Taylor Patterson - Reno, NV Mission

Hey Friends!! Well this week was probably one of the hardest weeks of my mission. I have been stuck inside since last Monday. I guess this hand, foot, and mouth disease is super contagious so they didn't want me getting people sick. The symptoms are finally starting to go away thank goodness because I am tired of laying around inside having nothing to do. We did however have a pretty cool miracle this week though. A 16 year old texted us out of no where and said how she has been having friends meet with missionaries and she wants to meet with us also. She said how she is super excited and wants to join the church so that is pretty cool!! So funny story that I never added in my emails. A couple of weeks ago we were teaching a family and then out of no where 4 cop cars pulled up. They told us to leave and we just awkwardly walked outside. It was hilarious but weird, so we haven't been back there since. I hope everyone is doing great!!  My spiritual message is from...

Hey Everyone! I am pretty sick so this email wont be too long. I have hand, feet, and mouth disease so that is way fun! We had zone conference this week and it was really good. We focused on goals and the importance of making effective plans to reach our goals.  We have been working on cleaning out our teaching pool, meaning everyone who isn't progressing we are dropping them from our teaching pool. Elder Lasalosi and I have been teaching some pretty good lessons and he is doing good for only being out like 10 days! I am loving the mission even when I am sick. I hope everyone is doing well! Miss you all have a good week!!! Taylor

Hey Friends!!! This week has been a busy week!! We had a lot of lessons and I got my new companion. His name is Elder Lasalosi. He is originally from a tiny island by Tonga called Eua!!! He is a very nice missionary and I am looking forward to training him! This past week we taught some very powerful lessons to a couple of the people we are teaching. We have had a 9 year old on date for baptism for the 25th of January and now her mom also wants to be baptized!!! So we taught the commandments and she accepted the invitation to keep them so we are excited for them. We are hoping they can make the change and follow their Savior we are pumped to help them progress even more! 4 of the nonmembers came to church that we have been teaching and they loved it so we are hoping to continue teaching them all!! I am really enjoying the mission life, immersing my heart and mind in the missionary work has been so fun and makes everything way better!! My scripture this week is from...

Hey Everyone!!! Hope everyone had a safe and a Happy New Years Day! We had transfers this week I am still the district leader in the same area and I am also going to be a trainer!! I find out who my new companion is tomorrow I am super excited to train again!  We were out doing missionary work New Year's Eve and people were already drunk and partying at 2 pm, it was pretty funny. Then New Year's Day people were very hungover it was a good time lol. We had 10 nonmembers at church this past week and it was so awesome!! We are hoping to put 3 of them on date for baptism this next week so that will be exciting!!  We also got to go to a baptism on Friday for Selisha and her son Pax. They were so excited to get baptized, it was a very spiritual day. I am loving the mission! Some days are hard because I do miss people, but the good days by far make up for the others!! I love the people we are teaching and the experiences I have on the mission. My spiritual mes...

Hey Everyone!!! This week was a crazy one, so much happened in such little time! I am in a trio again. We will be with Elder Rubio until next week. I love the trio because it reminds me of Ely and all the good times we had as a trio. We have been teaching so many people!!! Between our two areas, the 1st and 3rd Ward we have found 48 people this month and are teaching 51 all together. Let's just say we don't knock doors anymore and it's fun!!! Christmas was a blast we got to hangout with the Boyd family for 3 hours and it was a good time.  We have 2 people getting baptized in the other areas this weekend and I got to do their interview and it made me so happy seeing how excited they were about it, they are just so awesome! I love the mission! I have seen such a change in my testimony and my love for others. They don't lie when they say your first convert should be yourself. My spiritual message this week is from Mosiah 3:19. It says "For the n...

Hey Everyone, This week was pretty good!!! We did so much service for people!! We did 15 hours of service this week and it was a blast. We also found 6 more people to teach and it has been keeping us so busy and we love it! This week we plan on making 120 Oreo balls for the people we are teaching because it's cheap and good hahahah. But we are hoping they love them!! This week we were teaching this lady and she told us in the middle of the lesson that she wanted to be baptized! She has been smoking for 55 years and this week we are going to start the 15 step program to get her off of cigarettes in 7 days!!! We are excited! My spiritual message is from Mosiah 3:17. It says: "And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." As we remember Christ during this season we remember the true meaning ...

Hey Everyone! This week was definitely an interesting one!! We found 8 new people to teach and we have found 25 this transfer, it is super awesome!!  We put someone on date for baptism for January 4th and hoping they stay faithful and progress!!! This week was a tough one on the body for sure!! I got in a nice bike accident. We were biking down a steep hill and I hit a puddle that was deeper then I thought and lost control going on the sidewalk and flew off my bike hitting my head into a thick metal pole. Don't worry the pole is A okay. Thankfully I had a helmet and the doctor showed everyone at the hospital my helmet lol.  We went to the emergency room to get a CT scan of my neck and luckily it is good, just sprained. I know I am truly on the Lords errand because I should've walked away with something broke, but thankfully it was just a sprained neck so it's all good. Spiritual message "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put...