Week 17


We got dumped on this last couple days. It snowed nonstop for about 2 days straight. And Ohio sucks at plowing the roads. It's sunny outside today but still freezing cold. It got down to 19 degrees yesterday which feels about like 9 degrees with the wind chill. So. Cold. And it's not even Thanksgiving yet...So pray I don't turn into a popsicle out here.

So we are going to Sister Busath's for Thanksgiving, which we are excited for. They said no tracting, but we can hop around to different members' homes and stay as long as we want, so long as we don't overstay our welcome. So we are probably going to eat at the Busaths and hang out for awhile and then go dessert hopping. And then we have another member feeding us Wednesday - they are doing Thanksgiving a day early. So we will have two Thanksgivings basically. And then stop in at several members' homes who invited us over on Thursday. So it should be fun :)

We took the Stamms to the Johnson Home this week. It went SO WELL! Brother and Sister Hale came with us and they were perfect. We touched a little on the three degrees of glory in the Revelation Room, and that really interested Katherine. She wanted to know more about where it is mentioned in the Bible (1 Corinthians 15 if you're wondering too). So they said we could come over and teach them more, and that they were willing to listen and learn. So we are pretty dang excited about that, especially because of the complete turn-around we've seen in them with how open they are to our beliefs. They are just really good people.

Last night was the most intense lesson I've ever had, and probably one of the most intense I will ever have. Michael has been asking SO many questions about the Book of Mormon and about the little things he doesn't quite understand about our church. He sent us a 21-page text message with all his questions. Needless to say we couldn't answer all of them over text so he agreed to meet with us last night, and we invited Brother Hale. He teaches seminary and has a really in-depth knowledge of the scriptures. Earlier this week Brother Sears stopped by and said that he stayed for 3 hours trying to answer his questions, but Michael wasn't satisfied. Of course we had to explain to Michael that sometimes we have to accept God's will and we aren't going to have all the answers he is seeking. But we told him we'd do our best to answer them. His primary question was why God took up the plates so soon after they were translated, and why would he have people write on gold plates rather than papyrus or something less precious. He thought it was out of character for God to do that. And it got pretty heated when he asked all his questions, mainly because he was frustrated that he couldn't get a straight answer. Now just so you all know, we HAVE had the conversation about the role of the Holy Ghost in conversion, and that he has to rely on his feelings more than evidence. We have also had the conversation about how God gives us line upon line, precept upon precept, not all at once. But he really is seeking. Otherwise he wouldn't be so diligent about it and wouldn't have so many questions. There are probably a lot of opinions to be had about the answer to Michael's question, but Brother Hale explained to him that it really was something he would have to ask God himself. And then he told the story of Martin Harris taking the characters to Charles Anthon to be authenticated. (JSH 1: 62-65) He told him also that that was prophesied in Isaiah 29:11-12 (this blew my mind by the way...you should look it up and then read JSH). And then he said, "unfortunately that is all I can give you. The rest is between you and God. Because we don't know." So basically that's just something to think about, not an answer to his question. Think about what Charles Anthon did, and he only had copied characters, not the actual plates. Can you imagine what would have happened had the plates stayed on the earth? What would wicked and "learned" men have done with them? Anyways, Sister Johnson and I said probably a total of 20 words each. Brother Hale and Michael said the rest. It was super intense. We had to leave to make curfew, but Brother Hale told us he stayed till 11:00. We got there at 7:30. Srsly Michael...

So that's the big stuff that happened this week. Sister Johnson tore something in her shoulder so she has to wear a sling. And I got eaten alive by fleas when we stayed the night in Kirtland. So we're both falling apart.

But this week I wanted to share some things I learned from Relief Society yesterday that seemed appropriate, since I think we all need some reassurance now and then. The sister teaching shared a story (which I am paraphrasing) about a boy whose mother was very good at embroidering. He would sit on the floor and watch her as she stitched in the little hoop, and from his point of view it looked messy and terrible. He asked, "mother, what are you doing? Why are you making such a mess of that?" She would reply, "continue playing and go about your business. In a little while I'll show you why." He continued playing on the floor until his mother told him to come and sit in her lap. When he climbed onto her lap he could see the finished project - a beautiful flawless flower. She said, "you see, I was just following a pattern. I had a plan, and I could see that the end result was going to be beautiful." Sometimes during hard times and difficult trials we are tempted to ask Heavenly Father, "what are you doing? This is such a mess!" From our view it may seem so abstract and without direction that it seems hopeless. But Heavenly Father sees what we can become. He has a pattern for our lives, and He knows that the end result will be beautiful. President Monson gave a really good talk on this concept in this last October conference. He said, "I cannot begin to measure all of the heartache and sorrow I have witnessed as I have visited with those who are dealing with grief, experiencing illness, facing divorce, struggling with a wayward son or daughter, or suffering the consequences of sin...Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve, and when we may be tested to our limits. However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were--better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before." He then quotes a poem, which says,

Good timber does not grow with ease,

The stronger the wind, the stronger trees.

The further sky, the greater length.

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow.

He says it so much better than I could have :) I know that Heavenly Father has saved us to be on this earth at this time. He knows we are strong enough to handle the difficult things that come our way in this lifetime, especially in our day when sin is so acceptable. And I promise that as we persevere through trials, the end result WILL be beautiful. I'm still working on it myself, and I have a heck of a long way to go. But I know it will be worth it in the end!

Hope you are all doing well. I miss and love you!

Love

Tayler

PS - This one-way communication thing is no fun. Some of you need to write me more. You know who you are!

Week 16


HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA JO!!! I LOVE YOUUUUUUUU <3

Alright, so this week was craziness. Transfers were last Wednesday, and guess what...I survived!! We both get to stay together one more transfer! Only problem is...This transfer is 5 weeks long rather than 6. And it ends the week before Christmas. Seeing as it's pretty unusual for our mission president to keep us together for this long already (especially since we were training), it's almost set in stone that one of us will be transferred that week. So one of us might spend Christmas with strangers :( That's ok though. I'm sure it will be fun either way.

Anyways we had a pretty hectic week after transfers. Lots to do! Wednesday and Thursday we were in Kirtland, and we found out our new schedule. Monday Pday again! And then Thursday Friday at sites (except for Thanksgiving which is basically another pday as far as I know...except I don't think we get to email home. We'll see on that one.) So basically the same as last transfer. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving. SO EXCITED. We get to spend the day at a member's home, so Sister Busath invited us to come to her house. She likes to spoil us. :)

We found out on Wednesday that our apartment lease is almost up and the mission is paying a bajillion dollars a month for where we live. So they are deciding whether or not to sign a new lease here or move us to a new apartment. They asked us to scout out some apartments in the area and report back, so Saturday we spent a couple hours apartment shopping which was kind of fun. It felt like I was doing real world stuff so I felt kind of weird. But it was still fun.

Then Friday we went to early morning seminary. That was SO. HARD. Harder than it was in high school. We woke up at 5:20 am. And we had to teach the lesson. I probably scared them all with my raspy and nasally morning voice, and my icky face that didn't get much attention in the 15 minutes I spent getting ready. I looked scary. So hopefully they let us come back :) Haha. But it made the day seem so much longer. Granted, we did feel much more awake the rest of the day. But by the time we were getting ready for bed that night it was hard to recall what we even taught that morning.

We have also been doing a lot of finding this week. Mainly tracting, which I hate. I'm trying so hard to love it, but I think it's the hardest part of missionary work. People generally don't like when you knock on their door and try to talk about religion. Other people just say, "we've got our own church, no thank you" before you can even say anything. But we had a really cool experience this week. We had been talking about the Kirtland nativities as our initial approach since that's usually less intimidating for people, and then we would turn it into a gospel conversation. But at one particular door a girl answered and when I started talking, I found myself telling her about the restoration and a modern-day prophet. She was trying not to laugh at first, but we talked a little more and she told us about her beliefs and that she was pretty open-minded. So she invited us in and we had the first lesson with her right there. She was my age and going to college in Akron...which is out of our area. She just happened to be in Aurora at her mom's house when we came to the door. So we got her number and we will be calling her at sites since we can't teach her in person. Her name is Samone, and she's way cute. Aaaand she's getting baptized someday. Super cool, right?! We also got a really solid referral from a ward member...who ALSO lives out of our area. AND Lisa and Jim moved...out of our area. So we will be giving referrals to 3 different sets of missionaries in our mission. For whatever reason we just aren't finding people in our area, so we can't teach them. Lame. Oh and like an hour ago we talked to a lady who works at our apartment complex and she apparently investigated about 8 years ago! She's still friends with the missionaries who taught her! But she lives out of our area. So if she ever did want to take the lessons again...guess who wouldn't be teaching her. :(

We have been seeing a lot of success in re-activation efforts though. Three of our less-active members are going to church regularly, and one of them is a family of 3. So that's awesome! One of them is a Vietnamese man named Giang (pronounced Zang). He told us last week that he loved church and he's coming every week now! Haha. He's awesome. He doesn't speak very much English so teaching him is kind of rough, but he has a really good heart.

Michael is in Alma! He's asking lots of questions and is kind of worrying me. We had a long lesson with him last night that made us miss curfew by one minute...:( But I'll keep y'all posted on his progress.

I was thinking this week about what I should say in my email. And the thought kept coming about living up to our potential. I have been learning so much about the potential we have as children of Heavenly Father, and that there are so many things God has promised us if we live righteously in this life. Romans 8:17 says that we, as God's children, are "joint-heirs with Christ". Think about how amazing that alone is, that we have the potential to receive all that Christ has. I think having this eternal perspective has helped me in every good decision I've made in life. And this life is the time to prepare to reach that potential. God knows what we can become, and Satan seeks to destroy and hinder our progress in whatever way he can. Elder Bowen taught us that the saddest thing one could ever experience in this eternal existence is knowing who we were in the pre-mortal life, knowing what we could have become, and knowing that we sold it all for a mess of pottage during mortality. I know that it is by living the principles and doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can find true happiness and reach our full potential. As a servant of the Lord my calling is to invite others to come unto Christ, including my friends, family, and all who read these emails. So to all reading this I would invite you to choose now to live this life according to your great potential. Don't sell it all for a mess of pottage. And if you make mistakes, repent. His gospel is a gospel of forgiveness. It's beautiful. It's simple. And it's true. I know that. And every day I know it more and more.

I love you all and hope all is well. Keep the letters and emails coming!

Love,

Tayler

Week 15

Hello! It feels like it's been an incredibly long week because last pday was 8 days ago. Plus it's been a rough week as well. But I'm getting better at staying positive, which I think I owe to my companion. I don't know how she does it, but she has the best attitude even when things get hard. It's hard to be negative around a positive person, so she's teaching me :)

So we had zone conference this last week in Kirtland, so we were at sites for an extra day last week. That always makes things feel slower. I LOVE serving there, but when it's the slow season, days are really long there. Plus our internet has been down so we couldn't get on chat or answer inbound calls. That meant that once we had taken care of tedious housekeeping things that only took about an hour, we had the rest of the day to come up with things to do. Some sisters went on mock tours or studied, but we decided to watch the Testament in the movie room, then we watched the Joseph Smith movie. I felt like I was wasting so much time sitting there for so long watching a movie. That's going to take some adjusting when I get home, because now sitting through a movie makes me anxious. I felt the whole time like there was something else we could have been doing...but there really wasn't. We took one tour, and since the sawmill and ashery are closed up for winter, it made the tour much shorter. But they are setting up nativities right now and we got to help out with that a little. That was SO fun. It's beautiful. I'll take lots of pictures and show you guys. And then when I get home we should all come back around this time so you guys can see it in person.

We spent pretty much the whole week preparing for Michael's baptism. He had his interview Wednesday, and then later that night he said he was having doubts. So we talked to him for awhile and we discussed his concerns. We said a prayer with him on the phone, and then he said he would continue to study and pray about it. But cool story with that...we were coming out of an appointment in Windham (which is about 45 minutes away from our apartment) at 8:45 when we got the text from Michael. We have to be in by 9:30, so we really had no time to talk to him, but we felt like we needed to. So we called and planned on making it a quick one, but 5 minutes eventually turned into 20 minutes, and we were freaking out. We can't drive and be on the phone at the same time so we couldn't leave till the conversation was over. We finally left at about 9:05 and we were sure we were going to miss curfew (see, we have this tattle-tell thing in our car called Tiwi and it notifies the mission office if we happen to be driving past curfew). But by some miracle we made it home in time, even though we shouldn't have been able to do that. Windham is literally on the opposite corner of our area, and it makes no sense that we made it home on time. But we did! We pulled in at 9:28. Crazy! That makes me know that we were doing what we were supposed to, and the Lord helped us out. We really needed to call Michael, although I'll be honest, we haven't been able to see why. Michael cancelled the baptism two days later. He feels like his belief isn't strong enough, so he wants to read the Book of Mormon on his own before he commits to anything. But now he won't come to church anymore. He really wants his space on this, and we don't know why. He is going to have a harder time gaining a testimony without attending church. That is something we saw with him in the past. It wasn't till he came to church that he finally started feeling something. Church attendance is so important! He is still keeping in touch with us though. He is definitely reading. He keeps asking really good questions about the Book of Mormon. So I still have hope. I don't think I ever lost it. Something about the whole situation felt okay. I know we did all we could, and now it's up to him.

One of the hardest things about a mission is respecting people's agency when they refuse to even listen. So many people turn us away at the door, but if they only knew!!! That's why there's a better way to do missionary work, and it's through the members! Talk to your friends...they listen more to you than they would to us, I promise!

We also went to dinner last night with Al and Loretta. They are so sweet, and we love them tons. We shared a short message with them at dinner last night, and we are planning on teaching them next time we visit. Loretta is coming to the Relief Society activity on Saturday, so there's going to be some good fellowship there :) I just really don't want to lose them. They are some of the nicest people we've met here. And they need the gospel!

So that's about all for this week! I see miracles daily and I'm starting to truly love my mission, even though it's the hardest thing EVER! Haha. It does take some adjusting. I'll be honest. But it's great to be so immersed in the gospel!

Love you all!!

Tayler

Week 14

to Angela, Jeff, Jorie, me, Lauren, Norma, Jennifer, eileen, Katherine, Bryce, LeAnn, Ryan, willum8

Well this is my last week of training. Hallelujah. We did lots this week. First of all, an update on Michael. He is all set to be baptized this Sunday! We are officially going to begin planning as soon as we talk to him tomorrow. We both have no idea what to do when it comes to planning a baptism...so it will be an adventure! Haha. But he is doing so good. After we talked to him on Wednesday last week he shared some feelings he has had, and his testimony is growing so much! I have to say that's the best part about missionary work. I love being an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping others learn about Jesus Christ's gospel.

 

We did service for a couple that we met awhile back. We made fresh apple cider from an old fashioned cider press! It was so fun!! We even used apples from their tree. And they took pictures so I'll maybe have him send them to you guys. They're just this super nice old couple and they aren't members so we're hoping to teach them. I love meeting people though. They are the cutest, sweetest people ever. They invited us in afterwards to have donuts and cider, and we just talked for a little while. Pray for them! Their names are Al and Loretta :)

 

Then later that night a member took us out to get Chinese food from a buffet. It would have been even better if I hadn't stuffed my face with donuts less than 2 hours earlier. I felt so sick that day. But they kept refilling my glass with cider and giving me more donuts! I don't know how to say no...

 

Also I broke a chair yesterday...just sitting in it. At a member's home. In the middle of a lesson. At the dinner table. Yikes. Talk about incentive to lose weight... SO embarrassing. They said they were old chairs but still! I guess it was pretty funny though. It was the least graceful fall, and after it fell over I couldn't get out of the position I was in so I kind of just wiggled around on the floor like a fish out of water until I was able to scoot the chair remains from underneath me. I'm not sure what that looked like but the hysterical laughter that came from Sister Johnson tells me I must have looked preeetty silly. Also I bruised my bum so that's sad. Definitely a memorable experience.

 

We took a group of nonmembers on tour this week who had the BEST questions. They definitely felt the spirit that is there. Those sites are so sacred. They left comments on our referral cards that said it was very uplifting. And at the end they all requested Books of Mormon (except for one lady who apparently already has one...What??) I love Kirtland.

 

Anyways in my studies this morning I was looking for something I could share today, and I came across two articles in the Ensign from August that were so perfect. I felt like I learned a lot from them, and I needed to hear it. So I thought I would just share.

 

One was from Dallin H. Oaks, called "In His Own Time, in His Own Way". It was all about receiving personal revelation. He talks about the timing of revelation and shared this story that put it into perspective. "About 35 years ago, when I was president of Brigham Young University, we were making plans to persuade the president of the United States to speak at the university. We had particular times that would suit our convenience, and we had in mind some things we wanted him to say and do while he was there. But all of us were wise enough to know that we could not contact the highest authority in the United States and invite him to come to the BYU campus—even to speak to 26,000 people—and put conditions on his appearance. We knew that in inviting the president, we had to say in effect, 'We will welcome you whenever you can come and for whatever time you choose to be here and for whatever you choose to say and do while you are here. We will accommodate our schedules and our arrangements entirely to your visit.' Now, if that’s the way a community of 26,000 people must approach the highest authority of a nation, it should not be surprising that one person—however important—is in no position to put conditions upon or to impose personal timing upon a visit or communication from the Highest Authority in the universe." We have to understand that the Lord truly works according to timing that suits us best, whether we see it that way or not. He goes on to talk about how revelation is not constant. I was kind of confused by this at first because I thought we had the Holy Ghost as a constant companion, but he says "We pray continuously for guidance, but we shouldn’t expect continuous revelation. We expect continuing revelation, which is the continuing assurance of revelation whenever we seek guidance and our circumstances are such that a wise and loving Lord chooses to give it to us." He also shared a quote by William E Berrett,  “Those who pray that the Spirit might give them immediate guidance in every little thing throw themselves open to false spirits that seem ever ready to answer our pleas and confuse us. … The people I have found most confused in this Church are those who seek personal revelations on everything. They want the personal assurance from the Spirit from daylight to dark on everything they do. I say they are the most confused people I know because it appears sometimes that the answer comes from the wrong source.” I just thought it was interesting that he included that. But it makes complete sense. We should trust in the Light of Christ that we all have to know good from bad, and not expect a strong prompting in every situation in which we are placed. He then talks about how revelation is essential in building our testimonies. He says, "Not understanding these principles of revelation, some postpone acknowledging their testimony or their spiritual progress until they have experienced a miraculous event. They fail to realize that with most people--especially those raised in the Church--the precious revelation that gives us a testimony is not an event but a process." SO TRUE! I have seen it with Michael especially. He keeps having these small moments that are so precious, and his testimony would not stand where it is now without all of the small things combined. It was never a huge manifestation that convinced him. It was several small interactions with the spirit.

 

Last, I just wanted to talk about the other article from Elder Patrick Kearon of the Seventy. I'll be brief :) He just talks about three conditions of the heart that close us off from receiving revelation, and I think they are common in almost all of us:

1. Hearts burdened  by cares and clamor. Sometimes we just have too much going on in our lives--daily demands such as work, school, family, etc--that cause us to forget to slow down and take a moment to remember our Savior.

2. Hearts hardened by sin and unworthiness. I feel that this doesn't necessarily mean that we are committing serious sin all the time (although that certainly will close the channels for revelation). But it could be small transgressions we are not repenting of, or even little things we are neglecting, such as scripture study, prayer, tithing, fasting, etc. We must always be worthy to receive revelation.

3. Hearts malnourished by poor digital diet. "As with so much in life, what we consume is a choice, so if you spend much of your time consuming one kind of message, don't be surprised that you become influenced by it. Spending too much of our time with social media, celebrity or entertainment news, games, and the pursuit of online, time-hungry activities constitutes a poor digital diet."

I would encourage all of us to eliminate these things in our lives. If we truly want answers to our prayers, Heavenly Father wants to give that to us. But we have to receive it. He closed with a quote by Thomas S. Monson: "Remember that one with authority placed his hands on your head at the time of your confirmation and said, 'Receive the Holy Ghost.' Open your hearts, even your very souls, to the special voice which testifies of truth. As the prophet Isaiah primised, 'Thine ears shall hear a word...saying, This is the way, walk ye in it.'

 

This Church is SO true. It is Christ's Church, and He wants everyone to be a part of it. Keep the prayers coming! They are helping so much. I love you guys and hope to hear from you all :)

Love,

Tayler

Week 13

It's getting close to transfers again...that was so fast! But the last few weeks have been the longest of my whole mission. I don't really know why. But I really don't want to leave Hiram. I'm not into change.

 

This week is hard to remember so I'll have to refer back to my journal. I guess the most exciting stuff happened this weekend so I'll skip to that part :)

 

Sister Johnson had a checkup at the doctor on Thursday so that was super fun! It was a sites day so we ended up coming late to Kirtland so we could go to the doctor in the morning. We woke up to snow that morning and then by around 10 o'clock it had mostly melted in our area. So at the doctor there were all these pretty fall colors out the window, and then on the way to Kirtland--which is closer to the lake--we drove through a blizzard. It looked like January outside. I'm talking like 6 inches plus of snow on the ground and it just kept snowing more. Then it turned into slush because it rained after that. Then later that day it was sunny and started to melt the snow, then got colder and rained some more and turned it into ice. Soooo that's Ohio I guess. That was all in one day. So we stayed the night there and the next day we had interviews with President Vellinga. That was so good. He gave me a few reminders that I needed to hear. We have the best mission president. Seriously I am sad for other missionaries who don't have President and Sister Vellinga. They're just so great.

 

And then that night we had an appointment with the Stamms so we left Kirtland early for that. That went so well! We taught them about eternal families. The McIntyres came and bore really pure testimonies about eternal marriage and Katherine said she was tearing up. It was super sweet. They loved it! AND they came to church yesterday. I'll get to that later...

 

Saturday the Solon Elders had a baptism that we took Michael to. It was a really good baptism. We didn't have much time to talk to him right after because we had to book it out to Garrettsville with the McIntyres to pick up a potential investigator for the bonfire that night. But he did say that it was interesting and then started to compare it to Baptist baptisms. He's frustrating sometimes. Then we picked up Katee and went to the bonfire, which was a huge success! There was so much fellowshipping going on I wanted to cry. Plus it was super fun! We just roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and socialized, then we shared a spiritual thought about how the gospel can bring eternal happiness. The biking Elders came with an investigator too and Elder and Sister Packer were there, so we all sang our mission song. Our ward is seriously the best though. So many people made time to help us that day and it was AWESOME! If I could bake them things I would but missionaries don't have time or resources for that kind of stuff :( Lame.

 

And THEN...FOUR investigators came to church on Sunday! Michael, Katherine and Drew Stamm, and Lisa all came. We found out Lisa and Jim are moving :( Jim just stopped drinking and has been sober for a week, and this time he has medication for it which should help. But we're losing them!! Dumb. Then after Sacrament meeting Bishop came and talked to the Stamms and asked if he and his counselors could come see them on Tuesday. That meeting was one of those meetings that happen now and then where by the end you are just so uplifted and you feel so good and clean and the spirit is so strong. Sister Johnson sang "I Believe in Christ" which was amazing, and then the talks were all so powerful. Our stake president was presiding that day and he got up at the end to share his testimony. He said "I know there are some people here investigating the church. We have felt the spirit so strongly in this meeting, and I hope you have felt something today." Then he bore a strong testimony and sat down. Bishop told us that as he was saying that, he saw the Stamms nodding their heads and felt prompted to go talk to them and plan a time to see them. So they set up a time on Tuesday to stop in and chat. He said it had been confirmed to him that they had definitely felt the spirit. So I'm so excited to hear how it goes.

 

Then after church we took Michael on a tour of the Johnson home next-door and it was one of the most spiritual and faith-building tours I have been on. I was frustrated with myself about not knowing much about the tour and getting things wrong and sounding dumb. But I felt the spirit urge me to be more humble and to realize that this tour was not about me. From that point on I was more in tune with the spirit and even though I didn't know the tour very well, I just felt like I was able to speak to him directly from the spirit. I don't remember even what I said. But I did feel like the words were not my own. At the end of the tour we asked Michael how he felt. He said "I still didn't feel strongly overcome with the spirit or anything, but I can tell it was important." We asked him what made him think that. Then he said "I don't know. I'm not sure if I can put it into words, but I will have to think about it." That's pretty typical for Michael. After he has time to let it sink in he is usually more aware of the feelings he had. But I'll be honest, sometimes I want to shake him and say "YOU ARE FEELING THE SPIRIT!" Haha. That's probably not very Christlike though. So I'll just have patience. I know that Heavenly Father is helping him change his heart, and I have faith that he will recognize it.

 

Love you all and have a good week! Until next Monday... :) Write me!

 

Tayler