Elder Taylor D Gygi: Good News... and Bad News

Taylor at the Mara Intrepids, Masai Mara, Kenya

Hey Family!

So.... I have good news for you.... and I have bad news. (Mom, I bet you $50 that your heart just dropped right as you read that, right?) hahaha well... Which news do you want first?

So the good news...it was a way fun week! I got to go back to Sanger on Tuesday and Wednesday! And Ramona and her family threw me a birthday party. hahaha I guess they knew I was coming so we had posole and a bunch of fun stuff :) It was so nice to go back there. I was there with Elder Nixon. Elder Nixon is one of the Spanish elders I went to the MTC with on May 25th. He's way cool. And it was nice to see how many people that we were teaching or that we found that are now baptized! Angelo has the priesthood now and passes the sacrament and stuff. So yeah, that was super fun.

But the bad news...well...we had a baptism for M. planned for last night. But he didn't show up for his baptismal interview on Saturday and he didn't come to church yesterday. So that was super discouraging. And to make it even worse, we went and taught him after church and he said he's moving. And it just so happens that he's moving out of the zone today. So that was like the worst news to us ever. It wasn't fun. So yeah, no baptism for him any time soon. But hopefully the elders in the other zone can find him and baptize him.

And more bad news...we were teaching B. who was supposed to get baptized this Saturday. We taught her on Saturday and we used this object lesson that really helps investigators understand the restoration and the apostasy. And she never understood it until we used this lesson. And at the end, she was like, "wow, I understand now, it's the same church that Christ established when he was here." And then she said that she believes that Joseph Smith was indeed a prophet. The spirit was super super strong and there was no way she could deny what she felt. She agreed that she could feel something different.

So after that lesson, she said she was coming down with the flu and didn't know if she could go to church on Sunday. So she didn't end up coming to church. And we went over after church and taught her. We went over all the baptismal interview questions. She said yes to all of them except the last one.

She said she knew everything was true but wasn't ready and willing to accept the baptismal covenant. It was sooooo soooo frustrating. That's the worst feeling ever when it is all so plain and clear right in front of them and they still say no and don't accept it.

I know that the only thing in this world that we have been given by our Heavenly Father that he absolutely CAN NOT take away is agency. Every single person on this earth has been given that ability to choose. And it is absolutely heart wrenching when it is so clear to you, and they don't accept it. I believe that I know how the dream team of missionaries felt. Alma, Amulek and all them. When they said, "I could not BARE the thought that one soul should perish. That is MY job. To not let any one perish. I gotta keep working hard and never give up.

I know that Heavenly Father has a plan that is perfect beyond all perfection. There is so much evil in the world now days that it seems unavoidable. I know that the only way to stick to His plan is to focus on the thing that matters most. Jesus Christ. He is the center of this church and the only way on which we can fulfill the great, almighty plan of the Father. And that's that.

As President Gelwix always says, "Never surrender! Never give up! Never quit! No regrets!"

Take care!

Love,

Elder Gygi