Merry Christmas. (How Original, right?)

Good afternoon gents. I'm displeased to tell you that I have forgotten my planner at my apartment, so I can't remember what happened this past week with clarity and with precision, so if this email seems boring, please forgive me.

Probably the highlight of the week was Friday. The day started out with the Rileys and the Fishers taking my companion and I out to lunch breakfast! That was super cool. If you don't know who these wonderful people are you should ask my mother. It was great to see people from back home on my mission.

Directly after spending an hour with them we were off to the mission Christmas Devotional. That was a splendid experience as well. Santa Claus showed up and gave each of us a cookie. We had a delicious turkey lunch, even though I just ate. An awesome Mormon talent show was put on, so as you can guess it was entirely music related. Then we had a great devotional by President and Sister Godwin. I actually missed President's talk because Elder Smith had to use the bathroom and asked me to go with him (sight and sound!). I really enjoyed that.

After that we ate dinner with the Berry family, yet again, to celebrate the end of the world, which obviously didn't happen. That was pretty much a great day.

On Tuesday we had a great Zone Meeting. We went to the office of the High Councilor over missionary work. It was an exceptional meeting and it was cool to be in a really fancy house/office thing.

I don't remember anything else spectacular happening. We were supposed to teach Jesus and Leah a couple of times, but they flaked on us and they didn't come to church yesterday! Jeez!

Well, I'm sorry this is a pretty lame email home. Next will be spectacular, I'm sure! Merry Christmas to all and to all, adieu.

--

Now go, and be Golden,
Elder R. Sage Taylor



Elder Jackson, Steve Riley, Elder Taylor, Jackie Riley
They dropped off Sage's Christmas Gifts on their drive back from Califonia!



Elder Grill (top left,from the MTC is now in Sage's District) along with Elders Williamson, Potts & Wasson met Sage & Elder Jackson (in the white shirts) after breakfast.



Kind of a Slow Week

You know, it's kind of tough to be a missionary some times. Like this past week for example, we didn't teach any lessons because every single one our appointments fell through. We are still pushing, but it is hard some times.

Something else that is a little interesting about this week is that all of 5 of our 7 dinner appointments just dropped off our food to our apartment, so I didn't even really get to spend time with any of the cool members in the ward out here.

On Friday we had our ward Christmas party. That was fun. Some good food. Something called Tri-Tip. I've never heard about it, but everyone out here just loves the stuff. I thought it was rather average, but still delicious. I was able to be one of Santa's Helpers this year. Santa showed up to the party and I gave the children little bags full of candy. That was fun stuff.

Saturday Elder Jackson and I went to a birthday party for a 6 year old. It was kinda funny being there because we weren't sure what to do. The party was for Jesus and Leah's kid named Payton, who is absolutely awesome. It was cool to be invited because that means they must like us, right?

Last night the Apple Valley Stake Choir put on a performance. That was a pretty spectacular event. They did so well and I enjoyed it immensely. 

Here's a thought that just popped into my head. My MTC companion, Elder Grill, is now in the same district as me! It has been really awesome being around that guy because he's actually a pretty good friend of mine now. I think in a couple of weeks I'm going to go on exchanges with him. That will be a blast.

I'm sorry that I don't have much to say. I still love all of you! Merry Christmas in 8 days!

--

Now go, and be Golden,

Elder R. Sage Taylor

I'm wearing 19 ties all at once. That was fun.

This one is of the place we are moving into

Where we've been staying in for the past week or so.

This one with the kids is super funny. They are the Giron kids. 

Elder Jackson

and Me making funny faces

Moving, moving, moving...

Out of all the weeks on my mission, this has been one of them. (Have I used that joke yet? I sure hope not.)

So pretty much this week has focused a lot on my move, from our little apartment into the extra house that the Smithson's have in their backyard. That sound kind of funny, doesn't it? On Tuesday morning my dear companion and I biked over to the house and cleaned up the place. Just the standard sweeping, mopping, window cleaning, etc. Then we tried stopping by some investigators houses, set up some appointments, and the usual. Then we packed up as much stuff in out apartment as possible. I also think that night we taught.

That night we actually moved into the house! That was exciting stuff. I loved moving from a tiny little place into a spacious mansion. It really isn't that big, but it was better than where we were living.

On Thursday we taught an awesome and short lesson to our investigator, Jesus. He and his son Payton were sick so we were able to give them blessings as well. What is also cool is that he also came to Church yesterday! That is the first investigator that I've had at church since coming to Apple Valley! I'm am extremely excited to have him get baptized, hopefully on the 29th.

Friday was kind of bogus. We were doing or Weekly Planning at our church building and during the middle of it we got a call from one of the Assistants letting us know that we didn't get all of the stuff done that we needed to in order to move into the Smithson's house. The reason that is is because on Tuesday the housing director went home, and we got a new one. This caused a ton of commotion because the new guy already was the housing director in a mission in Texas. The guy that just left said that we could move in whenever the Smithson's were ready for us, and the new guy said we have to make sure it is all painted and they have a contract before we can move in. Ugh.

To make a long story short, Elder Jackson and I have been living in the apartment since Friday and we have nothing there but our mattresses, a few clothes and a little tiny plug-in fridge. It has been super annoying the past few days. I just can't wait until we actually move in. Hopefully the painting will be done some time today so we can actually stay there tonight.

Do you remember the first woman I baptized? Her name is Blanca and the man she married/didn't marry was Ilich. You have to remember that for the next story. Last night was pretty rough for about 30 minutes for me. I got a call from my trainer, Elder Smith. He left a voice mail and told me to call him back as soon as possible and it sounded really urgent. I called him and he told me that Ilich was driving the wrong way on the freeway with Blanca in the car for 6 miles going 100 mph. He said that they hit somebody and that Blanca had died from it. I was so depressed, but Elder Smith called Sister Turner from the Phelan ward and got the actual details. I called her too and found out that it wasn't Blanca in the car, but some other woman. Ilich is imprisoned now, but no one has heard from Blanca. I just thought it was crazy that this happened to somebody I know. As of now it looks like it wasn't Blanca, but I'm still worried because nobody has been able to contact her yet.

Sorry for writing such a sad story. It has just been heavy on my mind since last night. Anyway, I'm about to go shopping! I'm so excited! I love getting food. Too bad I don't have anywhere to put it in the apartment!

Thanks for being so awesome, everyone. Just remember that Christmas still exists in Apple Valley, California, as well! 

--

Now go, and be Golden,

Elder R. Sage Taylor

A Greenie No Mo

This past week was probably not the best week on my mission. I've been sick since about Tuesday, and that has made this past week a major downer.

So here's some pretty exciting news! Every missionary that is out in the field right now is going to be going home a week earlier than expected. Crazy, right? The reason that is, is because the MTC is changing how long missionaries are spending there by a third. That is going to change all the transfer cycles in the world, so the next transfer we have after this one is only going to be 5 weeks long. So to make a long story short, I am coming home May 27, 2014 rather than June 3. That is awesome!

Since my companion and I have been sick we weren't able to do that much work. However, we did set a baptism date with this man named Jesus. We actually tracted into him a few weeks back. His almost wife, Leah, was a lost member. She stopped going to church when she was 15, and she's 27 now. The week before we knocked on their door they were talking to each other saying that they wanted to go back to church, and then we met them. How cool, right?

We are planning on Jesus getting baptized on the 29th of this month, which is also Elder Jackson's 18 month mark. Both Jesus and Leah seem pretty solid, so I'm hoping for the best for them. They didn't make it to church yesterday, but we are going to teach them tonight, so we will make sure the come next week.

The coolest part of this week was that I hit my 6 month mark! Woohoo! I'm not a greenie anymore! We went to McDonald's and then went home and burnt a pretty ugly tie of mine to celebrate! Pictures to come, hopefully even a video.

Not too much to report on this week, gents. I'm sorry. Being sick as a missionary will do that to you. Thanks for being all studly and stuff. Keep it real.

Now go, and be Golden,

Elder R. Sage Taylor

Me about to burn my tie. It was really dark at the time, so I had no idea my picture was about to be taken

Jackson and me having fun one day!