JULY VISITORS 2014

 We had our first "post mission" visitor when we met Elder Denny and his family over at the Phoenix Temple on July 1.  He had arranged this with us with permission from Tempe Mission.

Elder Denny was our missionary the first year of his mission and was in Tempe when the boundaries changed.

It was sweet to meet his wonderful family.
Sister has a mission call so they will not be without a missionary very long!

I did forget to get a photo of Alex and Sarah Grasley, our first official Provo visitors!  I will get one of them and add it soon!




 Our next Provo visitors were the Matt Bruening family!  He was in town visiting family and took time to come introduce us to his parents.

 It was fun to have him in our new APM FAMILY ROOM.  Complete with Mission Quilt...


...Mission Frame with his nametag...


...and Mission Flag which we did indeed find his signature on.
It was great to see how well he is doing and the difference that his mission has made in his life!

 We got to attend our first sealing outside of AZ with a mission son!
Tyson and Brittany Dunn were sealed in Mt Timpanogos temple the Saturday after our return to Utah and what made it even more sweet was to be there with Eddie Gerritsen as well!  Both served in our ward in Peoria and hold a special place in our hearts.
CONGRATULATIONS TO TYSON AND BRITTANY!

 We got to meet the Sarah Jenson family this past week...so fun to have recently returned missionaries traveling through Utah that would stop and say hello!

She still looked like a missionary, and we were the scrubbie ones, working pretty hard on our home and yard after being away for 3 years!
We loved meeting her sweet family last week when we spoke and now this week with Sister Jenson!

 We also got to see Douglas Hicks with his family traveling up to a family reunion in Idaho.  He came home last transfer as well!  It was delightful to meet the rest of his wonderful family!  They were just the nicest people and we had such a fun visit!  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if President Taylor would have been home from work..but he is back at it fulltime. THANK YOU HICKS FAMILY!  You have a wonderful older brother to look up to!

 That same evening after FHE, we went over to the JOSEPH BARLEY home in Orem to meet his family.  It is always great to tell parents the journey we have witnessed their children on.  We got that view that was just sacred really...to see the growth that happens when people embrace the doctrine of Christ in their lives and grow and change.  Our missionaries understand that process as they witnessed it daily on the mission.

Here again it was wonderful to visit with parents and for all of us to share what it meant to serve together in this work.
It is obvious the love that these families have for their missionary children, and for the Lord.
WELCOME HOME JOSEPH!








And one more recently returned missionary, NATALIE DAYTON and Mom and little brother stopped in for a quick visit this week.
It felt just like she was coming home...so comfortable being with her again and meeting such a loving Mom and brother.  We look forward to having her back in town going to school shortly!
THANK YOU FOR THE VISITS!  They mean so much to us and will keep us feeling like we have children around although all our natural born children are currently living far away.

TAYLORS REPORT IN PROVO! July 13, 2014

PLEASE CLICK ON THIS LINE FOR ALL PHOTOS OF THIS EVENT!  LOTS OF RMs AND FAMILIES OF CURRENT MISSIONARIES.  WE DID NOT GET PHOTOS OF EVEN CLOSE TO EVERYONE THAT WAS IN ATTENDANCE. 

This week we got to report to the High Council at 7:30 in the morning...very sweet experience!  We reported with two young men returning from missions in our stake.
We shared what a great place ARIZONA is to serve a mission, and how great it is to work with the young missionaries and what miracles occur in their lives because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

Then we went home and prepared for the  BABY BLESSING of our sweet new grandson, Evan Robert Taylor.  This is our complete family except for Braden who is serving in New Zealand until August of 2015.  We hosted a brunch in our home for both sides of the family.

 Then we hustled over and took carloads of things over to our stake center to prepare for an OPEN HOUSE following our sacrament meeting report in our own home ward.

This was something we had been so excited about.  We had invited returned missionaries and also families of currently serving missionaries to join us.
It was very emotional literally almost overwhelming, to see the entire stake center fill up as chairs were placed all the way to the back of the gym.  We were so surprised that on every turn we would see a returned missionary that we just did not expect to see.  Families were introducing themselves to us and we could see the family resemblance to their wonderful current missionary.

I was able to share some of the thoughts of my heart without totally becoming emotional, which is also a miracle for me!  Our RMs know this!

For those of you in attendance, you felt the Spirit that was present.  With that much goodness in one room, it was a SACRED experience.

 Perhaps the most powerful moment of the day was when I invited all RMs in attendance to come up to the front for an impromptu choir singing A MARVELOUS WORK.

As they all stood up and we realized the magnitude of who was really there, it was overwhelming.  The closest feeling I have had to this is in the temple when we have taken 1/3 to 1/2 of our mission at a time to an endowment session and they all file into the celestial room one at a time until it is full.  This is how it felt.
IT WAS A CHOIR OF ANGELS!

Poor President Taylor had to follow this.  For once, he was more emotional than I was!  Seriously we have felt a little bit of what HEAVEN IS.  I know in the smallest way what Heavenly Father feels like in his desire for ALL HIS CHILDREN to return to him and Heavenly Mother.

 We had realized that our normal pattern of never missing Sunday School and Priesthood/RS would not be humanly possible today with as many out of town visitors and the time of day, so we had planned a Meet and Greet for afterwards with a potluck and everyone came through!  THANK YOU SO MUCH to those of you who helped out.  It was impossible for me to set up and do all the keeping things taken care of, and many of you helped out quietly.  You know who you are!

 We spent the next 4 hours greeting guests and letting them mingle and talk with each other.  We had brought the mission quilt and flag and Olympic Fitness Title of Liberty and our special nametag frame that our daughter helped create for us a couple years ago and which has grown to incredible proportion!

 We were able to see some OLD FRIENDS...and I don't mean really old, just ones we have not seen in a while.

 And some newly engaged ones!!! CONGRATS Carlos!

And families of current missionaries like Sister Woodens adorable family!!

And we were presented with leis of honor from Tone Laititi!  THANK YOU TONE!!

 We got to take a DECIDE NOW TO BE WEIRD photo to send to a current missionary from his family!  PERFECT since I told our RMS about that Bednar quote just last month!

They all promised us that they would truly be WEIRD in the best ways ever by remaining disciples of Jesus Christ and following his Doctrine forever!!

 It was also sweet to meet the Jensen family, who we had talked on the phone to during the horrible February accident...and whose faith increased our own in trusting in the Lord in all things!

So sweet to meet dear families of our obedient and faithful missionaries!  Now we know why they are who they are!  They have great families!

 We had some RMs hang out and visit for a long time...and they got to having some fun.

If you cannot figure it out, they are spelling the initials for the great  A  P  M


Nice idea Karina, Stephany, Maria, Sam and Maria's friend (forgot his name) [Pres. Taylor note: I think it's John Ericksen?]

 Our parents were there to support us and really just had to sit back and let us greet everyone for the longest time!  This is President Taylor's Mom, Carole.

 It was fun to see President greeting missionaries and having some sweet personal moments!  We will always love them and be there for them!

 And here is my PHOTOG!!! Heather Belnap was my ANGEL IN ACTION...seriously!  She saved the day!

 I just had to show you the DeMille family, we have Sister DeMille in our mission...one of the sweetest Sisters you could ever meet!  And they have two more missionaries serving currently...and a whole lot more to come!
We just loved meeting them...they waited til the last to come up and greet us, so totally patient, just like their daughter!  THANK YOU DEMILLES!

And Heather saved the day yet again by saving me some brownies...we were starving after all day greeting people!  THEY WERE SO GOOD!

 Here is my sweet Dad and stepmom, Syd and Carolyn James from Orem.  He brought a pop-up shade that also saved the day for those in line to greet us!  THANKS DAD!

And our last to leave was Heather and her two incredible friends who stuck it out and were just delightful to visit with!

THANK YOU ALL for the most incredible day ever!  We know we did not even get to greet all of you that came!  Please message me if you came and I did not get to hug you!  I want to thank you for coming!
My email is: cjt1959@gmail.com

Watch next week for news on our new calling in the Church!!!

TAYLOR'S MISSION REPORT- YOU ARE INVITED!

Three years ago we had just finished up our first interviews with all 180 missionaries in the Arizona Phoenix Mission after our training in the MTC.  We were immediately IN LOVE WITH THIS MISSION!

Now we are back in Provo, Utah and will be reporting on our mission in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday July 13.  WE ARE STILL IN LOVE!

Many Returned Missionaries and families of current missionaries have expressed a desire to attend.  If you would like to join us, the address is: 1560 S 1100 W, Provo, UT, 84601 and our meeting starts at 1:00 PM.  All RM's be prepared to sing the mission song "A Marvelous Work!"

Generally, we would assure attendance at all three Sunday classes, but we recognize that we have many visitors from out of town so we are inviting all our guests to join us in the pavilion after our sacrament meeting for a "Meet and Greet" potluck.  (We will not be able to meet everyone in the Church without disturbing ongoing classes.)  We will provide the main dish if you would like to bring a salad, veggies, dessert or chips.
Please RSVP to Sister Cheryl Taylor cjt1959@gmail.com if you are planning on attending.

BACK TO PROVO LIFE...

 We had an adventurous trip back to Provo...President Taylor promptly fell asleep after driving a couple hours and it was my turn to drive...well, I happily drove and chatted with Breanna and every once and a while I would ask her to check her phone to see if we were on the right track.

When I saw the "Welcome to California" sign I was pretty sure I missed a turn somewhere:)

So, we went the LONG way home!  It was pretty funny!  Spent the night in Mesquite and headed the rest of the way to Provo the next day.

 This is the sight that met our eyes in our front door...a welcome home poster from ARIZONA FRIENDS!!!! Thanks Dana and Lorena!

 There was even a little cactus in a pot to make us feel at home!

 Then, when we went inside...after finally tracking down someone with keys to the house...we found that our ward had come in and cleaned up after the new carpet install and left a HUGE poster signed by everyone!

 There was food in the fridge...HAPPY DAY, I did not have to go to the store, I was so tired!

 AND...the best thing of all that I had missed...

BYU  LIGHT  RANCH  DRESSING!!!!!

It is the best of the best!  THANK YOU SUNSET 11 WARD

 The cupboards were full and there were meals in the fridge and freezer!!

 The next day it was a race to see which would come first...the moving truck or our daughter and her family.

Actually, the kids arrived first and the moving truck arrived later.

We put everyone to work marking off boxes and sending them where we could begin to make some order out of them.

See our pretty view of "Y" mountain?

Here is one of the best things from being home...grandkids romping with grandpa!!

We have been so busy unpacking and organizing that it helps us not miss our mission as much.
It is very hard to leave something that has meant so much to us and has literally been our lives the past 3+ years.

We know we were supposed to be serving in the ARIZONA PHOENIX MISSION.  The Lord takes great interest in our lives and places us in the paths of those we need to have influence over.  We also have a strong witness that the Griffins are in the right place at the right time.  We love them so much!
The mission is in very capable hands and hearts.  I bear my witness that this is God's work.  We are instruments in His hands and he is very aware of each one of us.  The Gospel is true, this is Christ's restored Church in its fulness.  May we all do our best to live it, love it and share it every day of our lives!  Missionary tags are worn inside the heart forever!

WELCOME TO PHOENIX GRIFFINS!

 We were thrilled to finally meet Spencer and Jeannie Griffin when they arrived in Phoenix!  They came in a bit early, so we had the weekend to interact before taking them to the office for business on Monday.

Saturday night we invited them to a baptism in our ward in Peoria.  It was a sweet night for all of us and they met many great members of our ward there.

Jeannie also met my dear neighbor Dana, who has promised to look after her.  Dana understands well what the duties and stresses of a Mission President wife are after listening to me for the past almost 3 years since we met and were privileged to share the Gospel with her.












 We introduced the Griffins to the Elders serving in their ward, Elders Merrill and Hall.










We took them to see the beautiful new Phoenix Temple that they will be there to host the Open House and Dedication!  What a great opportunity for this Mission!!

We pray that you will welcome the Griffins and let them know how much you appreciate their willingness to serve.  They are embarking on the greatest adventure of their lives!
This is a sweet experience!  We would not trade it for anything in the world!  May the Lord bless the Griffins as they serve in this sacred place!

Some Final Phoenix Things

 Our last week in Phoenix was a flurry.
We held trainings three days and worked in a bunch of other stuff.
We had a FHE with our departing Office Staff, at the Elcock home and just celebrated with them the success of our missions.  We are all changed for the better!
We look forward to more missions in the future, and more visits with these great people!

 We took Ed and Dana to the Gilbert temple along with our friend Keri.  We did baptisms there and it was really a special experience to do family names!

Afterwards, we celebrated with another of our favorite AZ traditions...
BAHAMA BUCKS.  This one was in Gilbert, and we usually go in Mesa, but the goodness was the same.

 Traditionally, we have taken our APs on a hike at some point for AM exercise.
We took Elders Bryant and Weiler to White Tank for a long desert hike!

Check out our amazing walking sticks made from saguaro cactus no less!!! THANKS KINGS!!

 Our last day in the Mission we got a photo by the door of the Mission Office.  Pretty special place!  All the new office couples were there and ready to welcome the Griffins!

 We had to finally erase the message we had left on the whiteboard in Presidents office there...


...gee, I wonder who wrote that?

Yes, it was Braden, who left from his mission about 11 months ago from Phoenix.  He is serving in Auckland New Zealand.

I got to see the plaque in our Peoria ward that was just put up, I was so glad I got to see it before we left!  We will have to bring him down to report when he gets home next year! 

We purchased the old Highlander to drive home, so we had the moving of all our stuff from one to the other in preparation to give the new one to the Griffins.

We had our last FHE with the "Empty Nesters" group in our ward.  It was a pretty special night, we got to share a bit of our experience here in the best mission ever!

And I got a hug from my bestest friend that I met here on the mission!  I testify that the Lord places people in our paths that are prepared for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

And we picked up a special gift from the office/Kings of a shadowbox of all our temple memorabilia!  It sits in our family room now and is just a beautiful reminder that this is why we do all this WORK!  Everything we have worked for is pointing people to the temples...eternal joy is our goal for each individual missionary or neighbor or ward member or family member!

WE LOVE PHOENIX AND WE LOVE THIS GOSPEL WITH ALL OUR HEARTS!