Nauvoo Week 12

Hello my fantastic family and friends!!! What a week!!

Pageant has just started last week, and I shared a little about what I do in my last email. Pageant will continue until the beginning of August so I get to be involved for about a month! I've had to keep practicing my ASL, I'm pretty slow at it, but I'm trying to get better!

We talk to so many people, hundreds of people every night! Its so fun to meet so many people! With Pageant brings the crowds in the homes and shops of Nauvoo, and Sister Miskin and I have had lots of success this past week.

Last Saturday we were working at the Land and Records. There were 3 people that came in at one point, they were just wanting to see if they had any relatives here. I started talking about family search and they said they didn't have an account because they weren't members. Sooooo I helped them set one up and started teaching them about family history work. They were so amazed by it, they had no idea you could connect with your ancestors that way. Once we kind of developed a relationship at that point, they must've felt comfortable with me because one of them asked if I was a Mormon. I said I was, and then he asked if I could help him with some questions he had. He asked if my church even believed in Jesus Christ and then asked if we believed in the Bible or only our book we made. Boy could I ever answer those!!! I was so excited, yet the Holy Ghost made me keep calm so I wouldn't scare them away haha! I told him that Jesus Christ is the center of our church, its our main focus in what we believe in. I also told him about how we love the Bible and believe in the Bible. We also have another book of scripture brought to us by the power of God called The Book of Mormon. I talked to this family for a good 30 minutes, they were so curious and wanted to know more and more. I got to testify about so many things, wow it felt so good!! I asked if I could get their emails in case they had more questions or needed help with family search. They said they'd love it if I'd help them. They were really eager to get my email. They're on a little vacation so I won't hear from them for a few days, but I can only hope and pray they'll want to email me back!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to work at the Visitors Center. That place was so busy all day long, I was nonstop walking around and helping people. Over 2000 people came in! So many families asked if I could help them plan their trip here in Nauvoo, so hey if you're planning on coming here don't hesitate to ask I know how to help haha! At one point a man came in all by himself and wanted to watch one of the plays. I was talking to him for a bit, trying to get to know him. He said he's happily a member of another church and has read the Bible 40 times, The Book of Mormon twice and is currently reading Doctrine and Covenants. I was amazed! I asked him why he wanted to read those books, he said he loves learning more about Jesus Christ. After he watched the show, Sister Miskin and I got to talk to him again and asked what he thought about it. I had this powerful prompting that this man was not satisfied, he was wanting more but didn't know where to find it. We asked if he wanted to watch Pageant with us, we would save him a really good seat. He said he really wanted to come and watch it with us with his wife next week. He got our phone number and we got his. He wanted to leave so we said we'd see him later. Then he kept wandering around and was talking to the YPM's. After a while, we heard a YPM talking to him about what happens after we die! He asked us to come and help him talk to this man again. He was so willing to listen and wanted to learn. Wow, another missionary miracle!!!

Later that day, another man came in all by himself. It was just a few minutes before we closed at 7, and he asked if we would answer some of his questions about Joseph Smith. We ended up teaching him about not only Joseph Smith, but The Book of Mormon and the temple. We told him that in the temple we can do baptisms for people who have died. He was a little confused, so we showed him that it talks about it in the Bible. He was just blown away, he had no idea that it talked about the temple in the Bible and he had read it a lot! We gave him a copy of The Book of Mormon and he said he wanted to read it! He stayed and kept asking us questions for about 45 minutes. Sister Miskin and I got to teach 5 nonmembers this week, what a blessing!!!! Once we went home that night, we just fell on our knees and thanked God for letting us have the opportunity to teach two people today. We were so humbled and overcome with gratitude. God is so good!!!! If I haven't made any difference for the 3 1/2 months I've been on a mission, then I've been preparing this whole time to teach these people. God sent me to Nauvoo to talk to them. He's been preparing their hearts to listen for a long time, and I got to help with teaching them. What an experience! I love being a missionary!!!! Sharing what I know to be true gives me more joy than I can say. I just can't describe how happy it makes me!

I talk to lots of people every day and I have experience in being a missionary. Yet sometimes people like to try and remind me that I'm "still a greenie". I sat down for a minute just to give my feet a break because I had been standing in the Visitors Center all day, and a man was just kind of looking at me annoyed. I asked him how he was and he said he was fine. He asked how long I'd been out and when I told him I'd been out 3 1/2 months he said, "Oh yeah I can tell you're still a greenie. A good missionary would know how to talk to people." I was really taken aback, what was he trying to say to me? So I went and sat by him and said, "Well then I'll come and talk to you!" I may have not been out very long, but that does NOT mean I don't know how to be a missionary! People will sometimes hurt you, even if they don't realize it. Its so important that we don't give people that power to hurt us though! They can say whatever they want, but who cares? God knows you and He loves you so much! Don't let what other people say about you bring you down, you are so much better than that.

I get to testify about Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon a lot, so I thought I'd share one my absolute favorite conference talks. I bet a lot of you have heard it, but listen again! Its by Elder Jefferey R. Holland called "Safety for the Soul", here's the link for it to make your lives easier!

https://www.lds.org/languages/eng/content/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul 

I know Joseph Smith is a prophet, THE prophet of the last dispensation. He was called of God to do His work. I know without a doubt he translated The Book of Mormon by the power of God. Joseph Smith is vital, absolutely vital to the Restoration. If you do not have a testimony of Joseph Smith, please find out. Find out from the right sources. The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, lds.org, Gospel Library, even me! 

I love Jesus Christ. I love His goodness and mercy. I love to teach people about Him, He makes me so happy.

I love all of you too!!! Thank you for all you do for me, it means more than you know!

-Sister Taylor

Sister Miskin and I made muffins yum!

 Pageant pics

 Sister Miskin's mom sent us Ding dongs!

 Sister Balzotti! A friend from Lehi!

Nauvoo Week 11

Hello friends and family!!!

This week was so amazing, I know I say that every week but its true! 

Sister Miskin and I finished up working at the Land and Records building last Saturday, wow I helped so many people find their relatives who lived here in Nauvoo! It was such a delight to work there and to see the light that just grew in these people's eyes when they got excited about the people they were finding.

I had time to find my own relatives. After searching through my entire family tree, I found that I have 40 relatives who lived here, and even more who have some sort of connection to Nauvoo or church history!! That's a ton! Most people can maybe find around 10, if they look long enough. Yet I have 40! I'm mind blown! Sister Miskin was joking that she thinks all my relatives up in heaven decided that when they came down to earth they'd all get married and have connections to each other so that they could have a missionary (me) who would come back to their city and their homes and tell their stories. I love it!

We get to work at 4 different places this week: Riser Boot Shop, Cultural Hall, Seventies Hall and Land and Records. Sister Miskin does a monologue scene for the Riser Boot Shop, so we were there the most this week. This week is so amazing and has been anticipated for a while, its Pageant Week!!! So many people have come here the past few days, its been so crazy!! Yesterday Sister Miskin and I were in Riser Boot, and we gave 29 tours which was 196 people! We didn't even have a break to eat our lunches! We stood for hours all day and took a sip of water when we could, it was just crazy! Yet all those tours were so worth it, we both bore powerful testimony of Jesus Christ. Its incredible how if I'm listening to the promptings of the Spirit, I can share something new every time I give a tour. None of the tours Sister Miskin and I give are exactly the same. One tour we gave was for a few families who squished together in the little building of that shop. At the end, this older man came up to me and was just crying and crying. He said, "Do you know how bright the light is that shines from your eyes? Its so beautiful!" That just melted my heart he was so sweet. I love how much the Holy Ghost touches so many people, and I get to see it!

We got to work at the Cultural Hall on Monday, which is where the young performing missionaries do the show "Just Plain Anna Amanda". Its a cute little 30 minute show about a pioneer girl who wants to be somebody important. She learns by the end that if she is just herself, then that's pretty important because nobody else is like her! So many little kids come to that so after the play was done, Sister Miskin and I got to go and talk to a bunch of them. One little girl was really shy, she was about 4 years old. She didn't want to talk to me, but then I got to play with her a little on the steps to the building. She finally warmed up to me and then wouldn't stop talking! She was so cute, she was telling me all about her trip and about the hotel she was staying at and her favorite things about Nauvoo. Wow she was adorable, I couldn't get enough! Well later that day when all the performances were done, Sister Miskin and I continued to give tours. We happened to bring our instruments that day because we thought it would be fun to practice some songs if we had a break. She plays the flute and I play the violin. Well the YPM's asked if we would play a duet for them, so we played Gethsemane. 

It wasn't a glorious performance or anything, just pretty and simple, but I loved it. About an hour before we had to close, a family came in and they said they had already gotten a tour, but they came back because their daughter wanted to dance on the third floor. In the Cultural Hall, the original third floor is still there. The same floor the people of Nauvoo would dance on! We asked if she wanted us to play for her, and she was so excited. I played a little Irish Jig song and the whole family was just dancing together. Then Sister Miskin played "Under the Sea" and this girl was just ecstatic! Oh she loved it!! That was such a fun day!

Tuesday was the day Pageant officially opened! We don't get to sing in the "Sunset by the Mississippi" show for a few weeks, but instead get to work at the Country Fair near the Pageant. The Sister Missionaries walk around and have stations or areas where we stay at. We go and talk to people and hand out the official Nauvoo newspaper. Its a little odd, a huge group of protesters are here. They got hired by someone to come and yell all around the Pageant grounds and hand out anti papers. Our job is to try and beat them to the crowds and hand out our paper instead. We have to race them onto the tour buses, its a little intimidating. Well last night as Sister Miskin and I were doing our job, some antis came and walked around the Pageant grounds and were secretly filming us! I hope they don't try and use it against the church in some way, we didn't do anything wrong. Pageant is so great altogether though.  Hundreds come here from all over the world to see the two shows. The Nauvoo Pageant is about the story of Nauvoo and some stories of the people who lived here. The British Pageant is about the missionary work over in the British Isles. There is so much color, music, dancing, singing and testimonies throughout both shows. I especially love the bagpipes, it is so much fun to listen to them play. They are just incredible! I was just crying my eyes out when I watched the British Pageant, the Spirit was so powerful. The missionaries get to go up at the end of that show and sing "Called to Serve", "Then Say What is Truth" and "Redeemer of Israel". This power just flows from me when I'm up there singing, wow I love it!!! On Tuesday was the Nauvoo Pageant, and a deaf couple came to see the show. So I had to do my very first interpretation that night. I was given advanced notice a few days before that I needed to be ready, so I was practicing as much as I could and praying with my whole heart. I was so nervous, I was just waiting in my chair being an anxious mess. Well when I walked over to start signing, I was completely calm. I messed up a lot and I got behind basically the whole section I had to sign, but I was totally calm! I was laughing at some points because I was having so much fun. I asked the deaf couple after the show if I made any sense and they said they understood everything I signed. I was amazed! The gift of tongues is so real! The Holy Ghost definitely helped them understand what I was trying to sign. I did my very best, which may not have been enough and for sure wasn't perfect, but Heavenly Father made up for it! It was just an amazing experience. 

These next few weeks until the beginning of August will just keep getting even busier. I'm excited and I know without a doubt I won't be able to do it without the help of God. This mission is exhausting, I don't get home now until around 10:45 because of Pageant, so I don't get to fall asleep until about 11:30. Then standing and talking all day just wears me out! Yet I wouldn't trade this for anything. Missions are life changing, I can't believe how much I've changed and grown in the 3 months I've been out. I am constantly having to ask Heavenly Father for help and relying on the Holy Ghost to help me know what to say. I have never felt so close to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. I also have never felt so close to the pioneers, they are just incredible and inspiring people! I feel like I know them so well now, they're my friends! 

I love that I get this opportunity to write home every week! It is such a joy to share my experiences and my testimony with all of you, I just love it!!! I can't thank you all enough for all your support and love, you mean the world to me!

Epistle by Sis. Miskin 7/5/2018

I, Sister Miskin, having consecrated my time and efforts to the Lord for the space of eighteen months, give an account of this week's proceedings, and the interpretation thereof shall be given hereafter.

And now behold, it came to pass in the latter end of the third month of the mission of Sister Miskin in the land of Nauvoo, there was a great  season of joy. For behold, the Lord did visit His servants Sister Miskin and Sister Taylor in all their doings, yea, He did enlighten their minds and their hearts in the service of their brethren.  Yea, they did cry out to the Lord, that a portion of His spirit might dwell with them, that they might be instruments in His hands in bringing about this great work. And the Lord did hear their prayers, and comforted them, and they were filled with His spirit.
And it came to pass that in the first day of the first week of the seventh month in the two thousandth and eighteenth year since the coming of Christ, there was much fasting and prayer in the land, yea, and much bearing of testimony, which did strengthen the church.
And the women of the church gathered together, yea, and sent the question out among them, saying: Behold, the time is not far distant before our work is accomplished and we must return to the lands of our inheritance, yea, to our families and to our children. What shall we do to that we might continue in this great cause, which is the cause of Christ, until we shall again meet Him in that day of judgement?
And it came to pass that the women of the church did call upon each other to stand fast in the truth, to be firm in their faith of Christ who shall come, and to inspire the hearts of their families to also look forward to the coming of their Savior and Redeemer. And now behold, I say unto you, that the Spirit of the Lord did rest upon them, and did testify to them many great and marvelous things, for so great was their faith.
And it came to pass that Sister Taylor and Sister Miskin did go forth to serve, yea, and taught in the homes of Heber C. Kimball and Sarah Granger Kimball, much to their joy. For behold, they did delight in testifying and proving the reality of Christ to those who hearkened unto their words.
And in the morning of the third day of the first week of the seventh month in the two thousandth and eighteenth year, those called of God to preach His word gathered together to hear the words which President Lusvardi should speak unto them. And behold, he had but few things to speak unto them, and he spoke with power and authority from God, calling this people to remembrance of the words of President Nelson. For, the Prophet of the Lord did visit us, and did teach us, unto the stirring of our souls unto believing in Christ, who shall come. And thus spake President Lusvardi, saying: Shall we soon forget the blessings of God? I say unto you, nay. For behold, we must retain in remembrance these things, that we may have power and authority from God to teach this people unto the convincing of them that Jesus is the Christ.
And in the morning of the fourth day of the first week of the seventh month in the two thousandth and eighteenth year since the coming of Christ, the people gathered to raise their voices to God in gratitude for His great blessings, yea, for their deliverance from their brethren, the Britains, and for the covenants He made with his people. And thus was the cause of exceedingly great joy among the people, insomuch that they lifted up a banner of freedom and praised His name all the day long.
And it came to pass that in the early morning of the fifth day that Sister Miskin and Sister Taylor did commence their journey to the land of Cantril to visit the people of Amish, for behold, they had many goods and foodstuffs to barter and sell, which would help preserve their lives. And behold, they came away exceedlingly glad, for they did receive much blessing from God there, in preserving their lives for another season. And all the journey long did they sing praises to the Lord their God, for the blessing of their calling which they had. For they looked forward to the coming of Christ, who shall come, and did rejoice in proclaiming His gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people.
And in all their journeyings, Sister Taylor and Sister Miskin did pray oft concerning the welfare of the people, and also their families, which were in distant lands, and the Lord did hear their cries and did comfort them. And they received strength according to the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And thus we see that the Lord will always succor His people, yea, He will console them and give them strength, according to their needs.
And now I, Sister Miskin, make an end of my account. For behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and have been called of Him to declare His word among this people, that they might have everlasting life and joy in the redeeming power of Christ's Atonement. For, for this cause was I brought to this land, that all may have the opportunity to sing the song of redeeming love. And I would that ye harden not your hearts any longer, but turn to Him with all meekness of heart and repent, for behold, now is the time to prepare to meet God. And when ye shall do these things, behold, He shall pour out His spirit upon you, and ye shall experience this change of heart which Alma did speak of. And if ye do these things, ye shall have treasures in heaven, which are laid up for you in the kingdom of the Father. My brethren, I bid you adieu.

Nauvoo Week 9

 Hello hello hello!!
So my pday has moved to Thursdays now, yay!! Also, I am now allowed to use Facebook as a missionary, so you might see some posts from me. Don't worry, I'm not being naughty! I can only use it to teach people and share uplifting thoughts. I can't communicate with any of you through Facebook so if you talk to me through that, I won't be able to respond for another year or so... so just stick to email!
This week I've been able to work at some fantastic places! The first of this week was at the Sarah Granger Kimball home. Wow I just love that place more than I can say! I get a bit of sitting time at that home because its further away from the rest of Nauvoo and people don't think to come see it. That just means I get to study my scriptures for a long time! Hours even! Sister Miskin gets to study a lot too. That means we get to prepare with the Spirit for a long time for the few people who may come to that home. Wow, every tour we give is so powerful! The Spirit is always obviously present. I got to talk to a young woman for a while about her preparations for going on her mission. Her grandparents were wandering the house and talking to Sister Miskin. We talked for a good half hour about missionary work and what to maybe expect and what to learn and prepare for. I told her that missionary work is such a joy and a blessing, the greatest cause on earth. She left really excited to go and serve. I love the youth!
Yesterday and the rest of this week Sister Miskin and I get to work at the Land and Records. This is an extraordinary place, if you come to Nauvoo you cannot leave without coming here!!!! Any information that researchers have found about the people of Nauvoo are here at this site. You cannot find it anywhere else in the world! I have found pages upon pages of my ancestors who lived in Nauvoo and I had no idea until I came here! So many amazing stories! I got to find my family members whenever I had a break, but that site is so busy. We were helping people from the moment we opened to the moment we closed! I helped tons of people find their relatives and save the information so that they could keep those documents forever and put them on family search. You should have seen the light in their eyes and the excitement that filled these people when they found a relative they had no idea existed! Wow it is so fun and exhilarating to work there I love it!! I hope I get to work there a lot more! There was a couple of young men that came in with a group. They didn't look very excited to be there and probably didn't expect to find anything. Well I helped them print out their family pedigree chart and start finding people. They both found multiple relatives in the 15 minutes they were there. They got so excited and would call me over to tell me a cool story about the person they found. It was amazing to see how they changed so fast. I have always had a slight, well actually major, obsession with family history, so this place is totally where I belong. I know without a doubt that Nauvoo is my mission!
So I mentioned last week that pageant is starting up soon, and that will bring lots of people. Pageant is two shows/ performances here in Nauvoo. They tell about the experiences of the people of Nauvoo and about the experiences of missionaries who went to Great Britain to serve. I am so so excited for it to start! I have been practicing my ASL a lot lately, trying to get it down so I can be an interpreter. Its so hard! I'm really nervous that I'll mess up and the people who need the interpretation won't know what's going on... I hope they get the main idea! Even though Pageant brings lots of great people, it also brings lots of protesters. These people come by the bus load and are paid to stand around Nauvoo and tell people about "how bad this church is." They yell and hand out flyers and try to get in arguments. Its pretty scary, but my job is to ignore them and help people avoid them if at all possible. It makes me really sad that people think they need to say so many bad things about this church, they have no idea how great it is!

Yesterday was the 4th of July! How was everyone's celebrations?? We got to have a big missionary dinner, we had a flag raising ceremony with music and a speaker. There were a few fireworks from the people who live here in Nauvoo and Keokuk, but they didn't last long. A huge rain storm hit and was going off all night long. Lots of lightning and thunder so it still sounded like fireworks haha!
A great quote I wanted to share with you is something that has really helped me this week. Its from President Dallin H. Oaks, he said,"Trust in the opportunities of the future rather than the disappointments of the past." I learn new things about repentance all the time. This week I learned that I may be repenting for myself and allowing myself to be free of that guilt, but am I letting others do the same? God has promised us that when we repent, He remembers our sins no more. If God is willing to look past our faults and forgive us of our sins when we ask, then can we look past the faults of others and forgive them when they may wrong us? Do we hold grudges? Do we not give second chances? Do we still hold onto the one bad thing someone did like 5 years ago? We all make mistakes, and it is so important to remember that. Everyone will do something that is wrong. We need to learn to grow with these people, allow them to change. Don't hold them back when they are trying to become better! Remember, our inability to love someone is not their fault.
I was able to finish up reading The Book of Mormon this week, so I got to start it over again! I wanted to leave you with a scripture that just gives me so much happiness and hope. Its Moroni 10:32, it says,"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." I love The Book of Mormon! I promise, if you read this book, it will protect you from the temptations of Satan. It will give you power.
I love you all!!!! Keep up the great work!!
-Sister Taylor

Nauvoo Week 8

Helloooooo!!
Wow this week was great!!! I had so many great experiences and opportunities to share my testimony with people, I love being a missionary!
On Sunday, Sister Miskin and I had the opportunity to teach Sunday School. Let me give you my perspective: We had to teach a topic from the Old Testament in the Bible to over 250 people who are almost all missionaries. Ahhhhh!!! That was so so scary! Sister Miskin and I got 2 weeks in advance notice to do that and we worked so so hard to be in tune with the Spirit and teach what we needed to. Wow it went so much better than I expected! A lot of people after the lesson came up to us and thanked us for giving them a new perspective on things. The big question we asked all of them was "How can we be more about 'What God thinks of me' rather than 'What the world thinks of me'?" Are we too concerned with what people around us might be thinking of us? Do we let our actions be swayed based on how people will react? Do we ever think,"Would I do this if Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ were right here with me"? The sooner we can think about what God would rather us do rather than what the people around us would have us do, the sooner we become stronger and closer to God.
On Sunday we worked at the Lyon Drug again, its such a fun little place to be! Lots of families come to that site.
Monday and Tuesday we worked at the Seventies Hall. The Seventies Hall is basically the first MTC, that's where the men of Nauvoo would go to learn about public speaking, the different cultures of the world, and more about the teachings of Jesus Christ. It is so cool to teach people about the importance of missionary work. A huge youth group came in, about 45 of them were in there, and we did a little readers theater with them. They got to act like missionaries being called on missions. It touched so many of them, I saw it click in their eyes that they needed to be missionaries. Wow it was so great to work there!
On Tuesday the Pageant cast got here and started rehearsals. Oh they are so much fun to watch!! I can't wait for when the shows start! I was asked to put my knowledge of ASL to use. They need interpreters for the shows and they need my help. There's a huge book that has the script in it, I've got to learn it pretty fast... It won't just be me, there's 7 sisters here who know ASL, which is a relief! All the missionaries were also asked to sing at the end of the pageant show. We sing 3 songs, Called to Serve, Say What is Truth and Redeemer of Israel. Ahhhh I'm so excited I can't wait for it to start!!
Wednesday and Thursday we worked in the Riser Boot Shop. Its this adorable little building where a man named George Riser made shoes and boots. I got to teach people his story and then show them how they made shoes back then. Its so fun!! We were really busy both days, its a popular spot for people. However on Thursday I got sick for a little bit. It just knocked me down, I couldn't even stand up. Sister Miskin had to teach a bunch of people by herself. She's amazing I love her!! I got better pretty fast, but it was really weird for that to happen! So many youth groups keep coming to see us. They come by the bus-load, its fantastic!


This week was a really important and memorable day for the whole church. On the 27th was the day Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered in Carthage Jail. We had a commemoration on Wednesday to honor their memory and all the good they did. The sister missionaries were asked to sing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" and the message just hit the crowd like a wave. I love hymns, it is an incredible way to share testimony. I got to testify of Joseph Smith that day, I know he is a true prophet. I know he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I know he translated The Book of Mormon through the power of God. If you don't have a testimony of Joseph Smith, I plead with you to find out more. However, you must look at the right sources. Search through scripture instead of Google!
Something that stood out to me a lot this week was a devotional President Nelson gave this last Sunday. He taught that we really need to call the church by its correct name. It is not the Mormon Church, it is not the LDS Church. It is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also need to join in with the youth in gathering Israel. Now is a critical day and age. Can't you feel it? Can't you feel this urgency to start getting to work? It drives my every action and fills my entire being! We need to stand out from the world, we need to be good examples. Gathering Israel means gathering all the people of the world. It has been prophesied since the beginning of time that every nation, kindred, tongue and people will hear the truth of Jesus Christ. Everyone will have the chance to hear about it, but sadly not everyone will accept it. President Nelson has asked us, which literally means that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have asked us, to let people know about the glorious truth and message of Jesus Christ. You don't have to have a missionary name tag to do this! Invite people to church, strike up a conversation about something great you read in The Book of Mormon, be a good example, share an uplifting thought on social media, talk to people and ask how their day is going, see if there's anything you can do to help. Wow there is so much we can do to be missionaries!!
I love this work. I love my Savior! I love that I can teach people about Him. Not only has He felt all the pains and sorrows we've felt, but He can take those away from us! We can ALWAYS turn to Him, even if we think we don't deserve it. If you aren't sure how to get this connection or how to ask for Christ's help, please just ask! I'd love to help any way I can. Your Bishop would love to help. Other missionaries would love to help. There is no reason not to ask, you're just a question away from getting an answer to a prayer or getting relief from a trial.
I truly love all of you so much! You mean the world to me! Keep being the wonderful people that I know you are!
Love,
Sister Taylor

P.S.- Would you like a more descriptive email about the places I work? I've thought about making another emailing list of the sites and the information that I teach in them. If you'd like to hear about them, let me know and I'll email it to you!

Nauvoo Week 7

Hello again!!
This week was just full of crazy things!! Fasten your seat belts!
Sunday Sister Miskin and I got to work in the Family Living Center. It was really slow, so we got to work on the loom a lot!
 One family came in that was really great, they have a little girl who's birthday was the next day and she'd be turning 8. She's getting baptized today! It was really fun to talk to her about how awesome it is that she's made this decision to be baptized, it was really special. Sister Miskin gave her a small copy of the Book of Mormon, one that'd she'd marked up a lot and had her testimony in. This little girl was so excited she was jumping up and down it was so cute!

Monday through Wednesday we got to work in the Lyon Drug and Variety Store. Its a really cool place, it is just full of fun things! A variety store is kind of like our Walmart today, it had everything you needed! We got to talk to a lot of families and youth, it was so fun to show them the store. One time, this little boy walks in and looks up at us behind the counter and says,"Both of you are beautiful!" Oh that just made our day he was darling!

On Wednesday it rained so much all day long and the wind was blowing really hard. Well that night, the tornado alarms went off and everyone had to run to the shelters! Me and Sister Miskin have one in our basement at home so we went there. It was full of spiders... kind of creepy!!

Thursday we got to work on the wagons again. I love the wagon tours, I can share my testimony the entire time, and I have about a half hour at this tour with people rather than just 10 minutes. It was raining really hard that day and Sister Miskin and I forgot our raincoats, so we ran back to our house in the pouring rain and got them. When we got back outside, it stopped raining (of course!) and we walked back to the wagon tour. It was pretty funny! On one tour, there was another little boy that sat right in front of me on the wagon. I sit at the very front with my back to the horses so I can look at the visitors as I'm talking to them. Sister Miskin sits at the back. We have headsets so that we don't lose our voices haha! Well as the tour was going along, this little boy just had this really confused look on his face. At the end of the tour, I asked him if he had any questions. He said,"I just don't understand! I keep watching you and your mouth isn't moving, but there's still a voice coming from the speakers! Who's talking?!" He was so confused about where Sister Miskin's voice was coming from because he couldn't see her over the crowd haha!!
Something cool about yesterday was that Elder Kim B. Clark came to Nauvoo to have a meeting with us! He's in the Seventy and used to be President of BYU-Idaho. I got to talk to him for a bit and shake his hand, wow he is an amazing man and teacher! He taught us how we can really become better missionaries and receive our own personal revelation. He taught us a lot about how to increase our faith and how to rely on the Holy Ghost. It was so so great to hear him teach, he taught us again this morning.
Something really cool I learned from this meeting that I wanted to share with you all is on how we can love people more. There are some people who are just really easy to love. You can't help it! Yet there are others who make it really hard to love. They just do things that bug you and annoy you, sometimes they are just downright mean to you. I learned that in order to love these people, you need to make some changes and have a different perspective. You need to change yourself instead of trying to change them! Our inability to love someone is not their fault. We need to change. Once we can see them in a different way, when we can realize they are beloved children of God, then we can love them in a whole new way. Its really hard for someone to not like you when you are nice to them.

If you don't believe me, try it! As Jesus taught us in Matthew 5:38-46, we need to love our enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. What good does it do to be angry or mean to someone? It only make us angry! Why not get rid of those feelings and be happy? Its sometimes hard to do, and it may be impossible for some people. Yet through Christ, we can do all things! We can do everything through Him! I can testify of His infinite love for us, He truly is our Savior.
I hope everything is going great for you all! Talk to you next week!
Love,
Sister Taylor

Nauvoo Week 6

 

Hello family/friends!!!! Time is just flying by!! On Monday it'll already be my two month mark (AHHHHH) being a missionary. Time kind of doesn't exist here... it's the craziest thing I can't explain it!

I still haven't had a boring day here yet! My life is just so exciting I love it! We just started summer hours so that means the crowds are coming! It is so fun here this time of year, it kind of feels like a Mormon Disneyland. All the missionaries are dressed in pioneer clothes, the performing missionaries go around Nauvoo and sing for people. The band rides around on a horse pulled wagon and they play fun upbeat songs. This place is just full of life!

As for last week, I told you all that I had a referral to go visit. Well we walked into the restaurant and found this lady named Sarah. She was literally just getting off her shift when we walked in and was standing right there. We got to talk to her for a little bit and told her we'd love to talk to her more. She said she'd love more information and got our emails. She hasn't emailed us back yet so Sister Miskin and I have been praying for her. We also met a lady at Subway. She was having a hard day when we went to eat there a few weeks ago, but we were under the impression that it was against the law to teach people at all so we didn't say anything to her. We both wanted to so so bad! I talked to President and he said that we need to go back and talk to her because that was a direct impression from the Holy Ghost. We are going to meet with her tonight and I'm so excited!! I hope she'll listen to us, Christ truly can help her and bless her life!

On Sunday we had a really awesome experience! In the evenings 3 times a week the young performing missionaries (YPM's) stand along the trail of hope and tell stories of some of the people who left Nauvoo for Salt Lake. Its really cool to just walk along the trail and listen. Well the Sisters went to watch it and it just so happened that a huge youth group was there too! This past week we've had tons of youth come for youth conference, it's been so awesome! Well we were walking and this young boy kind of stood at the back of the group. He was acting all annoyed that he had to be there and looked like he just wanted to go home. So I went and started talking to him. Sister Miskin joined in and helped! We felt that we should talk to him about the power of prayer. It's really hard to teach the youth... sometimes they just don't want to listen haha!! Well he opened right up! He was really receptive to what we were telling him. His youth leader came over and asked if he was bugging us and he said, "No these Sisters are giving me great advice! They're a lot cooler than the Elders!" Hahaha I don't know about that but it was so great that we got him to listen. The whole time we walked on the tour he was listening. He even got out a notebook and wrote down some things he liked!! I was just so so excited!

Monday we started working at the Print Shop. At this site, we talk about how important it is that the people of Nauvoo had a newspaper. Then we show them how they made the newspaper with the type, ink and press. If we just did that, a lot of people would just think the print shop isn't too cool or important to remember. It's so important that we help people feel the Spirit at every place they visit. You might think how in the world can I feel the Spirit at a print shop... here's how. We invited people to do what the people of Nauvoo did and share their testimonies! The information we have today about Nauvoo came from the journals of those people. We wouldn't have this without their journals. It's so important to remember how our words can affect people, even if we can't see it. We also talked about how in 2 Nephi 25: 23,26 it says we write the things of Christ so that our children may know. The Book of Mormon was written for us, its for our day. It is incredible guidance from our Heavenly Father. It truly can help us and protect us from the temptations of Satan. Please please please, if you aren't reading this amazing book will you start today? I promise it will change your life for the better. We taught this for the past few days and no joke, the Spirit was there at every single tour. A few people cried. Isn't that amazing that the Spirit helped so many people at a print shop?? It blows my mind I just love it! Its crazy, I talk to hundreds of people every day. I only get a few minutes with them and hopefully I say something that can help them in someway. Then these people leave and I don't see them again. There are a few times I've seen people change from what I've said, but usually I don't. I just have to rely on the Lord that he'll help them now!

On Tuesday this adorable family came into the print shop with their 4 kids. Two of them were cute little girls. They just loved to talk to me it was the cutest thing! When I told them I was related to John Taylor, one of them asked if they could just call me John Taylor's girl. Later that night, there was a performance with all the missionaries called "Sunset by the Mississippi" and that family was sitting on the front row. When those little girls saw me, they jumped up and started waving and saying hi Sister Taylor! They talked to me after the show and one of them gave me this adorable paper hat. She said she colored it just for me and she wanted me to wear it. I'll put a picture on here of me in the hat I just love it! This little girl was only 4 and she was so tiny. When she had to leave she ran over and started pulling on my dress so I knelt down next to her and she gave me a big hug! I adore kids they make me unbelievably happy!

Wednesday we worked in the Visitors Center and man oh man was that place busy! We helped over 400 people!! They come in and get tickets for the carriage/wagon rides and for some of the shows. We also give tours to people if they want one. I got to give a couple. One of them was for two women, a mom and daughter. So I showed them around. As I was giving my tour, a man comes over and starts talking to me and my guests. He was wearing a shirt that said Remarriage is Adultery. One of the ladies in my group started talking to him about his shirt and it led to a huge argument! I was honestly nervous. I had to try and pull them away from him. It turns out he came just to try and preach to people about he is a prophet and needs to tell people Mormons are a fallen religion. There are some people who do that here, we just have to ask them not to.

It's funny, we give lots of tours here. I've been giving so many that that's all I dream about! Sister Miskin actually does it in her sleep. The other night she sat up and was talking in her sleep and gave me a tour! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen!

I just love it here! Being a missionary is the best, but being a missionary in Nauvoo is even better haha! I love and miss you all!!

-Sister Taylor