Sister Savannah: May 2018

Holy cow I feel like I just barely had my p-day and here it is again!! This week just flew by!
Sister Miskin and I got to work in the Visitors Center on Sunday, that was fun! Right after church we had lunch then went to work. A lot of non-members came in so it was cool to talk with them!

A lot happened so let's see if I can write it all in my email!

On Monday we worked on the wagon tour again. I love the wagon tours, its so fun! I have to tell people about where all the buildings are, who lived there, some history along the way, and then on top of all of that share my testimony. I get to talk about the temple and the Book of Mormon a lot on the wagon. Its really great to have those experiences.

On Tuesday, we got to work on our monologues. Its an addition and a new way to testify during the tours of the buildings here. We've been practicing our monologues since the third week in the MTC. I've been learning how to conduct a reenactment of the Seventies Hall meeting where Brigham Young calls a bunch of men to missions. Its really fun! We practiced those all day on Tuesday. Something really funny happened on my lunch break though. Sister Miskin and I were in the Visitors Center and she had to use the restroom. So we go in and I'm waiting by the sinks when a cute little old lady walks up to wash her hands. Then she just stares at me and asks if I'm a missionary. I told her I was! She got so excited and said, "Fantastic! I have a referral for you!" So she went on to tell me about how she met a waitress in the city next to Nauvoo (Keokuk) and was talking to her about the church. The waitress seemed really interested and wants to know more. So this afternoon when I get to go do my shopping Sister Miskin and I are going to go teach!! Now it might seem funny, but referrals are really rare here! So this is really great and exciting! Tuesday night we all met as sisters with President Lusvardi for a little bit. It was crazy, a bat just randomly flew into the room! So all the sisters are freaking out and President is trying to get us out and the bat, it was the funniest thing! I got to tell President about the referral and he asked if I would share that with all the missionaries here at the meeting in the morning. We all meet as a mission every Wednesday morning before we go to the sites.

On Wednesday, Sister Miskin and I got to start our first day at the Family Living Center. That place is so so fun! When you go there, you learn about some of the skills and daily living of the Saints. The sisters usually teach about spinning wool into yarn, baking bread, candlestick making, and weaving. The elders teach about how to make rope, pottery, rugs and barrels. Its a really fun place for families and its usually pretty busy. Its so cool how at a lot of the places I work at, I learn a new skill! I know how to make beanies, shawls, rugs, rope, candles, bread, anything related to tin, I could keep going! Its so fun to be here!!

Thursday and Friday we worked at the Family Living Center again. On Friday our hours changed to the summer schedule though. Now it'll really get busy!! Typically my day looked something like this:

6:30- wake up, exercise, get ready for day

9:45- be at site ready to work, begin cleaning the site for the guests

12- have lunch at the site

5- go home and have dinner

6:30- go to meeting or training for the sites

9:30- go home to get ready for bed

10:30- lights out!

Now, my schedule is even busier!

6:30- wake up, exercise, get ready for day

12- have lunch

5:30- go home and have dinner

7:30- go to "Sunset" performance to sing

9- Get ready for bed

10:30- Lights out!

Man I am just so tired!! By the end of the day I can't wait to get into my pj's and fall asleep! Every day I do so much and I am always so busy its crazy! Yet I still find time to read my scriptures and write in my journal. I find that if something is really that important to you, you'll make time for it.

This week I was reading in 2 Nephi and I found a great scripture that hasn't really caught my attention before until now. Its 2 Nephi 22:2 and says," Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." Its kind of hard and scary to teach people about history, you want to make sure you say the right things and not mess up. I only get a few minutes with each group, so what I say and how I use my time with them is key. Yet when I read this scripture, I was reminded that I need to trust in Jesus Christ and not be afraid. I am doing His work and He needs me to be here. I have Him on my side. An awesome quote from Elder Gary E. Stevenson says," You have the Savior of the world on your side. If you seek his help and follow his directions, how can you fail?" I testify that this is true. I've followed this counsel and seen that it has helped me!

I love you all!! I hope you're having fantastic weeks!!

-Sister Taylor

Hello to my favorite people!!!

Wow what a week!! I keep wondering when I'll get to have a somewhat average email that I'll send on my pday but it hasn't happened yet! I have something cool to say every time!!

So this past Sunday was Mother's Day (I hope all you lovely moms had a great day I was thinking of you all!) so that meant I got to call home! Usually missionaries get to skype home, but it unfortunately not all the missionaries here have a phone ready yet so my mission president decided it was only fair if we all got to just call home. So that's what happened! I got to call my family and talk to them. Oh it was so so great to hear their voices I loved it!!

On Monday Sister Miskin and I got to start at a new site in Nauvoo. We worked in a big three story building called the Cultural Hall.

Not very many people usually go to that building because they don't know what it is. So on Monday and Tuesday we only gave a few tours. I did LOTS of studying those days haha! On Wednesday and Thursday however, we had a bunch of school tours come through. When schools come in we have to be very very careful not to mention the church at all. We can only teach the kids about history. They were all so cute I love when the kids come in. Wednesday alone we did tours for 106 people! We were really busy the rest of the week! On Friday we did the Wagon Tours. That was so fun I loved it!

We get to ride on a big wagon pulled by a team of horses throughout Nauvoo and then tell people what they are seeing. We get a microphone so we don't lose our voices haha! There's lots of information so we had a packet to read through to help us know what to say. That's a popular spot for people to visit so we were busy all day. I barely had time to eat my sandwich before we had to help another group!

This week was also a little crazy at my house. Our other roommates, Sister Moss and Sister Beckwith had to do an emergency transfer so they got moved out of our house! Now Sister Miskin and I live all alone in a big white house. We still have fun, but it's a little different to be the only ones home. It's kind of nice to have my own bathroom haha! I have two showers and two sinks to choose from it's great!!

As fun as this week was, I also had a really cool miracle. On Thursday night, Sister Miskin and I were talking about how we feel we are really good at telling the stories of the Saints that lived here. We feel like we are good at that. We just felt like we weren't doing our missionary purpose. In the MTC, you recite something called the missionary purpose every day so its stuck in my head now. It goes, "My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." We felt like we weren't inviting people to come unto Christ enough. So we left it alone for a little bit, and I went and got my scriptures to start doing personal study. I prayed to Heavenly Father for help and guidance. I didn't know what to do to help people. I felt like I wasn't being a "real missionary" because I get to talk to people for about ten minutes and that's it. I don't see them ever again. Regular missionaries get to teach people for a long time, they get to see people progress and see them change. I don't get to see that. I can only hope that what I said during the ten minute tour of a building will somehow touch people's hearts. Well I went to my scriptures and went to start my regular study in the Book of Mormon when I heard a distinct voice tell me to turn to Ezekiel instead. I was thinking what in the world, why should I read Ezekiel? But I was like ok, where should I read in Ezekiel? I was told to read in chapter 12. So I read it. I read the whole thing and I didn't understand at all what I just read!! I was thinking Heavenly Father, I don't get why you told me to read this. It doesn't answer my question! I asked Sister Miskin what she thought of the scripture and we came to the conclusion that Heavenly Father was teaching me something. He was reminding me that He is in control. He is aware of my situation. "As a missionary I'm not here to receive a reward, I'm here to convince of Christ"- quote by my lovely companion. I was reminded that I don't need to see what happens after people hear my testimony or my teachings. It is my job to teach people of Christ! That's why I'm here! I learned that I need to really testify of Christ when I give tours, that's what the Saints that I'm teaching about would've wanted. Sure their houses are pretty cool and maybe some of the artifacts are nice to look at, but they would've wanted us to share their testimonies since they aren't here to do that! When Sister Miskin and I went on the wagon tour yesterday we made sure we testified of Jesus Christ every tour and helped the visitors who rode with us understand that the Saints truly loved their Savior.

They wouldn't have done all the hard things they did if they didn't love Him. This week truly has strengthened me in ways I didn't know I needed to be strengthened. I love my Savior!! I wanted to share another quote by a Sister I got to know and love at the MTC named Sister Defranchi.

She said in class one day that,"Our trials don't get easier, we just get stronger." All of us go through hard things. It's part of life. I may not know how you feel, nobody might know how you feel. Except for Jesus Christ. When He went through the Atonement, He literally felt everything you have ever felt. He truly knows your pains, your sorrows and your trials. You can turn to Him in prayer, ask Him to help you through your trials. And He will, I promise you He will! He loves all of us more than we can comprehend. And I love you all more than I can say!!

Keep in touch! I love getting emails from everyone!

- Sister Taylor