May 19, 2014

General Email:

This week was an interesting week. We had a zone meeting and exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. The zone meeting was powerful! Pretty much, we were called to repentance, but told we were so loved and to keep trying. There is always room to improve, to be more obedient. We are working super hard to fix any areas where we might be slacking. The night we had zone conference, we also did the exchange. Sister Bradly, one of the STLs, came here, and my companion, Sister North, went up to Chicago. To be honest, I really don't like being placed in leadership positions. Staying in my area meant that I was in charge. Ha! Any way, that really showed me where I could improve and change, so it was a good thing. Sister Bradly was very encouraging. We went to the library the next morning and when were were leaving, a woman was walking out as well. She was so nice and kept smiling, and didn't shun us when we said hi to her and held the doors open. As we walked back to our car, I got the feeling to give her a pass along card. Of course, I chickened out because she got into her car, so we got into ours. But I felt the feeling even stronger, so I told Sister Bradly and we hopped out, walked over, and knocked on her car window. Ha ha, she wasn't weirded out at all! She was super happy! When we introduced ourselves and gave her a pass along card, we found out she used to be an investigator about two years ago. She said she wasn't interested at this time, but she was super nice! She even waved when she drove away. Later that day, we were driving passed a neighborhood where we have an investigator that kind of disapeared before I came to the area. I got the feeling to go find him, so we did. He was home! He wasn't there when we came for our return appointment. :/  We also went tracting and found a cool new investigator name Tom. When it came time to have an appointment with him, we couldn't find anyone females to come with us, no one his age that he could connect with (the mission rule for safety is 3 females to 1 male). So we prayed, and we felt it would be good to call Daniel. We met at an ice cream shop which, come to find out, doesn't have a place indoors for us to sit, so we had the lesson outside on the benches. It was so cold!!!!!!!! Our poor member wasn't dressed warm enough, but he toughened it out. :) When we got home from the lesson, he texted us and told us he saw a truck at a neighbors that looked just like the one that our investigator drives. Come to find out, they live three houses away from each other!!! What?!!!!!!!!! How cool is that!!!!! :D

I'm learning a lot this week. A big thing is how to listen to the Spirit. I think I have been slacking on that lately. Oops. Never too late to improve!!!! :)

Love ya'll! 

Sincerely, Sister Tayla Wells

May 12, 2014

General Email: 

We had a crazy adventure last night. We were visiting a less active

when the daughter got a weather alert on her phone. It sent a warning

for a sever thunder storm, and then one for a dangerous thunderstorm.

Suddenly, the wind picked up. Sister North and I decided we should

start driving to our ward members home where we would be calling home

for Mother's Day. As we walked across the street to our car, the rain

began. As soon as we drove around the corner, a wall of rain slammed

against the car and we could hardly see the road. The wind became so

ferocious within a matter of minutes and branches covered the road.

Our drive became a game of dodge ball as we dodged the large branches

falling in our path. We even had to go around a mail box that had been

blown off its pole. The cars ahead of us and off to the sides were

barely visible. The windshield wipers were on high speed and even then

only allowed a moments glance at what lie ahead. Panicked, we decided

that there was nothing we could do but head to our members home. We

prayed out loud and in our hearts for safety, that At one point we had

to go off roading to avoid a large branch. We decided that if we got

stuck in the mud, we would run to someone's house and ask if we could

please come in. Luckily, we didn't get stuck and made it our members

home. When we arrived, we found two large branches blocking the

entrance to her drive way. We parked in front of her yard, made a run

for it, hopped the branches, and made in side. Needless to say, we

were pretty wet and my shoes are still wet today.

      We Waited for the storm to die down so we could travel home

safely. As we traveled home, we took many detours to avoid the fallen

trees and roads that had been flooded. At one point we found that we

had accidentally driven into a flooded area. We didn't dare stop to

back up for fear that once we stopped, we would be trapped in the

water. We made out just fine. :) this morning as we have driven

around, we have seen large trees uprooted, trees snapped in half,

branches thrown everywhere, downed power lines, sidings and window

screens ripped to pieces, branches scattered, possibly one car smashed

by a tree, flooding, and so on. We are alive though! Woo hoo!!! It was

so scary when we were in the middle of it, but now it's pretty funny

to look back on. We had quite the adventure.

      Early this week past week on Wednesday, we had the opportunity

to attended the temple. Because my area is at the end of the mission,

it was a nice long drive. We drove through some pretty sketchy areas.

They were the kind that you would dread to have your car break down

in. The temple was beautiful! I love the temple. Apparently, Canadian

Geese do too. They were chilling on the roof. Before I left, I ran

into Sister Silski, the lady from my first area who's husband passed

away. It was so wonderful to see her! :) We got to go to the mission

home after to eat lunch and hear a quick lesson.

A lady in my ward, Sister Skeen, just took us to the candy factory. Ha

ha, it was so cute! And she bought us some candy for our birthdays.

She's so sweet. :D She's the one who's house we went to during the

storm.

      Time felt broken this week. It went by rather quickly, but we

didn't get to teach too many people. We did teach quite a few less

actives. It was wonderful to see them all and to see the hope and

change the gospel brings to people who have been without it for so

long. The gospel, when studied and applied to our lives, opens heaven

and the blessings and knowledge just flow. What an awesome gift! We're

so lucky. I would like to throw in really quick that this church is

true. ALL OF IT. The people in the church are not perfect, but the

gospel, the church, is perfect. I have met so many people who stopped

coming because they were offended or because they feel they're not

good enough. Just as President Uchtdorf said, there is room for you!

Just come!

Love you all!!!

May 05, 2014

General Email:

This will probably be pretty short. This week has been interesting with the weather. It will look like it's going to be sunny, but then you walk outside and it's cold. We sat outside and taught a lesson and it was so cold and windy, yet, I still managed to get a sunburn on my neck. What on earth? Anyway, we hope it will warm up soon so that I won't have to worry about going to buy a jacket, and so that we can finally stop wearing boots and leggings. That will be super nice. :D We really want the sun. People say that the weather is a month behind. This is something we would expect for the beginning of April. They also said that this summer is supposed to mild and winter is expected to be another bad one. This winter was the worst winter they have experienced, over 30 days below 0 degrees. They say the next winter will probably be bad again. Many had said they are sick of this weather and want to move. Goodness. Many have. We are supposed to have around 36 members moving out of the ward by the end of this month.

Fun story. We went to go to a members for dinner. We knocked on the door and no one answered. We felt like we should just stand there, so we did. When we felt good about walking away, a lady pulled up. Come to find out, we were one house off, but this lady was interested in learning! Interesting how the Lord works. We both have been to the members home before, yet, it didn't dawn on us that we were at the wrong house. The lady was super nice. Also, another funny story. We have some new investigators, and the husband and wife have the same birthdays as us. The husbands birthday is May 18 like Sister Norths, and the wifes is May 25, like mine. Weird, eh? What a coincidence. Haven't had that one happen yet. 

Lesson learned this week: thoughts are SUPER powerful. They can change the way you see the world, yourself, and they influence your desires. As I have worked hard to fight negative thoughts with positive ones and have tried too look at what I'm grateful for, my perspective has changed, and my desire to serve, change, and become a better person has increased. Be very aware of your thoughts. My zone leader mentioned a quote that thoughts are the ancestors that precede action. Our thoughts become our actions, who we are, and how we treat people. It's so interesting. 

I hope you're all having an amazing week! Love you all! Keep working hard. Remember that all will be well as we have faith and rely on the Lord, and remember that our afflictions may seem like they are huge when we are in the middle of them, but they will pass before we know it. Bye!

April 28, 2014

General Email:

Ha, so I almost forgot to write the general e-mail. My bad. It's crazy to read my e-mails every Monday and to read about all the different things that are taking place. There's so much happening and everyone is growing up and moving on in life. Wow. It will be such a shock to come home and see all the different changes taking place. I'm super excited to know that my aunt got baptized!!!!!!!!! Woo!!!!!!!!!!!! So exciting!!!! :D I'm super happy. That's just great.

We have an awesome investigator. She has a baptismal date set for May 24. Cool, eh? I hope she can keep pushing forward. Her testimony is growing so much. It makes me so happy. We are meeting many great people out here. I have been told by many that this area tends to be a missionaries favorite because the people are so nice, not necessarily because people will actually listen. Overall, it has a good feeling to it, and the drivers aren't insane like they were in my first area, just inpatient at times. 

Something I'm learning more about this week is how to apply faith in finding, and more about how God answers prayers. Often, He turns us to the scriptures. The scriptures contain so much information, it's insane. Wow. I love that we have been so blessed to have scriptures. The people who stand in their doors and bad mouth the Book of Mormon or who don't believe there can be any more than the Bible are missing out on so much. The Bible even talks about the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible. Everything is there. Why can't people see it? How can they shut out the Spirit as it testifies of the Book of Mormon? It just doesn't make sense to me. It's so sad to see them reject it. They think it's something crazy, but if they would just listen, they could find out it's true!
There are so many people who won't even let us say a word. We ran into a man like that last night who opened the door, saw us, and quickly said, "See you later," and closed the door in our faces. Too many lack kindness, too many have closed their hearts to what is good. Sometimes, seeing such bitterness and anger makes me fear for the world. At other times, I feel so good knowing that God is in charge, that everything will be okay, and He's still working with some to help them be prepared to receive his Gospel. Those people who are prepared are out there, we just have to find them. All will be well in the end. :)

~Sister Tayla Wells

April 21, 2014

General Email: 

Hey everyone! Sorry for having such a rushed week last week and not

getting to wright much. This will be a very long email to make up for

last weeks. :) Yes, I have been transferred. Before getting

transferred, I wanted to share some stories, so I'll share them now.

In my last ares, my apartment was located in the City of Zion. Let me

tell you, it is far from the Zion we read about in the scriptures, ha!

Oh goodness. We found out that Zion was nick named murder-ville. Fun,

eh? Oh, and the street we had just visited twice they day before, come

to find out, had a drive by shooting. We weren't there though. God

really does keep us away from danger. We are so protected! I'm very

grateful for that. Whenever we find out something big happened, we

find it happens when we are far away from it. :) Even though the city

we lived in was a strange place, I loved my area and all the people

there, even though we ran into a crazy guy I mentioned previously (the

drunk guy). Living there was a HUGE blessing for me. In my first area,

I was still shy and struggled to talk to people; they looked scary! A

majority of people look like they will hurt you if you dare look at

them. In my last area (2nd area), when I struggled to speak during

lessons, I made my companion unhappy. It got to a point where I had to

decide, I am more afraid of the people or my companion who I spend

24/7 with? I  was more afraid of disappointing my companion. This

pushed me to speak up, even when I felt like I was making a fool of

myself. What I learned was it was all in my head. I could contribute

by speaking, and I wasn't an awful teacher after all. Woo! Even

speaking to strangers was much easier. Thanks to my last area and all

the people there, I'm overcoming my fear of speaking up. Coming to my

new area is now a test for me to hold onto what I learned and apply it

without having my last companion there to push me to speak up. It's

amazing how The Lord works and knows what we need to move forward.

 Before I move on from speaking about my last area, I want to talk
about an experience I had there while tracting. It helped restore my
confidence in tracting. Sister Lepule and I were driving and I think
at that point our plans fell through. While looking through the papers
of ward members, the name of a lady popped out. It had been mentioned
many times by many people throughout the last couple of days, so we
felt the a Spirit was telling us to go there. After knocking and
having no one answer the door, we figured we had been led there for
someone in the neighbor hood. It turns out, we were there for the
second house was tracked at across the street from the ward member.
Her name is Noelia. She met with the missionaries a little over 20
years ago. She lost contact with them when she had moved and didn't
think the church or the missionaries were around where she was living
now. For a few years she has been having a hard time and family
members were telling her she should start going to church again, but
she didn't know which one to go to. The night we came, she said she
prayed for a sign to know where to go, to have direction in knowing
which church was the true church. Less than an hour later, we knocked
on the door. How amazing is that! It goes to show how amazing God is
and when we just listen and involve Him, we will guide us. We're never
alone! She invited her mom over to a lesson with us and both were so
excited, and they came and watched general conference. They were so
excited when we invite them to come attended a baptism. The Lord has
really prepared them and they are so ready to learn! So exciting!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from a ward member in my
first area. She wanted to tell me a little bit of what took place
after I left the area. A brother in the ward had died, and to help his
wife feel better, I drew a portrait of her husband from a picture that
we had taken together a week before he fell ill. I guess she really
likes it and it brings here comfort. She framed it and has it up on
her wall. I'm so happy it helped. :') I didn't know how I could use
art to help anyone, but an opportunity occurred! you never know when
something will come in handy. I wasn't alone in drawing that. I felt
the Spirit so strongly while working on it.
Oh!!! Guess what. It snowed again las Monday! And it's crazy to think
I got a sunburn a few days before that. What?!
So, about my new area. I'm in Indiana (I have lived in 3 states now).
It's the furthest down you can go in the mission, which is funny
considering my last area was the furthest up you could go. I have now
been on both ends and in the middle (middle-ish). We have a washer and
drier in the apartment! Woo!!! So exciting. Laundry takes so much more
effort when you have to travel and carry it around. My new companion
is Sister North. She's from the Salt Lake area. In mission lingo,
she's my niece. Her trainer was trained by my trainer.
There are good people here. Since last night though, I have felt a
little troubled. We met a girl who just turned 20. She is very kind,
but completely anti religion. She grew up in an LDS home belt felt
like she was being forced to go to church, so she stopped going as
soon as she turned 18. :( What troubles me is how people can grow up
around the true church, who are exposed to this wonderful gospel their
whole lives, yet, their desire to rebel takes over and they listen to
the wrong voices and go down dangerous paths. Stop it! Just stop
letting Satan trick you! Bah. This hurts to see. How can anyone deny
Christ? :'( I have seen this so many times, but as of late, it just
gets to me. I know this is Gods true church, Christ is our redeemer
and savior, the Spirit testifies of this, and we just need to listen.
How on earth can people allow them selves to become so hardened that
they can completely reject the witness of the Holy Ghost? Pride. I
have found so much of it has to do with pride. It's everywhere in the
scriptures.
Lastly, since this letter is already very long, I'll wrap up with the
letter the First Presidency sent out to all the wards. I'm assuming
you all heard about it yesterday at church. They were following up on
the challenge to all of us to invite someone to learn more about the
gospel or to simply come to church. They raised the bar to invite
someone every three months. People aren't taking this seriously. My
challenge to all who are reading my letter is to GET TO WORK. The Lord
is relying on us. Are we really so busy that we can't help our
Heavenly Father? Doesn't The Lord mean more to us than the fear of
inviting others to come closer to Christ? Fear is a choice which has
been a huge and hard lesson for me to learn, but I'm learning it, and
finally came to this realization with the help of Christina who was
just baptized. She has such amazing faith! Choose God over fear.
Review the challenges extended during conference, and do it. I love
you all. This church is true. If you don't know that, remember to
doubt your doubts before you doubt you faith, as President Uchtdorf
has told us. Never give up, and never let go of the iron rod. Hop to
it.
~Sister Tayla Wells

April 14, 2014

General Email:

I'm out of time to write, but I will say this. I'm being transferred
to the opposite side of the mission. My heart is breaking to leave
this area and all of the wonderful people here. I know God has a
purpose for me else where, but it still hurts.
Love you all!

April 8, 2014

General Email:

Sorry I wasn't able to write yesterday. We got to go to the temple
today! So we moved P-Day to today. The temple is always wonderful to
go to. Want to know what else is awesome? Conference. This one felt
very different from the last one. Last conference in October,
missionary work was very emphasized. This time, it was aimed at the
members of the church changing. Obedience and concurring fear was
huge. It's true though. Why are we all so afraid to share the gospel?
The gospel has greatly blessed our lives, right? Then why not share it
with others? If someone takes offense that we are sharing something
that we love and has blessed us, then oh well. There are so many
people who are searching for the answers we have, which is something
I'm learning. While tracting, an awesome man we met mentioned he was
searching for peace and happiness in his life. We have an answer for
that! :D Do members of the church really know what we have? Probably
not. But if we develop the attitude of gratitude and really look at
what we have, we will increase in our understanding of what we have.
Gratitude is something I have been working hard on and try to emphasis
with each companion. Gratitude makes life and the work easier. As soon
as President Uchtdorf started talking about gratitude, I was filled
with so much excitement! Yes!!!!
Ha ha, so, another thing that stood out to me was how they kept
telling us to stop fearing, to be brave, and stand up for what is
right. I have seen so many people conform to the standards of the
world while moving away from God. No!!! Stop it!!! It's so clear that
we are all being attacked more than ever before, and as predicted, the
hearts of men are failing them. People are putting their faith into
the world instead of Christ. I began reevaluating my heart a couple of
weeks ago and found that I was fearing man more than God. After lots
of work, I'm focusing my thoughts on what God thinks of me more than
man. Let me tell you, my faith is growing from that, along with
confidence while knocking on doors. That has to tell you something!
Don't be afraid! Trust God! When people used to say to rely on God, I
couldn't help but think, "How? Am I not doing that? How I can do that
any differently?" Well, here's an answer. Focus on all that God has
given you. Be grateful. Don't look a thinks and doubt your abilities
to do it, just do it. If it's God's will, then you CAN do it. Don't
argue, just do it. :) I need to master that! You can to!
This is the last week of the transfer. Ah! We get told on Saturday if
we are staying or going. I don't want to leave!!! I love this spot, so
hopefully, both my companion and I will stay. We are learning so much
from each other, especially because we are such opposites. :) oh!
Guess what! We prayed about a street to go to, and on that street was
a sister and daughter of two members of our ward and she invited us
back. On the same street was a very nice guy who, come to find out,
went to seminary a couple of times with friends I think he said. Cool,
eh?!!!!!
Oh! It's warming up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We survived the crazy winter!
Hopefully, it won't snow again.
-Sister Tayla Wells