And So Nauvoo

****This is an email sent on April 20th.  It got "lost in the mail" (i.e. sent to Anne's mission president instead of to us...oops!)

 

 

 

I am in Nauvoo. The mission anyway. I have actually been assigned to Carthage. I am companions with Sister Westwood again. I have been assigned to serve as "Carathage group leader". I'm still figuring out what that all means. So far I know that I have a lot to do and figure out. We arrived on April 14th in the evening. We did not receive our assignments (to companions and otherwise) until the second day. We've spent the past couple of days training and getting re-acquainted with the scripts and each other. Yesterday was our first day of service in the sites.

When Sister Palmer ( Spokane Washington Mission President's wife) picked me up from Zelma's house (Zelma was the sister we lived with) I said goodbye to Sister Salisbury and Sister Jeppson, climbed in the car, glanced at Sister Palmer and burst into tears. We drove in relative silence for a short ways and then I decided that talking would be better than crying. So I talked with Sister Palmer. I cried though my exit interview and went to bed. For those last three days I felt like what I would imagine the guy on Indiana Jones, Temple of Doom, would have felt like. The one who gets his heart ripped out while he's still alive. I thankfully had the knowledge and assurance that it was not all for naught. I had God to support me and push me forward, to tuck me in, to get me up, and to carry me to the terminal. If He hadn't, I may have gone A-WOL.  I'm sure that the man from Indiana Jones, who was actually getting sacrificed to a FALSE god, did not have that same assurance and strength. Again, I am thankful that I did.

It is weird to be back in Nauvoo. Really weird. I am happy to be back, but it feels as though I've only gotten a restless sleep and that I never left. Washington Spokane seems and sounds like a dream I had last night. It is as if I had never left Nauvoo. It has been good to see all the sisters, to get to know the new ones, and to be in Carthage. I am looking forward to the transfer and I am looking forward to the summer. All of the training has been fantastic and I think I have a handle on what I am supposed to do out in Carthage as the group leader. Things are good. The sisters are great! One thing that has struck me about the new group of sisters is that, as I have talked to them, the general consensus seems to be that all of them have "always wanted to serve a mission".  Most of those were stoked about Nauvoo. As I recall most of the sisters coming in last year and most of them returning were taken aback by their calls, struck dumb almost. They didn't know what to think of it! I know I was. I stand in awe of the new sisters examples of faith and hope. I cannot wait to spend the entire summer learning from them. They have already bypassed a hurtle that stood in the way of most of us last summer and it will serve them well.

My studies this week and the first day of serving in Carthage again were both amazing. I'd like to share some of it with you:

I have picked up Jesus the Christ (a book by James Talmage for those who may be unfamiliar with it) again. I just finished the footnotes of the chapter on the sermon on the mount. Yesterday I read #s 3-5  about the "Salt of the earth". I've never really understood that term in the scriptures. I've always taken it with "a grain of salt" (ha ha). I had an epiphany while reading this footnote. People have always explained the Savior's description of his people being "the salt of the earth". To me by referring to the extra taste that salt gives food; that we, being righteous make the world better very much like salt makes everything taste better. The footnote speaks of this analogy in such a different way! It brought me back to the previous realization as well. Salt not only "tastes good" (which is a matter of opinion), but it more importantly is a preservative!!! It preserves things. If the righteous are the salt of the earth then they are preserving it!!! It goes back to the promise God made to Lot about Sodom and Gomorrah, something to the effect of, as long as there are X amount of righteous people in a place it will not be destroyed, or in other words, it will be preserved. The righteous preserve the earth!!!! and if "Salt shall loose it's savor than wherewith the earth be salted"? It the righteous are no longer righteous what will preserve the earth?

The other two footnotes that I read were from "references to the publicans" and "relative perfection". I learn about charity and humility from the "references to the publicans".  Matthew was a publican. He refers to the publicans all the time. To himself, as a former publican in his description of the Apostles, and to others that he teaches as "publicans". To me this showed both humility and change of heart.  I believe that he provides us with a description of his former occupation as a contrast to his new one as an apostle of the Lord. He was showing a complete change of heart. On the other hand the other Apostles omit any references to the "publicans" choosing to instead call them "sinners". In their descriptions of the Apostles they also choose to omit any reference to Matthew's former occupation. This taught me a great deal about Charity and Love. The apostles had a great deal of charity and love toward one another. They do not acknowledge or mention Matthew's past because they love him. When we have true charity for one another we love people for what they are because that is what they are. It does not matter what has happened in the past, Nor is it our place to acknowledge, bring up or mention past transgressions of others. Including offenses toward us.

"Relative perfection". This one was about being perfect, and the Lords command to "be thou perfect" and how that is a real commandment even though it is impossible to be perfect and perfectly glorified as the Father is perfect. As the Son is perfected,  we may be perfect in our sphere of knowledge and opportunity. The analogy given is that of a freshman or Sophomore who is a "perfect" freshman or sophomore. 100% on everything is perfect grade point average. Although they may be a perfect freshman or sophomore, graduation is still impossible for them in the state they are in. They don't have the credentials to graduate no matter how perfect they are in their studies. They need more credentials and more time. They must endure to the end of their schooling in order to make it that far. Thank goodness no one is expected to graduate after only a freshman's year worth of school. It is the same in this life. We need the credentials it takes to reach the Celestial kingdom, but we are not expected to have them all at once; just to be perfect in our sphere of perfection. We need credentials and time to gain all the knowledge we will ultimately need. I thought about this on a much smaller scale also. It made me wonder how many times I've heard people say, about missions and otherwise, "As soon as I felt as though I knew what I was doing, they released me". The Lord allows us to try and perfect ourselves within a certain field and then lets us move on. Just as in school, you must remember what you have learned to do well. In life we will excel if we keep the lessons we have learned. Take a relief society president. It is a calling many people struggle with because of the responsibility involved. However, when released, most say something to the effect of  "As soon as I felt I knew what I was doing they released me". But! can you imagine a relief society president who only had to care for one sister?!?!  That is what a released Relief society president should become when she is assigned as a visiting teacher! A relief society president who only "has" to look out for one Sister. All of the opportunities the Lord gives us should increase our ability to succeed in future opportunities He gives us. Awesome.

The point of all this is, I guess, I love to study. I love companionship study!  It's like getting three hours of study in one because you get personal study, then you get companionship study, and you get to learn about what your companion learned!! So it's like you studied with them for that hour also!

Service yesterday was amazing. I have such a better handle on things as far as my assignment.  Sister Quick and I got to take BYU-I Sound Alliance (a singing group) through the Jail with a non-member named Dan. It was so cool. The spirit was so strong through the whole thing and then at the end! Oh my goodness. By the end everyone knew Dan was a non-member. They had been talking to him about himself and about the church, making him feel completely part of the group. He was just passing through. He had never heard of this place. He saw the "Historic" sign and decided it would be nice to swing by. Who does that? He loved the tour! Loved it. We closed the tour with our testimonies and invited them to sing "We thank thee oh God for a prophet" and let Dan know that he could just sit and listen. The spirit filled the room so intensely I thought it might burst. Dan was beaming. He loved it. He came up and asked for our names.  When we asked him how he enjoyed the tour he said it was wonderful. We asked if he had any questions, and he said no. We told him that we would love for him to leave a comment and everyone (BYU-I included) kept telling him how much they enjoyed having him there. He left beaming with a light around his face that wasn't there when he walked in. He took a card, but I haven't seen it. I was left feeling more peaceful than I had in a long time. I had forgotten how strong the spirit is here. It was such an assurance of the good times ahead. It lightened the heaviness of my heart and reminded me of how much I love this place and how important it is for all of us to be here. This ground it sacred. All of it! The spirit will always be here. We can just pull it out of the air. As much as I loved my winter assignment, it's not always that easy in Spokane. Things are not as peaceful as often as they are here. This place is sacred. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around me being here, but in a completely different light than I did last year. How privileged we are to be called to labor in this part of the Lord's vineyard. How I love Nauvoo. How I love Carthage!. I love this Gospel. I love it. I know that It is true. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

After doing our service the Sisters and I had a meeting to talk about the logistics of things that will be happening in Carthage. Regulations, schedules and "rules" as it were. It was awesome. We opened with a testimony meeting. Everyone shared their best experience of the day. The sisters, much to my surprise wanted to have that meeting every night. So we have decided to have family prayer as sisters every night as we part ways. Just before prayer we will share our experiences from the day together. I am really looking forward to it. All of the Sisters are fantastic. They are plunging in and moving forward. This summer will be fantastic.

Sister Bailey

Even thought the summer has barely started, it feels like it is almost over. Like I am running out of time.

Anyone who can SHOULD come out this summer to Nauvoo and Carthage. I would love to see you and you will LOVE it here. That is a Promise.

On Second Thought

Wow. This week did not go as planned. After six months in Liberty Lake I had almost forgotten how unexpected and constantly changing Nauvoo is. When we received an almost routine call from the assistants to get together the announcements and scheduling bugs that had been looming. It was a shock to everyone to have a mid-transfer move to work out. Everything has gone perfectly. Sister Westwood was at peace as she left, everything was packed up and cleaned in a matter hours, Sister Cordoba (my new companion) is amazing. I feel like I have a much better handle on my calling as Carthage group leader (at least I feel a lot more comfortable), AND I found my backpack (which was missing and basically contained my life. It was a good thing when it was found). Sister Cordoba is from Miami, Florida. Her parents are from Costa Rica and she is bi-lingual! which means I get to learn stuff in Spanish like how to pray and bare my testimony. She is the second of four children and absolutely beautiful. I love her! We get along so well and have A LOT in common.

Today has gone really well. We are a little behind schedule but other than that we've been able to accomplish SO much. We've done shopping, e-mailing, address labels, tags, Pioneer dress fitting, studies and were able to fill the time in the car by talking with one another. As the day has gone on I think that Sister Cordoba is feeling better and better about her call. It have been sooooooo good to get to know her. We get along great! She has such a testimony and a fantastic life. I could listen to her talk for hours.

The funny thing about all this is that I found myself less than excited about my call in Carthage because of two things: 1) It was an unexpected responsibility and I had no idea what it entailed, and 2) I had done a lot of reflecting in the time between our arrival and when we received our assignments; mostly upon Sister Thomas and what she means to me, what my first ever transfer here really meant to me and how it has shaped me as a missionary. I was looking forward to (something I could not always claim) training someone. Teaching them to love Nauvoo, giving back just a little of what I had gained here, and helping someone else have a better experience on their mission both here and in their winter assignment. I have been trying very hard to follow the council of Elder Bednar to write down impressions more often than quotes. One such an impression happened in one of the many district meetings that followed when you said, Some of you may be wondering "how can I be in Nauvoo?" and even more of you may be wondering "how can I be back in Nauvoo?", but it doesn't matter, because this is the Lord's way and that is the right way. Underneath this note I wrote "Carthage Group Leader IS the Lord's way. Training is not. Focus on that". I did, and things started to fall into place. I had almost forgotten how much I had been looking forward to being a trainer. I was reminded as I looked over the past couple of District meeting notes. I read over and pondered on that impression for quite sometime and felt so good about how far I had come and about being Carthage group leader. Then the phone rang and it was Sister Parker letting me know that Sister Westwood was transferring and that I would be training a new sister. I felt like everything had been running like a little conveyor belt factory and when the call came someone shut the power off and everything just stopped. It was the weirdest thing. I planned on telling Sister Westwood privately after all the other announcements were made, but as soon as I hung up the phone rang again and it was President Ludwig! He told Sister Westwood and then we packed, had a family home evening with the Leals and packed some more because Sister Westwood needed to be out by the next day. It was certainly an eventful night. The family home evening with the Leals was so spiritual. We read D&C 135 with them, shared our testimonies and played a game. We have all loved the time we've had to get to know the Senior Missionaries and learning from their lives and their testimonies. They are the biggest blessing. We also assigned everyone Disney Characters. It was so funny.

Carthage and it's sisters are doing GREAT. Everyone is so supportive, so flexible and so happy to help where ever they can. The sisters are feeling so much better and so much more confident about the script and the Seniors are all amazing. Also so flexible and supportive.

I am starting a study on the blessings of missionary work listed in the D&C. It has been awesome so far. THERE ARE SOOOO MANY.

This week has been pretty nuts so I am a little scattered on things I feel I need to say. One part of my testimony has grown at a more accelerated rate than the rest of my testimony this week and that is of how perfectly perfect God is. He is perfect! and that sentence doesn't even do Him justice. I am so humbled at the time and energy taken to teach me, to support me and to forgive me of every inadequacy I have and to work with me to overcome them. And then to think that He does that for each one of us on a minute to minute basis is mind boggling. It makes me want to take back every doubt and misunderstanding that have taken place over the past 22 years. He is Perfect and His Son is prefect. I am so grateful for my knowledge of Him and His Son Jesus Christ and am so excited at the time and experiences I will have in life to continue to build that know ledge and relationship with Him. And then, if I endure well the lessons, opportunities and experiences I will have all eternity to grow closer, get to know and build that relationship. I received a letter from a friend serving a mission in New Mexico shortly before I came out. She said, "Sister Bailey, This work is so great, I can't wait for you to join me. Every once in a while Heavenly Father gives us a peek into the flawless masterpiece of this work and the view is amazing while it lasts"! Her words have echoed through my head on a number of occasions and I know them to be true. Every once in a while we see the big picture and then it is taken from our view for a time so that we can focus on the task at hand. I cherish those moments. The past two days have been littered with those moments. My whole life has been littered with them. And will continue to be! As long as a hold to the rod of Iron. Sister Cordoba studied Lehi's dream this morning and I have been thinking about the things she has shared with me all day.

I love my studies. I love this work, I love this place, I love this Gospel and I LOOOOVE all of you.

Sister Bailey

Nauvoo

 I am in Nauvoo. We arrived yesterday just before sunset. We don't have our assignments yet. We don't have our companions yet. So really there's nothing much to write. It was fantastic to see all the Senior Missionaries.  The Fosters extended their mission! There are so many old faces and so many new ones. It's hot out and the trees are blooming way earlier than last year. Hay-fever is setting in quick!!! When we came into the Visitor's Center this morning and saw all the Senior couple Missionaries it felt so celestial. It was like we had all died and were reuniting. The spirit is so strong here. My temporary companion is Sister Wendel.

 

I love you all.

More next week.

 

Last Days.

This will be the last time I write from Liberty Lake. I will miss this place too much. I love this place. It’s such a piece of me.

 

     This week we started teaching a new person this week. It was a perfect way to end my time here. She is 78. Her name is Loretta Yarrish. She is awesome. We found her tracting. She said that she had met with missionaries before and that we were welcome to come back but that we weren’t going to convince her of anything. --- the thing about missionaries is that we don’t really convince people of anything. Ever. We just teach. People convince themselves. At any rate, we’ve tried to meet with her for the past 3 weeks and something always has gotten in the way. First, her grandson had swine flu, then she had swine flu, then her family was in town for spring break. We half expected to have to reschedule again. We got there, she let us in, we taught a lesson, it was fantastic. That was on Tuesday. The spirit was so strong. Everything went perfectly. She would teach principles before we got to them. She brought everything we taught back to previous principle we had touched on. She committed to read and pray. At the end of the lesson she only wanted to know where our church building was. When we told her she said, “I thought so. Every time I drive by there I think about how nice it would be to go there someday and attend a service. I was going to walk up and catch one this summer. The walk would be nice. When Sister Salisbury and I left neither of us talked, we just smiled. We wanted to keep that spirit with us for the rest of the day. It was so cool. We set up another appt. for Thursday. We planned on setting a date for Loretta so that we could put her on date next week. When we went into the lesson and followed up on the commitment she responded that yes, she had read and she hadn’t “stopped at 12 or 13 or 14…” She just kept going. She said that she loved the Book of Mormon, that she wanted to read the whole thing and that she knew it was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We told her we were thrilled she received an answer and asked her what she thought that meant. She said that it meant that there were men on this earth who hold the priesthood and that there is a prophet of God on the earth. It only seemed right to invite her to be baptized. So we extended the invitation. She responded with a smiling, “Yes” and then we extended the date. She said still smiling, “That sounds great”. May 8^th! She is going to be baptized on May 8^th!!! It was Awesome. We taught her the plan of Salvation and she loved it. We got to death and she said she couldn’t wait to hear the rest of it. She had to take her grandson home to Idaho on Sunday so she couldn’t come to church but she will definitely come next week! On Saturday we went over to her house with Bishop Reed so she could meet him. That went great. We’re teaching her again on Tuesday! I’m so excited. I’m so glad there is something happening. There are so many things happening!!!! We received two solid referrals from members yesterday!!!! It was awesome. The members' view of missionaries have changed so much.

     I went on splits with Chelsea Rutter on Friday. She was just baptized in the beginning of the year. We stopped by an old friend. He use to date one of our less actives and we’ve been trying to teach him for a long time now. It was really spiritual. We have a lesson set up for Tuesday. He said that we needed to “Talk” because he’s been doing a lot of thinking. He wants to come back to church. He wants to stay close to the people he’s met there. The spirit was so strong. I’m so looking forward to having him be my last lesson in Liberty Lake.

     We taught our friend about prayer, scripture study, following the prophet, and obedience (not necessarily in that order). It went well. We taught the lesson in the home of one of our ward missionaries, Sister Smith. It went well and was extra cool because her husband sat in on the lesson too. She told us that he has really been struggling with his testimony. We committed her to read and pray everyday and to listen to more of conference (she did watch some of it). It was cool because he committed also.

     We taught our other friend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She loved it. She loves everything we teach.  She is trying so hard to quit smoking. We gave her a “Preach my Gospel” book on Sunday and she loved it. I told her that when I see her in Rexburg she will be smoke free. She smiled and said “We’ll see” and I said, "No, you will be smoke free I know it."  I love her.  I will be praying so hard on the plane on Wednesday when the sisters are teaching her.

     Fred did not watch conference. He watched the young women’s conference. I think he liked it. We were able to teach him about the restoration. It went really well. He said he would read and pray and for the first time he alluded to possibly joining the church rather than just sitting down and talking. It was awesome.

     We met with Brian (the Catholic one) this week and found out his last name. Sattler. So the lesson with Brian Sattler went really well. We brought another member who use to be Catholic. She was fantastic! She really understands the importance of having the spirit there. It was a much more peaceful lesson. We taught him about the Godhead and about Joseph Smith. We left him with Tad R. Callister’s talk from the last October conference entitled, “Joseph Smith, The Prophet of the Restoration.” The sisters are seeing him again this next Thursday. Part of me wishes I could find out what happens.

      We had dinner with the family that we are teaching now (the one we’ve gotten close to.) We went over on Thursday. Dad read! It was awesome. He thought that it was “ok” There were a number of things that stood out to him and then there were things that were “not his cup of tea”. After reading the talk he felt like he should express his love to his kids on a more regular and more meaningful basis. We encouraged him to do so. We also had a really good Q&A session about the scriptures with the son. It was awesome. We taught them again on Sunday in a more formal lesson setting.  Dad sat in. again. J He may have been pretty zoned out for some of it, but I’m glad he sits in.  It went much better than the last lesson. It was much more put together and flowed much nicer. The boy who we’re teaching has a  brother who was able to ask some questions that had been on his mind for a while. The family did read 3Nephi 11 together but they forgot to pray about it. So this week they are reading 2Nephi 31 and praying about that. Dad is reading another talk from conference!  J Elder Ballard’s talk on fathers and sons from last October priesthood session of conference. He was suppose to have read it this morning at breakfast. I think he will really enjoy it. When Mom dropped me off she thanked me for “being the pushiest missionary her family has ever had”. We’re hoping to follow up on Dad’s reading before I leave.

     Sister Salisbury is still great. Sister Jeppson is also great. Being in a threesome with them has been great and the members LOVE having a tall sister. Liberty Lake is tall people country and so she fits in great. She has some awesome ideas for the area and is going to do a lot of good here. She’s related distantly to the Jeppsons in our ward.

     Yesterday was so hard. Church was good, but it was awful at the same time. Everyone was saying goodbye and it was ripping my heart out. I tried my best not to cry, but I did. All over the place.  Every time I went around a corner, got a hug or was bid farewell too. Every time I bore my testimony be it over the pulpit or to an individual. There was a lot of crying. It felt as thought I was dying. I’m glad that it’s over. It was a day I had to get through. It’s done. All that’s left to really hurtle is to pack. I think I will then finally be spiritually, emotionally and physically there. I love the gospel, I love God. I know that God loves his children. I know that He is perfect. I love Him.

 

Sister Bailey.

She's on the Move!

This is Anne's Mom posting.

Just wanted to let you know that Sister Bailey will be heading back to Nauvoo next Wednesday, April 14th.  Her address will change from her Spokane Valley address to the address below:

Sister Anne Bailey

P.O. Box 215

Nauvoo, Illinois 62354-0215

Thanks for all your letters that keep her uplifted and HAPPY!  We appreciate it so much.

You have been called to labor

     General conference was AWESOME this weekend!  I loved it. Just like all spiritual highs, I was not really ready for it to end, but I walked away with resolve to be better and with a stronger testimony than I had before. I can’t believe that was my last mission conference. For all those who missed it you can still watch it at LDS.org! My favorites were Elders Holland and Ballard and President Monson. I can’t wait to read Elder Oaks talk from priesthood! I hear it was great!

     We haven’t met with Deborah Velardi again. She’s dog sitting 5 mini poodles. We taught our friend the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Nebeker’s home. It went well, but was a little unconventional. We all reflected back on our baptisms. That was the main focus of the lesson. It felt more like a conversation than a lesson. I hope tonight goes differently. I want it to feel like a lesson. We’re teaching her about how to build a sure foundation, ie scripture study, prayer, and following the prophet. We’re teaching in another member’s home and have called and given her directions. We haven’t heard back from her yet, but usually with her no news it good news so we’re excited.

We again taught the family we had dinner with last week. It was just her. The lesson was supposed to be on temples. The kids were a little crazy. She was a little disengaged. Sister Salisbury tried to keep the kids quiet and I tried to teach a lesson to a wall. I finally stopped the lesson and asked her what was wrong. I explained to her the I had noticed a difference in our meetings. She talked about not knowing where she was or what she wanted to do and said she didn’t want to tell us because we’d tell her to read and pray and fast etc. We talked about the reason we tell her to do those things is because they work. Because that is how we find our answers and how we gain direction and understand God’s will for us. We bore testimony of it and then talked about how if she really wanted to know she would pray and read and fast. She acknowledged that yes, if she wanted to know she would do all those things. So I asked her why she didn’t want to know. She said that she is scared of the commitment that would follow. I feel like she knows it’s true, but that she doesn’t want to pray because she KNOWS that God would give her an answer. She scared of three hours of church; she’s scared of the lifestyle changes. I wish I could show her the temple and help her feel eternity, help her want an answer, and help her have the desire to actually put forth the effort. For three hours of church we are promised peace in our homes and overall happier lives, not to mention a fullness of joy in the life to come after we have done all that we can do.  I want to give her my testimony. It is my testimony that makes it forever impossible for me to look at Our Savior or even kneel in prayer and tell Him and our Father in Heaven that it is “just too hard”. Nothing is too hard. The Savior died to make it that way. He did what He did so that we CAN do what He asks. It is not too hard. I wish I could accurately show her that. I wish I could help her feel that, the easiness of the yoke, and the lightness of the burden. The way maybe straight, and narrow, but it is smooth and light.

     We taught our other friend the second half f the plan of salvation. She loved it just as much as the first and, like most people, wanted us to place her in a kingdom. It gave us opportunity to bear testimony of the Savior and His role in the plan and to incorporate her reading into the lesson. She had read Alma 7 and really enjoyed it. We forgot to follow up on her commitment from dinner and will have to follow up on it this week. She’s awesome. She hadn’t smoked a cigarette yet that day before we came over. Which was awesome because we talked to her about quitting when we invited her to take he lessons and she said she wanted too, but that she wasn’t ready yet. We didn’t meet with her until 1 o'clock either so it was a big step for her not to have ANY before we came over. I love her. She is so headed for heaven. When she talked about “lookin’ at the terrestrial kingdom” the thought that came to my head was, “it is better to be a mile from hell and headed towards heaven than a mile from heaven headed towards hell”. I don’t know about being a mile from hell, but I know she is headed for heaven. I’m glad I have had the opportunity to walk a bit of that road with her.

So many people were supposed to watch conference this weekend. We can’t wait to see who did! It was so good!

     We finally taught a family this week that we’ve grown very close too. They are cobbles together with all sorts and forms of membership and activation. We are officially teaching the lessons to two of them but all of them sat in! It was an odd lesson. I felt like I struggled to teach. I think Sister Salisbury felt the same. It was actually kind of hard to have everyone there, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We just need to find a different angle to take than we did last night.  We’re going to eat dinner with them on Thursday. Where we will follow up on the dad’s commitment, which was separate from the rest of the family. The rest of the family is reading and praying about 3Nephi11. We finally got him to read Elder Bednar’s “More diligent and concerned at home” talk from last October conference. He is not a member. In fact he has grown up all his life as an atheist. He lives the gospel already, he just doesn’t believe in God. He mentioned that he has been surprised at our efforts to teach and to testify to him. He says that no other missionaries have really ever tried. I don’t think he was mad, but I do think he was surprised. His wife bore her testimony to us (with him in the room) of the gospel and how much she wishes he was a member. But that she’s okay because he loves her and her kids more than the two members of the church she was previously married to. She was thrilled to find out he was going to read. I am thrilled he is going to read!@ He’s the best!

     I’m going to miss all these people so much. I love them. And I mean everyone in Liberty Lake. Even the people who are mean and horrible to the missionaries. I love them. Again, it’s weird to be leaving.

    I know this gospel is true. I also know that the Lord is mindful of his children. This was reiterated to me this morning when Sister Salisbury, the elders, and I went to breakfast at the Howard’s. They live in the Evergreen ward and I served with them in Nauvoo. I haven’t seen them since I left Nauvoo. My heart almost burst from my chest when I saw them. I ran to meet them and was overcome with joy through out the entire ordeal. It was such a blessing. I was so happy. I love them. There was laughing and crying and pictures and reminiscing. It was so nice of the Elders (Elder Snyder and Elder Freckleton) and Sister Salisbury to come with me. I had to look out the window and remind myself that I wasn’t in Nauvoo, that I was in Washington. It really was the first time that I felt a rush of peace and joy come over me about leaving. The Lord knows us. He knows what we need, when we need it, and where he needs us, when he needs us there. It would not have been right to stay in Nauvoo these past six months and it would not be right to stay here for the next six months. My heart is still heavy and it is all still weird, but that ever humming peace that comes from the spirit is finally my horse again. I will ride it out with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. I am grateful to the Lord that He has let me serve here all this time. I am grateful for all that I have learned and for the opportunities I have had to become better than I was and am. I am grateful for the hand of the Lord in my life and I am grateful for all of you who support me on a day to day basis. Especially those who support me so much with out really understanding my reasons for being here or what exactly it is I do while I am here and why I love it so much. I and mindful of you always and your support means more than you will ever know.

God be with you til wee meet again.

 

Sister Bailey.

General Conference

Our friend is back in town. We’re teaching her tonight and we will be teaching her the gospel of Jesus Christ in the Nebeker’s home. We’re looking forward to seeing her. It’s kind of a mini miracle too. She hasn’t been feeling well. At all. We were praying so hard to be able to meet with her. And when we called last night she said the she was feeling much better and that she was looking forward to the lesson tonight!! I have such a testimony of prayer. I know Heavenly Father Loves and hears His Children and that when we align our wills with His MIRACLES happen.

One of our favorite families fed us this past week. We were planning on teaching a lesson but she  had to go because she made plans with her mom for the night.  So, at the end of dinner it was just us, the kids and Dad while she ran around trying to get ready to go. It worked out really well though, We got to talk to him more about reading  his patriarchal blessing and about his testimony and history with the church. It was a real eye opener. We talked about him taking the lessons and talked about the effort that would need to be put forth. No other church really feels right to him, but he feels like the church asks a lot of people. (It does. It asks for our whole selves. Christ gave His whole Self for us, why should we expect to give Him any less?) So we committed him to read his blessing again, this time starting with a prayer and a question. He said he would. We’re seeing them again this week.

We taught  the less active we started teaching last week again. We taught her the first half of the plan of salvation. She loved it and was disappointed when we had to leave, but after we talked about it a little she was completely on board. Her reading of Ether 12 went perfectly. She did it and said that it was a really spiritual experience for her and that Heavenly Father DID answer her question. She talked about the doubts she had and how they were completely blown away when she read. We also went to dinner with her and the girl we wanted her to meet on Saturday to Palenques. We all had a lot of fun. When the food came they brought me the wrong dish so the guy let me keep the dish and then brought out the one I ordered too! I have a lot of leftovers. I’m not complaining though. It’s good food.  We talked about Alma 30 when Korihor is brought before the Chief judge for “Destroying the people’s happiness”. Korihor asks for a sign that God exists. Demands one actually. Alma bears a beautiful testimony of God’s existence, that “All things denote that there is a God”. Korihor does receive his sign; he is struck dumb and then confesses that he always knew there was a God and that he was doing the devil’s work among men. He is cast out and run down by the next group of people he meets. His story stands as an example and a testimony that the Devil will not support his servants.  Both girls committed to take 30 minutes out of their day to sit and recognize the “signs” that God has given us as a reminder of His existence and love. I think I am going to do it too. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that.

We taught the woman who has been coming to church for the past two months last week! It went great. We talked to her about baptism and the spirit was really strong. We also talk to her about switching wards and she seemed really nervous about it but on Sunday she was telling everyone about it and how she’ll eventually switch over and how her son went to church with her neighbor so he could start off going to the right ward. IT was awesome. She just needed sometime to sit on. She seemed all for it. We told her that if she felt more comfortable with sisters that we could keep on teaching her.

We’re also going to start teaching a family that we absolutely love. They have every kind of person you could thing of in that family. Some one who use to be a member, someone who is active in the church, someone who is less active in the church, someone who wants to be a member, but has something holding them back and someone who is not a member and not interested in being one. (at this point.) We have gotten so close to them while we’ve been here and can’t wait to teach them! I’m so sad I’ll only be able to teach two lessons.

The new guy we met last week is facing some really difficult trials in his life. We prayed with him this past week and we’re hoping to teach him this week. He really is so prepared. I love him. He’s one of the kindest people I’ve met.

On the other hand we met a man this week and taught him. He’s the most arrogant person I have ever met. I wonder how long we will teach him for and sometimes how wise it even is to keep him very long. There is a weird feeling there when we meet with him.

We met up with a less active who is hard to get a hold of this week and asked him how his reading of the Book of Mormon went. He said he loved it and that he’s now reading a chapter a night. The light in his eyes told me he was telling the truth. It’s little moments like that that make this work so sweet. I know this gospel is true and that the priesthood has been restored to the earth and that if anyone is wanting a stronger relationship with their Father in Heaven, all they have to do is ask and then seek for it. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it with all of my heart.

We are so looking forward to General Conference this weekend. Don’t miss it!

I love this work. I love you all.

 

Sister Bailey.

Alma 30:40-41? (Korihor)