Esperanza

Saludos de Palma de Mallorca, España! Our mission time is passing so rapidly – we
have less than 2 months before this incredible experience will come to an end. Then, a
new chapter will begin in our lives: one that will certainly prioritize our family, friends,
and dear loved ones. I sense that we will return with a never-ending focus on the Savior
and His great and important work as we prepare for His return to the Earth. I guess I am
saying that we might be the same two people (Elder y Hermana Taylor) but a bit
different – less focused on worldly things and more committed to following Him for the
rest of our lives. We desire to help people find the Gospel and stay on the Covenant
Path. There is nothing more important in the world. We are excited about returning but I
am somewhat hesitant to leave this incredible place, people and work.

So, “Esperanza.” I had a strong impression in January that I wanted/needed to focus
this year on Esperanza (Hope in English). First of all, I love the word in Spanish –
ESPERANZA! It is such a beautiful word! I love how it sounds. I committed to reading
every verse in the scriptures that had the word “esperanza” in it and spend time
pondering and learning what is meant by “hope,” how I can strengthen my hope and its
relationship to faith, confidence, trust and charity (Moroni ch. 7). I promise you will have
an incredible experience as you dive into these attributes. This could be a lengthy note
but we can save this for a discussion in person in the near future. Let me try to
summarize some of the things I’ve learned and a few of my thoughts. I’ll say that I feel
that the impressions that have come during these months have been enhanced perhaps
through our missionary service and what we have seen, experienced and felt.

I was given the opportunity to deliver a talk in one of our Branches here in Palma on
Sunday. In my role in the Mission Presidency, I preside at all the meetings we attend
(unless the President is here) so I have frequent opportunities to share thoughts at the
end of meetings, but this was a dedicated talk. So, I spoke on “Esperanza” and some of
the things I am sharing here. I’ll try and summarize: I believe I understand better the
relationship between faith and hope. I love how faith and hope are described in the
“Guide to the Scriptures.”

First – Faith:

“Confidence in something or someone. As most often used in the
scriptures, faith is confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that leads a person to obey Him.
Faith must be centered in Jesus Christ in order for it to lead a person to salvation.”

Our faith in Jesus Christ leads us to obey Him and keep His commandments. As we
increase our faith in Him, our desire to follow Him becomes stronger. We have seen this
numerous times as our missionaries teach the Gospel; their amigos develop a little faith
and a desire to be baptized and keep His commandments. We were both in a very spiritual lesson this morning with a young mother who wanted to act on her newfound faith.

Next – Hope:

“The confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of
righteousness. The scriptures often speak of hope as anticipation of eternal life through
faith in Jesus Christ.”

I love this description of hope! My “hope” has increased this year. I have a “confident
expectation” that if we are true and faithful to our covenants, everything that our Father
and Jesus Christ have promised will be realized – eternal happiness with our family and
loved ones!

And last – Confidence:

“Having an assurance, belief, trust, or faith in something,
especially God and Jesus Christ.”

My faith and hope in Christ give me an “assurance” and “trust” in His promises.

So…. I have Faith in Jesus Christ and I have Hope in His promises. It has been a fun
ride this year. Heavenly Father’s children need more “Esperanza!” There is enough
doom and gloom in the world (even here on an island in the Mediterranean). The Savior
can and will make all things whole, as we do our part and endure to the end. I have
Hope in this! Let’s share Esperanza with others!

For the second time on our mission, we are enduring a July-August heatwave. Non-stop
sweating while outside. We have so much love, respect and gratitude for these young
missionaries who are outside every day. They are sooooo dedicated and make such
sacrifices to find and teach. Transfer days continue to be a challenge for us. We grow to
love these Elders and Sisters and then they get transferred or complete their missions.
We will be taking two Elders to the airport at 6:15 tomorrow morning as they begin their
journey home (two Sisters will be on the same flight to Barcelona). We are so grateful to
serve with the Lord’s finest spirits who have been saved for this time to help gather
Israel. They are incredible!

We are loving all the fresh fruits and vegetables: a never-ending supply.  And very
inexpensive. I’m sure we will be shocked to go grocery shopping back home. There are
always certain produce items available all year so we have been spoiled by having
fresh, inexpensive produce. In a typical day, we’ll enjoy a combination of strawberries,
blueberries, raspberries, apricots, apples, nectarines, peaches, mangos, bananas or
paraguayos. Always fresh fruit. There are four main grocery chains with stores nearby
plus all the fresh fruit markets and delicious bakeries. The Spaniards eat lots of ham, chicken and fish/seafood. Love the calamari here, octopus and lots of tuna. We have to
be careful ordering fish in a restaurant because often they bring the whole fish on a
plate for you: head, fins, skin and all. For the most part, we have enjoyed the food
choices here on Mallorca.

Our Mission Leaders changed the first of July. President Villar (Élder Villar of the
Seventy) now serves in the Church Offices in SLC with assignments in the Missionary,
Temple and Outreach departments. It will be fun to see them as they will be living close
by. Our new Mission Leader is President Heckmann from Heidelberg, Germany. His
wife is from Spain and he is German. I like listening to his strong German accent when
he speaks in English or Spanish. They are very nice and I enjoy serving closely with him
in the Mission Presidency. It has been a blessing for me to serve with both Mission
Leaders.

Five of our Young Adults have left to serve missions. We are so grateful for them. We
were able to help each of them prepare in different ways. That is a good representation
from our YA group – gathering Israel in Spain, Columbia, Chile, Brazil and Peru. Another
Sister is turning in her papers now. I was blessed to be able to set apart two of these
Elders. We love them!

Here are two interesting experiences we just had this afternoon:

• There are five floors in our apartment building with two units on each level. We are on
  the fourth level and there are 69 stairs from the street entrance to our front door. So,
  hundreds and hundreds of times we have gone up and down 69 stairs. Hermana Taylor
  has developed strong relationships with all of our neighbors, many of which are elderly
  people who have lived in these apartments for 40 to 50 years. She has been a great
  missionary to all of these neighbors. They know we are missionaries and always see us
  with our name tags on. So, this afternoon as we were walking down the stairs, our
  friend, Ana, opened her door on the first floor and politely asked us if we could help her.
  She mentioned that her husband had fallen off the bed and was on the hard floor and
  couldn’t get up. He is a retired physician, a kind man, but has become immobile. We
  followed her to the back bedroom and found him lying on the floor unable to move. Ana
  was not able to help him back up on the bed. He was only wearing an adult diaper. We
  were happy to be able to help him off the floor and lift him back onto the bed. During this
  process, Hermana Taylor suggested to Ana that I could give her husband a Priesthood
  blessing. Though she didn’t know what that meant, she accepted the offer. I briefly
  explained to Ana and Pablo what a Priesthood blessing was. He indicated that he would
  like that. Ana then said, “we are strong Catholics.“ We responded that that was fine; that
  this was a blessing that would come from the Lord and that blessings are available to all. I sat on the bed next to Pablo, put my hands on his head and gave him a blessing. I
  felt a strong spiritual presence and blessed him that he and Ana would feel it at that
  very moment. After the blessing, he seemed peaceful and we went on our way. We are
  praying for them. Many of these neighbors are very sweet and kind to us. Hermana
  Taylor has delivered treats, holiday gifts, Books of Mormon, church pamphlets, and
  Family Proclamations, and kind notes to them. We were very grateful that the Lord put
  us in the exact spot where we needed to be at the exact time. It was a blessing for us to
  be able to serve them!

• We just returned from a baptismal service for a nine-year-old boy named Leonardo.
  His story is amazing. He and his parents are from Peru and recently moved here. His
  parents have been inactive for seven years. Leo’s grandmother is very active in the
  church back in Peru. She talked to Leo about the church before they moved and told
  him that if he had interest in the church that he should talk to missionaries if he ever
  saw them. He promised her that he would, and was very excited about it. So, here in
  Palma, the family of three was walking down the sidewalk when they saw two of our
  missionaries on the other side of the street. The missionaries mentioned that they saw
  the family talking together pointing across the street at them. Leo asked his dad to go
  across the street and talk to the missionaries, but his dad told his son, that if he wanted
  to talk to them, he needed to go across the street and approach them. So, Leo did, as
  he promised his grandmother that he would. Lessons followed and the parents returned
  to church. Leo‘s mother and father were the two witnesses to his baptism. At the end of
  the service, Leo and his father had the opportunity to share a few thoughts. Leo thanked
  everybody for coming to his baptism – there were over 50 people there to support the
  family! His father then shared the story about Leo, his grandmother, the promise, and
  the first interaction with the missionaries on the street. Emotionally, he talked about their
  seven years of inactivity, and how he didn’t have the courage to come back to church,
  but testified that the Lord always provides a way, when there is a sincere desire. That
  way was provided through his son, Leo. It was a beautiful story! Another twist to the
  story: Leo was baptized by Élder Fleming on the last night of his mission. We are taking
  Élder Fleming, from Highland Utah, to the airport at 6:30 tomorrow morning.

These are the types of experiences that we have – all the time! This is the Lord’s work,
and He is guiding every step of the process. Miracles occur in this work every day. We
can personally witness what President Nelson said about the Lord performing more
miracles now and until his Second Coming than ever before. This is so true, and we are
so grateful to be a part of it. We love Jesus Christ and testify that He is our Savior and
Redeemer. We are children of loving heavenly parents. Heavenly Father hears and
answers prayers. Let’s help each other stay on the Covenant Path! 🙂

Hermana Taylor y yo tenemos fe en Jesucristo y tenemos esperanza en Sus
promesas!

Con amor,
Élder y Hermana Taylor

(Oh, by the way – we have received our flight plans. We arrive in SLC the evening of Oct
11th.)