Families can be TOGETHER forever.

New addition to the Burgin family August 24th.

Newborn Marie -8lbs 7oz 22 inches

Benji with his new little sister, Marie.

Big sister, Gwen, with new little sister, Marie.

The oldest child, Charlie, with the youngest, Marie.

Straight from Heaven, our new little granddaughter, Lea Marie.

Happy Mommy, Allyson

Pday fun at Portocolom

PuraVida seaside restaurant with The Olsons, Dyers and Sister Moore

The Rafa Nadal Museum in Manacor, Mallorca Spain.

Islas Baleares Zone Conference here in Palma. All the Elders including President Villar.

All of the Sisters including Hermana Villar

Elder Taylor with Elder Quirce

Elder Taylor with President Villar

The Baptism of Christian with Elder Gunther and Elder Richardson

The Baptism of Juli and her son Hector with Elders Gunther and Richardson

Some of our great Young Adults supporting the newly baptized members.

New parents, Lander and Morin with baby Matias.

Eternal Families

“Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.”
The Family A Proclamation To The World

We survived August! The humidity is still high but the temperature has dropped a little bit, so it’s not quite so stifling. We have been here on Mallorca for a little over four months now. I told Hermana Taylor the other day that I feel like we officially live here now. We have tried to enhance our piso (apartment) to make it feel like our home. Despite numerous revisions, upgrades and updates, we may be looking to change pisos in the near future to one that is a little newer with better functioning electricity and plumbing.

All of the young Elder and Sister missionaries that were here when we first arrived have all been transferred or have completed their missions, so we are enjoying getting to know new missionaries. We love working with them and serving these young missionaries. They have so much energy and enthusiasm and desires to share the gospel. We are lifted and blessed every time we are with them, even if it is simply giving them a ride in the car. Currently, we have 20 missionaries in the Islas Baleares Zone. 10 Elders, 4 Hermanas, and 3 of us senior couples – on three islands. We have missionaries from Hooper, Utah to Switzerland to Italy to Madrid, Spain. They are all so kind to us and appreciative of our service. We love it when we have the opportunity to participate in a missionary lesson with one of their friends. It’s awesome to see them in action and to teach with such love and with such spiritual power.

Our overall thoughts recently have centered around families. Our families back home and the families we are getting to know here in Spain.  We are here as missionaries to help gather families and to do whatever we can to help them to the temple to receive sacred sealing ordinances. In our Zone Conference this week, President Villar reminded us that baptism isn’t the end goal for missionaries. The ultimate goal for missionary work is the temple – to help individuals and families understand the importance of the temple and to assist them on their path to the temple. President Nelson’s emphasis on the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil centers on eternal families.

Two events stand out for Hermana Taylor and I recently.

The number one special event in our lives that has been most meaningful for us is the birth of our beautiful granddaughter! A new Granddaughter! Ally and Jeff were blessed last week with their fourth child and surprised us with their choice of her name: Lea Marie. They shared this with us via a video call, which brought tears to our eyes – giving her the same name as Grandma Lea. Despite being far away and not being physically close during this earthly arrival of another of Heavenly Father’s children, we rejoice in their eternal family and we feel connected to her spiritually. It has given us another opportunity to ponder on why we are here – to help other families on this same journey.

We also think about our other two children who are sealed to their spouses. Lydia and Bridger are living in our home which is a blessing for us while we are away. They both started another year at Weber State and are busy with school, work and service in the Church. Duncan and Jewel also started another year of school: Duncan at UVU and Jewel at BYU. They also are busy with school, work and callings. They recently celebrated their first Anniversary and were in the Nauvoo Temple on that day.

The second recent event is that our good friends in the Palma 1 Branch here; Lander and Morín, had their first baby a few weeks ago, a baby boy named Matias. They were sealed in the Madrid Temple in April of this year so Matias was born in the covenant. They are an eternal family! Lander came to Mallorca as a 21-year-old from Peru several years ago by himself. He was not a member of the church. Three months later, while riding his skateboard near the Placa d’ Espanya, he was approached by two Sister Missionaries. He wondered why they approached him instead of a cute family nearby to talk to. “Why a young man on a skateboard?” He wasn’t interested in talking religion but he accepted an invitation to come to an English class. No religious talk that first week. So, he came again the next week. This time, he had a few questions for the Sisters. This led to formal Gospel lessons and he was baptized a month later. Later, he married a member of the church; Morín. This year, they were sealed and now have a son. They are a beautiful example of how missionary work leads to eternal families. Everyone around them can see and feel the blessing of being sealed as a family.

So, Hermana Taylor and I are grateful for our temple covenants and our eternal family! We desire the same for the great people that we interact with here on Mallorca. We pray every day for our wonderful young adults that we meet with every Friday night and see frequently. We could describe how unique they are, how they have been saved for this time and place, how much we love them. Sofia will soon start her mission to Paris, Arturo received his call to Chile and just went through the temple last week, Bobby is waiting for his call any day. Anylizeth, Christian, Juli and Hector have been baptized recently. Many have family members living in Latin America or other parts of the world. They are trying to find their way in life. We hope and pray to be able to help them find and stay on the covenant path. We remind them every week when we meet, that President Nelson said to them: “You were born for greatness” and that their future would be “breathtaking.” We are thrilled to be a small part of their lives at such a critical stage in their lives.

We receive blessings and tender mercies daily. One example from yesterday: there is a complicated, multi-step process for us to acquire our “Residency” status in Spain. We can be rejected at any step for any number of reasons. It is not a smooth process. Yesterday, it was urgent that we pay a specific tax before we can get finger-printed. There are few places and times where this can be accomplished – like only from 8:30-10-30am at certain banks. We went to one that we thought would work. We found out we had to go to another one several blocks away. I was hobbling on a painful knee (bursitis flare-up). We made it to that bank with about 45 minutes to go before 10:30. There were 5-6 people ahead of us in line with only worker. Each person was at her desk for about 10 painful minutes. Stress was mounting. We had to get this done today and have certain forms date stamped. We kept praying! Several more people walked in behind us and it was confusing as to who was where in line. More stress! We were worried that when it was our turn, we would have a hard time answering her questions because she was wearing a mask and was sitting behind a plexiglass wall. Finally, a few minutes before 10:30, it was our turn. She noticed our missionary name tags. Prayers were answered as she was so kind and patient with us. We had to have the exact amount in bills and coins: €16.08 for each of us. She simply pointed to the multiple areas on the forms that we needed to sign. Seemed like hundreds of key strokes on her computer, printers spitting out other forms and banging the date stamp on the counter. We walked out with the necessary forms, date-stamped. We were so grateful. Our prayers and your prayers were answered! There are numerous stories just like this one. Now, to the police station next week to get fingerprinted. Passport, Visa and several forms are needed. I think we are ready.
I believe your prayers for missionaries are answered – even in the form of securing Residency in Spain. Thank you for your love and support.

We are very grateful to be here in Spain and to serve Heavenly Father’s children. We love our family back home and are so thankful for their prayers, love and support.  We love being part of this great work at such a time. These young missionaries are great! My companion is great! We love our young adults, the local members and leaders, and the friends who are being taught. We have become friends with local shop owners from China, India and Spain. They greet us warmly every time we walk in their door. Our friend Sanjay, from India, who works next door in their little shop that we visit 4-5 times a week, always calls out: “Hey Taylor, Dude” We are surrounded by unique and different people.
We see the hand of the Lord daily!

We love and appreciate you! Please go to the temple as frequently as you can. We miss that blessing so you can do that for us.

Élder y Hermana Taylor