"So much for being Miserly" (Rachel Bailey)

This week was good. We found 2 people who seemed really ready to be taught. One was the easiest tracting experience ever. She knew an old guy once who was a member and he use to bring her “stuff to read” like the Ensign. When we asked if it would be okay if we came back and talk to her about the restoration and the hope the gospel brings us she was like “yeah that’d be so great!” With the response we usually get in Liberty Lake at a door step we were almost taken a back. It took a couple seconds to gather our thoughts and set up an appointment. The other contact loves baseball. We met him on one of the most fantastic days Liberty Lake has ever seen! The sun was shining and we had left our coats in the car because it had gotten so warm. He’s going out of town, but we’re excited to teach him when he gets back. He’s getting back around the first week of March and has a Book of Mormon that should keep him busy until then. We’re also hoping to see one of the families we’ve been teaching again. They’re back from Seattle.
We just heard from one of a our members that one of our investigators who refuses to be baptized “yet” is also refusing to read and pray because she already knows it’s true. That was frustrating.
We fasted this past Sunday with a family we’ve been helping become active in the church again. They fasted in order to “know where they need to be”. I know that if they were truly fasting for the right reasons that they will receive an answer. They just need to be willing to act on whatever answer they receive. And be ready to face the challenges to follow. It wont be easy, but it will be worth it. Eternity is hard. It’s AFTER the hardness that we see results. It’s just like anything else in life. Running is hard when you first start, but it’s not until you get past all the hardness that you get to see all the positives that come from it. We’re all holding our breath. Mostly we’re praying.
Sister Salisbury is still great.
Eric Sande is still the best. I love Sundays because no matter how the week goes, on Sunday I get to take the sacrament and I get to see Eric and be reminded of the good this gospel brings me and all those who have the courage and strength to stand against the Hell fire that tries to keep us from it. I have been thinking a lot about that lately. Those who have courage and those who don’t.  It’s our own stubbornness or fear that damns us really. It’s made me think about the spirit world a lot. Death doesn’t change who we are and I don’t think the resurrection does either. I think people will continue to think that their way was and is the right way forever. Those who feel sorry for the latter day saints here will feel sorry for the latter days saints in the world to come. They will still feel like we re foolish and still have a very small understanding of eternal things because that is what they are comfortable with. During the apostasy it seems like Satan had people re-write the “rules” for God. Man started to re-write how things work and expect[ed] God (and everyone else for that matter) to follow those “rules” that they had laid out. There really is One God, One Faith, and One baptism. There is God’s way and all other ways. If you choose another way than you choose another way but that doesn’t make it God’s way. He will let you do it. He will love you anyway. But it is not His way.
Something that President Baker said to us at a zone conference was “We don’t get what we deserve, we get what we ask for”
I have changed it this week to “We don’t get what we deserve, we get what we want” If you want to try eternity another way, that you will, if you want eternity God’s way than that is the way you will take. How does one differentiate between God’s way, man's way and their own way? Prayer. If you want to know what God want’s you to do, then ask Him! Don’t try to figure it out on your own or by the word  of man.
The Gospel is such a simple thing. I don’t know why people try to make it so abstract.
       This Sunday was really hard for me. I hit a brick wall. In one of our wards our gospel principles teacher is absolutely crazy. I don’t feel comfortable bringing investigators to his class. He teaches false doctrine, he tries to  complicate everything, he’s offensive, and he’s sarcastic to the point that it drives the spirit away. He talks fairly openly about experiences in the temple and sometimes quotes things said in the temple. I felt sick to my stomach after this past class. I really felt like I was going to puke. I left and went into the bathroom and cried. I prayed. I prayed so hard. I needed to know that He was in charge of all of this, I needed hope and support. I needed joy, not peace, not comfort, I needed joy right in the midst of confusion and loneliness. It was raining. As we set out to tract I was still shaking off the feeling of lividity (I just made up that word I think)  from the gospel principles teacher. I mulled things over. I began to see my choice. I was in the position I was in. I could chose to be happy or I could choose to stay where I was. Either way I was tracting for the next two hours in the rain. So the question was, happily or miserly? Happily. It was hard but the Lord blessed me with a song to hum, “There is sunshine in my soul”. With every note I hummed my mood lightened and my smile widened. And I know it was a blessing from the Lord because I haven’t heard or thought of that song in ages. It reminded me of the choices before me. It reminded me of why I am a missionary. It reminded me that no matter what had happened in my day, good or bad, the people, the children of God that I was going to testify to in the next two hours deserved so much more than a miser on their doorstep. Whether they liked it or not a representative of Jesus Christ was going to knock on their door. And unbeknownst to them it would be way better than the alternative --- A hungry, cold and wet 22 year old miser.
I know this gospel is true and I know the Lord Loves his children.

Sister Bailey.

JOY to the world, The gospel is true

So lots of snow in D.C. I hear? Everyone keeps trying to strike up conversations about the snow storms back home. Member and not member alike. I still can’t find a way to bridge that to the gospel. The best I’ve come up with is “Yeah, while we serve our missions we actually don’t watch the news or listen to the radio so we can be more focused on our work, which is the most important work in the world. Would it be important for you to…know whether God had called a prophet in our day?” Or any other question that focuses on more eternal things than the weather. Lindsey must be loving it! Being a senior in high school she doesn’t make up any of her snow days!
     It happened. One of our investigators moved. She’s in the Elders area now (Elder Denson and Elder Freckleton). She had disappeared for a while and then she called us yesterday so that we could call in the troops to help her get her stuff out of her apartment. We called the elders and told them about her. They should be meeting her today actually. Elders D & F are fantastic elders. It has been so good to have them be the ones to take our investigators. We know that they will be taken care of and be able to partake in the blessings of baptism.
     We are still doing a lot of finding, tracting, contacting etc. We taught a woman we tracted into this past week. She’s neat. She’s studying with us and the Buddhists. She wants us to meet with her daughter who has no religious background at all but believes there is a God and her husband, who use to be a Catholic, but doesn’t practice it anymore because he doesn’t believe everything is in the Bible. We’re excited to meet them. The Harrisons are back in town also and we are excited to start seeing them again. We are looking forward to meeting and teaching a woman that the Elders found on our last blitz. We’re meeting her tomorrow hopefully. Her family seemed fantastic and the elders said that she seemed anxious to have us back. We’re praying for her.
Liberty Lake is still truckin’ along.
     There were also women who are not members in relief society this Sunday. One is a long time attender whose husband is a member and one is Sister Lothian (our former investigator who is now being taught by the elders and can’t wait to be baptized). The other three can’t be counted as people we’re teaching yet, but they are fantastic and have been coming for the past two Sundays. Hopefully they will become investigators shortly. We need to get a hold of their friends who are members and find out what’s going on.
     Eric Sande is still the best. The thing about him is that he’s a strength to everyone! He’s the best and people notice it. People in the ward look up to him, the youth, the adults, myself. He is a beacon for all of us. You can see his testimony shine through his eyes.
     We are keeping our hopes high for February.
     The men in Liberty Lake are hard hearted and stiff-necked. They get mad at their wives for meeting with us and it’s been kind of frustrating. One of our investigators has basically stalled out because her husband wont let her come to church. A former investigator is planning on one day showing up to church whenever her husband decides to come with her. He refuses. It’s hard to watch both someone’s agency and, in a sense their eternity, be thwarted by someone they love.
     I know this gospel is true. I know that there is a plan for us put together by a loving Father in heaven and that that plan is centered on Jesus Christ and our agency. Following the commandments puts us in a position to use   that agency to obtain a fullness of joy. That fullness of joy cannot be had by any other means.
     We went to the temple today. It was awesome. I love the temple. I had this epiphany too! But as I tried to explain it to Sister Salisbury when I got the chance. I couldn’t really put it into words. It was a little disappointing. I am looking forward to going back and learning more. I love the temple. There is no place like it on earth. It should be and can be everyone’s goal.

Sister Bailey.

D&C130:18-19

p.s. I just got a call from Our investigator who moved into the elders area. I cannot even begin to describe the joy that was pouring out of the phone. The move went SO WELL. She was so impressed with the men that showed up to help her (our Elders quorum). She said, "Sister Bailey, I have never seen so many people work so hard and be so happy doing it!!  Are all those guys with you?" I got so tell her that yes, all those guys are "with us". They are each members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and they are happy serving because they are blessed by the gospel. The gospel makes you happy.

I know that some of you may not fully understand, but that phone call was the sugar on top of missionary work. The gospel makes us happy. It gives us eternity. I love it! I love this work! Her joy is mine.

Thank you Mica Peak's Elders Quorum.

The Least

Sister Salisbury is still great. She is still such a light! The wards are still loving her. We have high hopes for February. We are really excited about one of the new investigators that we found last week. She loves the gospel. She’s said yes to baptism twice already (we just have to get her a date to work towards), she’s praying everyday both morning and night, reading all her assignments, and she loves the Book o f Mormon and the gospel. She says it all makes so much sense. She has felt the spirit very strongly in her life and now that she knows how to identify what it is, she is very excited. She has a 5 year old boy. She is facing really hard things right now. It has become necessary for her to move and very quickly. She’s frantically searching for a new place. Her son is a cancer survivor and has his last check up to make sure he is still in remission. She has been so prepared to receive the gospel. We are hoping that she will move somewhere in the area but are ready to give her to what ever missionaries who will be teaching her if that is the case. We will miss her though! She has been so great.
We are still doing a lot of finding, tracting, contacting etc. I was actually just talking to my mission president’s wife about tracting. There is a little positive response, but I don’t think that we get a lot of baptisms from tracting, we get baptisms because of tracting. Meaning that when the Lord sees that we are really willing to work in order to find work, he will bless us and those we serve with. And besides, you meet some of the most interesting people! While tracting this week we ran into a woman who had no desire to listen to us at all. All I could think about as she turned us down was to offer service. Suddenly the words were spilling out of my mouth. She thought it was so sweet. We helped her daughter clean her room and then went back the next day to help her organize her pantry. She was so happy to see us. For now, she is a wonderful service opportunity and maybe in a year or so she will be a wonderful investigator. She’s the missionary’s new best friend.
I watched Eric Sande turn pink all through church on Sunday as he received compliment after compliment on his talk he gave. I loved it. I love missionary work. Sometimes it fills me up so much with joy I nearly have to nail my feet to the ground just to keep from hugging everyone in my reach; male, female, young, old; and telling them how wonderful the gospel is.
This past Sunday in church was fantastic! The spirit was so strong. It was on compassionate service. Brother Adkins’ (a member in the ward) talk really stuck with me. He centered his talk around the verse from the new testament where Christ talks about doing things “unto the least of these” and how when we serve “the least of these” we serve Him. He posed the question of, “Who is 'the least of these' ". He went on to talk about how each of us in this life take a turn being one of the least and shared a specific experience of his when he was “one of the least”. He bore his testimony of those who reached out to pull him up again and served with all their might and love in order to help him. He expressed the gratitude he has felt years later as he looks back for all those efforts that, at the time, may not have been appreciated. He taught that as we listen to the spirit and don’t suppress any generous thought, acting on all those things that “inviteth and inticeth to do good” that we can truly serve those who need us most, even when they may not think, or even we may not think they need it most. It made me reflect back on moments in my life when I have been the least, when I have taken my turn. It brought a smile to my face and a peace in my heart to remember all who labored on my behalf and all who ministered unto me in His place. I love you all. May God be with you.
Sister Bailey.

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.

Wake up tired, go to bed exhausted

     We’re expecting to see a lot of miracles in Liberty Lake. (Because a lot of miracles are needed)
We’re teaching a family now. I’ve never taught a family. They’re fantastic. The daughter is 12 and is a real strength to the lessons.  We’re teaching 6 people and each one has incredibly unique needs and concerns.

      It really is only through the Lord that we are able to do this work.  We wake up tired and go to bed exhausted. There is plenty of work to be done.  It’s been a little hard but it will be okay. The work is going forward and we’re going to do our best to help it. We’re doing a lot of finding activities, a lot of contacting.
     That less active woman we tracted into that came to church, came to church again this past Sunday and will be at our dinner tonight. She is wonderful. She attentively listened and took notes on the talks that were given and when I asked her to stay longer her response was “I’m not quite ready for that yet”  YET. She is working very hard to come back. She’s is so ready it is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people for this work. At the last dinner we shared with her she was telling us of how she had re-connected with a high school friend who was a member of the church over the Christmas break. They had talked a lot about the church and their testimonies and a couple days after her friend left the sisters knocked on her door. It was then she decided to come back to church.
Sister Salisbury is so fun and we get along great.. She loves her family. She loves the gospel and I love teaching with her. We talk about the gospel most the day. I am excited to see what I can learn from her over the next 6 weeks.
     We taught Eric his last missionary lesson on Sunday. It was bitter sweet. He’s speaking in Stake conference next Sunday on personal revelation. He is going to do great. I am so excited.
I love the gospel. I love to share it. Things get hard sometimes. Sometimes it feels like everything is falling through our fingers, but that is when miracles happen. I am praying for eyes to see the wisdom in the Lord and if not to see it, then to feel it.
(Mosiah 2:20-21)

Sister Bailey

God Bless

Transfers

Transfers.
I’m pleasantly surprised to say that I am staying in Liberty Lake. I really felt like I was going to get the boot. It really did a number on me this week too. I spent a lot of time trying to come to terms with it. Sister Bruner and I are parting ways. She is headed to Hayden Lake to be with Sister Adams who is heading to Mongolia in about three weeks, so that will kind of be a weird set up. She’ll get a new companion mid-transfer and at this point the source of that new companion is not really clear because we have an even number of sisters in the mission now. She’s very excited to move on from Liberty Lake. She spent 7 ½ months in her first area and, ever since, doesn’t like being in one place for too long. She will be missed by the members as well as myself. I’m excited to fall in love with Sister Salisbury. Sister Bruner was companions with her once and loves her. I’ve met her twice. She seems really sweet.
We’ve been “on the edge” of stellar investigators for a while now. It’s a little disheartening actually. But we have some appointments with some of them this week so hopefully things will begin to look up.
The investigator that we gave to the elders is still really progressing in the gospel. Her daughter Brittany is also. It’s so good to hear that she’s been able to make it to the lessons. Her (Brittany’s) schedule never let her make it when we were teaching.
Good things are happening in Liberty Lake.
Eric is still the best. Whenever he interacts with us I really feel the joy of missionary work. I’m never very prepared for it and it’s overwhelming every time.
       We had a little miracle this past week. A couple showed up to church that we had met in the parking lot of an apartment complex just as they were moving in. They were exhausted and we offered to call in the troops for them. As we made calls to the Bishop, the Elder’s quorum president, and some other strong members we found out that the woman is a member of the church! She’s not been very active for about three years and is ready to come back. Her fiance is not a member. It was SO good to see them in church! They are some of the best people I’ve met! They are so welcoming and so open. We’re hoping to tech them so that they can be sealed in the temple for eternity! Another small miracle was that she was very nervous about seeing a family in our ward who use to be her in-laws. She saw them at church and it was absolutely wonderful. It was such a good reunion and there was so much love. We’re going to see them later this week and are looking forward to the visit.
       The Fentons were also in church this Sunday. Brother Fenton has been opening up to us and they’ve been talking about wanting to be sealed in the temple!!!
I love missionary work. I love to see the light. I love to see the joy shine through people's faces amidst adversity. I love everything about this work. I love it.  My testimony is strengthened everyday. We’ve hit some hard spots and had some struggles here in Liberty Lake, but I feel like it’s because we’re on the verge of something good. The really good things in life generally come after we can’t stand the heat or pressure any longer. As much as the adversary pokes and prods I know that this work is completely in the Lord’s hands and, after all, He knows exactly how much we can take. As we turn to him all the trials, all the heat, and all the pressure will make us better. It’s when we try to take things into our own hands that we then get burned.
God be with you.

Sister Bailey

Moroni 7

"Have miracles ceased? I say unto you nay! Niether have angels ceased to administer among men."

Joy to the World

We taught Eric about family history and he was like, “Yeah, I’m already talking to my Dad about doing the work for my grandpa”. Sometimes I don’t even know why we’re teaching that kid. He’s so amazing. He has such a strong testimony of the gospel. He has been so ready from the very start. This Sunday he passed the sacrament for the first time. He also got up and bore his testimony of the gospel with out being called up. HE loved it. He said it was the best part of his Sunday.
Sam is gone.
The investigator that we gave to the elders still comes to our ward. The elders just told us this morning that she and her daughter are now on date for the 30th (to be baptized)!!! We’re so excited.
One miracle that happened this past week was that we tracted into a member who has lived here for about a year. She was baptized a number of years ago and graduated from BYU-I. We talked with her about church and how much we’d love to see her there. We closed our visit with a very powerful prayer that Sister Bruner offered and then walked away not thinking anything more about it. On Sunday I got tapped on the shoulder and I turned around to see Bethany (the member) standing there!!! She smiled and said “I made it!” I gave her a huge hug and told her how happy I was to see her! She sat with me in sacrament and then stayed to meet with the bishop. During sacrament she was reading her scriptures and really pondering. The meeting was amazing. It felt so catered to her. I hope to see her again.
This past Sunday I had so many moments where I could really feel the joy of missionary work. Really feel it. When Eric bore his testimony. When he smiled at me as he sat back down. When Bethany was sitting next to me. As I listened to all the testimonies born. As Scott, our other investigator, who insists on sitting up front turned in his seat before the meeting and gave me a huge smile followed by a thumbs up. As we walked through the halls and greeted the members we passed. Yesterday was filled with so much joy. D&C 18:15-16

We love it here.

Sister Bailey

Miracles happen Everyday. I wish I could write it all down. There’s not enough time.