Elder Taylor Parker

Hey Mom!! Thanks so much for the letters and package! I just sent you a few letters just barely. I am so glad that dad's talk was good, and really spiritual!! That does not surprise me because dad has always been so strong in the church and lived a life where he can always have the spirit with him. So have you though!! These past couple days I've realized how blessed I am to be in our family. We truly have the best family I could ever ask for and I will never take it for granted. Thanks to you and dad for raising us like you two. So I am getting more and more used to the MTC now. Sleep is hard sometimes, because we don't really get enough I think. I saw Elder Trevor Nelson from football. He is from Snow Canyon and he has a twin, Tavish. I talked to him for a while. I also saw Jeff Staples here!! He said he was looking for me everywhere for 4 days then I finally saw him and we talked. Thanks for sending me the watch and debit card. And the package with bears!! We have been doing p90x workouts at night with my district! And perfect pushups! It has all brought us closer and is fun to just work out. So last Sunday an elder was feeling really homesick. He was crying that night, and our district decided to give him a blessing. It was the most spiritual moment ever. I started crying in the blessing, and the spirit stayed there in the room for 30 minutes as we all bore our testimonies and said how much we loved each other and that every thing will be okay. This last Thursday, I was frustrated about the language. That night I prayed for the spirit. I asked why I wasn't learning the language fast enough. Then, this Sunday, a miracle happened. Elder Jones our first counselor in the branch presidency came up to me after Priesthood meeting and asked how I was doing. He then asked how is the language. I said good. He said really? But then I finally said, it is going alright, coming really slow. Then he told me of his experience and how he didn't get the gift of tongues until 6 months out on his mission. He told me to not worry one bit, and to not compare myself to others learning the language. He said my time will come. That Heavenly Father has a reason for how fast the language comes and when it comes. Everything happens for a reason. That was not a coincidence that he asked me about the language. I know that he has inspiration. And he is the expert on Spanish now. So I have much faith that everything will work out in the end!! So there are 12 of us in our district but 4 leave next week to the mtc in Peru! I just bought a new backpack today. I saw some, but they weren't too good. So I just waited and some nice ones came in today, so I bought one for 45 bucks. Nat told me to let you know if I got her letter, which I did. Tell her thanks. It has been raining here for like 3 days, which is wonderful! So. yesterday for the devotional Jenny Oaks Baker came, which is the daughter of Elder Oaks!! She graduated from Julliard and was nominated for a grammy award! She played us songs on the violin. It was so spiritual and she played the violin better than I have ever heard anyone play it, no joke. Then she had her kids play I am a Child of God. They were between 10 and 5 years old. There was four of them, and they all memorized the song. It was incredible!! You should see if you can look some of her songs up on the computer. Well I love you and am so excited to be here!! Don't worry about me, I am in the right hands :) Love you
Amor, Elder Parker