March 31, 2014

Wow... What a crazy past couple of weeks. Where to begin..... Well,
first off, two Saturdays ago on the 22nd, our investigator Christina
got married!!!!

My companion and I got to sing at her wedding as she
came down the isle, and then. Wait for
it............................... Wait for
it........................................................................................................................................................................
Day before yesterday she got
baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!! Things kept
getting in the way and she was having a hard time, but she has such
amazing faith and kept pushing forward. The day before her baptism she
got a nasty cold. She said that if she is still sick, she is still
going to get baptized and nothing would get in the way. The next day
she was so much better and got baptized, and then was very sick the
next day, but was able to stay for all of church and get confirmed.

She's so excited to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm so excited
for her! But of course, when someone is going to get Baptized, Satan
attacks. It was a hard week for her and us missionaries, but we pushed
through. It's still hard, but getting better.

Goodness, when ever I get ready to email, I forget what I want to say. Ah!
Anyway, it's beginning to warm up again. It gets warm, then cold, then
warm, then cold, and etc.   I'm really enjoying the warmth. It has
made me a little homesick the past couple of days. The combination of
facing attacks from the adversary and feeling warmth come, it's caused
only a little home sickness. It's weird to feel the warmth and look up
only to see clouds instead of mountains. Don't worry about that
though. It's only a little.

So, I want you all to make sure you work to share the gospel with
people. Study the gospel and pray for the opportunities. It's very
important. A ward member really helped in being a missionary. She has
a friend who once met with missionaries, but hadn't seen them for a
while. When we asked if she could introduce us to him, she was a
little hesitant, but agreed to have us over. We made it simple. He
lives a floor below her in the apartment building. We walked down,
asked him if he would come up and take a few pictures for the ward
member of her with us. He said yes and came up and took pictures. We
talked like normal people and then invited him to stay for the message
we would be sharing with the member. He said yes, and after sharing
the message and answering his questions, he agreed to take the
missionary lessons. Introducing a friend to the missionaries doesn't
have to be awkward or weird.

Love you all!!!
~ Sister Tayla Wells

March 24, 2014

This e-mail is going to be short. Sorry! Running out of time. So......
Guess what! Our investigator got married and she can get baptized on
Saturday! Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting. We got to have a zone
activity today and I loved it!
This week was tough, but I'm learning that communication is super
important, it's important to look for the good, obedience brings
miracles, just keep moving forward, and as long as you focus on what
God thinks of you, you will always succeed! :) love you all!!!!
-Sister Tayla Wells

March 17, 2014

It is beginning to warm up. It was a little chilly yesterday, about 10
degrees. I'll be fine. It might be a seasonal mood disorder. When the
sun comes out I feel amazing. It makes me happy. :) I don't think it's
depression, there have just been so many changes happening all at
once. It's difficult. I'll be fine. I feel much better this week! :)

March 10, 2014

It's warming up today! It's supposed to get near the 50's! It's a
miracle! There are so many puddles, but the mountains of snow are
still there. So. Much. Snow. Wow. We got a new investigator this week.
She is super sweet and so cute and little. Her name is Rebecca. It's
so cool to see how people react when they learn about the gospel for
the first time. We run into so many weird people as we go walking. So
many... Interesting people. Ha ha. We ran into another drunk guy. He
wanted to marry my companion and I. Oh dear.
I was super happy to hear my awesome sister took my challenge and is
working to share the gospel with so many people. Way to be!!! :D

March 03, 2014

Some where in heaven, a pipe is leaking, because it won't stop
snowing. Snow. That's a four letter word that is soon going to be
inappropriate to say. No one wants to hear the word snow ever again.
It was around 3 degrees yesterday. So cold. It had warmed up pretty
nicely last week. It was in the 30's and 40's and it felt wonderful.
There was a point we wanted to take our coats off and role the windows
down because it felt so nice. CraZy weather! They said that when you
have a bad winter, you have a bad summer. Everyone is expecting a
brutally hot summer. It isn't going to be very easy. We are definitely
learning to withstand the extremes of weather.
Good grief. The Elders like to hog the entire church building it
seems. Elders. Tut tut tut. Oh well. Anyway. One of our investigators
has been coming to church and she likes it! We are so happy! Another
investigator that I have mentioned before, is getting married! But
they keep pushing the wedding date back. We just got transfer calls,
and we will be here in this area for another transfer. Nice, eh? :)
I want you all to take this seriously. Help the missionaries find
someone to teach. My goodness. It isn't easy finding people, but I
know you can do it! It would mean the world to everyone!
-Sister Tayla Wells.

February 24, 2014

  My goodness. it's the season to get sick. Almost everyone we have
gone to see is sick. So sad. Luckily, we're not sick, but we have felt
it coming. Lots of water and fruit for us! The poor elders in our ward
have both spent time throwing up this week.
     We went on exchanges with the sister training leaders. I went
with the sister into the city. These city drivers are insane! I was so
happy I wasn't driving. I had a few heart attacks just sitting in the
passenger seat. Holy cow. I'm so blessed to be in my area. The people
here aren't crazy like they at there. Man. If I get put there and
learn to drive with these people, I'm going to be either a pro or a
maniac behind the wheal in Utah. The closer to the heart of the city
you get, the darker the feeling. It just feels so sad and dark, and
you get people who are so opposite. Some are super mean, and some are
just so friendly. It was a good place for me to practice talking to
people though. The sister training leader did some approaches and then
made me do some. The first two people I tried to talk to completely
ignored me and walked past with looks or extreme irritation. Then we
past a couple more who were super nice. This got me pumped for this
area because people are so much nicer. I was able to hand out two
cards with no fear. Woo!
     While I was traveling with the sister training leader, the sun
had gone down and we were trying to find the freeway so we could meet
back up with the other sisters to exchange back. The freeway felt
impossible to get on. We had no GPS to tell us where to go, so we kept
driving in circles and finally got on, and yes, we were heading in the
right direction. Never complain about Utah freeways again, okay? It's
super intense here. Seriously, I probably got a cardio work out
because my heart was going and going from all the craziness around us.
     I can't recall if I already shared this story or not, but while
Sister Lepule was pulling the car out, a skunk ran out and scared the
tar out of me. Lucky for me, it cared more about running than
spraying. Close call. Oo! We saw dear yesterday and a ton of geese
keep flying by our apartment. The wild life is beginning to come out a
little more because it warmed up a little this past week. From what we
have been told, the weather is supposed to drop again this week. Darn.
At least it's almost March. It's supposed o get nicer in March.
February is supposed to be the worst part of the winter. Hopefully we
won't get anymore polar vortexes (that's what they have been calling
the days that drop pretty low below 0 degrees.
     One of our investigators is getting married. She asked Sister
Lepule and I to be her brides maids. Cool eh? I never knew I could be
a missionary brides maid. Ha! Exciting! :D She also asked us to be the
speakers at her baptism. Ah! Scary! Speaking is pretty scary, but it's
something I'm really learning to do out here.
     Does anyone have any advice on how to work with the ward council.
I need all the advice I can get!
     Have I ever mentioned how much I love priesthood blessings? I
just love them. I love feeling the spirit enter the room as soon as a
blessing begins. Ah! How wonderful! I just love the spirit! The spirit
is super important. I don't think any of us have a complete
understanding of what we have. It's such a wonderful gift and
blessing, that is so powerful, yet, if obedient, is always with us.
How incredible. Always be obedient and worthy to receive the guidance
of the Holy Ghost! Don't take it for granted! Work hard to recognize
and understand the promptings you receive!!!
-Sister Tayla Wells. :D

February 17, 2014

  Our church got tagged. Sad day! But they got all the spray paint
off, so that's nice. Man, I feel like every time I start writing, I
forget what I want to tell you. After emailing time is over, I
suddenly remember what ever it is I left out. Goodness. Hopefully it
will come. Alright, let's see. First of, it won't stop snowing!!! They
say it's supposed to get pretty warm this week, and are concerned that
it will move too quickly, causing lots of flooding. Service
opportunity? Hope so. I know everything happens for a reason, so
what's the reason for all the snow? A normal winter here consists of
maybe three days below zero. This winter, according to one of our
investigators who has a snow plowing business, has had a little over
30 days below zero. Yes, I'm very cold, but the hearing in this
apartment is great. That's a huge blessing right there. :D
     Bah, I just looked out the window and the snow is picking back up
again. They said a storm is supposed to hit today. We got part of it
already. The storm is supposed to bring about six inches of snow. By
Wednesday the temperature should hit in the 40's! Just the thought of
warmth makes me giddy. Wonderful! I look forward to summer, but what
scares me is that it's my last summer here I'm the mission. Summer
will fly by quickly, and then winter will come and my mission will be
over... What on earth?! I'm not ready for that. I have a greater
understanding of why missionaries come home and act all awkward. I
will probably be one of them. Oh! I have a fun story! So, last week we
had a sisters conference where we learned a lot, even a self defense
move. This move is perfect for if the attacker is a drunk man. If you
do this move and hold it for more than five seconds, the person will
die, so don't hold for more than five seconds. Good to know. An Elder
laughed when he found out about this move. He said he can't picture me
pulling it on someone. Apparently, I'm too little and nice. False! I'm
tougher than I look (Cough cough).
     Speaking of drunk guys, or those who get high. When they answer
the door, they are either really awkward or funny. Depends on the
person. I mentioned the story about the drunk man getting confused
about where he lives and trying to walk into a members home while we
were there, right? Woah. I just walked through the storm to get to the
building with internet connection. Ha ha, it's really windy. That was
a fun walk. :)
      Our investigator came to church again!!! So happy!!! I just love
her so much!!! Ah!! So wonderful!!!!!!!
     Anyway, something I want to mention again is member missionary
work. This is very important in missionary work. I know I have
mentioned it before, but I really want to expound on that. If every
member were to get involved, missionary work would pick up like crazy.
Teaching would be so much easier. If members were to reach out to
their friends who aren't members, or were to work with each other to
find and befriend less active members or non members, the lives of
those individuals would be so blessed, testimonies would be
strengthened, and the Spirit would burn so brightly for the world
would see. The example of each member is so important. I was just
reading this morning in Alma about how the members became prideful,
were unkind, became bad examples, and missionary work greatly
decreased. People didn't want to learn because of what they had
already seen. We were told the statistic that about 1 in 1,000 people
who the missionaries come in contact with by knocking on doors get
baptized. 2/3 people who are taught in members homes get baptized.
Members have a huge impact. People look at us missionaries and expect
us to be perfect, but when they see and become friends with the
members who can relate, they feel better. They feel like they do fit
in, that there is a place for them, that they do belong. The church is
for everyone! Members are essential to missionary work. When members
get involved over here, it's so wonderful. It's amazing how the
members come to lessons and can connect and help the investigators. If
we were to walk up to someone and start talking about the gospel
(which we do), they would think we were crazy (most people do). On the
other hand, when people have friends who are members and they see
their example and how happy they are, they get curious and are open to
learning more. When their member friends invite them to sit in on a
quick spiritual message when they have the missionaries over for
dinner, they feel the Spirit testifying to them. Their hearts become
softened and they get a glimpse of the immense love our Heavenly
Father and Savior have for them. They are then prepared to hear the
gospel. Both they and the missionaries will be so happy!!! And you, as
the member, get to experience that great and unique joy that you can
only feel through helping someone come to the true and everlasting
gospel. What an opportunity! What an experience! What a blessing! I
testify that this church is the true church of God and that it is for
everyone. Absolutely everyone. It WILL bring you so much joy as you
follow and keep the commandments. One commandment that is greatly
overlooked is keeping the sabbath day holy. That includes going to
church. I testify that church attendance is essential. God wouldn't
have told us to go if it weren't important. If you try to listen to
the Holy Ghost as you attended church, you learn so much. I know
church attendance has greatly blessed my life and I KNOW it will bless
yours. I leave these things with you in the name of our Savior Jesus
Christ, Amen.

February 10, 2014

Each week out here is so interesting. Time flies by so quickly, and so
slowly all at once. It kind of freaks me out how quickly my mission
has gone so fast? I looked at my missionary procelyting card and it
said my last day is February 2. I have less than a year left on my
mission. Bah!! That is to crazy too think about. My goodness. It
doesn't feel real. And at the end of this next transfer, I will be
half way done with my mission. How sad! I am learning so much and have
learned a lot already. I feel like I need more time than what I have
left. It's amazing how much we learn and grow as we throw ourselves
into the Lords work. He blesses us so much and really prepares us for
the future and to live with Him for eternity. Living with God for
eternity is such a great blessing. We really need to get to work so we
can get there!
 

   No matter how many times I read the Book of Mormon, it always
touches my heart and so many unnoticed things suddenly appear. What a
blessing. Each morning during my studies, the Spirit just hits me and
I want so badly to be completely perfect, to be pure, to reach that
potential God knows I'm capable of. This has been reoccurring
throughout the week. As one of my amazing investigators said, "I want
to be clean. I want to know that I am worthy. I want to live with God
again." This is exactly how I feel. I haven't committed any serious
crimes, don't worry! ;) it's just a great feeling to have the Spirit
encourage us to be better, to want to improve, to want to change to
become something great, and to know God is right with us. He WANTS to
help us. We aren't really ever alone, no matter how alone we feel. We
just need to pray and ask God if He is there, and He will always
answer. He promised, and He always keeps His promises. We just have to
act. We just need to have faith. I have seen it over and over again.
As we are obedient, we receive blessings. As people keep the
commitment to read the Book of Mormon and pray, a light appears in
their eyes, they seem so much happier, and people notice the change.
It's amazing! Imagine how much happier everyone would be if they read
just a chapter a day, and prayed very morning and night. It's such a
primary answer, a simple fundamental, but it's so powerful. Don't
overlook them! When studying, study with purpose. When praying, really
talk to God, as if He were right in front of you. It's amazing! If you
don't get answers emmidiately, don't give up on God, He hasn't given
up on YOU.

     The people we are teaching are so sweet and have really helped to
build my testimony. When I first came out here on my mission, I
thought I had a strong testimony, but since I have been out here, it
has grown more than ever before! I'm sure I have said that multiple
times, but it's so true!!! This gospel is so stinking true!!! As a
couple of missionaries have said, "The church is so true, it's
ridiculous!" I heard a talk that said if you want to increase your
faith [or your testimony], then be obedient and get to work! It breaks
my heart every time when people say they will read and pray, but then
they don't and they miss out on a wonderful spiritual experience that
could lead them to that straight and narrow path. They don't realize
what they have in front of them. Don't realize what they are missing.
That goes for all of us when we get lazy and aren't as obedient as we
should be. We don't realize what we are missing. There a so many
blessings that God is waiting to give us. I don't want to miss out.
    I saw the power of fasting last week. An investigator hasn't been
able to come to church, but three of us missionaries fasted for her
and another investigator, and she came! She came to church! And the
other investigator got up in sacrament meeting and bore her testimony!
It was so wonderful. I know I included that in my last letter, but I
just had to again. It was great. I love seeing people act and increase
their faith!!! Along with these great experiences has come Attacks
from the adversary. It's rough, but God doesn't give us more than what
we can handle. It really helps strengthen me. Again, reading the Book
of Mormon really helps!!!

     Want to know something? I'm grateful for Utah weather! At least
the winter isn't like what it is here this year. It won't stop
snowing, and the temperature likes to stay around 0 degrees F and
during the day, to gets into the double digits! Woo! Man, when it hits
in the 30's and 40's, it will feel good enough to run around without
coats! ;)
Oh yes!!! I also want to comment on Joseph Smith. He's so cool! The
Spirit is so strong every time someone shares their testimonies about
him or when we read or learn about him and the restoration. It's so
cool. You should watch, "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the
Restoration." Did you know they have it on Hulu now? It's so great!

Feb 3, 2014

Last week was pretty cold again. It was so cold that our car wouldn't
start on Tuesday. The temperature had dropped to the negatives again,
with a windchill getting the temp to -30 something. We were ordered
not to be outside for more than three minutes at a time. An exposure
of five minutes caused instant frost bite. Yeah, not too fun. We are
very careful. I ware so many layers that I feel like the little boy
from the movie, Christmas story, who can't put his arms down. Luckily
I can. We look forward to spring and summer. I guess this is the worst
winter Chicago has seen in 30 years. What an interesting experience.
So, two quick stories. First, two investigators came to church and one
shared her testimony while the other came when she originally said no!
How cool is that! :D secondly, during a lesson yesterday, the door
knob of the front door started moving and you could hear keys. The
family we were sharing a message with looked surprised. They opened
the door, and a man carrying a six pack in one hand was a little
confused (one too many drinks) and thought he lived there. They had to
direct him to another house across the street. I'm grateful for the
word of wisdom.
I'm so grateful for this gospel. It's just so amazing. Scripture
reading is like eating candy. It is so sweet and I just enjoy it so
much. The promise is true that as you study the words of God, you want
to improve, learn, grow, change, do more good, and you feel the
spirit. Make sure you are studying!
-Sincerely,
Sister Wells