Hoy es dia!

Hoy es dia!
Updates while serving in the Uruguay Montevideo West Mission taylor.abel@myldsmail.net
Current Mailing Address:
Elder Taylor Abel
Uruguay Montevideo West Mission
Enrique Martinez 1167
11800 Montevideo, Uruguay
Uruguay

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Elder Bednar Makes a Visit!

¡Muy buenos días a todos!
¿Cómo están?  Espero que hayan tenido una semana muy feliz y que hayan sonreído mucho!

This week was absolutely unforgettable. It was filled with Elder Bednar. He got to Argentina early on in the week and he had a few transmissions there that got sent out to the rest of the area.. Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay. We had the opportunity to attend the transmission for the youth on Tuesday and the transmission for the young single adults on Wednesday as well.. not to mention a missionary transmission for the whole area on Wednesday in the morning and then the real face to face conference on Friday.. like I said this week was full of Elder Bednar and I loved it. I learned so much and now I have a lot to put to practice. I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have had to grow and to learn in the last little bit, the gospel is so great! 

One thing that I loved that Elder Bednar said was that we don’t go anywhere by coincidence. He shared a story about how he was working on his roof one day.. and he needed some nails so he went to the store in a baseball cap, jeans and a dirty t-shirt. While we was there a guy came up to him and asked "Are you Elder Bednar?" and he told him that he was.. The man then said.. "The disguise isn´t working" then the man continued and asked, "Can I ask you a question?" Elder Bednar said yes.. He said, I came to the store to answer your question. I need nails but that isn´t why I came to the store.. I came to answer this question.
He just kept saying.. the Lord works in his church.. One by One.. like said in 3 Nephi 17:21, 3 Nephi 28:1 and 3 Nephi 11:15. Remember that when you are asked to help someone in your calling.. the Lord works one by one! For us as missionaries.. I think a lot of the time we just get caught up in the motions and don´t take a moment to think about why we are in the place we are in or why we are in the situation that we are in and now I am going to take that moment to think about.. I really feel that it will help us as missionaries fulfill our call to serve!  

He also talked a lot about agency.. and it is interesting because there is a scripture that really has caught my attention that is found in Doctrine and Covenants 58:28. It really hit me hard during a charla when we were talking about the plan of happiness with a progressing member.. "For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.".. I love it. It has gone perfectly with what we have been learning from Elder Bednar.. the power is in us and we are agents to act and not objects to be acted upon. I took the chance to study agency more too after the YSA transmission and I had a remarkable study in Moses 7. Agency is awesome, check it out. We really don´t have the agency to choose between good and bad after making covenants and you can find it in the scripture. Just think about this question.. "Why do we have agency?" If you remember from a few weeks ago.. the doctrine always answers the question "Why?".. so go find the doctrine!

This week in the area was great! After such a spiritual week full of Elder Bednar we topped it off with a baptism on Saturday. Maikel is such a sweet kid.. right after being baptized and changed into his clothes again he had the opportunity to share his testimony. He couldn't finish it without just breaking down, we are excited for him. He will get the priesthood next week and we couldn't be happier! Church didn't quite go as we would have liked but we were able to help one investigator come.. we went an picked up Margarita and about 2 or 3 hours after church finished she sent us a text telling us that she has a friend that wants to go to church and change her life. We were able to meet her last night and it was awesome, so much potential in her friend. Her name is Monica and has 3 kids. References from investigators are amazing and now they both have a friend to walk with to church because they live right by each other! 

We also received another reference from a progressing member and her name is Mercedes. She is 56 years old and doesn't like with any guys nor have marriage problems.. she now has fecha for the 26th. Missionary Work is awesome (:

This week we did better with our progressing members.  We aren't quite sure what happened with our attendance but we aren't going to let it get us down. Only 74.... but we are going to try to get 100 people there this week to end the change right! I won't be writing until Tuesday just FYI. I love you guys! I hope you know. My desire for you guys this week is that you can feel my love and feel the love that I have for this work and go and do something about i.. The power is in you, you are agents to act! I hope that you have a wonderful week! You all make me the happiest little guy! Until Tuesday

Love, Elder Taylor Abel.. an agent ready to act!



Maikel and his momma and little bro. His little bro is the cutest.. His name is Matias!




Us and Maikel.. cutie huh?



Elder Emrich and I chilling at a birthday party.  We went to visit one of our investigators.. Juan Carlos, and they were having a party for 2 of their 3 sons and so they insisted we stay. It didn't take too much convincing once we saw the cake Ü


Monday, February 22, 2016

Working hard and sharing the plan of HAPPINESS!

This week was pretty awesome.. we worked hard. Last week we had 4 investigators in the church and so we didn’t want to settle for less so we set up everything the best that we could and we were waiting on potentially 6 investigators in church.. Sunday came around and unfortunately we only had one. However we did all that we could to help them come, we just have a higher hope for next Sunday. Just gotta keep going right.. can’t back down or give up! Things with Elder Emrich are great, he is such a good companion and I am super grateful for him. There is just so much good here in Ceibal, we have been finding some good part member families and that has honestly made the difference. I now know what they were talking about in the worldwide conference when they said that the part member families are gold mines.. so true. 

We believe that we felt true sadness on Sunday as well.. we left early from the house to go and pick up Lauro, Natalia and their children. I had my camera in hand and I was so excited to get there and begin to take pictures of all the kids as they were ready to go to church.. we got there and they were asleep. We returned to church and after the first hour we headed back and we talked with a few kids.. we actually saw 2 of them in the street going on a little errand for their parents so we knew that they were up.. we went with lots of hope to still be able to help them go to church.. we talked to the kids outside and we told them to call their parents and tell them that we are here.. they went in and came back out after a couple of minutes and told us that they were still sleeping.. We just turned around and walked away with a saddened heart. It is so sad that they are stopping the progression of their kids, not to mention their own progression.  Sometimes I just don’t understand.  Last week we had a fullness of joy and this week.. it was destroyed.  Better hope for next time.

Really, this week I think that I was able to grow quite a bit in my knowledge of the scriptures. I was reading the counsel that Alma gives his boys and it just clicked with me when I was reading Alma 36 that the Book of Mormon is full of doctrines, principles. It was awesome and now it just makes sense and I have a stronger desire to study each day. The Book of Mormon is such a blessing, I am learning lots more as I find principles and doctrines. I love it! Keep reading!

We only had 68 in church this past week.. we had 90 the week before .. dropped lots and we aren’t sure why. We think that it was carnival. We definitely have to work on the attendance this week.. trying to get as many people we can to come to church. We are going to set up Saturday so that we can make a stop by all of our progressing members and our investigators. We are excited for our investigator Maikel to be baptized this Saturday and we can’t wait for Friday to be with Elder Bednar. Going to be a great week!

For those who are wondering who Maikel is.. he is a 12 year old that has a very active grandma in the church and she has been helping a whole lot with the process. His grandma is the lady who was contacting people when she left on some visits with us.. remember? Anyways.. Maikel is a stud and is very smart.. we are excited for him. More pictures to come next week (:

Well my cute family... I just want to let you know that I am so grateful for the things that each of us are doing... we are all progressing and I couldn’t be happier! It is a problem when we stop progressing and changing. I just hope you all know that I love you and think about you guys daily! Keep on being great! Until next week

Love, Elder Taylor Abel




We go hard through the heat, the rain... just to have people receive the happiness that we have..... so that they can be together with their families forever!



Double banana....yes please!



#igotavalentine Ü


Monday, February 15, 2016

A JOYFUL Missionary!

How are you? This past week was pretty awesome, it included divisions with Elder Huamali and a beautiful Sunday of great things. 

We shall start with the divisions with Elder Huamali. Great divisions, Elder Huamali is a great guy and has a good heart. We taught really well together and brought back good times when we were together in Obelisco. It was a good experience to be with him again. He always says to me.. "Abel, I was your favorite Peruvian right?!" It doesn’t take too long to think about that and I always reassure him that he was.. haha, he is a funny kid!
This Sunday.. what a great day! The weather was cloudy and it felt wonderful. We went over to pick up Lauro and we honestly weren’t sure if he was going to be ready. We were thinking that he was going to be asleep and that we were going to be the alarm clock outside the house clapping. We showed up and some of his kids were outside and they told us that he was coming. As I continued to look at the kids I realized that they were dressed the best that they had and that they were ready to go to church. Moments later Lauro came to the door and was just about ready too, he was just shirtless.. we gave him the shirt and the tie that he wanted and he went to get fully ready. I wish I had my camera because it was so cute to see all the kids ready and excited to go to church. We left the house and began the short walk to church. It was awesome to walk with them and take up the whole street.. us two, Lauro and Natalia.. and 6 of their 7 kids. Juan (11), Mikaela (9) Juliana (8), Diana (6), Sofia (5), and Kevin (4). They look to us like superheroes.. and every time they look at me I just can’t help but smile. We got to church and it only got better from there. My joy was full when I saw all the kids come out of Primary with their pictures of Christ and their drawings. Lauro seemed to really enjoy too, I think we could have just started something that has the potential to become a habit. We are definitely all smiles here. We did a lot of hard work on Sunday to make sure people got there.. we made it to 90 people in church again.. with 4 investigators there! Lauro, Juan, Mikaela and Mikel. Mikel is a 13 year old that is a stud and he is progressing really well.. he will be baptized on the 27th Ü


This week we have interviews with President Smith and we will have the baptismal interview for Mikel. Then next week we are with Elder Bednar on the 26th.. should be a great week! Whenever we have a lot of things going on the time always goes by so much faster.. like we are already half way through this change. I don’t know if that is good or bad (; We will call it bittersweet. Lots of good things to come though.. we are excited! 

I will definitely be keeping that cute grammy Abel in my prayers. She is such a strong women I know that she is a fighter and she will be on my mind and in my heart. I sure do love her and I love all of you. I hope that you have a great week! Until we write again next week.. lots of love coming from Uruguay Keep safe and remember that God is there for us.  

Love,  Elder Taylor Abel...a JOYFUL missionary 



Elder Huamali.....Elder Abel's favorite Peruvian Comp


Jumping for JOY in the rain!


Beautiful Sunset

Monday, February 8, 2016

Good times in Ceibal

The whole fam damily!

Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turn upside down and I'd like to take a minute just sit right there & I`ll tell ya how I because the fresh prince of Ceibal (Say-Ball).. And..Here we go...

Things here in Ceibal have been going really well. We had some really good experiences this last week and we were able to see the Lord`s hand as we worked in His vineyard. The experience that I would like to share with you comes from Friday night and we had set up a charla with an investigator and his less active wife.. (we have been finding a lot of people like them.. where one is a member and the other is interested in our message) anyways.. they weren't there. We thought for a second on where we could go. We both decided on Lauro and Natalia (Natalia is the member here and I met here in Obelisco because her parents all served us over there.. now she lives in Ceibal.. coincidence.. I think not Ü  Because we missed the charla with them on Wednesday due to a youth activity.. (another crazy story for another time!) The charla was awesome and it went so well with what we learned about in concilio (The meeting with President Smith and the other zone leaders). We got talking about prayer and we began to talk about why it is important to pray and Elder Emrich can in with a sweet message and the doctrine of why we pray.. 2 Nephi 32:8-9. We then talked about it and committed him to pray and as he said yes.. I had the biggest impression to invite them to be baptized. I wasn't sure if he would say yes because he is one of those guys who told us that we just wants to take it slow.. step by step. However, I couldn't deny the impression and so we invited him to be baptized. He said yes! and then we talked about their relationship status.. they aren't married however Lauro would like to be married because he has 7 kids (other marriage) and needs a wife to help him so we invited Natalia to pray about what the Lord would like her to do and she said she would. It was such a Spirit guided lesson and helped us realize that the most important thing in the charla is that we follow and listen to the Spirit. 

Okay.. so you may be wondering why I bolded the word why.. Read the talk below. It is by Elder Bednar and he talks about Doctrines, Principles and Applications. The question why is answered by the doctrine. The question what is answered by principles and the question how is answered by the applications. Check it out.. super good talk. We have been studying it because Elder Bednar comes the 26th of February! So stoked.. really though study it!

This Saturday we had a training from the area presidency for the ward council and the missionaries to talk about the plan for 2016 here in South America South. An Elder Johnson before we started asked if he could talk to me afterwards. The meeting finished up and it was awesome.. we then went and told Elder Johnson that it would be a good time to talk now if he would like. I was thinking that he was going to ask for advice or something.. no, he had some things he wanted to tell us.. well me more than anything. He told me that he was feeling really stressed out and that we were only living by the letter of the law and not by the Spirit of the law. At first I was kind of bugged because he has no idea how it is to be a zone leader.. when I got to Salto again there was very little obedience and so we began to help the zone by making sure that they were where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there. We have only been together as a zone once and so I was just thinking that he was just judging off that one experience. However, as he kept telling us what was going on I think that Spirit was trying to tell me that I needed to change. When I was with Orihuela I felt a lot of pressure because he was always trying to push power and authority on me and I had to be a little tougher or he would call me out on it. We went and had a little charla after the meeting with Elder Johnson, and I was just so mad. I wasn't mad at him.. I wasn't made at Orihuela.. I wasn't mad at anyone but myself. We got home and said our prayer to end the day and I went right to the shower. I just stood there in the shower with the coldest water I could have pouring down on me. I didn't know what do to and I felt that I needed to change. I needed to be the old Elder Abel.. the one before I was with Orihuela. I turned off the water and just stood there thinking. I put some clothes on and went right to the paper where it talks about the responsibilities as zone leader.. that led me to another spot and as I was there all I could think of was how I needed to be more like Christ. 3 Nephi 27:27 came to mind.. "Even as I am." That is when the change of heart came in.. I took an hour searching on how to be more like Christ. I decided that for the next little bit I am going to study the Christ like attributes and try to develop them more. I could definitely feel the guidance of the Spirit as I was in the process. Maybe it was a little soon for Elder Johnson to jump the gun on me .. however, that doesn't matter anymore. He gave me the chance to change and I will thank him for that on Tuesday when I see him. Change is good.. repentance is a miracle and I thank our Heavenly Father daily for sending His Only begotten son to atone for us. I invite you all to take a step back.. take a look in the mirror and see where you can change and how you can be better. It can be hard at times.. but I know that change is needed to be more like our Savior and Redeemer.

Well family, I would just like you all to know how much I love you! You guys are my favorite. I thank my lucky stars every day for you all. I am such a blessed missionary and I am so grateful for the blessings that God has given us as a family! God is great! I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Until next.. just keep on smiling!

Elder Taylor Abel.. a changing missionary

This is what happens when you say "Fútbol" in Uruguay 



Chillin' with Elder Emrich


Monday, February 1, 2016

A VERY Happy Elder! ♥

Oh my wonderful family, what a blessing it is to have such great technology that links us together!

The past week has been awesome. I have really enjoyed my time with Elder Emrich, it has been really great to talk to him and see how his mission has been and the things that he has learned since we were last in the same zone. He was actually in my district for a change in Cerro. He is a great guy and we worked hard the few days we had this past week. We have had some great experiences already and I know that there are many more to come. We saw the fruits of our work as well with having 18 more people in the church this past week, things here in Ceibal are moving in the right direction and I am glad that I am here to see it.

I have been thinking lately and as I was writing to Pres, I felt like I should share something with you guys. A little less than 2 weeks ago we had a Worldwide Missionary Conference where they talked about teaching repentance and baptizing converts.. in fact, that is was the conference was called.. "Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts" and we were assigned from Pres to ask 3 questions after enjoying the conference.."What did you learn from the leaders?" "What did you learn that wasn`t said?" and "What are you going to do to apply it?" I thought that it would be good to share that with you guys so that you can think in those 3 questions as you are in your meetings.. I know that if we think in these 3 questions that we will truly leave edified and ready to do more and talk less. I have seen it happen here.. there was such a strong spirit as we talked about things that were not said.. Each shared their spiritual impressions and like it says in D&C 50:22.. "Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together." I invite you all to think about that in church this next week when we listen to the sweet testimonies that will be shared.. you will find the meeting means more I promise.

This last week I was able to feel the Spirit more abundantly in my life.. It was the day of changes I was in another house with 3 other missionaries and we had our personal study. As I wasn`t in the comfort of my own house.. I had planned to read a conference talk. I was planning on reading one that I had loved from conference.. one that touched my heart but as I began my study I felt that I should study one from the women’s session. I began to look through the talks and one called my attention. "A Summer with Great Aunt Rose" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. As I read I was touched by the story that he shares.. his whole talk is a story about a little Eva and a great-aunt Rose. As I continued to follow along in the story my eyes began to water.. the Spirit overwhelmed me and I could no longer read. I just sat there feeling this remarkable feeling of God`s love. When I was able to continue I did and yet the same thing happened.. I finished the talk and It was exactly what I needed to learn. I won`t say more.. I will leave it up to you to read.  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/a-summer-with-great-aunt-rose?lang=eng

What a wonderful week it has been and it brings me such joy to see that all is well with you! I hope that you all have an amazing week and can smile lots! Think of me tomorrow (; #4months #imnottrunky Until next week Ü I LOVE YOU!

Elder Taylor Bradley Abel.. A very happy Elder!

T
Throwback to the graffiti of Cerro 8. All we need is love ♥




Last picture with Elder Orihuela before he boarded his bus
#greatestsmileaward