93rd and LAST email from France

Hey are you there? We are at the mission bureau. It’s so fun being here with all the ones I came out with. We are having a good time! I just finished my interview and I’ve been trying to throw out all the things I’m not going to need because my bags weigh a little too much. I don’t want write a lot. I’ll see you tomorrow! I’m really excited about coming home- everyone is. Also, do you know if they will weigh my carry-on bag?? I hope not!

92nd email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
We had a good week, lots of snow! Everyone is acting a little crazy about it all but it is cool because from what I hear it doesn’t snow very often in the area. We spent the whole weekend in Toulouse which was really fun. We did an exchange starting Friday night but when we were ready to go back to Albi the trains were all canceled and we were stuck there. The branch president called to tell us that church was canceled in Albi so we decided to stay in Toulouse because they were still able to have church but it was still just one hour and not alot of people came. I guess it was alot easier for them because alot of people come on the metro and there is a stop not too far from the church. We finally got back to Albi around six but even for that train we had to wait around for a long time because the first one we wanted to take was canceled. So this week we had a really cool miracle and found a really cool family. So Wednesday we had to go to Toulouse for our zone formation meeting. We had set a rendez vous in a town called Castre for just after so instead of going back to Albi from Toulouse we headed to Castre. About half way through our train stops at a station in a little town called Lavour and from what they told everyone it wouldn’t restart so everyone had to get off of the train and they called busses to come and pick up all of the passengers to bring them the rest of the way. While waiting for the bus everyone was lined up outside and we started casually talking to the people around us. There was one really nice family, well it was a younger couple, a younger kid then an older lady. After about ten minutes the lady asked us if there was still a church in Castes. We told her where it was in Albi and that the church in Castres had been closed for a few years. She said she was baptized about twenty years ago in the north of France and was never even put into our member records here in Albi. Her son was really young when she was active in the church but is now very open and interested to talk to us. We have already taught them one time and hopefully again this week. The rendez vous went super well and they were happy to follow the engagements we left them. The coolest part is that they really see that it wasn’t by chance that our train broke down and we met each other anyways. They are already progressing well and seem to love everything the church teaches. Me and Elder Newell were pretty excited because the last few weeks have been a little slow even though we have been working really hard. So I only have one week left. It’s really weird to think about. I am really excited to see all y’all again and also I’m excited to see Saudi Arabia, and Chelsea.
I went shopping again today but I didn’t really buy very much. It’s hard to explain there isn’t much here that you can’t buy anywhere else, it just costs alot more here. I would love to buy a bunch of really French stuff but its hard cause it’s just as modern here as anywhere else. I’ll buy some nice chocolate and maybe some cheese if I can. Love y’all, Taylor

91st email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
Piper is finally here, that’s exciting! She’s cute. But it's kinda weird to think that Ivy had a baby and I am now an uncle cause I haven’t really been there. I am excited for that though. This week was good. We had a few really long days but it’s good to say we worked hard. Everything is going good- it’s starting to set in that I don’t have that much time left and that I’ll be with yall again soon. It doesn’t really bother me during the week though just during emails and preparation days. Elder Newell is doing pretty good keeping me concentrated. I did an exchange with Elder Hill, my old comp from Toulouse, and we just talked about home all day so that made me realize how much Newell is helping me stay focused. We have alot of stuff to do the next two weeks so that will make them go by fast. Wednesday we are in Toulouse then again for an exchange this weekend and also we are doing another exchange with the Montauban elders Tuesday of next week. So with all that, wow it’s all kind of unreal. Everything I did before I came to France seems like a big pre-existence memory. I am excited to go back to normal life though. Well, I’ve said enough about going home I guess. I do still have two weeks. Church was good again. There weren’t many people there. Actually alot of people haven’t come since the Arnolds left. I hope it’s not for that same reason. We would love to go out and see all the people they saw and taught but it’s just not possible without a car. We’re trying to start working with members though even though its hard. This week we didn’t really see any members since at church the Sunday before which kind of makes for a lonely week but we have a few things planned for the next few days so I hope that all works out. The New Year’s pictures look cool. Everyone is so much different.
I don’t have any pictures today but I think I’ll just make you wait. Also, I have tons you haven’t seen on memory cards but don’t get too excited, I think I sent most of the good ones!
I’ll see you soon! Love y’all, Taylor

90th email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone, Ok, so this week was pretty good, I guess. Christmas went well. It felt like another normal week but I guess that’s better and it helped us stay focused- something that is becoming a little harder every day. Church was only two hours again. There just weren’t enough people to do all the lessons. Thankfully we had a couple from the stake that came. When we started it was only us and them and the branch president’s family but then a few others came. I’m excited for next week because everyone should be off vacation and at church.
I really liked talking to y’all! The pictures you sent yesterday- everyone looks so much bigger and grown up. It’s going to be really weird to be there with everyone again but it’s coming fast!
I’m not sure what we will be doing this week. We have our district meeting tomorrow morning here in Albi then Elder Hill and I are going to do an exchange so that will be fun. If you remember he was the one I trained before I left the bureau. Normally we work for the last three hours of p-day but recently president told us that we could to it earlier in the day cause at night it gets dark so much earlier. So that’s what we did today. It’s a pretty good feeling to know we will be relaxing for the rest of the day.
So I don’t have a whole lot to say. We talked about so much stuff when I called.
Does Dustin work at the snowball place? In the picture he had one of those shirts on. If so, that’s cool. Daniel looks alot older also. My camera is out of batteries so I can’t send any pictures. I don’t think I took many this week anyways. Sorry this email isn’t very much but I just told you everything on the phone!
Love y’all, Taylor

89th email from France (Albi)

Hey everyone, I hope you had a good trip to Arkansas and you can make it back without any problems. We had a good week here even though it was pretty hard. We are having a really tough time seeing our amis. It seems like everyone kinda has the same idea of just come by after the holidays which I can understand but it just leaves us without very much to do. I think we went this whole week without really seeing any members or anyone else from church. We’re just kinda in our little world here but we’re doing pretty good trying to have some Christmas cheer and not think too much about home. It’s kinda hard though. It’s been cold. We actually had a few days of snow which was cool, I liked it. Anyways, church was kinda different. We got there and instead of the forty or fifty that normally come there were less than twenty. I don’t know where everyone was- even the people giving talks didn’t show up so we did a little sacrament meeting and testimony thing. Then after that we kinda realized that the teachers weren’t there either so we had one combined class then ended after two hours- kinda funny but it was fun because everyone stayed after and talked. Anyways, we don’t have many plans for Christmas the 24th. We will go to the church at six to eat with the branch president and his family but that about it. Also, Wednesday we have zone conference. It should be fun- it’s my last one so ill get to kinda bear testimony and talk for a while. It’s what we do every time for the ones going home, I just never thought it would be me. I’ll have to think about what I’m gonna say. Also we are going caroling somewhere in town. That should be pretty cool just cause there will be so many of us together also we are having a talent show after just to kinda celebrate Christmas. At first there wasn’t anyone who wanted so sign up so finally we all gave in and said we could do something even if we didn’t think our talents were very cool. I’m gonna juggle then Elder Newel is gonna sing a Christmas song even though he isn’t really a singer also I talked Elder Call- he’s in the district but in Montauban- I talked him into standing on his head, also Elder Scott is going to do sit-ups to the beat of a old classical music song that should be funny. So for our Christmas calls- I think we will just do them from the church since we don’t have anywhere else to go. I’ll probably call around 4, 5 or 6 which should be just Christmas morning in Louisiana and I guess if mom is already in Minnesota then I can just do two calls. Y’all seem to be doing alot of shopping- don’t forget about me! I’ll need alot of stuff when I get back! Love y’all, Taylor

88th letter from France (Albi)

Hello Everyone, So this week was pretty good. It went by really fast which is kinda scary cause I only have five more! It’s starting to get really cold, actually today it’s been snowing since we woke up this morning. It’s not been really sticking cause its not cold enough. Maybe it will snow alot for Christmas- I would like that. Someone last night told us it was going to start getting colder and colder every day for the next few weeks so we’ll see. Today we went and bought a Christmas tree for our apartment. We haven’t really decorated it yet but we probably will later. Hopefully we can find some lights for it. Already Albi has all the Christmas decorations around town so its a little more cheerful.
This week we were walking down the road and this huge islander guy was yelling and waving us down. We stopped and he’s from Tonga and served his mission in California. He’s really cool and has been here for like a year playing for the rugby team. We showed him where the church was and he came Sunday so that was cool. We’re gonna see him again Wednesday. He knows Timani. Most people from Tonga always seem to somehow know each other so I asked. His name is Mate but it’s not how you would say it more like ‘mah tay’. He’s really cool- too bad he’s been inactive for so long. He could have helped the branch a lot! France does that to people. Other than that, this week was pretty normal. I did another exchange with Elder Scott- that was fun even though we didn’t have much to do- just alot of walking and contacting.
It’s becoming pretty hard to not think about home! Time is going by pretty fast. Hearing you talking about seeing everyone at home really makes me really want to be there. Tonight we have our soirée familial at a member’s house. We talked to a guy last night that really should come. We talked to him for about an hour. He is Buddhist so it was kind of an interesting conversation but at the end we invited him to come and we fixed a rendez vous for 18h45 at the same place we were last night. Then we will walk to the member’s house together so that’s cool. I hope he is there. We have our district meeting tomorrow. We used to go to Montauban cause we had the Arnolds but now I told everyone just to come to Albi. After me and Elder Blosil are gonna do an exchange. We actually were able to fix a rendez vous with a guy me and him contacted like two weeks ago when we worked together. I’m excited about that. So the guy that was coming to the fhe, Jean Christophe, just called saying he couldn’t and I guess he didn’t really have a fixed adresse here in Albi so he’s gone for good- ahh- just another day.
Yeah well, we have to go. Thanks for your email. I’m so excited to talk to y’all on Christmas then to see you soon after that!! Love y’all, Taylor

87th email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
Ok wow- well what a day. I’m emailing from Toulouse. We had to wake up early to get our train around seven. Elder Butler got the call Friday that he would be going to Angouleme which is on the western side above Bordeaux. He was pretty excited. I know he was kind of tired of Albi after three transfers. I’m here with the zone leaders now but I’ll be picking up my new colleague, Elder Newell, around five then we head back to Albi. When we get there we’re not gonna have any time really because we will have to go from the train station straight to the church for our soirée familial. Then I guess we will have to walk back with his bags either later tonight or come get them tomorrow morning. I’m pretty excited about the new comp though, everyone has just said how cool he is. I’ve only met him for a few minutes a few months ago but I think it’s gonna be cool. He’s from California but I don’t know much more that that. This week was good. Saturday night we had a huge party at the church for the Arnolds. I guess they are gone now. They called us for something this morning but by now I think they are on their way home. They were pretty ready to go see their family by the end but they still worked hard. They helped us so much. I think it’s gonna be alot harder now with them not here but we will be ok at least I’m with someone cool. This week I did an exchange with Elder Scott. It went really well. It was kinda cool working together again but being alot older and better at what we do- kinda more experienced, I guess. It’s kinda weird to think about but after today our group will be the oldest in the mission. That’s super weird to think about. Today at the bureau was strange cause all the ones leaving today are the ones just one group older than us in the mtc. I'll tell Elder Page Whitney got his letter. I’m sure in a few days she can talk to him on face book.
oh la I can’t believe your gonna be home soon. It seems like you were just there. I guess I will be home pretty soon- crazy.
Yeah, for my ear- I finally called Soeur Carter about it cause it was still bugging me- not hurting at all but just kind of plugged up so today the doctor from Germany for Europe called me and he just emailed me a prescription that I will have to go to a pharmacy to get filled. So I’ll do that today and hopefully it will go away. He did kinda act like it was a big deal cause he said it could get worse. I’m hoping the medicine will take care of it.
Really I don’t need anything for Christmas, maybe if you want to send some cards or something but don’t pay for posting or anything. There isn’t anything at all that I really need and I’ll be home so soon after that. I would just have to bring back what you would send me and I already have way too much stuff!
Ok, have a good week and a safe trip home. Send some pics with Sulphur people. See ya soon! Love y'all, Taylor

86th email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
Wow, all that seems pretty fun. I would have liked to be there in Thailand but I guess our week wasn’t too bad here. We stayed pretty busy. Thanksgiving was good. We started off with a little Turkey Bowl- it was only me and Elder Butler but we went and threw the football around a soccer field- it was fun. Then later on the Arnolds invited us over when they noticed we didn’t really have anything planned. They cooked a really good meal- it wasn’t turkey but still it was good. We all ate too much so I guess that all that really matters. This last weekend I was in Toulouse with Elder Hill. It was cool cause we got to go see a few people I knew there. For lunch, since I have saved alot of money, we went and ate at a really nice old American diner- style restaurant. We’ve been all over doing service this week, just helping people mostly members. I like helping them but it’s going to be hard when the Arnolds leave cause we just won’t have any way to get go see them. I don’t know if I told you but there is one person that comes to church and lives in Albi so teaching with members is really hard and the members invite us over but it’s really hard for them cause they know that they will either have to bring us back to Albi after or at least to the train station. It’s not like we can just come and leave. They like having us. They just know it takes a little extra effort. This next week is going to be filled -also tomorrow morning we have the district meeting in Montauban then I come back here on exchange with Elder Blosil then also Thursday Elder Scott is coming from Toulouse for an exchange. Pretty much all the other days are filled with going and seeing people. Also we have to do alot of thing for Elder Arnold because they have to be moved out of their apartment by Saturday night. President said we could help him for anything he needs so I’m sure that will take at least a little time every day. Tonight we have our soirée familial -everyone is going to meet at the Arnolds then were going to stack wood at a sisters house like thirty miles away way out in the country so that should be fun. I haven’t been feeling super good lately. I was sick then it got better but now all the same symptoms are coming back. The worst thing is my ear. I’m going to go buy some medicine today. It doesn’t hurt a lot but I just have a little earache so I have a hard time hearing out of it. I can tell it’s nothing big though so don’t worry. Well I’m glad you had a good trip! Thanks for the pictures! Love y’all, Taylor

85th email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
So this week was pretty good, just kinda normal. I can’t believe it’s already Monday. Church yesterday went well. We had one ami that came, Veridienne. It was cool to have her there. She seemed to really like it. Getting her there was kinda hard. Saturday night she said she wanted to come so we started calling all the members for someone to come pick her up. Finally we got a single soeur but she wasn’t from Albi so she wouldn’t have know where to go so we wanted to go with her but then we realized that we couldn’t go cause it would be just her so finally we called someone else to meet us at church early to go with us. Then go with the soeur to pick her up, it was pretty complicated and took alot of phone calls but it all ended up pretty well. Also at church we had to teach like the class for the kids so like from ages twelve to sixteen. It went well, I think they liked it. This week I did an exchange in Toulouse. I was pretty excited to go see people I knew when I was there but we ended up not having a whole lot of time. We had to go do service for a frère in the other ward but it was fun and he really needed help so it felt good to help him. We were with the other missionary equipe also so it ended up being a pretty good day. We did insulation which made me think of the elders a long time ago at our house doing the same thing except it wasn’t exactly the same work. I would call where we worked more like a stable or barn just with super old rock and brick walls- way out in the French countryside. They cooked for us also which was nice. His wife made a huge lasagna but it was different cause all the meat was salmon which tasted kinda weird at first but I really liked it. Before I’ve eaten spaghetti with salmon and caviar mixed in so it’s kinda the same idea- same taste anyways. We were also able to go and finish painting with our amis David and Aurore so that was fun. They want to invite us to eat with the Arnolds before they leave. I hope we can. They already have their whole last two weeks planned out- everyone wants to see them before they leave but thankfully with all of that the members aren’t forgetting us. We have two things planned this week where we should eat so we are looking forward to that. The only problem is here no one that comes to church lives in Albi so it takes us a long time to get where they live either on the busses or trains. There is an American family here because he plays professional rugby. We were hoping to get invited for Thanksgiving but that didn’t work out. I think we might go eat at a Thailand place though.
So we got the flight plans! That’s cool! I heard the Margret Sales has been talking to dad to try and figure something out. Ohh, I just realized that was the other email you were talking about yeah I got that but didn’t look at it yet- sorry. Yeah, so the bureau knows it’s all worked out now. Yeah, those first plans looked bad-flying in at 6:00 in the morning. These are much better. I talked to Elder Sellers in the bureau about the first flight plans and all he could say was ‘man, that sucks’. Are you taking your good camera to Thailand? OK, well I have to go. Thanks- have a good week and a great trip! Really try and email me from there. That would suck if I didn’t have anything!
Love y’all,
Taylor

84th email from France (Albi)

This first one is me and Elder Page. That's probably the last time I'll see him for a while- he dies this transfer!

Us with Samuel at the baptism...

Us, Samuel and the Arnolds...

Hey Everyone,
So we had a good week. I'll start out talking about the baptism- it went really well. It was kinda shocking being there and realizing that someone was actually going to get baptized. I figured it out and it’s been like sixteen months since the last time one of our investigators went all the way without having opposition or any problems but it was really, really good! There were alot more people that came from the branch. We were only expecting a few to come but then more and more kept showing up. They were pretty happy to have someone else and since he is a really cool, funny guy there shouldn’t be any problems with integration in the branch so that’s awesome. The confirmation was really cool too. One of the members brought her neighbor to the baptism and she seemed to be pretty touched. She had alot of questions after and we even got to sit and talk to her a little. I hope we can see her again. So today is p-day but we just got back from a rendez vous. I thought about trying to fix it for another day to not waste any of our free time but I’m glad we went. It was a good rendez vous with a guy named Mr. Zaradzki. He’s older and has alot of health problems but I think it helps him alot to talk to us. I hope we can see him more often. Today was the second time since I’ve been here. Church went well yesterday. There were actually over fifty people so that was exciting. It was kinda crazy at first- we were in our classes and they had just kids everywhere mostly in the hall running up and down. They were supposed to be practicing for their primary program that was later on but they were just making alot of noise and I’ve been having an ear ache thing so I was trying to hear but just couldn’t so by the end I was just super mad at all these kids. But then later for their program they actually did a really good job and I ended up really liking it so I was able to forgive them a little. So this Wednesday we had our zone conference. It was really good. We pretty much just went over all the things that Elder Holland taught us while he was here. We do this thing every conference where everyone prepares little like five minute talks and then the zone leaders choose someone randomly to give theirs. Well, I have avoided this little talk my whole mission but sure enough very unexpectedly they called my name. I hadn’t prepared much at all cause I thought there would be no way I would be the one cause it normally falls on elders the zl's know aren’t working very hard or the greenie, stuff like that- so I kinda winged it but it ended up really good and even President and Soeur Carter were making references to stuff I said for the rest of the conference. I compared missionary work to the old Nintendo 64 game, NFL Blitz and if we do good work without messing up for a while we can become “on fire” then having the power to pretty much do whatever we want. You just dominate the opponent, so that was cool. This week will probably go by really fast. Tomorrow morning we have our district meeting then after that I’ll stay in Montauban for an exchange then we have service with our amis Wednesday then after that the zone leaders are coming for another exchange then another exchange Saturday where I will go back to Toulouse. I’m pretty excited for that one- to go back and work in the area I was when I was in the bureau.
You never sent pictures of anything. The rock concert seems pretty cool. I’m glad that the passport worked out with no problems also you made me scared when you said I would have to go to the embassy here to do some final stuff. French people always make stuff like that super complicated and I’m sure it would have taken alot longer than expected.
In the mtc I took a picture of me flexing- you don’t happen to have that saved anywhere? If so, I want it. I made the bureau buy me a curl bar and send it for zone conference so I’m trying to kinda start doing a few exercises every day.
I’ll send some pictures now! Love y'all, Taylor

83rd email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone,
So we had a pretty good week. Everything seems to be going by so fast. Every week seems faster and faster. I was pretty sick also which didn’t really help but it’s a little better now. I went and bought some medications that helped then some strong cheese and French mustard kind of helped for the sinuses. I’m just not used to the cold here. The temperature dropped alot this week and I’m kinda getting scared for December and January cause I don’t do very well when it’s really cold. Well, I’ve been here for two weeks now but yesterday was the first time I really met the members with the stake conference being last weekend. It was good, lots of people kinda crammed in our little meetinghouse. It actually reminded me alot of St. Raphael. It had the same feeling with kids running around. We spent the whole hour of priesthood planning out a service project, just things like that but there was a good family-like spirit and they all seem very willing to help us with missionary work so that’s good. We’re going to need help especially after the Arnolds leave in December. So we have a baptism this Saturday! It’s kinda crazy but I’m pretty excited also. It’s a guy around 40 years old that has known the church over ten years and has been an on and off investigator. He hadn’t seen the missionaries in a few months. Three weeks ago he came to church, then the next day to the family home evening, then we saw him during the week and then he came Saturday and Sunday for stake conference. He was really touched and then pretty much had no problems when we asked him to be baptized. We will see him again tonight for the fhe at the Arnolds then he has a little interview with the zone leaders that have to come up Thursday night; then if all goes well, the baptism will be in Toulouse Saturday at two o’clock. The branch is pretty excited to have a new member also. I think it’s been a while since they have had a baptism. The district meeting went well, better than I thought. I was pretty nervous having so many people but it kinda just made it easier cause there were more people answering and helping with roll playing activities and stuff like that. I just need to be sure to be really prepared cause it’s alot harder to wing it in front of that many people than it was with just one or two other companionships back at the bureau. Another cool thing about Albi is that Frere Moukilou is here.’ I dont know if I ever said anything about him but he was a member in Toulouse when I was there. He helped us alot and was the assistant to our dmp, the missionary coordinator person but a while back he was searching pretty seriously for a wife. That was like six months ago but a while back he got married to a recent convert here in Albi then they moved here just a few weeks before I came. I was pretty happy to see him here when I came. We also taught the coolest couple this week. Their names are David and Aurore. They are both school teachers and probably the coolest, smartest people I’ve ever met. They were asking some questions about the Book of Mormon like how Nephi knew the word gentile and just some other things no one ever thinks about. They are in the middle of building a house kinda in the middle of nowhere so it’s kinda hard to go see them but hopefully they will keep reading and searching with open hearts.
So I sent all the papers and passport to Houston. It’s going to take like six or seven days. I think they had a two day service but it would have been 60 Euros so I chose the next one for like 15 that took a week. I hope it gets there ok. There aren’t any really reputable mailing places here. There is only la poste which is like the UPS for France but it shouldn’t have any problems. I had a question at the top of dad’s work. Is it owned by like a royal family of Saudi Arabia or is just like a normal CEO? As for buying me clothes- if you want you can. I’ve been kinda thinking about what style I’m going to go back to. I think it’s going to be mostly polo shirts. They don’t have to be polo polo but just polo style then just jeans or whatever. I came with two pairs of jeans- one was kinda loose before and now it’s just impossible to wear then the other which was tight is loose. The ones that are loose now are like 30’s but don’t really buy alot of stuff like that because they all fit differently. I’m just gonna have to go shopping but that will be fun. Also I think don’t worry about Christmas stuff. I’ll be back right after where I will need real stuff and it costs so much to send stuff. I would say just don’t worry about it just some letters or something. Love y’all,Taylor

82nd email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone, So we had a pretty good week. Ahh, so I just looked in my agenda for the list of cool stuff during the week that I had written down but I guess I grabbed an old agenda so I don’t have it but anyways we had a lot of cool stuff that happened so I should be able to remember. I guess we can start with this weekend. We were mostly in Toulouse. We left early Saturday morning with the Arnold’s for the mission conference. We got there pretty early and it was really cool to see everyone. After a while we all just kinda sat down waiting for Elder Holland and President to arrive. Finally they came, him and his wife, Elder and Soeur Holland then also Elder Kopischke. We started by going up and shaking his hand. He was asking everyone where they came from so I thought Saudi Arabia would be a better conversation starter than Louisiana so I told him that. Just like I knew he would, he said that he had been there earlier in the year then we talked for a few seconds. Still pretty short but cool. Anyway, the meeting started as normal- his wife talked which was really good. She kinda made us all feel good by saying that Europe will bloom when it’s day comes and we’re all doing a really good job and not to worry too much about the outcomes just as long as we’re doing our part. She said to just to keep faith and obedience and we will be protected and see miracles. She didn’t talk for very long just a few minutes leaving most of the two hours for the two authorities. Next was Kopischke who also had a really good talk. He kinda checked up on some of the engagements he had given us a year ago when he made the tour to all of our zone conferences so that was cool. I probably liked it more than others seeing there weren’t a whole lot that were even there a year ago. Then Elder Holland spoke. It was pretty powerful but he wasn’t exactly feeling as sorry for us as his wife was. He talked alot about how he is sick of seeing returned missionaries from France becoming inactive because of how the people here use their free agency. He told us to just learn the gospel, use faith and then what happens happens but there aren’t any excuses to say it’s harder than anywhere else in the world. He also talked alot about the urgency of our callings not only for the people here but for us as future members of the church. It was all very good. We spent the day in Toulouse. I wanted to do an exchange with Elder Gunter and Hill from the bureau but since there was a new soeur coming from the mtc they had to stay and do their presentations for the new missionaries so me and Elder Butler took their car and went and saw a few of our old amis. We actually ended up teaching two of them. We didn’t have much time before we had to meet the Arnold’s who came with two of our amis from Albi back at the church for the Saturday night session. This was good. Also Soeur Carter spoke then a few others and then Elder Holland who talked about Christ much more calmly than the morning conference was. It ended with some kind of a primary program song thing which was weird cause it’s the adult session. Then a ten year old kid gave the closing prayer- just not something you would see in America but whatever. Then apparently some guy went crazy trying to go after Elder Holland and had to get taken out. I didn’t see anything but some random member was pulling us up to the front for backup. I don’t think it was a big deal though. We stayed Saturday night in the bureau then went at ten for the big session. That was right next to the bureau in a big building we had rented so that was cool. We had to meet one of our amis early that came from Albi on the train then we went and found our seats. There were tons of people there. I got to take some pictures with a few Toulouse people I had missed before I left. Tonight we have our fhe again. There should be a few amis that are coming so that should be cool. We don’t have many things planned for the week yet but I think we should be able to find some people to see. Tomorrow morning is the district meeting in Montauban which I’m kinda nervous about but I’m sure it will go pretty good. I told the bureau about the big envelope that should be coming. They should send it right away then I’ll try to get it back pretty fast. If I have question we can just stop by the email place really fast or do it from the Arnold’s. I had some questions for you:
What are the days your going to Thailand?
Are you going to be home for Christmas? If so, what days?
About Dad- that stinks. I hope it’s nothing too bad and he gets better soon. I’ve been pretty tired lately but I think it’s just going to be like this until I come home. I’ve had a cold, too. I bought these pills I thought would help. It had one for the morning, noon and night then before you go to bed so I did that for four days. It’s what the pharmacy gave me but it didn’t seem to help a whole lot.
Why does Chelsea go to a groomer? Sorry I don’t have my camera with me today. I will try to send some next time for sure.
Love y’all,
Taylor

81st email from France (Albi)

Hey Everyone, I hope you had a good week. Everything is pretty good here. Um, I didn’t email yesterday cause I was on the train. I was pretty sure that I would just stay in Cannes until the end but I guess President wanted me elsewhere. I’m in Albi now. It’s a town about an hour north of Toulouse that so far seems pretty nice and has a little branch with about thirty people. We did service this morning so I got to meet the branch president and some other members. Also, there is one of the two mission couples here in Albi so it’s super cool to go and work with them. They are at the very end of their mission and are pretty excited to help us with whatever we need. When President called me he said the work was going slowly so he was counting on me to pick it up a little. I’m sure he says that to almost everyone but we will see how it goes. I thought I would be sad to leave Cannes but actually this move will help me work hard until the end. I’m still district leader just with a much bigger district than ever before. I’m kinda nervous but it shouldn’t be too bad. Also, I have Elder Hill and Gunter from the bureau so I should get to go on exchanges there and see some old amis. There should be us then four more companionships so that will be one of the bigger districts in the mission. So you know this Saturday we have our mission conference with Elder Holland. I’m really excited. The cool part is that now I’ve moved into the Toulouse stake again so we get to go to the stake conference which is the real reason he is coming. So yeah, Albi seems to be pretty cool. I’m sure it’s gonna be freezing by Christmas time but hopefully I’ll be able to get through it. I’m sure a new ville will make the next few weeks fly by cause there is always alot to learn with the investigators and just to get to know the town always takes a while. I’m with an Elder Butler. He’s from Chicago but kinda went to high school in Seattle- just kinda moved around a lot. He’s alot younger in the mission, I think sixth transfer. He’s cool. Right now he has some knee problems and has a hard time walking around a lot. It’s really cool having a senior couple here. We had a fhe last night at their house with another member and one of our amis that came also. This morning they drove us to service then they taught with us today at four. We had a really good rendez vous with an old African lady name Amandine. We were actually able to set a baptismal date for the 21 Novembre which is cool and it seems pretty solid. We didn’t do very much, it’s mostly the Arnolds (senior couple) that really want to see a baptism before they go home in December but anyways, it’s a baptism and that’s awesome. We also have another lesson at their apartment tonight with another one of our amis so things are going pretty good. So thanks for doing all that school stuff for me.Cannes was cool just to go back for a while and see everyone. I kinda realized we didn’t have much going on with our amis or anything so I wasn’t too sad to leave. Well, I don’t have alot of time. I think I might send you some pictures from the Arnolds computer if I can. We have to go back to our apartment now then go over to the rv. I hope you have a good week. Love y’all, Taylor

80th email from France (Cannes)

Hey Everyone, So we have had a pretty good week starting with last week. We went to Nice. It was really cool to see everyone. We had a couple of hours to play. We started with soccer then ultimate Frisbee and yeah, as expected we creamed them. Also, this week we had our zone development meeting which was cool. We had to wake up early and drive to Aix en Provence to meet up with everyone but it was cool to see President and Soeur Carter again. Then after they just ordered like two hundred Euros worth of pizza so everyone got to chill for a while with President. In our interviews he said that I would probably stay here in Cannes for a while. I think we are going to be in a trio for one transfer then just me and someone else until I leave which I’m pretty excited about. It’s really cool having the car. We are actually the only missionaries with one in the mission that aren’t zone leaders or assistants. Our week went by pretty fast. We were able to see a few people and even had someone that came to church. It was a black girl named Precious that only speaks English but she liked it. This coming week should be cool. I get to go back to Toulouse for a big meeting for all the district leaders so I’m looking forward to that. I also talked to President about my foot he took a picture on his blackberry then emailed it to the regional doctor guy then the doc called me the next day and said it was a fungus thing but wasn’t that bad and shouldn’t spread or anything. He said just to wait till I’m home then ask a doctor about it so I guess I’ll just do that even though it seems better to just do it now. Yeah, I got Whitney’s letter. I'll try to send some more pictures. I have a bunch of sweet car pictures. There are just really nice cars everywhere here- Ferraris and Lamborghinis, Porsche, Lotus, Benz, BMW- they are everywhere.For school, I think that would be cool to go for three semesters then get back on the normal track but yeah I really don’t want to wait until August. I got an email from Soeur Daun today. She is up there with Sister Spencer the one from my mtc district that went to New Caledonia. They are roomies now. It’s weird that they are already back in school. You know today I have exactly three months till I’ll be there with y'all! Sorry but this week I didn’t make my list of things from the week and my emails aren’t nearly as good without them. This morning we went on a huge hunt for Elder Diamond’s wallet. He left it at this tobac like drug store when we were buying a map last week then the guy brought it to the police but that’s where we had to go to like four different places to finally find it. But he got it back which is cool. I gained a few pounds this week but not like fat, just from walking around and stuff so that’s good. That bureau was killing me. We should get transfer calls this week so next Monday I’ll know exactly what’s happening but I think Elder Hansen will go home cause he is at the end- then we will have three from the two groups there are here now and we will stay together and just dominate the whole French Riviera in the car- well at least from Antibes to St. Tropez. It’s cool that me and Elder Diamond have these few weeks to try and find some people in Cannes we have been able to see. It’s been great to see some people I taught while I was here but it’s still been kinda hard- we haven’t had a whole lot of rendez vous this week. Elder Diamond is cool. He’s from Provo and he is the same age in the mission I was the first time I was here, just before his year mark. Thanks for Aaron’s address and stuff. I don’t know why they need it. I think Pres. might send the bishops emails to say if we did good or not. He seems to really like me for some reason though I’m not sure why. St. Raph was cool but all the members we passed by weren’t there. Today I think we’re going to go bowling again so that should be pretty fun. Also, Elder Hansen dies so he wanted to buy some stuff for his family so we will probably chill in centreville for a while. Well, I don’t have much else to say. Sorry today’s email wasn’t structured very well. I’ll try to write stuff down this week. Love y’all, Taylor

79th email from France (back in Cannes!)

Hey everyone, Sorry I don’t have a whole lot of time to talk. We’re about to catch the train to Nice. We’re gonna kick their trash in ultimate Frisbee. It’s cool to be back here. What happened is before here in Cannes there was a trio, so President kinda wanted to start up two teams again so I said I would like to come back. It’s been really good so far. Most people remembered me even though it’s been about a year since I came the first time. One thing is for sure, I kinda forgot that the missionary work is a little harder here than in Toulouse! I kinda miss all the college students and people that were willing to listen but so far it hasn’t been too bad. We have fixed three rendez vous for this week just by talking to people on the streets. Also I’ve been trying to contact all the people I taught while I was here but we haven’t had much luck but being here also I'll be able to work a little in Saint Raphael. Actually tonight we have a rendez vous with a St. Ralph family. We’re gonna eat so it should be awesome. I will miss the bureau and all the cool stuff we did there but it’s cool to be out here. I’m back emailing you from this dumb cyber cafe but nothing too bad.I’m working with Elder Diamond. He’s alot younger in the mission but we’re doing good together. He is really cool and I can tell were gonna be friends even if it’s only been a few days. There are two more in the apartment both from Utah. One is going home in two weeks so he’s trying not to be too trunky. So, I was with Frère Paya, you know the French mark Morris? He’s still really funny but I was with him in the hall and he said to someone "yeah, if you don’t remember him its cause he had more hair the first time" I, to say the least, did not think his joke was very funny and now I’m more paranoid than ever about my hairline, even though it’s really not that bad. Last night we had a little rv with a member family. We just all talked and ate a bunch of crepes. It was cool. It’s still pretty hot here in Cannes and people are still in summer mode- not too bad, just kinda crazy down town near the beach and stuff. This week is zone development so its gonna be cool to see everyone then we only have about two more weeks until Elder Holland comes. Everyone is pretty excited about that. I’m gonna try to send a few pics then I’ll write more. Hey, I hope you got all those pics. There are some pretty cool ones. There are so many cool cars here. Hopefully soon we can go to Monaco since I didn’t the last time I was here. But today Nice should be fun. Love y’all, Taylor

78th email from France (the Bureau)

Hey, I’ll write more later. I'll be busy all morning playing golf with President C. Happy birthday to me! Pray that I play good!
Hey Everyone,This week went by pretty fast. We seemed to do alot of different things but I haven’t made the list I normally do so I hope I can remember everything. Well first off, this morning we went golfing with president! Awesome! It was just me, him and Elder Hill. We had joked about going together a few weeks ago then he really wanted to so we did. I played pretty bad which was kinda annoying but it was still fun. The course was nice but pretty hard with skinny fairways, water and lots of sand. The clubs we rented were really old and crappy but we had fun.

Conference was so cool. We had four amis that ended up coming so we were pretty excited about that. They seemed to like it and the translations weren’t too bad either. We didn’t get to watch Sunday night until this morning on the computers. Elder Holland’s was pretty powerful like always. It’s so cool that he is coming here to talk to all of us in a few weeks. I just hope he goes easy on us cause of our lack of baptisms. I’m sure he knows it’s hard. President told everyone that when he comes it will be a mission reunion with everyone from every city- probably the only time that will happen in President’s three years of serving here. Normally when apostles come they make do a tour of the mission but since he only has time for one conference before stake conference, everyone gets to come. It will be cool to see everyone but I’m not sure if we will have time to chat and take pictures. Probably just back to the train stations as fast as possible. Even the elders from Nice are going to rent a car to make it back the next day. So, I’m still in the bureau. I don’t know when I’ll be leaving. President didn’t say anything today. I get the feeling he wants me to stay a little more than I want to be here but anyways. Elder Hill can do everything that’s necessary so probably sometime this week. This week I got to go test drive a new car. That was cool. We met President at a dealership then worked out some stuff with a dealer then me and him went and drove around town for a while. I figured he would have wanted to drive but he told me to. Then just asked questions about how it handled and stuff. We should be getting at least one new one this week. It will be a pretty big change because we are changing from Renault to Opel. The ones we looked at are Opel Merivas which aren’t quite as cool as the Clios we have now, but not too bad. I won’t be driving one very much either way. Thanks for all the happy birthday stuff! Golfing was kinda like my gift. Write back when you get this. Also, I will send you some pictures I took this week. I’m trying to keep my camera with me every day before I leave Toulouse. Love y’all, Taylor

77th email from France (the Bureau)

Hey Everyone, So this week was pretty good. It seems like we mostly filled our nights with lessons making the days go by pretty fast. Church yesterday ended up really well! We had four of our amis that ended up coming so that was good. Also, it was our fast and testimony meeting and for the first time in a while there wasn’t any strange stories or weirdos that talked so our amis seemed to like it. As for my departure, I haven’t heard anything. President will come to the bureau tomorrow and I’ll probably ask him if he has been thinking about where I will go my guess is that I will leave next Monday, but as to where, I really don’t know. This week should be pretty busy. We have our zone conferences this week. Ours is Wednesday then of course this weekend is general conference. I’m pretty excited about that. Hopefully we will have some amis that will come. We have been inviting everyone. I will miss all of our investigators and members here in Toulouse when I leave. Today we are going bowling. I’m pretty excited cause we haven’t done anything really cool with our p days in a while, just chilled in the bureau. As for your questions, yeah sign me up for school. April wouldn’t be that bad. I would like to go to Provo but I’m not sure. Try, I guess, though. Yeah, summer and fall in Idaho would be different. I heard also sometimes you can go for the three summer fall and winter- maybe that would be a good idea- just to catch up a little. I had Elder Sellers email you with the questions and stuff. I think it’s not a problem to wait till the end of November but not any later than that, so it’s good that dad is taking care of that this week. I’ll send you some pics today. I took a few this week. Thailand seems really cool, I am jealous. Email me back. I’ll be here for a while or at least back on later today. I can’t believe will be 21 next week- I feel old. Also is there any blogs from Bryan or Andrew this week? Copy and paste them to me. I wrote Bryan last week. His mom sent me a little email with his address. I also wrote to Grandma and Grandpa. Hey, so we just got back from bowling it was fun. I had a solid 115 but not near as good as I was. That’s cool the letter finally came for Whitney today. She should write him back. So we have to go work soon but we don’t really have any rendez vous so hopefully we can find some people to talk to. We at least were planning passing someone named Adel that we used to teach when we came but then he gave us like five rendez vous but he wasn’t ever there so we stopped calling or going over. But hopefully he will be happy to see us since it’s been a few months. He lives in a pretty bad Mus. quartier so I hope we don’t have any problems. Because we are a trio, it’s better sometimes though. But still there are places I’ve been that I will never go back to, just not worth it cause there are so many raging, wild, mean rock throwing Ars. but anyways. Hopefully I will email you from my new ville next week!
Love y’all, Taylor

76th email from France (the Bureau)

Hey Everyone,
Thanks for the emails. It sounds like everyone is doing good. I enjoyed the pictures. Everyone looks so different. I really like Evan’s hair- ha. Maybe that’s the look I’ll go for after. I doubt it but it would be nice to cover my little receding hairline. First off, this week was crazy. We spent almost the first three days running around doing stuff for the transfers then right after we had people coming for carte de sejours medical visits so we had to taxi them around since no one else can drive. It all took up alot of time making it pretty hard training Elder Hill in all that he has to do after I leave. So yesterday at church the Russians came with three other amis so that were really cool! They really enjoyed church and should be there next week also. That was really exciting and we even got to teach them after with a member. Just to clarify a little also, we fixed a rendez vous with just the two Russians Saturday for a little "cours de française" or French classes since they don’t speak very well. Also today doing our shopping we met a really cool French lady that lived in New York and has been to Utah so knew alot about the church. After talking for a while she was trying to convince me to teach French after but that’s not very likely. I’m already pretty "bureau trunky" and extremely excited about going out into the full swing of missionary work , also with the time I am leaving Toulouse there is an opening somewhere that I would love to go to. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I try not to think about it much but it could happen. We might go eat but I’ll be back down later- hopefully I can sleep a little today. Thanks for the pictures. It was cool to see the city just in the background of that one of y’all walking to the car. Have you been using your new camera?
I can’t believe September is almost over. Goodness, it seems to have just started but really we only have a little less than a week left. I’m hoping to leave right after conference weekend. That’s normally about how long the person in my place trains someone else but I’m not sure. Also I was wondering if you have all the old pictures on the computer that I’ve sent you or if they are all at home. Let me know. The head honcho from Spain told me to go to Opel dealerships looking for a few "merivas". I guess it’s the next car they want replacing our Renault Clios. They are kind of like a small minivan. The ones we have now are really nice and cool. Thailand should be cool. I looked up the town you said, it looked like a random little place. Have fun at your bbq and beach tomorrow. It’s gonna be sweet not having school. I wish I could be lazy sometimes. Sorry I haven’t been sending pictures of anything. I’ll try better. It’s just I don’t really have my camera very often, maybe I’ll start wearing my backpack for a week or so and pull it out when there is cool stuff. It’s just I never have it with me now
Do you realize I have less than four months to go now? I can’t even believe that.
Love you very much,
Taylor

75th email from France (the Bureau)

Hey Everyone,
First off, thanks for all your emails and everything you sent me! It was fun to get the blogs and stuff. It’s always good to read what others are doing and they all seem to be doing pretty well. This was a good week. A lot of things didn’t go exactly as planned but it worked out. We had some really cool stuff too. After the zone formation meeting I went to Tarbes to do an exchange with Elder Beadle. I’ve been kinda excited for this exchange for a while because for the moment in Tarbes they are having a really rough time and not really teaching or finding lots of people. It had been almost a full transfer since they had any new amis or lessons with the members going over there. We said that we would talk to everyone and hopefully see some miracles in finding people that would be willing to talk to us and learn more. Later on walking and passing by old amis and kinda heading towards the area that we had a rendez vous planned for later on that day, there was a man crossing the road. He was way behind us but trying to be obedient in talking to everyone we see, we decided to turn around and contact him which lead to a wonderful lesson that lasted about an hour there on the street. We were able to set another rendez vous for this coming week making him a new ami and breaking the long streak of no new amis! This day in Tarbes helped me appreciate all the people here that are mostly willing to talk to us even when not really interested. It’s transfer day so I’m going to the gar to get some people. I’ll write more later. Ok, so we just got back all the missionaries that are going home are here now but it’s not too bad cause there are only three I think. Today were gonna get away with only doing two trips to the train station which isn’t too bad. To answer your question yes- we got another colleague today -his name is Elder Hill- aka la jeune sauterelle (young grasshopper) so I’ll be training him for about three weeks then leaving somewhere. I think my last weekend will be conference weekend making it around six months here in Toulouse, seeing that when I came the first week was the April conference. So Elder Hill is from Colorado but a few months ago his family moved to Houston. He seems really cool.

Dang, I just deleted the window and what I had typed; which kind of makes me think of all the stupid computers I had to use in the last year eeh I’m gonna miss the bureau but I’m really excited to get back in the full swing of missionary work. Here, it’s hard to explain, but just not the same. Good, but not the same. Sorry this letter is like in three emails- you know transfer days are pretty crazy for us! Now it looks like we have to go back to the gar cause some sisters bags got taken off the train then she kept going and now we have to try and send them on the next one to Bordeaux. For some of your questions: I like what you did last year for my birthday, just slip some money in my account then I’ll spend it when I need something most likely after I’m back but here I’m pretty set. I don’t want more stuff to lug around. You don’t even really need to send a box or anything- I feel like I just got one! Elder Page told me that there is a guy he knows from Utah that sends him dear elders and that he was talking about stuff I had written on my blog which makes me wonder about how many people really read it! Thanks for sending me copies and Andrew and Bryan’s emails from the blogs. Andrew seems like he is doing really well in Arizona but I can relate alot better to what Bryan said in his. I think Germany and France are a lot alike. Thanks again for the emails and have a great week! Love y’all, Taylor

74th email from France (the Bureau)

Hey, Thanks for your email. Sounds like yall have a good week. It just kind of flew by for us! We were pretty busy in the bureau but I think by Friday we had all the big problems taken care of. I’ve been on the phone often with our phone company trying to get a senior couples phone to make international calls then last week the Chinese elders went to Albi for a rendez vous and they kind of dented and scratched the side of the car. Two days ago someone told us at a stop light that our brake lights were always on and sure enough he was right. So, we’ll have to get that fixed soon. Then just this morning the elders in Cannes called saying their car was towed last night for being in a construction zone or something like that. I’m just hoping they can take care of it themselves. Then on top of that there is never ending coordonnées coming. Also this week was the end of the month so there were a bunch of reports that had to be turned into our supervisor office in Spain. Also this week I talked with someone from the big offices in England so that was kind of cool for the missionary work. I guess this week wasn’t as bad as I made it sound! W did have a few days with not a lot going on but the lessons we did have were pretty good. We had three people at church again which was cool. The Russians were there so we kind of skipped the end of sacrament meeting and watched a video with them which ended up pretty good. Also we’re going to see them Saturday -hopefully with our Russian members. This Saturday morning we had a lesson with Daniel, one of our amis from Dominican Republic with a member that went really well and we saw one of our new amis from last week named Guillaume. He’s so cool! It’s just always hard to get people interested enough to come to church and actually read or just do anything during the week when we are not there. So Soeur Oliver and another older soeur were at church Sunday so that was cool to talk to her and see kind of what life after is like. I’m trying not to be trunky but it’s kind of hard. I think getting out of Toulouse somewhere else will help me a lot. I just feel like I’ve been here so long now everything we do just seems second nature cause it’s been the same for so long. I can’t believe the transfer is over this week. I will be on the 13th. I still have a while so I’ll try not to think about it but If I had to guess...I'd say I’ll get someone to train in the bureau next week then be gone somewhere else three weeks after. Then I’ll most likely go to one more town where I’ll finish. This week it got really windy and cooler and I got thinking that summer was over but now it turned hot again. I’ll send a passport picture today maybe some others if I have. How is your camera working out? I saw one today that was the same d-90 but anyways I’m sure it’s cool. Are you learning how to use it and everything? I’m sure it’s complicated. Do you still read Andrew and Bryan B.’s letters? If so, email them to me next time. Oh I told you that Elder Holland is coming. So now I guess the Carter’s have set up something with Elder Holland to see all the missionaries in our mission! It’s going to be like a week after he is here for out stake conference so that should be really cool. The only problem is they said if the missionaries are somewhere that they couldn’t come and get back to their villes the same day they can’t come so most will probably get to go. Maybe for Nice and down there, it will be kind of iffy. Yeah, go BYU- that’s cool. Wasn’t it Oklahoma that LSU beat a few years ago for the national championships? Thanks for the LSU baseball shirt you send awhile back. I never would have known that LSU baseball was that good without the shirt! ha Love y’all, Taylor