Saying Goodbye to the Taylors

Dear Family, Sorry it has taken me so long today. We came to the Tolleson building to play some volleyball. The District came and a lot of Estrella members so I keep going in and out of games! It is pretty fun. This week was CRAZY. Yesterday was absolutely wild. I didn't see any of it coming but our ward leadership just exploded. Hermanos Waldo (the brother of the taco shack guy) and Cid (son of the Bishop) became new bishopric members. Hermano Murietta is the new Elders Quorum president and el Hermano Sepulveda is the new WML!!! We loved Hermano Murietta and we just got him and he did such a great job but the new one will be great. He is a one and a half year convert to the church. He just went through the temple. We are going to work with him and help him along the way. He is very humble and really trusts in us. Sacrament Meeting was very spiritual. I felt it very strong as we saw the new leaders and The Lord in action, calling people to the work. Obispo Cid bore his testimony on how The Lord works and about how he chose the people and they weren't chosen by family. Obispo ran out of things to say so he asked Me and Hermana Dayton to bare our testimonies. She goes home in two weeks (she came out with me; how crazy is that!?) and the whole ward knows it because she has been here 11 months so the members all came up to me to say goodbye. I had to tell them "sorry, I am staying." haha. THEN Josue (Hermano Sepulveda's son) opened his mission call in the third hour. He is going to Acadia, CA and is leaving in 40 days!! He is way awesome. Then we had Johan Noris' baptism at 7. He is an 8-year-old, but there is a lot more going on with that family then just him. The family is so special. Hermano served a mission but has since made some wrong decisions so he can't fully participate in the church. His wife is a nonmember so we are working with her too. But the Dad wants to come back and be a part of the fold of God again. He feels the difference and he doesn't like it. He is a very repentant man.I feel so happy around them because they want to make changes in their lives. They are a special family. Hey Dad- I gave Johan the President Monson necklace at his baptism. He loved it. Thanks for that, I hope it was special to Johan. It was a beautiful baptismal service, and, like I said; we are working on making that family an ETERNAL one. They are on their way. ALL OF THIS was going on while the keys to the APM were getting switched over as the 4 great leaders met in what is somewhat a "twilight of the elite Priesthood leadership of God." I exaggerate. But it was a huge deal here for us. I am SO EXCITED to meet President Griffin. We joked after the baptism that Johan was baptized under two sets of keys haha. #doublevalidity I am excited for the future. I miss President and Sister Taylor already. It feels different without them. I have heard some very good things about President Griffin though. We had a Spanish meeting this week! It was SUCH A PARTY! No one understands the greatness of this meeting; we have the opportunity of seeing every companero we have ever had! It was a reunion of gigantic proportions. It went 2 hours late hahaha. We played wheel of fortune with President Juchau, Sister Taylor cried as she said goodbye to all "her spanish missionaries," and I hung out with Elders Fife, Nelson, Jones, Miller, Andrus, Ramos, and the whole crew. It was fun. (We didn't learn a whole lot, but it was well-needed!) President told us to speak the language all the time and that The Lord has invested in us and expects us to know the language our whole lives so as to be able to serve him more with it in the future. Tuesday was so fun! We taught 6 lessons it was how I wish every day was out here in the field! Mariana (even though she is not married yet!!!! Ay-caray) wants to get baptized for all her primas, hermanas, padres, y familiares. We visited a crazy guy, Indelecio Marquez, way down at the bottom of our area (Broadway). He is so sweet. He made us quesadillas and made sure we ate every bite. He wouldn't let us speak until we were done. He then made for us alfalfa juice. It was delicious. We also taught the Noris family, the Excalante Family and a few others. And I went out with Jim for dinner. Wow. What a special time that was! The Spirit was strong in the lesson. It wasn't unnatural or awkward to talk about the church and the Gospel for the entire time we had at Rhumbi. We will be seeing more of him! Life is good here. Sorry I wish I had more time. Today was badly planned. And we only have 12 miles down for the rest of the month on our car so we are going to drive to a central location and do some walking tonight haha :) Love ya! See you in 6 months to the day ;) elder Parry