The work in Liberty Lake is picking up and we have been able to meet and contact people that we've been trying to get a hold of for a long time. Miracles are all over. The Lord blesses us everyday. I love it. I am so grateful for this gospel and so grateful for this work. I love it.
We have been teaching two of our investigators together, Sam and Nathan. It has been interesting because they both have different needs and are both progressing differently. They are meeting with us and their friend Brandon who will be leaving for the MTC ( Missionary Training Center) in December. He helped us plan and teach the lesson. It was so cool. The spirit was so strong. He’s going to be an amazing missionary. We asked Sam to read Moroni Chapter 10. In order to gain a better understanding of it he decided to read the whole book of Moroni! Nathan and Sam are both really sharp young men. It has been so good to talk with them and to teach them and to learn from them.
I feel incredibly blessed to be able to associate with and meet all the people that I do. Here in Spokane and back in Nauvoo. (no Dr. Seuss rhymes intended) I have learned so much. Grown so much. And (hopefully) changed a lot too. For the better.
Eric prayed about the date he wanted to be baptized and has rescheduled for December 11th! He has chosen his friend Makade to baptize him. Makade is 16. What an experience! What a building block for his testimony! We are so excited for him(Eric)! He is wonderful! He, without us even asking, asked for his parents’ permission. They said yes. And when his mother started asking questions he pulled out the book of Mormon and started to read to her. And she listened. Not that it matters, but he will be getting baptized that day after my birthday! That is going to be the best birthday ever! I am going to be so excited and so anxious.
We had interviews this past Wednesday and I can hardly believe that at the end of this week I will have been here for a transfer and a half already. I’m hoping to stay here in Liberty Lake. Sister Bruner and I are planning on it. We love it here.
People love missionaries. They also like to buy missionaries stuff. Last preparation day we saw a member in the store who refused to let us pay for our own groceries. Another member took us out and paid for us to get our hair done. They all give us food. Fruits, veggies, and pasta. Most of it is all homemade. Even people who don’t want to listen to anything we say love us. They consent to listen to us if we will at least come out of the cold and have some of their hot chocolate. Not everyone is so kind, but more often than not we get a smile and some fresh pears, a cup of hot chocolate and anything else that think we can carry home. I don’t want to sound pompous or blow my own smoke, but sometimes I wonder if it is because, even though they do not want to here what we have to say, they like the feeling they get. As missionaries we are set apart as representatives of Jesus Christ. I think people can feel that. And even if they don’t want to listen, they love that Lord and when they feel that love as they open their door, they want to serve, they want to give, and they end up doing things they would not normally go about doing... like giving things away to complete strangers. It usually happens right as we’re deciding it’s too cold to stay out, or the afternoon when we run out of fresh fruit. Miracles are all over. The Lord blesses us everyday. I love it. I am so grateful for this gospel and so grateful for this work. I love it.
Sister Bailey READ: Moroni 7
Monday, November 23, 2009
Hailing from Liberty Lake.
***Oops. This is last week's email. I'm a little behind. Signed Anne's mom***
Hellllllooooooo.
This week was so good. The Lord has blessed Sister Bruner and I so much! We’re teaching three new investigators! All of them are in the Mica Peak Ward. It's been really cool. One wants to be baptized and we've only taught him twice! The spirit is so strong. He loves church! He is 17. He's a friend of one of the families in the ward. He is such a spectacular kid. I am so grateful that the Lord would trust me to teach him. He definitely recognizes the peace that comes from reading the Book of Mormon and praying for answers. The other two investigators are friends with a boy in the Ward who is going to the MTC (missionary training center) come December. We went to his house last night to sit down and make a lesson plan with him. He is going to help us teach the lesson!!! It's going to be AMAZING! He's going to do a fantastic job.
We are teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are, first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third baptism by immersion and fourth the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” ---- and endure to the end. The gospel is progressive. Through Christ we can be cleansed from sin and we need to have faith in Him in order to repent, in order to even want to repent, and we need to repent in order to be baptized and make those promises with God that will allow us to be with Him again. But! None of us are perfect and we will all make mistakes. Even after baptism, and that’s why it is so important to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost so that we can more easily live up to those promises we make at baptism so that we may endure to the end. The Holy Ghost is that third member of the godhead. He is a personage of spirit so that he may speak directly to our spirits. He is sent to us to lead and guide us, to be a teacher, a helper, and a comforter. He provides so much strength in our lives. I am grateful for his company while I walk this mortal sphere and SO grateful for his company while doing this work. I know that each of us, not only should, but can have this great gift in our lives, but first we must exercise our faith, to experiment on God’s words and find answers for ourselves through study and prayer. God will assist, of this I can testify and promise! (Isaiah 41:13)
I still love this Gospel and I still Love this work! Sister Bruner and I were looking through the clothes at Wal-mart as we walked by and talking about how weird everything was. I started thinking about what I would buy if I weren’t a missionary at the moment. I didn't get very far. It made me so grateful for my tag and a little terrified of going home. I want to be a missionary forever.
Sister Bailey<3
It snowed this week.
Hellllllooooooo.
This week was so good. The Lord has blessed Sister Bruner and I so much! We’re teaching three new investigators! All of them are in the Mica Peak Ward. It's been really cool. One wants to be baptized and we've only taught him twice! The spirit is so strong. He loves church! He is 17. He's a friend of one of the families in the ward. He is such a spectacular kid. I am so grateful that the Lord would trust me to teach him. He definitely recognizes the peace that comes from reading the Book of Mormon and praying for answers. The other two investigators are friends with a boy in the Ward who is going to the MTC (missionary training center) come December. We went to his house last night to sit down and make a lesson plan with him. He is going to help us teach the lesson!!! It's going to be AMAZING! He's going to do a fantastic job.
We are teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are, first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, second, repentance, third baptism by immersion and fourth the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” ---- and endure to the end. The gospel is progressive. Through Christ we can be cleansed from sin and we need to have faith in Him in order to repent, in order to even want to repent, and we need to repent in order to be baptized and make those promises with God that will allow us to be with Him again. But! None of us are perfect and we will all make mistakes. Even after baptism, and that’s why it is so important to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost so that we can more easily live up to those promises we make at baptism so that we may endure to the end. The Holy Ghost is that third member of the godhead. He is a personage of spirit so that he may speak directly to our spirits. He is sent to us to lead and guide us, to be a teacher, a helper, and a comforter. He provides so much strength in our lives. I am grateful for his company while I walk this mortal sphere and SO grateful for his company while doing this work. I know that each of us, not only should, but can have this great gift in our lives, but first we must exercise our faith, to experiment on God’s words and find answers for ourselves through study and prayer. God will assist, of this I can testify and promise! (Isaiah 41:13)
I still love this Gospel and I still Love this work! Sister Bruner and I were looking through the clothes at Wal-mart as we walked by and talking about how weird everything was. I started thinking about what I would buy if I weren’t a missionary at the moment. I didn't get very far. It made me so grateful for my tag and a little terrified of going home. I want to be a missionary forever.
Sister Bailey<3
It snowed this week.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Roughly a month in Washington, Spokane
I can't decide if the time is moving quicker or slower here in Washington. I could go both ways. And really I don't know which I would prefer. It could go both ways.
The work in Liberty Lake reminds me very much of a boat ride on a windy day. There are ups and there are downs and it has a tendency to make you sea sick.
Here in Liberty Lake there is not much gray to speak of, only blacks and whites. People either love the missionaries, or wish it were legal to run them off the road. The missionaries love both. :)
We have been teaching a lot of first lessons, some seconds, and no thirds. We have started teaching two people and then they both asked us not to come back and now we are teaching two NEW people. :)..... and then there is Sister Fenton. She is wonderful. We've met with her twice now and she is a remarkable person. Then Fentons are one of the cutest families you will ever meet. She and her husband haven't gone to church in quite a while and she has wondered now, as her family grows and matures, if the Gospel is something she wants for them. And that has been the nature of our visits. She balances mom/wife role plus being a student and then squeezes us in at least once a week. She has even fed us! I love that family.
Most recently in my studies I read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. I love that document. I memorized my favorite part. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, To ponder in their hearts the message it contains and then to ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of it's truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost."
That is a promise. I know it to be true. And as I read it today I realized that the Book of Mormon not only ends with a promise, but begins with one also. The Lord wants us to have the strength that the Book of Mormon provides in our lives. The only way to have it is to ask. I would like to add my testimony to the many, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it is true. I invite all men (and women) everywhere to read it, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and to ask God the eternal Father in the name of Christ if the book is true.
You will receive an answer.
Sister Bailey
suggested reading: The Book of Mormon.
The work in Liberty Lake reminds me very much of a boat ride on a windy day. There are ups and there are downs and it has a tendency to make you sea sick.
Here in Liberty Lake there is not much gray to speak of, only blacks and whites. People either love the missionaries, or wish it were legal to run them off the road. The missionaries love both. :)
We have been teaching a lot of first lessons, some seconds, and no thirds. We have started teaching two people and then they both asked us not to come back and now we are teaching two NEW people. :)..... and then there is Sister Fenton. She is wonderful. We've met with her twice now and she is a remarkable person. Then Fentons are one of the cutest families you will ever meet. She and her husband haven't gone to church in quite a while and she has wondered now, as her family grows and matures, if the Gospel is something she wants for them. And that has been the nature of our visits. She balances mom/wife role plus being a student and then squeezes us in at least once a week. She has even fed us! I love that family.
Most recently in my studies I read the introduction to the Book of Mormon. I love that document. I memorized my favorite part. "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, To ponder in their hearts the message it contains and then to ask God the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of it's truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost."
That is a promise. I know it to be true. And as I read it today I realized that the Book of Mormon not only ends with a promise, but begins with one also. The Lord wants us to have the strength that the Book of Mormon provides in our lives. The only way to have it is to ask. I would like to add my testimony to the many, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it is true. I invite all men (and women) everywhere to read it, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and to ask God the eternal Father in the name of Christ if the book is true.
You will receive an answer.
Sister Bailey
suggested reading: The Book of Mormon.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Missionaries Live to teach. If we do not teach --- We die.
We are teaching! It's been so good! The members are stellar. We've had to do all the paper work the Elders didn't, but it's been so good to get on track with our area books. Most of the paperwork is done. We've zoned both our Wards and color coded our directory and potentials accordingly. We're trying to get a "splits" calendar together because all of the Sisters in both Wards have expressed a strong desire to come out and work with us.
I love Sister Bruner. It has been so good to get to know her and the learn from her and I don't think any one could be better to "re-vamp" an area. She has been such a help. After talking with one another we figured out that we took a class together at BYU-I (Brother Allred's Book of Mormon Class) and realized that she is very close friends with all the Chinese girls I lived with!!!!! I love them! Macy and Queena and Cannon and Tami!!! She doesn't know Margaret, but that's only because she moved to BYU Provo.She knows Chance and Ray too! Chance made me pig feet that semester and Ray talked to me while I did my Book of Mormon class final project. It was neat.
I love this Gospel and I love this work. I have a strong testimony of this Gospel, but have a hard time articulating it sometimes. I am so grateful for the spirit and how it can translate all those things in my heart that my mouth just can't figure out how to say. I love all of you. I want you to know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that through Joseph Smith His church and His Gospel are on the earth again. God still speaks to His children through Prophets. Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. The Book of Mormon is true. There is nothing that can convince me otherwise. My conviction comes from God.
Sister Bailey
Amos 3:7
Enos1:8; then go to 2Nephi33:10-12
I love Sister Bruner. It has been so good to get to know her and the learn from her and I don't think any one could be better to "re-vamp" an area. She has been such a help. After talking with one another we figured out that we took a class together at BYU-I (Brother Allred's Book of Mormon Class) and realized that she is very close friends with all the Chinese girls I lived with!!!!! I love them! Macy and Queena and Cannon and Tami!!! She doesn't know Margaret, but that's only because she moved to BYU Provo.She knows Chance and Ray too! Chance made me pig feet that semester and Ray talked to me while I did my Book of Mormon class final project. It was neat.
I love this Gospel and I love this work. I have a strong testimony of this Gospel, but have a hard time articulating it sometimes. I am so grateful for the spirit and how it can translate all those things in my heart that my mouth just can't figure out how to say. I love all of you. I want you to know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that through Joseph Smith His church and His Gospel are on the earth again. God still speaks to His children through Prophets. Thomas S. Monson is His prophet today. The Book of Mormon is true. There is nothing that can convince me otherwise. My conviction comes from God.
Sister Bailey
Amos 3:7
Enos1:8; then go to 2Nephi33:10-12
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