Wow. No WAY!

It doesn't feel that near enough time has passed between now and the last time I was sitting in front of the computer screen. Time is passing so fast. This letter could prove to a be short one. Short and dry.

I am still giving tours. I am still loving it. I am, in the most secret corners of my heart, hoping to stay in Carthage for another transfer, but goodness knows that, because I just outed myself, I will probably be leaving. The transfer is almost done! Can it be? Only one more week in Carthage?!?! NO!

The thing about missionary work is that, for a very short period of my life, I get to be sent exactly where the Lord wants and needs me. So if He bids me go to Nauvoo I 1) will fall in Love with Nauvoo, and 2) will learn and grow and be where I need to be in order to best serve Him.

This week! What's new? The rain has left us, much to my dismay, and taken with it the earth worms I found so interesting. SO, my new favorite thing to do for our thirty-minute workouts is play around with the track equipment at the high school we go to to work out. It's track-and-field season so the hurtles are always up. I love them! We did them first as a joke and now I love to see how many I can do in a row.

Oh yeah! So for anyone to whom I promised pictures, I must retract that promise for the time being. ALL my pictures got deleted from my camera. Needless to say I was crushed. When we went to Wal-Mart today to do our grocery shopping I talked with a guy who told me to go to "Camera Land." They have the software it takes to pull up all the ghosts on my SD card and recover the pictures that were lost. I plan to get a disc of all of them, so until then, put your picture wishes on hold and know that I am just as sad, if not more than you are.

Some Canadians came through the jail this week. They were so great! it was an awesome tour! They had questions, and the spirit that was there was great! Which was saying something because it was on a day that we couldn't visit all the rooms in that jail. It was kind of frustrating. Mostly because we had some very disappointed people on our hands. People travel so far to get here. Anyway, I know this sounds weird, but I loved listening to them talk! :) It made me miss my district.

On Thursday of last week (the 30th) we worked in the yard. We weeded the brick and stones so that the jail could look its best for the visitors that came. I had A LOT of time to myself, which rarely happens on a mission and spent A LOT of time in my head. I thought about so many things. This was what I came up with:

Not all the weeds I was pulling looked like weeds. Some were actually kind of pretty, but they were growing in the wrong place. And that made them weeds. It looked so much nicer once they were gone. And when they were pulled up (all the weeds, not just the pretty ones) they needed to be pulled up by the root or else they would more easily return. And who, for one thing, wants to weed the same weed twice? Not to mention that, once weeded, a weed is thought to be taken care of. It may be overlooked for quite some time before being weeded again, growing bigger and deepening its roots the longer it is ignored. It is much easier to weed those parts of brick that have never been weeded before, because they are more obvious. It is also an ongoing process, one weed at a time, until you have a beautiful, clean layout of bricks.

Weeds are very much like sin are they not? And weeding very much like repentance.

Not all the sins we have need of repenting for look like sins. Some are actually kind of appealing, but the Lord has commanded otherwise and that makes them sins. Once they are gone not only do our lives look but feel so much better for it. And when we repent of them (all our sins, not just the appealing ones) we need to pull them out by their roots. Fully repent of them, or else they will more easily return. And, for one thing, who wants to repent of the same sin twice? Not to mention once repented of a sin is thought to be taken care of. It may be overlooked for quite sometime before being repented of again, growing bigger and deepening its roots the longer it is ignored. It is much easier to repent of sins in those areas of our lives that we have never repented for before, because they are more obvious. But sometimes, we must go back and repent again. It is also an ongoing process, one vice at a time.

Come to think of it, weeding that brick was a daunting task. I never could have done it by myself. I am so glad I had the other sister to help me. Repentance can also seem daunting. We could never do it by ourselves. Thank God, quite literally, For that Savior and His atonement. He makes the purposes of this life attainable.
Alma 7:11-13 (Book of Mormon)

I Love this work. I love you all. God be with you.

Sister Bailey