or less2 leaders of orange soda. My breakfast usually consists of either cereal if I´m lucky, or a little piece of bread we buy and a cup of milk. The sound of it sucks, but it´s enough! Haha, lunch is always provided for by one ofthe Hermanas´or Sisters in English. There´s alot of members ... technically. But the chapel yesterday, had maybe 50. Alright 75. I don´t know. I couldnt´understand anything anyway ... Dinner asImentioned sometimes a burger or yesterday we/I made quesadillas. And whatever we feel like buying. Now here´s my area. Guadalajara is amazing! It´s so nice. The weather kicks the crap out of San Diego. All seriousness. Unfortunately I´m about an 1 1/2 South West ofthere in the middle ofa friggin desert. Call Tlajomulco. I think. Lomas del sur is where we live the little ´area´ our proselyting area is San Sebastian, Sante Fe and two others. Our area is HUGE! It´s insane. It´s like ... ug.. I don´t know. But the walking is rediculous. The whole ´not being able to ride a bike´thing, doesn´t apply here. There are only two areas... areas in the entire missino that have bikes and that´s WAY north of here. This is a biking area though, it is so frickin big. And we have to walk and I have blisters flying out my bum. And some how I have 7 bug bites on one ankle. Not quite sure how that happened.... `,= / oh well. It´s hot here, the first two days were cloudy and actually nice and my feet weren´t dead now it´s BRIGHT AND SUNNY AND I HAVE BLISTERS. So it´s a little bit different now. Well.... My area... has room for improvement. That´s how I´mgoing to put it. Yeah I live in the poorER than dirt part. I don´t know why I didn´t expect this. The only thing is, I´m wondering if i´d rather go to North mexico than this. When I got my call I saw Mexico and started to commit suicide inside... than oh Guadalajara, it´s ... ´different´. Well, no it sucks, lol. The food is...weird. If if weren´t for yesterday at lunch I wouldn´t have had any rice, but we hadalittle for lunch with the Sister. I haven´t had any frijoles yet. You know that means beans. None. Wait...no. Once. only once though. I´ve had macaroni and sliced ham twice, some sort of soup with chicken in it. OnceI had a thin slice of steak that neither my companion or I could cut...lol. And...some cabbage and potato thing. I don´t know. I´d rather ´normal´Mexican food I think. I don´t know, it´s fine I guess. Everythings dusty and dirty. The people are NOTHING like we expected. Some are totally nice like we though and invite you in give you cookies and fresh water, others don´t even look at you. It´s pretty pick and choose. Well, Guadalajara and the round abouts are also the head ofthe Catholic church in Mexico. EVERYONES Catholic, or Católico. And not Christmas and Easter mass Catholic. This is I have a bumper sticker in my front window of my pastor and a sign that says we do not accept proselyting from any other religion. It is hardcore Catholic, everyone says the baptisms are up 68% from 1 year ago andstill we have... 4 a month. maybe... sometimes less? Really quick question, are you saving my emails? Caus I don´t have many optins here, so if you are that´d be good. So we can laugh about´em later! Next, ok. So Lomas Del Sur, where we live is not even our area. We live 20-30 minutes driving time for our area. Guess how we get there? We hitch hike... on OCCASION we take the bus, for 50 cents. But that adds fast. We don´t take the bus during the day, but I don´t know why. We are givin 600 pesos a month solely for transportation via bus and train. But...I don´t know. The hitchhiking is fun though, seriously the bus and hitch hiking are the best parts of the day. In the morning at 10:30 we wave down a truck hop in and go. There aren´t any stoplights outside of Guadalajara city. People go FAST and ... well yeah, all the streetsa have potholes everywhere and well, you don´t drive though em. You dodge ´em, so a two lane street has cars weaving every where. And today I saw the first crash, well, saw the first car that´s been in a crash. Nobody gets hit. People in America just think there invincible, they drive crazy and think nothings goign to happen. People drive crazy and watch what´s up here. The buses are insane. They go 50... maybe 45. And they hit speed bumps, yesterday after church! I got air,... I went up about a foot in the air three times! It´s crazy fun. Can´t sleep though. Just hang on. Lol. I actuallyh have the phrase now, this is more fun than Mexican hitchhiking! Either that or this is more fun than a Mexican Comiun. Witch is more or less the word for bus here. Well. Thats more or less it actually. I´m going to send this, read the other letters and go proselyte. I love you mom, I do miss you and Dad. Well, I miss my life. It´s definately less comfortable here. Nothing to stop me, but I have a lot of work to do and all that. So anyway, keep the letters coming, I won´t get em for a long time, but send packages via fedex/ups too! I hear there´s no problem there. K I hope to hear from you in a week! LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU! Oh and tell veryone hi for me and tell David I did NOT get his letter!- With Love, Elder Jake Taylor-----

10/20/08

I'm sorry if I sounded like I was complaining last week, I don't want it to come out like that, the German Chcoltae cake was fantastic, I just had to scrubthe coconut away = D . Still a delectable brownie underneath! Lol. Well, maybe you can help me with something. Josh won't reply to my emails? Do you have any idea why? Im going to the bookstore today and buyin' all sorts of stuff, a photo album, print off some pohotos, dry cleaning today, some toiletries. Man all sorts of stuff. Well if you're bored and want to send me something fun in Mexico, lol. I only have one brown tie for my brown suit, = P and wearing it over nd over gets old. I got my favorite pin stripe suit back the other day! I was so happy, it's such a nice suit. Oh well. I better brush up on my Spanish, I hit Mexico in a week. I was so excited last week, but now I know I'm going to get there at about 3 o'clock and then walk out into the streets and contact! Yay, my flippin favorite. Anyway. I'm not as excited anymore. One funny thing about my companion is that we're both video game frieks, myself more so a little I believe because he asks me all sorts of weird questions about video games and I give him all the details. Lol. Plus I can remember almost every song. Haha. I'm going to go write down Rena's address and get out of here.! Two more tings, I haven't had a chance to thank Catherine, could you forward her a quick message for me? Just tell her I said thanks, alot, but still wondering about the half a piece of bread. Lol, that was weird. Let me tell you. Carrie Ostler, is an angel, lol.l Sending me all sorts of stuff, plus I got a letter from melissa Clemmer! That was a pleseant surprise! Lol. Lastly, My friend from ASU - Frank Wills left today =' ( lol. I'll miss him! Saw 2 people from Westwood here, and I'm off!LOVE YOU SO MUCH! AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!-Jake Taylor, Elder