The Gospel is true

 We found two new investigators! They were both really good lessons too. Other than that, our week has been kind of empty. A lot of finding, tracting, contacting etc. It would be easy to get discouraged here in Liberty Lake because of the people’s general reaction of missionaries on their doorstep, but that’s ok, the gospel is still true.
We have some investigators who keep telling us that they don’t want to be baptized. Which is fine.  We aren’t here to force people to do anything, but then as we leave they ask us when we’re going to see them again. We’ve explained what we do over and over again. We teach and invite people to receive a confirmation for themselves. If they don’t want to know, that’s as far as we go. And they STILL want to meet with us. They don’t want to change, but they don’t want us to stop coming over. They love how they feel when they are with the missionaries. They love it. And they don’t want it to go way. Which makes it hard, because we love them, but we have got to move on. We have got to go talk to people who really want to know.
Sister Salisbury is SO fun! She is such a light! The Wards miss Sister Bruner but are loving Sister Salisbury. She is ready to work. She is a little shy and very quiet but it’s so good! She’s not that quiet with me. She talks A LOT to me, which is so fun. It’s been awesome to get to know her. Again, because of our differences, it doubles the amount of people we can teach.
We had zone conference this week and it was awesome. As we went over the verse in D&C 18 that says, “And if it so be that you should labor all thy days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save one soul unto me, how great will be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father!” My mind was drawn to a line that has never stuck out to me before. I have always been fixated on the promise, “How great will be your joy” and never really the predication of that promise, “in the kingdom of my Father”. “In the kingdom of my Father” implies obedience, hard work and faithfulness. For any of this to matter (on our mission and in our lives) we have GOT to live up to those covenants.. It made me think about a family in the Liberty Lake ward that was just sealed in the temple. They stand as a testimony that just because missionaries are completely disobedient doesn’t mean they won't see baptisms. A testimony that the equation of  F+HW+O equals success, not baptisms. They were converted by the truth and baptized by missionaries that had broken their covenants. The Smith family, with their recent sealing, are able to partake in that joy that that verse in D&C is referring too. And as they live faithfully, they will continue to feel that joy in the “Kingdom of [His} Father”. As for the missionaries though, unless there is repentance, unless they use the atonement in their lives, and fix the things they’ve broken, that blessing is not theirs. In order to share in the Smith’s joy they must be in “the Kingdom of [His] Father”,  and in order to be there, they must be obedient and faithful to the Lord’s will here on earth.
I know this gospel is true and it fills me with so much joy and hope to see Eric excel so much. He is filled with so much light. He spoke in stake conference on Sunday. It was awesome. He did so well. He shared his experience in gaining a testimony of the gospel. Who he is now compared to who he was before he had a testimony. I couldn’t find a specific thing to write down from his talk but I compiled it all into one main point that I feel like I have really grown on and continue to grow on. I AM WHO I WANTED TO BE, NOT WHO I EXPECTED TO BE. THAT IS THE RESULT OF PERSONAL REVELATION. As we grow closer to God and seek the revelation He has for us, we get to be the person we want to be, not the person we ever expected to be.
The other experience I had was late at night as Sister Salisbury and I were biking. My bike has a flat tire so I am using a bike that doesn’t have a light on it right now. I ride in front and Sister Salisbury rides behind. Her light is very dim, but it is there. It’s the only thing that lets me know she’s right behind me, the only thing that helps me regulate my speed. It reminded me of the gospel. It is it’s light that helps us regulate our lives, that helps us stay close to God and helps us progress and grow. When that light is gone it is dark and cold and we are alone.
I am so grateful to have the guiding light of the gospel in my life. I am thankful to have the priesthood in my life and to have the knowledge that there is a living Prophet on the earth today.

Sister Bailey.