I LOVE being a Missionary!

Hello!

Can you believe another week has come and gone? I do more in one day as a missionary than I did in one week as a normal human being!  There's so much to do when you're on the Lord's errand! Being a missionary is so amazing. You see with spiritual eyes, and the world looks so different. I hope I never take it for granted. Every day is an opportunity to help someone come closer to their Savior.

During the short time that I've been here, I've learned something very valuable. Not only through my own experience, but through witnessing the trials and hardships of others. 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Do you know what that means?! It means that if we knew what we will gain if we are faithful in this life, our afflictions would seem trivial! If we allow our trials to bring us closer to our Savior, and not drag us further away from Him, we will be happy despite our oppositions! Happiness is a choice, and it's OUR choice! If we endure this life and endure it WELL, the weight of our glory after this life will far outweigh our trials in this temporary state. I know this to be true. I know that if we choose to be happy and rely on our Heavenly Father and the Atonement of Jesus Christ that we WILL be infectiously happy.

I love my family so much and I am more and more grateful for them everyday. I have blessed beyond that which I deserve, and I am surrounded by angels (my friends and family) constantly. It is a blessing that I thank my Heavenly Father for every day. It is a blessing that I will never be able to communicate my gratitude for.

I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world. I know that because He lives, I will live again too. I know that He loves each and every one of us more than we can even comprehend. I know that God lives, and He is as real as you and I. Our bodies are such blessings, such gifts from God. God loves us so much that He gave us everything we could possibly need to return to live with Him again, but if we do not use the tools He has given us, that goal is unattainable. Spiritually minded is life eternal!

Love,
Sista Kadee Taylor

And here...we...go!

Hello loved ones!

Sister Earl and I witnessed some serious miracles this week! We were invited to go up to scout camp! 

Never did I think I would be at scout camp, let alone in a skirt!  

The camp was held at a local camp called Camp Minsi (They usually hold Stake Scout Camp at a different location). The staff members were prepared to receive us by those scouts, who so clearly set a good example by living the gospel every single day! We were told by a ward mission leader in Dover, Delaware that they had almost chosen to go to another camp site. In fact, he said that they usually do go to another camp site, but that for some reason this year they decided to hold camp up at Camp Minsi!

As soon as I heard this I knew that it was not by chance. I also know that the young adults who chose to be staff members this summer did not come there  by chance. I know that the hearts and the minds of the staff members were prepared for this week of scout camp. I have never seen anything like it in my life. We were invited to attend their nightly fireside, which our soon-to-be investigators would also be attending. When the fireside was over and the multitude of scouts dissipated, and we began getting to know the staff members. The next thing we knew, one staff member after the other was coming up to us and asking us questions like, "Do you have a branch in Florida? I'll be leaving for school there in a couple of weeks, and I just want to make sure I can get into contact with someone there." and, "Do you have a Book of Mormon I could have? I already love that book! I'm going to read it before I get home, and when I'm done with it I'm going to give it to my grandma so that she can read it!" or, "How do I download that app that your church has with the scriptures and videos on it?"

When we gave them Books of Mormon, they  were so grateful and acted as if we were giving them precious gifts, and we most certainly were!  It's just that most people that we give a Book of Mormon to don't realize the magnitude of that event in their life. We got five contacts that night, only two of which lived in our area. I felt as if I were alive in a Book of Mormon story! I pray that I will not soon forget that night, and that the staff members there won't either.

We found out after leaving that the camp holds a book club every night for the staff, and that night every single one of them was reading the Book of Mormon together for their book club that night! I would call that a miracle, and I am so humbled that I was able to witness it. I hope that the Lord blesses me to be able to see some of the results from that week at scout camp. I am so grateful that those young scouts were living the gospel and being examples of the believers, so that others could see their good works and glorify their Father who is in Heaven.

Members are missionaries too, and it's time that we start acting like it. It is our responsibility to bring others into the fold. That is how the Lord will have His work done in these latter days. I know that you will all be blessed in your efforts to bring others into the gospel. Talk to the missionaries serving in your area and ask them what you can do to help them. They will be blown away that you even asked! Feed them. Give them rides. Go teaching with them. It's not a scary thing, I promise! They'll just ask you to bear your testimony!  You'll fall in love with this work, and you will be so richly blessed.

I love you all and I will talk to you next week!

Love,
Sister Kadee Taylor

P.S.- I've been called to train! I pick up my Golden on Wednesday in Philly and I am TERRIFIED! Prayers would be appreciated (:

Disaster Strikes in Stroudsburg

Hello my friends,

This week was rather discouraging. Almost every single investigator that we have has told us that they no longer want to meet with us. We have one really solid investigator who was progressing VERY quickly,
and her husband will not give her permission to be baptized. I think Sister Earl had a harder time with all of this than I did. You have to understand, I don't know the difference. I've never had a baptism. I
am however starting to wonder what it is that I am doing wrong. I know that we are striving to be exactly obedient in all that we do. I think I have found a new sense of determination to get out there and work
hard. We always do our best, but I think we were getting into too much of a routine. This is going to be a hard week.

Once we learned that Mary's husband would not give her permission to be baptized, we pretty much just had a break down. Water works and everything. We call in to the Elders every night to tell them that we
are "in and safe" and our phone call on Saturday night sounded a bit like this, "We...*sob*...are...*sob...in and safe...*sob*..." Poor guys, I wish that I could have seen the look on their faces when they heard the pitiful sound of our crying voices. Much prayers and fasting would be appreciated at this point. Well, we got blessings the next morning and I learned a few very important things:

1. My Heavenly Father gives me trials because He loves me.
2. I am grateful for worthy Priesthood holders.
3. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

We had a mini-missionary with us this week. I have to say, it was rather interesting. It helped Sister Earl and I to see our strength and unity. It also helped us to see where we could improve. Most of all, it helped me to see how much I've learned since I arrived here 12 weeks ago. I can't believe it's been THREE MONTHS! I've learned that I really DO have a clue about what is going on! It was helpful to ask for advice on where to improve as far as the training aspect goes. It was also helpful for me to see how much I have grown since arriving in Philadelphia! I just always need to remember who's name I wear on my chest! My Jesus is SO good!

Love,
Sister Kadee Taylor        

13 Going on 30?

Hellooooooo!

Okay, first of all...since when was I old enough to be 21?! I swear that just yesterday those birthday candles said 17! Weird.

I've learned something, life is better when it's not about you. When you focus on meeting the needs of others, your needs are met. I'm almost positive that it is a law of heaven.

I've also learned that I miss dancing, and I didn't even know that I liked dancing! We were given permission to go to a wedding this week, and boy were we missing out on all the dance floor action! I never thought I'd miss the Cha-cha slide...or whatever it's called haha.

This week we have the incredible opportunity to have a "mini-missionary" with us! Some of the stakes around here set up a program where YSA members who are considering going on missions can come on a mini-mission and stay with the missionaries for  a week! It is quite a compliment to our companionship that we got suggested! So, yesterday we met up with Sister Earnshaw from a neighboring stake, and she will be with us in a trio until Saturday!

You should all read the conference talk Mountains to Climb by Henry B. Eyring:
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/mountains-to-climb?lang=eng

or at LEAST watch the correlated Mormon Message!

I know that we are each asked to bear different burdens in this life for a reason. In our lives there will be challenges. They will either bring you closer to God and therefore make you stronger, or they can destroy you. But you make the decision of which road you take. Alma 29: 4-6 touches on this. I know that we each "ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto us." I think that some of us get caught up in wishing that we were called so some great thing in life, when really all we need to do is exactly what we have been called to do. The trials, heartaches and struggles that you have are the tasks that you have been called to perform in this life, so do them well! The Lord will ask nothing more, nor nothing less of you. Your best is good enough, are you doing your best?

I know that as we each struggle about our imperfections, the Lord will give us suggestions on where to improve. Seek for His guidance and counsel.

I love you all!

Love,
Sister Kadee Taylor

You would not believe your eyes…

I saw FIREFLIES for the first time in my entire life! I have never, nor will I ever be so excited about a bug! They make my life complete, and I get to see them every single night. I. LOVE. THEM.

 

Speaking of bugs... there are SO many here that I've never seen or heard of in my entire life! And I'm pretty sure that they all FLY! Ew. Just ask Sister Earl about how much I hate bugs. She loves it. This has been one crazy week! We had interviews with President Anderson, he's amazing. We had Zone Training in Nazareth, it was awesome. I LOVE the Elders and Sisters that I serve with! They're amazing and I am so blessed to serve with them.

THEN, we did an exchange with the Whitehall Sisters and Sister Hall came with me and I took over Stroudsburg! It was crazy. Then we did an exchange with the Reading Sisters and I was in charge again!

We also had a service project, this week was amazing! I've learned something very important...you can't rely on the GPS to get you anywhere out here. So just follow the Spirit. THEN....our power went out on Friday! And will be out until tomorrow haha. The wonderful Laura Skagen in our ward is letting us stay with her, and we are so grateful! She's made us Vernor's floats and blueberry pancakes, this is the life.

 

This week was amazing though. Mary came to church again, and the Spirit was so strong. It's so interesting to put yourself in the shoes of an investigator while you're at church. After Sacrament meeting we took her on a church tour and showed her the baptismal font. The Spirit was so strong and when we were explaining everything to her we all just felt so happy. Watching someone find what they've been looking for and seeing the light in their eyes when they learn about the Gospel is an amazing gift that our Heavenly Father has allowed us to have.

 

Alma 12:24 "...this life [is] a probationary state...a time to prepare for [an] endless state..." Brothers and sisters, do you realize the magnitude of that? We have this short time here on Earth, to prepare ourselves for the rest of eternity! This tiny moment we have to determine what our life will be like for the rest of FOREVER. It is so important that we have patience with others and with ourselves, that we develop Christ-like attributes and always contribute to the hastening of the work in these latter days. I know that we will be blessed in our righteous efforts and that when we rely on the strength of the Lord (Philippians 4:13) then we will be helped in our journey back home (Mosiah 24:14).

 

I love you all dearly and pray for you always. Thank you for your support, it means the world to me. I know that we each have a part to play in the hastening of the work of the Lord.

 

Love Always,

Sister Kadee Taylor

P.S.- They don't have Otter Pops here...it's weird. They have "Ice Pops" and if you say Otter Pops, people look at you like you're nuts. Also, I'll be getting "Gelato wasted" for my 21st birthday (:

I Believe in Miracles!

I love you all!

This week was amazing! Sister Earl and I saw many miracles due to our determination and faith. The last few weeks of last transfer were a little discouraging for us...okay, a LOT discouraging. With the start of this transfer we decided that we needed to change our attitudes. We did our weekly planning, and told Heavenly Father that we were going to work very hard, but that we expected miracles in return! Bold, we know. But we were willing to work for it! And we did just that!

Our Zone Focus was to have three new investigators. I think we had three new investigators TOTAL last transfer! But, we knew that we had promised to work hard and we expected miracles. On Monday, we stopped at Wendy's (obviously) to get a bite to eat, and found a wonderful older couple- two new investigators on day one! We were so grateful and could not wait to continue working hard. Later in the week, we received a phone call from a number that was not saved in our phone. I answered the phone and the sister on the other end of the phone told me that she lived in Eugine, Oregon and that she has a friend who lives in our area, Mary. She told us that Mary was interested in investigating the Church and that she had been reading many Ensign articles and familiarizing herself with mormon.org. She explained that Mary was currently Catholic but that she was unhappy  with the beliefs and practices of the religion. then she told us that Mary would be coming to church the very next day! She literally called us and gave us an investigator! Mary did in fact come to church yesterday. She stayed all three hours and felt the Spirit very strongly. She even cried during Sacrament Meeting! We have an  appointment to meet with her this Tuesday, and cannot wait to begin helping her come closer to her Savior!

My favorite  part about all of this, was that we didn't find ANY of these people ourselves! We promised to work hard, and Heavenly Father kept His end of the bargain and put these people in our paths. I know that as we continue to forget ourselves and go to work, that we will continue to see miracles. I know that as we set goals that are realistic, but that stretch us, we will continue to see the Lord's help. This is His work and He will not leave us alone in it. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary at this exciting time. I am so humbled by the trust that the Lord has placed in me, and I hope to never lose that trust.

Brothers and sisters, loved ones!  We need to learn to trust our Heavenly Father! He knows us better than we know ourselves, He has known us since before we came to this earth and received our bodies!  Because of this, we NEED to trust Him. Do you realize what that even means? It means being completely okay with submitting your will to His, and knowing that things will still work out for your good. It's like doing the "trust fall", but with God. I'm pretty sure He'll catch us! He would never ask us to do an impossible thing! He would never tell you to do something that you could not accomplish without His help, and I know this to be true.

This may be difficult at times, because "...the Lord may not see fit to deliver you from your trials." (Mosiah 21:15) Why would that be? Because He wants to torture you? NO. Because He is refining you. He is giving you the opportunity to be the best that you can be.  Do not let that opportunity to grow and learn turn into you complaining and wasting the valuable time that He has given you here on earth. All we are asked to do is the best that we can with His help. And be of good cheer, the future is as bright as your faith! Your best is good enough, are you doing your best? You have a divine, eternal potential that you cannot even imagine. Of this I am sure.

[Go read Forget Me Not by Dieter F. Uchtdorf!]

I love you all so much and am so grateful for your love and support! 

Keep up the prayers!

Love,

Sister Kadee Taylor

I love the Lord, in Him my soul delights

First and foremost, shout-out to my little sister Savannah! It was her birthday yesterday!!! Whoot WHOOT! :D

Well folks, since the Elders' lease was up, us Sisters got to move into a new apartment and the Elders moved into our old humble abode.   Bless their souls.

New Apartment
252 Learn Rd. Apt #201
Tannersville, PA 18372

Well for P-day last week we went bowling as a district! It was hilarious and fun and awesome. I serve with the BEST Elders and Sisters! They're hilarious, so that's an obvious plus. It was weird being "in the world" and hearing "normal" music....just weird haha.

The Earl family took us out to eat at Ichiban...or however you spell it..and i LOVED it! I think the longer I live the more I love oriental food. And I know I have about 5 oriental food loving friends that are jumping for joy right now. We even had fried ice cream for dessert!  ...Even though that's not oriental at all haha.

I learned many valuable lessons this week, a few in particular which I shall never forget...

Lesson #1: If we are faithful and obedient, we can be tools in the Lord's hands and He can enable us to answer the prayers of others. 

We were having a rough day last week. After traveling many miles into the Poconos to make a visit, and then realizing that the individual was not home, we intended to make the most of the situation by going to visit a less active couple nearby. We called to make sure that they were home and then headed on over. I was really excited because I hadn't met them before, and I knew they had a pet hen and many snakes... :D

When we got there, we visited with Allen out on the porch for a few minutes before his wife Pat came outside to talk with us (They don't like us to call them Brother and Sister ha). After we'd been there for a while, and met ALL of the chickens we left with a word of prayer. Sister Earl offered it and when she closed, Allen said, "Wait, I'm not done. P.S. God- Thank you for sending the sisters here today, to give me an uplifting message and the encouragement that I needed. And to make my day just when I really needed it. Please send them to their next destination safely. Amen."

I have never felt the love of my Savior more. We had unknowingly answered this man's prayer.  And it wasn't until then that we realized that he had asked us at least THREE times, why we came to their house that day, and what made us choose to come to their home. And he asked us at least twice if someone from the ward had sent us over. I love being on the Lord's errand. Good ideas are often fruits of the Spirit. We don't need grand revelation to do the Lord's work, He often makes the idea our own when He knows that He can trust us to accomplish His work.

Lesson #2 - Never postpone a prompting.

We have a potential investigator who lives in very humble circumstances. We have tried to visit her many times, but she often will not open her door to the outside world, for fear of just one more thing going wrong. I had the opportunity to finally meet her later last week! After she explained some of her struggles to us, we offered to go by earlier this week and help her around the house. She knew that we were coming, and we couldn't wait to get back and help her as much as we could. 

Yesterday, we went by her home, and she didn't answer the door. It's okay- we are persistent. We went by three times.  The 3rd time was unique. We're not actually stalkers...we sort of wound up at her house by accidentally taking a wrong turn. We immediately took it as a sign that the 3rd time was the charm, and that she would now open her door to us! As we were knocking on her door, I got the "idea" to knock on her neighbor Tony's door, who we had met briefly a few weeks prior. I ignored the thought and we continued knocking. The thought to go to Tony's had not left my mind.  

After a few minutes, we got back in the car and headed home, seeing as how our time was running short and it was to be our last visit for the night. On our way home we were discussing how odd it was that we both felt the impression to go for the 3rd time, when she didn't even answer the door. Halfway home I said to Sister Earl, "We were supposed to knock on Tony's door. We were supposed to be at that home, at that time...I feel horrible." PLEASE! Never postpone a prompting! When Heavenly Father trusts you enough to tell you to do something, DO IT! (: I shall not soon forget that day.

Lesson #3: We are SO blessed.

I know that this one may seem obvious, but I want you to really ponder it. I have seen and met people in the most humble of circumstances, who are probably far happier than we often pretend to be. Be of good cheer, the future is as bright as your faith. I promise you that as you seek to recognize all that our Heavenly Father has blessed you with, that your heart will be opened to how truly blessed you really are. Pray, and ask to be helped in recognizing all of your wonderful blessings. You will see them everywhere you look. Take nothing for granted. Look for the good in everything, I promise you it's there.

Brothers and sisters, we know the way back to our Heavenly Father's presence, and we need to share that. There is nothing that should get in the way of our sharing the gospel with those we love. When we share it with love, it will never come across offensive or judgmental. We are so blessed to know that when we are in the service of our Heavenly Father, we are entitled to His help. Call upon it and it will bless your life and the lives of those around you more than you can possibly imagine.

I love you all!

Sister Kadee Taylor!