ARIZONA TEMPLES WITH ELDER TEH

 I have not shown photos recently of how the temple is coming along in Phoenix.

We had the opportunity to take Elder Teh of the Seventy to visit three of the Arizona Temples while he was here, so I wanted to share with you some of these photos.

 This is our own Phoenix Temple.  It is looking mostly complete, except for windows and permanent doors on the outside...a flurry of work on the inside.  They are working on the front fountains and landscaping on the outside. Parking lots are complete.

 Here are Elder Teh and President Taylor outside the Phoenix Temple.

 We made a stop at the Mesa Temple as well.

 They gave us the VIP tour of the inside including the basement and all the utility rooms etc.  It was very kind of them to take the time to do that and we learned a lot about the rich history of this older temple.

We also drove to see the outside of the new Gilbert Temple.



This time of dusk was just beautiful!  I did not have my nice camera for these, but they still turned out very pretty!

 You can see the beautiful detail that windows and landscaping bring...we cannot wait to have Phoenix Temple look more like this!  It is really breathtaking!


the Gilbert Temple Open House is set for Mid January to Mid February with the Dedication early March.




Temples are the House of the Lord.  The promises/covenants we make inside bless not only the lives of those that we do the work for, but they bring greater light and power into our own lives as we renew our own promises with God.

We encourage you to prepare to go to the temple for the first time if you have not yet had that blessing in your life.  Visit with your Bishop to see how you can qualify to attend the Temples.



If you hold a temple recommend, USE IT.  In this time of the HASTENING OF THE WORK, it is critical that we have the power we need to do the work of the Lord daily.  I know that we will have a greater portion of the Spirit if we attend the House of the Lord frequently.  Our families need us to have that extra guidance in our lives.



Here is another of God's wonderful houses...his beautiful world!  Sedona was truly inspiring as you can see from this overlook of the city before we went to the chapel.

Remember, pray for your missionaries by name; both those in your own ward as well as your own family/friends.
Love you!  Sister Taylor

MISSION TOUR DAY #3- Prescott/Cottonwood/Flagstaff and Phoenix North

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT

 Our final day of MISSION TOUR was up in Sedona for the first time we have had meetings there our entire mission!  And can you see why we chose this place?  Let's just say that Elder Teh is determined to bring his wife back here for a vacation!

Below is the COTTONWOOD ZONE!  This area is in their zone...lucky!!

Below is the FLAGSTAFF ZONE

     Below is the PHOENIX NORTH ZONE

Below is the PRESCOTT ZONE

Once a year, each mission has a visit from a General Authority to come teach the mission in what they call "MISSION TOUR."
It is not a "tour" in the terms you usually think, but more a tour of the missionaries themselves.
We were blessed to have Elder Michael Teh of the First Quorum of the Seventy in our mission this week.

 The day was under his supervision, but included instruction from both President Taylor and myself along with a practice teach on "Talking With Everyone" by our Assistants.

Our day actually started with a leadership session with Zone, District and Sister Training Leaders.  It was wonderful!
 Elder Teh talked us through scriptures in John  chapter 10 about how the Lord used imagery of the shepherd and sheep and knowing our sheep and them knowing us and following our voices.  Perfect for leaders in any setting.
Have you ever thought that "What is important to YOU becomes important to THEM?"  Well, think about it...it often is true.  So, as leaders/parents, we really need to see what is important to us, where our priorities are!
We also studied the experiences of Alma the Younger and his conversion along with Ammon and his brothers.  We were all thinking of OUR STORIES AND HOW THEY WILL END.
We were reminded that THE END OF OUR MISSION WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

 We love our lunch time together...these three Sisters discovered that inspiration comes in what you choose to wear to a conference..as you can see, they all chose polka dots...it was so funny! and red, white and blue to make it even more specific.

 This ward really took on the task of feeding the missionaries and did the most wonderful job!





I hope they felt how much we appreciated their efforts!  We sing ARMY OF HELAMAN to thank them and then show them our MISSION FIGHT SONG!

 We really got a lot of enthusiasm in this rendition!  It was great!

 We celebrated our NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS!  You've had a birthday SHOUT HOORAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
Elder Castanos
Elder Finklea
Elder Laititi
Elder Scott
Elder Lovstedt
Elder Belnap
Sister McAllister
Sister S Jenson
Sister Franz

In the afternoon session, I got to teach about how our book of blessings (White Handbook) contains safety rules to protect us as missionaries.
Specifically the rule to NEVER BE ALONE.  Having a companion with you is so important to protect us not just spiritually, but physically and emotionally and even legally.
Like a good parent, Heavenly Father wants us to be safe.  Online we have to be extra careful not to be alone.  We are a companionship in all we do online other than our weekly emails.

Elder Teh Did more great teaching on how to remain a PREACH MY GOSPEL MISSION rather than allow ourselves to be pulled into the current of popular practice that can crop up in a mission if we are not careful.  We cannot be casual about obedience in any setting of the mission.

The last thing that Elder Teh did was to teach about how Satan works to try to ENTICE us to his side of the line...crossing the line to disobedience or sin.  We learned that we have to ALLOW him power...he does not have power over us.  Elder Handy learned through an object lesson using a Toblerone bar, how he could be enticed bit by bit to cross the line...and then how Satan would continue to make little things seem just a bit closer to us.
It was such a good lesson!!
Our desire however is to stay as far away from that middle line between good and evil as possible...we desire to "Have no more desire to do evil"  Mosiah 5:2
Key Learnings:
1) We have full control- It is OUR STORY
2) He has no power over us
3) All we need to know is what is expected of us as a missionary to stay on the right side
4) A mission is a safe place to practice this turning to God in thought and activity...we see results!
5) We should not feel we ever have enough or are enough...no complacency!
6) We are not the light, we are the conduit...which must be clean!
7) Sometimes we "get the chocolate and forget everything" and can be distracted from our true purpose

Ask your missionary what they learned at Mission Tour!  It was a tour of each of us as we looked inside to see where we are at and learned how to make the most of our mission.  We know we were called HERE for a specific purpose!  We are blessed to have leaders like Elder Teh come instruct us in how to fulfill our purpose even more completely!

MISSION TOUR DAY #2- Glendale/Glendale N/ Deer Valley/Surprise

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT!

Our second day of Mission Tour was in the Glendale Stake Center and hosted the GLENDALE, SURPRISE, DEER VALLEY and GLENDALE NORTH ZONES.

 Above is the DEER VALLEY ZONE

 Above is the GLENDALE NORTH ZONE

Above is the GLENDALE ZONE

Above is the SURPRISE ZONE.

 Once a year, each mission has a visit from a General Authority to come teach the mission in what they call "MISSION TOUR."

It is not a "tour" in the terms you usually think, but more a tour of the missionaries themselves.

We were blessed to have Elder Michael Teh of the First Quorum of the Seventy in our mission this week.

 The day was under his supervision, but included instruction from both President Taylor and myself along with a practice teach on "Talking With Everyone" by our Assistants. 

Our day actually started with a leadership session with Zone, District and Sister Training Leaders.  It was wonderful!
 Elder Teh talked us through scriptures in John  chapter 10 about how the Lord used imagery of the shepherd and sheep and knowing our sheep and them knowing us and following our voices.  Perfect for leaders in any setting.
Have you ever thought that "What is important to YOU becomes important to THEM?"  Well, think about it...it often is true.  So, as leaders/parents, we really need to see what is important to us, where our priorities are!
We also studied the experiences of Alma the younger and his conversion along with Ammon and his brothers.  We were all thinking of OUR STORIES AND HOW THEY WILL END.
We were reminded that THE END OF OUR MISSION WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

We had a great lunch break and enjoyed singing our ARMY OF HELAMAN thank-you song to the wonderful wards who served us lunch and then our MISSION FIGHT SONG!  It was so much fun!

We love the feeling of unity it brings!

We celebrated our NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS with this group and had 6.

HAPPY NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS TO:
Elder Poulin
Elder Lane
Elder J Cook
Elder Hernandez
ElderYoxtheimer and
Elder Wardle

In the afternoon session, I got to teach about how our book of blessings (White Handbook) contains safety rules to protect us as missionaries.
Specifically the rule to NEVER BE ALONE.  Having a companion with you is so important to protect us not just spiritually, but physically and emotionally and even legally.
Like a good parent, Heavenly Father wants us to be safe.  Online we have to be extra careful not to be alone.  We are a companionship in all we do online other than our weekly emails.


Elder Teh Did more great teaching on how to remain a PREACH MY GOSPEL MISSION rather than allow ourselves to be pulled into the current of popular practice that can crop up in a mission if we are not careful.  We cannot be casual about obedience in any setting of the mission.

The last thing that Elder Teh did was to teach about how Satan works to try to ENTICE us to his side of the line...crossing the line to disobedience or sin.  We learned that we have to ALLOW him power...he does not have power over us.  Elder Brown learned through an object lesson using a Toblerone bar, how he could be enticed bit by bit to cross the line...and then how Satan would continue to make little things seem just a bit closer to us.
It was such a good lesson!! 
Our desire however is to stay as far away from that middle line between good and evil as possible...we desire to "Have no more desire to do evil"  Mosiah 5:2
Key Learnings:
1) We have full control- It is OUR STORY
2) He has no power over us
3) All we need to know is what is expected of us as a missionary to stay on the right side
4) A mission is a safe place to practice this turning to God in thought and activity...we see results!
5) We should not feel we ever have enough or are enough...no complacency!
6) We are not the light, we are the conduit...which must be clean!
7) Sometimes we "get the chocolate and forget everything" and can be distracted from our true purpose

Ask your missionary what they learned at Mission Tour!  It was a tour of each of us as we looked inside to see where we are at and learned how to make the most of our mission.  We know we were called HERE for a specific purpose!  We are blessed to have leaders like Elder Teh come instruct us in how to fulfill our purpose even more completely!

MISSION TOUR DAY #1- Peoria/W Maricopa/Buckeye Goodyear

CLICK HERE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT! 

Once a year, each mission has a visit from a General Authority to come teach the mission in what they call "MISSION TOUR."

It is not a "tour" in the terms you usually think, but more a tour of the missionaries themselves.

We were blessed to have Elder Michael Teh of the First Quorum of the Seventy in our mission this week.

 This first day, we met in the Peoria Stake Center and had Peoria/Peoria N, W. Maricopa and Buckeye/Goodyear Zones in attendance.
This first day, we took photos in the chapel so you can see some of what went on.
Elder Teh greeted each missionary and was able to look into their eyes and feel of their great spirit.

The day was under his supervision, but included instruction from both President Taylor and myself along with a practice teach on "Talking With Everyone" by our Assistants.

Our day actually started with a leadership session with Zone, District and Sister Training Leaders.  It was wonderful!
 Elder Teh talked us through scriptures in John  chapter 10 about how the Lord used imagery of the shepherd and sheep and knowing our sheep and them knowing us and following our voices.  Perfect for leaders in any setting.
Have you ever thought that "What is important to YOU becomes important to THEM?"  Well, think about it...it often is true.  So, as leaders/parents, we really need to see what is important to us, where our priorities are!
We also studied the experiences of Alma the Younger and his conversion along with Ammon and his brothers.  You see Elder Pemberton helping Elder Teh with this story and we were all thinking of OUR STORIES AND HOW THEY WILL END.
We were reminded that THE END OF OUR MISSION WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF OUR LIVES.

At lunch we took group photos of each zone and got a shot of Elder Teh signing the mission flag.

Above is the Peoria/Peoria North Zone








Below is the Buckeye Goodyear Zone

 And below here is the West Maricopa Zone

 Lunch was provided by wards in the Stake we met in and they just do an amazing job of taking care of the missionaries!  Such good food!

 Please look at the link to the web album to see all photos of the missionaries that I caught sitting at tables...no guarantees that I got everyone!
You can imagine, I rush to get lunch myself by the time I have taken all these photos!

 I love to see missionaries looking at the Mission Flag...
I caught Elders Zaugg and Madsen finding their names...and they did it!  Good job!

 We had our Mission Fight song after our thank you song ARMY OF HELAMAN for the ward/stake lunch helpers.
They love listening to us sing!

 We love the enthusiasm that our missionaries have for this song!  It is a blast to watch them!

 We celebrated our NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:
Elder J Hall
Elder Kroeger
Sister Jones

In the afternoon session, I got to teach about how our book of blessings (White Handbook) contains safety rules to protect us as missionaries.
Specifically the rule to NEVER BE ALONE.  Having a companion with you is so important to protect us not just spiritually, but physically and emotionally and even legally.
Like a good parent, Heavenly Father wants us to be safe.  Online we have to be extra careful not to be alone.  We are a companionship in all we do online other than our weekly emails.


Elder Teh Did more great teaching on how to remain a PREACH MY GOSPEL MISSION rather than allow ourselves to be pulled into the current of popular practice that can crop up in a mission if we are not careful.  We cannot be casual about obedience in any setting of the mission.

The last thing that Elder Teh did was to teach about how Satan works to try to ENTICE us to his side of the line...crossing the line to disobedience or sin.  We learned that we have to ALLOW him power...he does not have power over us.  Elder Kellett learned through an object lesson using a Toblerone bar, how he could be enticed bit by bit to cross the line...and then how Satan would continue to make little things seem just a bit closer to us.
It was such a good lesson!!
Our desire however is to stay as far away from that middle line between good and evil as possible...we desire to "Have no more desire to do evil"  Mosiah 5:2
Key Learnings:
1) We have full control- It is OUR STORY
2) He has no power over us
3) All we need to know is what is expected of us as a missionary to stay on the right side
4) A mission is a safe place to practice this turning to God in thought and activity...we see results!
5) We should not feel we ever have enough or are enough...no complacency!
6) We are not the light, we are the conduit...which must be clean!
7) Sometimes we "get the chocolate and forget everything" and can be distracted from our true purpose

Ask your missionary what they learned at Mission Tour!  It was a tour of each of us as we looked inside to see where we are at and learned how to make the most of our mission.  We know we were called HERE for a specific purpose!  We are blessed to have leaders like Elder Teh come instruct us in how to fulfill our purpose even more completely!

NEW ASSISTANT- November 2013

 One of the constants in a mission is change...
And on occasion that necessitates a change in our ASSISTANTS TO THE PRESIDENT.

This past transfer took  home Elder Austin Bartleson, who had been our great assistant for a long time!
Oh how hard it was for him to leave the mission!

But the blessing is, it gives someone else the chance to grow in a new position in the mission.

 We welcome Elder Michael Nield as a new Assistant along with Elder Mark Knobbe who has been serving already.

These two are DYNAMITE waiting to explode as they serve with great power.

I imagine no other missionaries understand the depth to which an Assistant can help a President and Wife on their calling.  They are constantly behind the scenes helping prepare the way and take care of getting information to the Zone Leaders so the mission can run more smoothly.


They love the Lord.  They love obedience. They love their fellow missionaries and they even love us!

We cannot ask for a better combination than those things.
We trust them with our lives and know that they will be blessed as they bless the missionaries with their great service and love!

TRANSFERS NOV 2013

 PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT

Here we are...
New missionaries on one side of the room...

 ...and trainer missionaries on the other (except for two very brave incoming missionaries, Nistler and C Johnson)
This meeting is to train the new missionary and trainer together.
The program we use has been in place for over 2 years now and is called the 12 Week Training Program.  It is very specific and takes them through the Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel as well as skills they will need to teach the Gospel in all sorts of situations.

 It is a flexible program and is now joined by the ADJUSTING TO MISSIONARY LIFE booklet that just came out last transfer and which helps with the stress of many aspects of missionary life.

It is a great program.  Ask your missionary about it!

One of the first things President Taylor does is to match up the trainers and trainees...who he has decided through inspiration the night before.  It is always so fun to see who ends up with who!

 I take a photo of each companionship and they visit for about 15 minutes to get to know each other.

We then discuss how to use the 12 Week Training Program and how to do this in Companionship Study time.  New missionaries have an extra hour of study time to get this all done.

 After this we go to the chapel for our transfer meeting.

Today we had a BIRTHDAY!  Elder Lovstedt's birthday was today!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HIM!!

Then, as the whole mission sings CALLED TO SERVE, the new missionaries and trainers come into the chapel to be seated in the choir seats.

 It took the first two verses just to get them all into the chapel and seated!  26 new missionaries and trainers!!

We sing the third verse of Called to Serve...ask your missionary about that as well!

 Once all the missionaries were in and we sang the song, it was time for the meeting to continue.  After opening and recitations and announcements, the Trainers introduced each New Missionary to the rest of those at this meeting.  Only about 2/3 of our mission is in attendance at a transfer meeting.

 President Taylor let me say some remarks about how having a new start without any judgement or gossip.  This is something important to us.  We love how accepting missionaries can be, and how we can set people up for success by really believing in the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the potential that we have to BECOME.

 We were blessed to have a beautiful musical number by Sisters Beck and A Walker accompanied by Elder Gerritsen...he had a lovely arrangement he made of HOW GREAT THOU ART...simply beautiful!!
these Sisters voices sound like one when they sing together.  They are companions for more than one reason!

 After all assignments are made, the meeting concluded with a slide show of photos of activities, baptisms from the previous 6 weeks and then we are out into the parking lot to send missionaries and bikes and luggage all over the ARIZONA PHOENIX MISSION!

 The parking lot of the Church is a flurry of activity as you can see in the background of all these photos.

I gather an occasional group for a photo.  So much enthusiasm in one spot!

If the Church was not true, we could not pull this off...but, since it is, it really works and is worth any effort that it takes to share the love that the Gospel offers.

HAVE A GREAT 6 WEEKS!!!
LET US ALL PRESS ON IN THE WORK OF THE LORD!