61 and looking to transfer next week...

Hey Mom,

before i forget----- mission office address has changed. here is the new address:

Elder Taylor Barron
California Carlsbad Mission
451 West Bobier DriveVista,
CA 92083

so this week has been really crazy. lots of ups and downs. btw the denos's are from mission viejo 1st ward is how i knew them.

transfer info: next transfer is probably next tues.

on mom going back to school: good luck going back into school.

regarding copies of talks: i dont really have time to write talks so i kind of just make a general outline and pray alot, lol.

info on baptismal assignments: i let whoever is being baptized make the program. leonard couldnt decide anything except that he wanted bro buelna to baptize and bro buelna decided the rest. leonard's wife manuela is meeting with the spanish missionaries now. she is doing really well and keeping all her commitments. there is alot of potential for her to be baptized if she can stop working on sundays.

everything in the district is doing just fine. i have been working alot with the youngest companionship in the district. they started out together at 3 months and 6 like me and Haupt. they havent done too well since they dont get along, lol. i just try to walk them through their day and help them figure out what to do differently. they do well once they get pointed in the right direction. the other two companionships are doing fine. district meetings arent very difficult for me to do anymore. sometimes i even just pull out plans from district meetings that i did long ago, lol.

pics can prolly get sent next week. we have a district activity today and are short on time. plus you can get pics of all the people i teach when i take pics because im leaving.

so leonard is still doing great. he is reading the Book alot and involving his family in what he is doing. the girls have come to Church with him every week since he started coming. last time we were over his 4 year old, Nora joined us in the closing prayer without anybody asking her so she is getting used to family prayers.

lee was going to be baptized this week but we found out that the woman living in his house was not his biological sister. talk about cultural differences--- african american people say brother and sister and dont neccesarily mean biologically. oh well. he says he will help her find a new place and then get baptized. kinda lame.

lynne is not making it according to plan to quit smoking although she is doing less. i dont know if she really believes that she can do it.

hunter's family didnt go to Church because it was stake conference. bro buelna is planning to go have a stern talk with the parents.

but the good news: two weeks ago on tuesday while we were shopping we met this group of people who said that they were from kentucky and that they wanted to be baptized into the Church. the group: carleen is already a member but hadnt found the Church here, john is her nonmember boyfriend, shaloam lives with them, and marvin also lives with them.) we met carleen and john that first day. john said he had been to Church once and wanted to join but the next thing that he said was that he wanted to get help from the Church to move back to Kentucky. so i thought, sounds like they just want to hop on the gravy train. (happens every now and then. nonmembers know about Church welfare.) but i took thier phone number. i never felt right about not calling them back so on friday i finally gave them a call. carleen answered and asked us to come over right then. we made it over and taught them a short lesson. john told us that he wanted to be baptized because "carleen likes the Mormon Church and it is the right thing to do." they are a bit slow in the mind so it was really funny as they were asking us how long it would take to be baptized. we set an appointment for the next day. on saturday they brought out shaloam and marvin and they said that they wanted to take all the lessons and be baptized too. so i told them that if they keep all thier commitments they can be baptized on Feb 13th. the immediate response was, "what time?" they all came to Stake Conference on sunday and we taught them again monday and now i am convinced that they are legit. every reading assignment they all take thier own notes and read them to us at the start of the lesson. they are excited all the time. it is really fun to teach them. we will see them again on wednesday.

not too much else that has stood out this week. hope you are doing well.

Grandma:

Hi Grandma,

i will really miss this area. Elder Roddy and i have had some incredible times that are not to be forgotten. i think i look quite a bit older than when i left as well. i look at those pictures Mom sends me of right before i left and i have certainly gotten a year older. i wish i had time to write Grandma and Grandpa Cook more. i sent out like 17 letters that tuesday because i was so behind.

we got absolutely drenched yesterday. Elder Roddy and i invented a way to keep our scriptures dry by putting them in a bunch of grocery bags in our scripture cases. that way we can go tracting in all kinds of weather. it payed off, yesterday we were let in to a home and taught a man named Halbert the first lesson and have a return appt.

hope your doing well.

Grandpa:

sounds pretty crazy out there. we heard about the massive earthquake in haiti. i knew that the Church would be out there helping those people.

we had some flooding near the coast where the rain gutters were gushing out. we had to drive through it once and got a little scared that we would flood the exhaust but we made it. having a great time finishing up here.

hope you have success in your work.

Love your favorite missionary,

Elder Taylor Barron