"cooking with gas"

3/1/11


HOLA!

This is Elder Taylor. I know you are all very excited to read this e-mail. As you should be. I can't wait until my e-mails transform from really just emotional events to things I'm actually doing.

So here's an emotional thing. As I tried to go to sleep I knew something was up with me. I thought about my prayer, and the attitude with which I had prayed, cuz praying is what usually gets me out of a bad mood. I realized my thankfulness was WEAK. But I thought of one thing that truly made me grateful, A song the Hermanas were preparing to sing and how I felt during it.

180 on the attitude. All of the sudden I was pretty much giddy and glad that Heavenly Father knew me so well and how to snap me out of a bad mood, an unmerited one at that. But the rest of that night I was so GRATEFUL. Never had I felt that before. It was powerful for me.

The other day we set a goal as a district to not use DUDE or GUYs and YA'LL (we have one from Texas, an Hermana and one from Tennessee, an Elder. Ya'll is a problem.) And an Elder said, "I just prefer to be called by my first name"

HECK NO. All of the sudden I was filled with a love for the title Elder. It's who I am. It represents me becoming a missionary, something more than I can be by my own power. Patrick was great for the first 19 years of my life and unfortunately I will have to take up that title again, but while I'm here I'm Elder Taylor. No longer am I who I was. I'm becoming a new creature in Christ, and that creature is an Elder.

Dad, I love your new found passion for family history work. Look on page 164 of Preach My Gospel, you will love it.

The other day in the lunch line, I was getting a chocolate milk. Four actually, and an elder came up to me and said, "I heard the chocolate milk here was legendary. I'm not impressed." EXCUSE ME? Dear confused elder, I said, obviously you are not a true connisuer (again english, no me importa.) of chocolate milk. By what authority do you criticize the only reason I continue to come to the cafeteria? I, who have consumed vast amounts of chocolate each day, will tell YOU, uninformed elder, whether this chocolate milk is worth your time or not. Who gave you the right to try and discredit all I hold dear in this very room? Now I want you to return to your table and think about what you've said.

The nerve of some people. Leave my chocolate milk alone.

Further evidence of the madness the MTC imposes on me.

Elder Pluid, whom I love, says to me at dinner, "Elder Taylor, what do a bicycle and a duck have in common?"

No Idea,

"They both have wheels, except for the duck."

I lost it. It was so funny! I almost died. I laughed until I cried. Are you understanding what the MTC does to people? It's great!

It really is great. I like it quite a lot.

I think I feel best when I am helping someone out. Today I got to help move mattresses around a building and it was the greatest thing and I felt so good after. They definitely need more than one service hour per week. But I guess that doesn't really make sense because I should be serving my district all the time. So I will.

Not much has changed here. BUT 20 DAYS until I flee the country. 20 days to accomplish all my goals of the MTC. Time to really start "cooking with gas" right Dad?

Love you Familia, everything is going great. I love it.

Love, your family member elder taylor