January 27, 2014

General Email:

Well, I'm in my new area. It's quite the change. My first are was full
of buildings. The only open space was parks. Those were few. This new
area is full of farms! Can you imagine my surprise? Wow. How crazy.
It's a nice little change. The ward members are very kind. There are
such wonderful investigators. They have such wonderful testimonies and
are growing so much, and I have only seen the change over a weeks
span. How cool. My new companion is Samoan. Her name is sister Lepule
and she's super excited and ready to go! :)
Everyone says this weather isn't normal. Today the high is only
supposed to reach -6. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse. Hm. Well, when
I get home, I will appreciate good o'l Utah weather. :)

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January 20, 2014

General Email:

What a week. It's hard to know where to start. Oh goodness.
For starters, do you remember how I told you about Brother Silski, the
ward member that was in the hospital, and that he was like a grandpa
to me? He passed away. :,( it broke my heart. We attended the funeral
on Tuesday. There is something wonderful about LDS funerals. We
already know where they are once they pass away. We know everything
will be okay. We have Gods wonderful plan in our lives. I feel lucky
that I'm a missionary and I get to tell people about it. People need
to know that there is so much to be happy about! I like to imagine
that I have another guardian angel. We are going to have dinner with
Sister Silski tonight. It will be nice to see her one last time. And
yes, I'm leaving. We got the transfer calls last night. I'm getting
transferred for the first time since I came here! But I will discuss
that in more detail at the end of this letter.
Anthony (The less active member) is so wonderful. He's on fire and
wants to increase in his knowledge of the gospel. He's so excited and
he has so many goals he wants to reach. I'm so proud of him. He helps
Sister Bonvissuto and I see the joy of being missionaries. It brings
such a wonderful feeling to see the gospel change someone's life and
to know we got to be a part of that. There are so many more out there
who are waiting to hear, we just have to find them! As Anthony put it,
we are digging through the dirt to find the gold. His mother has seen
the change in him and wants her other son to learn as well. She loves
the change she is seeing. He's so excited to share the Gospel with the
rest of his family. It's so amazing.
An investigator, Wendy, seemed to not be as interested for a while,
but now things are changing. The last couple of lessons we have had,
the Spirit has been so much stronger. Her husband who is a less active
member is reading the Book of Mormon every night now. I'm so excited
for them!!! I can picture her getting baptized, both of them becoming
active members, and then getting sealed in the temple with their
daughter. Wouldn't that be so wonderful?! The last lesson we had, she
opened up about how she knows the Book of Mormon is true and how she
knows she needs to be baptized, but right as she was about to tell us
what her concerns are, her daughter had to go to the bathroom so she
was interrupted. By the time she got back, the conversation changed.
All we could think was, "Ah!" We will be meeting with her again
tonight. I'm sad this will be my last time teaching her. I wanted so
badly to see her get baptized. I'll be so happy to hear about it. :) I
want to invite her tonight, and I hope she'll say yes! That would mean
the world to me.
We got a referral last week. We called him and as soon as I introduced
myself as a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints, he got so excited. He told me his story and it is heart
breaking! He and his wife had been married 20 years. She had just been
baptized and as they were working on going to the temple, she got
cancer. She passed away two months ago. He is still hurting very much.
He said he walks to her grave very day and reads the Book of Mormon to
her. Doesn't that make you want to cry? I met him for the first time
yesterday. We found a ride for him to get to church, and he so happy
to finally get back to church. He had moved here to bury his wife but
didn't know where the church was, so he hadn't come for eight weeks.
He even feared up and cried during sacrament meeting, especially
during the hymns and when someone shared their experience with a
sister getting sick and dying from cancer. I'm sad that was the only
time I would get to see him. I would have loved to teach him. He needs
to know that he can be sealed to his wife and that families are
forever!!!
Now, for the last part of my email, I will talk about the dreaded
transfer call. Considering I have been in the same area for four
transfers, almost six months, it was obvious I was going to get
transferred. I had heard of people staying in the same spot for five
transfers, and to be honest, I wanted to stay here for just one more.
There were more opportunities appearing and so much I wanted to do,
but I guess The Lord needs me else where. I will be heading to Gurnie
1st to finish training a new sister. This makes me laugh and want to
cry at the same time. I have been training from the very beginning. I
started my second transfer. Considering I only had one transfer to be
taught, I feel like there are some things I'm missing. I was hoping to
get someone who knew more than me and could help me see where I might
be going wrong, correct any bad habits, but, I guess The Lord trusts
me enough to keep training the new missionaries. I can't help but
wonder what The Lord sees in me. I never imagined myself being thrown
into leadership roles from the beginning, but here I am.  I know it
will be okay, but at the moments, my heart still wants to crack from
the thought of leaving all of these wonderful people. I love them
thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
much!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When I was told I was leaving, part of me wanted to
say, "You'll never take me alive!" But I'm sure this next companion
will be awesome and there will be so many amazing people to meet in
that area. Everywhere I go, there are so many great and amazing people
to meet.
Did anyone take me seriously when I gave the challenge last week to
give a Book of Mormon to someone by the end if the month? You should
have! Get to work!
Sincerely,
Sister Tayla Wells

P.S: Dad and Lacey, I am out of time so I can't write individual
emails to you. Maybe I would have if you would have written me this
week (I'm partially joking here). Why didn't you write? Tut tut tut.
Shame. You better write next week! :D I'm looking forward to hearing
from you.

January 13, 2014

General Email: 

My goodness. Typing on an iPad is kind of hard. Such a little screen.
If my e-mails have been short, it's due to the fact I'm growing lazy
as I try to master typing on the iPad. This week is a lot nicer than
last week. The weather jumped from being -17 with a wind chill of -45
to being in the 40's today. It's awesome. My companion is very happy.
:) there haven't been to many people to teach as of late, but there is
a less active we have been teaching. His name is Anthony. He is moving
at a crazy speed. He loves the gospel so much! He is so excited to
attend church and take the sacrament. He is so grateful for the gospel
and is working hard to get his family involved. If every member were
as excited as he is and we're doing exactly what he's doing in working
to share the gospel with his entire family and all his friends, the
missionaries would be so busy and excited. There would be so many more
joining the church. People who are introduced to the church through a
trusted friend are more likely to listen than those who have
missionaries knocking at the door. Every one needs to invite someone
to learn more about the church by the end of the month. Get to work,
and report to me next week!
Sincerely, Sister Tayla Wells
:)

January 06, 2014~ First of the New Year!

General Email:

Want to know how cold it is? The car was saying -7, but it usually

says it's warmer than it really is. The Elders said with wind chill

it's about -45. It's so cold! I'm at the church right now doing email,

and it's freezing. Even the Elders are cold. The car sounded awful. I

was scared to drive it.   We are alive though! This was the first day

we were told to stay inside and do few things. Our apartment is cold,

so it doesn't really matter whether we are here or in the apartment.

This week was a tough one. I didn't realize I was letting myself get

discouraged. I let my faith decrease and I let fear take over, but I'm

fixing that. I think I let myself slip because it was snowing so much,

and I was facing a fear of driving in the snow, but I'll do better.

The trick is to just work. I'm so cold, I don't really know what to

wright. Hmmm.... Oh! The less active we're working with is so stinking

awesome. He's so ready to come to church. He went Sunday and said he

can't understand how he went so long without taking the sacrament.

He's awesome. :)

I love you all! Love,

Sister Tayla Wells

P.s. I (Lacey) received a text on my phone the other day that was from a ward member of Tayla's area who thought we might like a few pictures of her! 

So here are some bonus Photos! 

Companions

She Even Drives In the Snow! 

Trying to stay warm! 

We sure do love this girl of ours!

December 30, 2013~ Christmas Week

General Email:

This last week was quite the blur. I don't really know where to start. Christmas feels like it was two to three weeks ago, not just last week. Goodness. 

Well, I feel like I was pretty spoiled. I received three packages filled with presents. You all spoil me too much. I don't think I will have the right or opportunity to say I have been forgotten for another year. ;) I enjoyed seeing that most of the presents were edible, so I wouldn't have to worry to much about how to pack everything up when each transfer comes, or when it's time to come home. God gave me a great Christmas present. We haven't crashed and died yet. I have been pretty lucky with not slipping on the ice. One of the Elders likes to speed. I'm worried he's going to slide the car and die (just a little worried. He seems to know what he's doing with driving in the snow). Crazy Elder. Elders in general are just crazy and easily carried away (No offense intended to all my friends who are male and served a mission, you have to admit. You get distracted easily and are just crazy ;D). I haven't gotten sick either! No colds or anything. I guess I have been sick, but not sick in the virus spreading way. I got my results from the doctor. I'm just low on Vitamin D. That affects fatigue and mood. I'll be getting some vitamins for that today, so I'll but up and running in no time! The sun doesn't like showing itself here during the winter, so it's hard to get vitamin D that way. That's one reason I'm grateful for living in the good o'l Utah desert. Even during winter, the sun is still out and shining. If you are one of those people who complains about living in Utah, take president Uchtdorf's advice and "Stop it!" :) Count your many blessing. Oh! Make it a new years resolution. That's what one of mine will be. It really works. You should do it too.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and had the opportunity to bless someone else. For those of you who didn't take the challenge that was issued at our last general conference, to invite at least one person to learn more about this gospel before Christmas, I invite you to do so now. Seriously. Do it. Just do it. It won't ruin your friendship with that person. Just do it. Invite them over when you have the missionaries over for dinner, and hold a short family home evening afterwords, giving the missionaries an opportunity to teach (trust me, they'll appreciate it).

 Also, just so you know, the missionaries can't do this work all on their own. They need you. They REALLY need you. I didn't realize just how much a missionary needs the ward members until now. It's insane. So, start finding people. Talk to them, get to know them. Make friends with everyone! Be a good example and representative of the gospel. Get out there. This is a war between good and evil. Literally! I'm realizing that more each day. If you do that, people will be even more open to learning more about the gospel, and their lives will be blessed because of your courage. Hop to it!!! Love you all!
Love, 

Sister Tayla Wells

December 23, 2013

General Email: 

I have been told that some of you aren't receiving the e-mail. I apologize. I hope you get it!

Okay, so before I start, I want to share a really weird experience I had this last week. My companion and I went up to a door and knocked. The man who opened looked rather intimidated. He didn't say a thing, but after we introduced ourselves, he waved his hand to say no and closed the door. I noticed he was watching us as we walked to the next house. No one was home, so we went to the next. The lady opened the door and right before we could introduce ourselves, her phone rang. She asked us to hold on. She picked up the phone, and what ever the person on the phone said must have startled her because she froze. She then said, "Hold on, their at my front door." This shocked me. Who was calling her about us? It quickly dawned on me that it must have been that man who was staring at us from the window and who said nothing at the door. She came back to the door and said very meanly, "So, what's your reason for casing the place?" All I could think was, whoah! What did that man say about us? I introduced ourselves as missionaries. She just had a strange look like she didn't care or believe us and said she wasn't interested. The rest of the houses was the same. The people aren't very sneaky. As we knocked on each door, we could see them on their phones, just watching us. The strange/unkind rumor that man was spreading, was moving VERY quickly. There was only one kind lady who opened the door and kindly said she wasn't interested (maybe the neighbors didn't have her number?), and another only opened the door when we had walked a good distance away. She called out her apologies and said she didn't open the door because it was dark and she didn't know us. We told her we understood. At this point, I was feeling uncomfortable. Everyone thought we were up to no good. I had heard stories of people calling cops. I mentioned to my companion that maybe they would. She said she didn't think so. The next thing I know, a cop car comes screaming down the road. By this point, my heart wanted to explode! I was so grateful I remembered to bring my card with me that shows I'm authorized to proselyte. Then I worried because my companion keeps forgetting to find hers. As the cop got closer, my heart was beating HARD. Then, it past us and kept going around the corner. My companion, knowing how easily I worry, just started laughing at me. At the time, I didn't think it was that funny, but now, it's so hilarious! People can be so strange. We went knocking on doors last night, and there was this one house where the people just stared at us as we went from door to door, like we were freaks. My companion pointed out that we do look rather weird. We're two young and small girls, walking around in the dark, wearing dresses in the middle of winter, walking from door to door inviting people to learn more about Christ. I guess we're an interesting sight.

The investigator that told us he wanted to be baptized has disappeared again! We just don't understand. For four solid weeks, he was just, gone. He suddenly comes back, says he really wants to get baptized, is around for less than one week, and then disappears again. We don't know what's going on. We hope he'll appear soon. We really want to help him.

I do have some sad knews about some of our ward members, The Silskis. Please keep them in your prayers at this time. They are a older couple in the ward. They are so wonderful and have us over for dinner every other week. They are so in love and always comment on how they don't know what they'll do when the other one goes because they are just so in love. They love missionary work and the temple. They are always going to the temple. We got to go on Thursday as a zone, and we saw them there. We found out that the very next day, brother Silski almost died! He was still in the ICU yesterday. He had an abdominal aneurism. They didn't think he would make it through the night, but thankfully, he did! His intestines were so swolen that they couldn't sow him closed. They should have done that yesterday from what I understand. Poor Sister Silski said she has never felt so alone. This is so hard for her. To think we saw him smiling and feeling so well and happy at the temple just the day before he almost died. We really hope he pulls through. We love him so much! Keep them in your prayers please!

Have you ever thought about how important and amazing scriptures are? Have you ever realized how lucky we are to be a part of the church that contains the fullness of the gospel. Have you ever realized how truly amazing the priesthood and the gospel is? Do we know what we have? I don't think we really do. I'm coming to realize so much more how lucky we are and what we really have. We need to remember to always be grateful that we are a part of this. Don't take it for granted. ALWAYS be grateful for these wonderful gifts. Just this last General Conference, a commitment was given to all members to work to invite someone to come to church and learn more about the Gospel before Christmas. If you haven't already done this, you're running out of time. Hop to it! It really isn't as scary as you think. Just be bold and comfortable in talking about your wonderful church. This message has the ability to save people. Seriously! It can really bless their lives. They can be so much happier and feel even greater peace as they come closer to their Heavenly Father. Don't let your fear get in the way of that. I'm still working to overcome my fears. It is very hard for me at times to share this message with people (especially when they close the door as soon as they see us). I used to be SUPER shy. Remember? If I can do this, so can you! I love you all. Remember to get to work. We made the covenant to stand as a witness of God when we were baptized. Don't forget to do it. Let the whole world know!!! This really is something amazing and exciting. We have a great and wonderful responsibility! :D

Love,

Sister Tayla Wells