Happy Valentine's Day

Hello Everyone,

Happy Valentines Day! I first want to say that I love the mission, I love Georgia, I love the Monroe ward, I love my companion, I love all of you, and above all I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Everyday that I am out serving the Lord I am reminded of how much I have been blessed in my life. Knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me very much, and that Jesus Christ suffered for my sins, and that Joseph Smith restored the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth, and knowing that I can return to live with God, Jesus Christ, and my family again brings me so much peace and joy. For every bad day I have, I gain more hope and faith in the Lord. I know that I am never alone. For every good day I have, I thank the Lord. I have truly been blessed.

A little over a week ago my companion and I were invited to a baptism in Ft. Yargo. All of the missionaries in the area were invited to go to this particular one (the mission President and his wife were even there). It was the baptism of a mother (Teresa) and her three young daughters (Savanna-11, Arizona-10, and Robbyn-9). It was such a beautiful baptism. Savanna went first, then Teresa, then Robbyn, and last was Arizona's turn. Arizona has fragile legs and therefore is in a wheel chair. It took both Ft. Yargo Elders to baptize her. Elder Olsen carried her down into the font and Elder Ladow performed the baptism. Arizona's mom and sisters watched in the back of the font while she was baptized. It was such a beautiful sight. I felt the love of God for that little girl. The spirit was so strong in the room. I am so grateful to have been able to go and witness that baptism.

Miracle this week: We had an appointment scheduled with a woman we met while tracting, but unfortunately when we got to her house we found out she was sick, and unable to meet with us. So we decided to go tracting for a little while. We went around the corner and knocked on a door. We met the Lindquist family! Jimmy (the dad) answered the door and we talked to him for a little bit, then wanted to set up a time to teach them. He called for his wife (Heidi) to come and then we got to talk to both of them for a few minutes. They invited us to come back to teach their family this week. We are so excited to teach them, because we feel like they will make a great member family. We got lucky on the first door we went to, why not press on?! So we went next door, and there we met a nice couple. We were talking to Butch on the doorstep for a few minutes, then his wife, Sue, came to the door. After talking for a few minutes she asked us if we were Jehovah's Witnesses (everyone here thinks we are J.W's) and to her excitement, we said NO! She immediately let us in after finding that out. I don't know what they have against J.W's, but I was very happy that they let us in. We stayed for quite a while talking with them. Sue immediately asked for copies of the Book of Mormon, and wanted to know when and where we go to church. We gaver her a pamphlet to read as well. We are excited to go back and teach them, and hopefully they'll come to church with us this week. So you're probably wondering what the miracle was. Well, had the appointment we originally scheduled gone through, we would not have met the Lindquist's nor Butch and Sue. The Lord works in mysterious ways, but I am so grateful that we had the chance to meet these wonderful families.

We are still teaching Brittony. She and her husband came to church yesterday...yay! We are going to teach her the fourth lesson on Wednesday. We're pretty excited about that. She is so sweet, and so receptive.

Every Monday night Brother Golliher (less-active member from the ward) takes us out to dinner. Last week was chinese, this week a nice little country restaurant. We met him at Walmart and since then he has claimed Monday nights his night for taking us to dinner. He is super nice, and we're hoping to get him to church soon. I think he's planning on coming the next two weeks because my companion speaks in Sacrament this Sunday, and I do the next week (yeah, they wasted no time in calling on us to speak)

I hope all is well, don't forget to write to me. My address stays the same :) And most importantly, don't forget to read/study the Book of Mormon. I love you all.

Love,
Sister Taylor