Come what may and love it.

So much love that I don't even know where to begin!

Yesterday after church we taught Kelsey for the last time before her baptism next Sunday. It was so bittersweet, I have grown to love her so much! In fact, this week as we were driving down the street, I thought to myself, "Man, I sure love teaching Kelsey! I always feel like we're going to have a lesson with our friend!" ...and then I realized that I should feel that way about everyone that we teach, so it was a good lesson to learn. This week she asked us if she was our first "transformee" haha sure Kelsey.

 She offered the prayer at the end of our lesson yesterday, and she had us in tears. There is no greater tender mercy than being able to see, even in the smallest way, the difference you have made when you've chosen to be the hands of the Lord. It's so amazing to see the light that the Gospel brings to the lives of our Heavenly Father's children. It's amazing to see people that are so willing to keep the commandments, becuase the Spirit teaches them that these things are true. I am so humbled that I get to be even such a small part of brining that light and the love of our Savior into the lives of our brothers and sisters. He is the light can light up our lives, if we let Him. Being in the service of the Lord is the happiest thing I've ever done. I promise when you turn towrad others you will forget yourself, and there is no greater blessing than losing yourself in the work of the Lord. Always be on the Lord's errand. Learn what it means to lose yourself in the service of others.

There's a care center up the street from us, and we have grown to love so many people there. It's the first place we went when we got to Delaware because, we had nowhere else to go! There were a few members staying there and a few peole suggested that we go see them. Oh what a blessing it has been. We have met the most wonderful spirits. I sent pictures of two special ones, Cecelia and Dorothy.  We go every Saturday and play bingo with them, obviously it's a riot. Miss Dorothy can't move the pieces so we play together. She is so amazing! I swear we've known each other forever. I hope one day when she has a resurrected, perfect body that we'll be chattin' it up like we did in the good ol' days. I love her so much! The light of Christ is in every one of us. Never forget that.

On a side note, I have never contracted so many illnesses in my LIFE as I have on my mission. I swear, I'll develop some symptom, get over it a week later, then two days after that I've got some awesome new ache or pain. This week: sinus cold and losing my voice. I can't breathe or talk, it's awesome. ;)

I encourage all of you to watch "The Daily Bread" mini-series (if you will) on mormon.org. It's by Elder D. Todd Chirstofferson. and it's amazing. It has totally changed the way I look at my day to day trials. I am so grateful for the law of the fast. Fasting weakens our physical bodies and brings us spiritually closer to our Father in Heaven. It reminds us to recognize where our daily bread really comes from. He is the source of all that we have. Please, always remember that.

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Man, I've become that missionary that never wants to go home. Besides, who would want to face reality when you could just preach the Gospel forever?

I've never been so happy in my life. Understandably of course, what else would make you happier than helping others come unto Christ?! Not a thing in the world. Which is exactly why I indend to be a missionary for the rest of my life! I'll never stop fulfilling my purpose! I know that living the gospel is the best and  happiest way to live.

God knows us all. His tender mercies are not random, they are purposeful demonstrations of His love for us in our day to day lives. Take note of them, and keep them close to your heart.

All my love,

Sister Kadee Elise Taylor

Daily Bread Links:

Experience

Change

Pattern

Megan and Brett Sullivan Family

When you find yourself in the middle of a psychological thriller...

Two funny stories that have highlighted my week:

 

1) We went to an appartment complex to try and find a former investigator that we felt had some good potential. We got in to see her, everthing went great, we set up a return appointment and left. As we were walking down the stairwell, Sister Ririe (yes, I will point fingers on this one!) said that we should go back and knock on the door accross the hall from our investigator. She even had a nice "welcome" sign on the door. We knock. A frail, "golum" (from Lord of the Rings) looking, 60ish year old woman answers. We ask her if she or someone she knows could use an uplifting message. She looked confused. So we told her that we teach about how following the example of Jesus Christ can help us to find happiness in our lives. I could not have prepared myself for what happened next..."I still don't know what you mean" she said, "I used to have 48 names, but now I have 84. Will you come in and write my names down for me?" PEOPLE! these are the kinds of things you read about in text books, or see in movies...not in real life! We totally lied to her (This was also the day that I learned that it's sometimes okay to lie. But ONLY if the Spirit tells you to!) and told her that we couldn't come in because we had an appointment. "You don't want to come in?!" Oh no, I was going to lose it. So we told her that IF we came back we would bring a friend from church named Heidi...wrong thing to say. "OH! One of my names is Heidi! Heidi, Holly, Brittney, Chelsey..." Off she went, then... "I have 16 personalities too." Great, one of them is BOUND to want to kill us! We told her that we would try to come back next week, and as we sprinted down the hall she yelled, "I LOVE YOU!"

 

I was so sure she was going to stalk us and kill us. Or something worse. For a good 45 minutes I was totally shaken up. And wanted to be in the same room as a priesthood holder, ASAP! Man, there's no coming  back from that. (Please tell Amy C. how much I love and admire her!)

 

2) *Names have been changed to protect the innocent.* Last week we were at the Smith's house for dinner. Bro. Smith is a member of the bishopric and we were talking about how helpful it would be to have a ward FB page. I'd brought it up in ward counsel a month or so ago and totally got shot down. Let's just say that 2/3 of the bishopric is not pro social media. Bro. Smith said that I should bring it up again next time we have ward counsel. So there we are yesterday, sitting in ward counsel...they'd been discussing the ward mission plan for a good hour when they finally got to the part where they were trying to figure out how to put it on a bookmark. Then, all of the sudden, Bro. Smith says, "I think the Sisters have something to say about facebook..." I then stammer out a marvelous, "Uhhhhhh..." and thankfully the YW president chimed in with, "Yeah, why don't we have a facebook page?"  Whew, saved by the bell. Afterward we ran into Bro. Smith in the hall and I said, "Thanks for throwing us under the bus! We weren't even talking about anything remotely related to Facebook!" Bro. Smith replied with, "They started talking about bookmarks! I don't even use paper! We need to have a facebook page!" Let's just hope we get a facebook page soon...

 

I want you to know that I love being a missionary. There's nothing more tiring and more fulfilling. When you're on the Lord's errand you cannot fail. When you're on His side you'll always succeed. God, our Heavenly Father has set us up for success. His way isn't always easier, but it's always better. Never forget that. When  you make the decision to be on His side, you'll recieve help from both sides of the viel. And just because you set your foot on the right path does not mean that He'll smooth it out for you. Life will always be hard, bask in the refiner's fire. You're being fitted for the Kingdom of God. I love you all so much. Your love and support means the world to me.

 

Onward and Upward,

Sister Kadee Elise Taylor

Hey, look on the bright side!

Sometimes...everything that CAN go wrong, WILL go wrong. But I love every minute of it. One of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite people says, "You can either laugh or cry, and crying gives me a headache." - Marjorie Pay Hinckley

This week was hilarious! It started off with that gas leak in our heater, then we had a toddler pee on the carpet (5 inches away from me) in the middle of a lesson, we got snowed in twice and...I clogged the kitchen sink. How you might ask? Well let's just say that as I was shoving the pasta down the disposal, I heard my father's voice very distinctly saying, "Never put pasta down the drain, It clogs it!"...10 minutes later we are at the office making a maintenance request. 

There's nothing in the world that I love more than my mission. The best part about it is that it started 9 months ago, and it is never going to end. It's just begun! Isn't that amazing?! It makes that 1/2 way mark not quite as terrifying...I think...

We had an investigator come to church this week! Kelsey is amazing! She's progressing, she has a desire to learn and grow, and she is such an amazing example! I feel so blessed to serving with so many of God's choice spirits.

Here's my new favorite quote (for now)! :

"If you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely." -Roald Dahl

We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we should be beaming so bright that our faces light up! Literally! We should be the happiest people on earth! And even when we're not, we know who to turn to- our Savior. I pray that the knowledge of His Atonement lights up your soul. Search the scriptures. Pray always. And always remember, it's better to look up. I have a lot I need to improve on, but I have all the tools I need to succeed, on my mission and for eternity. I need to keep the Holy Ghost in my life. I need to keep an eternal perspective, and I need to learn something from everyone that I meet. I am so grateful to be here, and I pray that I never take one day for granted. 

Love, 

Sister Kadee Elise Taylor 

read this talk: http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng&query=the+first+great+commandment