9/19/16 | Love being a Missionary

 So many blessings happened this past week! It has been so cool to see God working in people's lives.  So to start off, we had service scheduled at this less active old lady's house, and she is renting out one of her bedrooms in her house through an online thing called Air&B I think.  It's this thing where people rent out parts of there home, kind of like a hotel, but it's a lot cheaper.  So I guess it's getting pretty big around the world.  So we went over to her house to install a cat door.  So it turned out some people were staying in that bedroom for a couple nights, so we got talking with them.  There names were Andre and Veronica, they are from Slovakia and Czech Republic, but they live in England.  They are touring around the world, and they were passing through Riverton on there way to Yellowstone.  So they are sort of Atheist and Catholic because in Czech Republic, they are mostly Atheists, and in Slovakia, they are Catholic, so they have mixed feelings about religion. So we talked about what we believe in, and taught them about temples.  It was really cool to see the Spirit working on them.  They kept on asking so many questions that were really good questions! So we talked for about and hour and a half, and I don't know what will come of them, but I know that we planted that seed so that maybe someday they'll see some missionaries in England who will teach them!  Maybe Keaton will find them in England! Planting those seeds is so important, even if I don't have a chance to see what happens to them later in life, it's good to know that we left them better than when we first met them. 

       So another cool thing that happened this week was when we were going through our area book, and we visited people we haven't met yet.  One of them was the Strickland's.  As soon as I walked into their home, I knew I would like this guy!  He had hunting stuff everywhere!  So we started talking, and at first they were a little on edge, but when I brought up hunting, he went off!  We talked for another hour about there lives and about what they knew about the Gospel.  I guess they loved the missionaries when they first started to meet with them, they would have them over for dinner, games, and they said they loved learning about the Gospel.  So they started going to church, and they were in Gospel principles when they were talking about feeling the Spirit.  He had been struggling to know if President Monson was a true prophet or not, and he didn't think he could feel the Spirit.  So this lesson would have helped him, but a member said "If people at church haven't ever felt the Spirit, they shouldn't even be here."  So that kind of turned him off from church.  I explained to him that I was sorry for that member who said that, but said that we are all human and make stupid mistakes.  I think he will come to church if we keep working with him.  We are going to invite him this week to watch General Conference coming up to help him gain a testimony on President Monson.  When we left, he said he felt a really good vibe from us and said we are welcome anytime!  I am super excited about this family!

       I went on exchanges this past week with a guy named Elder Robertson.  Going into this I was expecting the worst.  But it turned out pretty decent.  He didn't talk to me much, but I tried to be his friend.  He isn't the most obedient missionary, and doesn't work that hard.  So I tried to help him see how hard work pays off.  He wanted to contact people in the ward directory and see if they were active or not.  So we did, and ended up talking to this older lady who lost her husband recently.  She was saying how she had a heart attack and when the doctor said she was going to live, that she was super sad and distraught cause she wants to die already.  I explained to her that God still has something for her to accomplish, she then said that she's been meaning to finish up some Family History work that has been lying around for many years.  So I said that's probably what she needs to do! So she said she would work on it.  That's about all we did that whole day cause he didn't want to work. So I just studied and talked to him about his struggles.  So I learned that I am really grateful for Elder Ma'ake!  We work hard and love missionary work.  If you don't work hard and love it, it really defeats the purpose of missionary work.  So I'm so grateful for him! 

        So we went blitz finding with the Aspen Park missionaries again.  I went with Elder McFadden and we saw so much success!  Every door we knocked on, people wanted to listen.  The coolest experience of thud was when we knocked on a Lutheran mans door.  He opened it and said "Can't you read! The sign says no soliciting!!!"  Elder McFadden said that we weren't, but he said "yes you are, you're pressing your religion on me, that's soliciting!"  Seeing that this was going nowhere, I had the thought to ask him about his dog.  So I said, you have a pretty dog.  Then he opened up and started to talk.  That was the fastest I have ever seen the Spirit soften some bodies heart in my entire life!  By the end, we were best friends with this man.  I apologized for "pressing our religion on him" and he said no worries, and that he had so much respect for what we were out doing.  If we listen to spiritual promptings, even the smallest ones, God will make miracles happen!  This experience strengthened my testimony on the power of the Spirit.  

        Elder Ma'ake and I drove up to Dubois this past Friday and stayed through Sunday.  We stayed with the Myers.  They are the nicest people I have ever met!  They live outside of town up on the highest part of Dubois.  They fed us for breakfasts an dinner, and they have a pool table down where we stay.  So Elder Ma'ake and i played a bit before bed.  I beat him, almost every time!  There was also that huge fire near Dubois, and it got within three miles of the Myers house.  We saw all the scorched areas, it was way sad how much it burned.  But Brother Myers also is very good at building, so he built his house and the elevator inside!  They are awesome! So I guess when all the Billionaires took over Jackson Hole, the Millionaires got forced over to Dubois.  So there are a lot of wealthy people in town.  But they are 20 times nicer than the people of Riverton! We went tracting, and every door that answered wanted to know more!  A lot of them were wealthy too!  So I was surprised.  We also walked around on Main Street and talked to a lot of tourists, I also took a picture for a lady and she asked who we were, so of course we told her we were missionaries.  She was from New York.  I just love planting seeds! We are going back next week for some return appointments and a free haircut for me by a less active member!  So I am super excited to go back!  

        Well this past week was such a solid week! I am so happy to be a missionary!  Teaching people and helping them become fully converted has been such a testimony builder for me that this church is absolutely true!  Love you guys! 

Love, 

Elder Bailey