Hello Fam! This week was great, it absolutely flew by! I
can't believe I'm sitting here writing you again. We had a lot of
things happen this week! We went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders
this last week, and I was with Elder Prescott. We saw some miracles
Monday night! We were on the University of Norther Colorado's campus,
contacting people. We were doing this at the last hour of our day
from 8:00-9:00. We call this "miracle hour", and I truly have a
testimony of it now. We were out talking to people, not seeing too
much success. We handed out a few Book of Mormon's, and it was
getting late. We decided to walk back to the car, and from 8:45 on we
started to see the miracles! The last three people we ran into, all
had friends who were on missions! The first girl we talked to, had
been to early morning seminary multiple times, and had attended church
multiple times as well with her friend. We asked if she wanted to
know what her friend was doing 24/7, and we gave her our number. The
next two girls both had both been invited to church by their friends,
and had been given a Book of Mormon by them as well. It was honestly
so crazy to see the miracles of working until the very last minute.
The Lord truly blesses us as we do so, and put forth the effort!
We finished delivering Easter invitations this week for our
Stake "Easter Contada" and we had a great visit with an older
less-active member. She invited us in, and we shared the Easter video
with her, and she loved it! After our lesson, she got looking at my
name tag and said, "Bailey huh? My mothers maiden name was Bailey."
Turns out she is from Ogden Utah, and I knew we had some relatives
from up there with the last name of Bailey. We kinda figured that we
were related somewhere down the line, and she thought that was
absolutely amazing! It is so crazy how we can make those weird
connections with people, and I have seen that so much on my mission so
far!! After that, we asked her why she hasn't been to church. She
said that her husband isn't a member, and she just hasn't been
motivated to go. We invited her to come to church, and she said that
she will someday. That made me a little sad she said someday, but I
guess she's not ready yet. It is honestly such a small world! Can't
believe I met a distant relative..... so crazy!
We taught the young men's about furthering their missionary
work this past Wednesday. It went very well! The young men had great
answers, and expressed a true desire to invite others to come closer
to Christ! We taught, did a role play, and they participated so well.
They all committed to invite and share the Gospel with their friends.
We reassured them that doing so didn't have to be weird or pushy, but
that it should be the little things that would be the most effective.
For example, sharing their testimonies through their example, inviting
their friends to campouts and youth activities, and always having that
pure love of Christ for everyone. Bearing your testimonies to others
does not have to be elaborate either! It can be simple things like I
just listed that can be the most effective! I know that as you share
your testimonies with others through these small and simple means,
then you will see the blessings for doing so, and also you will be
able to plant those seeds in all those you come in contact with!
We focused a lot on working with members this week as well.
We had the chance to follow up and teach eight different families!
They have had great experiences inviting their friends and other
people they knew to learn about the Gospel. We have had multiple
families tell us how excited they felt after a friend asked them for
help, and they could help that friend through the Gospel! The members
in our wards that we cover have a hard time with their Member
missionary work. Their are some great families who are always
reliable with that, but most have a hard time with it. We have been
trying to help them understand that it can be easy! This week
President McMurray had asked us to study Ch. 13 in Preach My Gospel
titled "How do I work with Stake and Ward Leaders?" We studied that,
and implemented a lot to help our wards progress. We met with Bishop
Wright from the Peak View Ward to discuss our Ward Mission Plan. He
is new from the Ward split a few weeks ago, and we wanted to ask him
how we could help the Ward the best. The previous Bishop didn't have a
Ward Mission Plan in place, so we asked if we could create one!
Bishop Wright loved the idea, so we are going to be creating that in
the next few weeks to bring it to the Ward Council. We talked for
awhile, and we discussed having a missionary fireside next month to
kick off the newly made Ward Mission Plan. He loved that idea as
well! I know that once we do this, the Member missionary work in our
Ward will become so much better than it already is! It is just going
to take time for everyone to catch our vision on how the work should
be! It will happen, I know it will.
We have been trying to meet with the Wakkinen's for the past
few weeks, and they just haven't been responsive. We were at dinner
at the Mellman's house last night, and Callie and Miley Wakkinen were
there! We were so happy to see them! We played around with them in
the back yard, drew with some chalk, and then had dinner. Brother and
Sister Wakkinen came to pick them up afterwards, and we got to talk to
them! They told us the past couple weeks have been so busy, and that
they haven't had time to meet with us. This gave me a little comfort,
knowing that they had been thinking about it and that we have put
forth that effort to meet with them this week. We will meet with them
this week and teach them another wonderful lesson! We can't wait to
meet with them again! One of the Mellman's younger daughters is best
friends with Callie Wakkinen, and she has been inviting her to a lot
of things lately because of our invitation to them our last dinner
appointment to become better Member missionaries. Through their
friendship, the Mellman's and the Wakkinen's have become such good
friends! We know that as they fellowship for the Wakkinen's, that
sometime soon they will come closer to Christ and His church! It is
so awesome to see success through our members.
Elder Merrill had two doctors appointments on Friday, one in
Brighton and one in Windsor. Brighton is outside of our mission, and
we drove down there for the appointment. This doctor sees a lot of
missionaries in our mission for various reasons, and guess what his
name is? Yes, it is Joseph M. Smith! He is a member who I guess
see's missionaries for free? Anyways, those who see him have
permission to leave the mission boundaries to go. It was so strange
to be outside the mission, and to watch airplanes take off and land at
the Denver International Airport! It felt really weird, but since we
were driving past Longmont on our way back, we got permission to eat
lunch with Elder Kimball and his companion at Cafe Rio! I haven't had
Cafe Rio in awhile, and it was absolutely amazing! Seeing Elder
Kimball was great too! Haha. After that we headed up to the mission
office in Windsor for his next appointment. I guess we have a mission
psychologist, so a lot of missionaries see him. Elder Kimball's
companion saw him right before mine did, so we got to talk for awhile
there. It was so good to see him again! He is doing great with his
new companion!
It was Elder Merrill's Birthday this Saturday, so we
celebrated a bunch! (I guess as much as we could being
missionaries....) We had to get our car back light fixed again at the
Ghent Chevi, and guess who we saw again? Yes our murderer friend....
He was happy to see us, but his stare still gave me chills when he
looked at me! Anyways, some fantastic members, the Hegerhorst's,
picked us up while our car was being fixed to feed us lunch for his
birthday, and they made him a cake and gave him a present! That was
fun. All of our lessons fell through, so that was a bummer, but I
secretly planned with our Zone Leaders to switch our key with theirs
so that they could be waiting for us in our apartment when we got home
for a surprise birthday celebration! Elder Merrill had no idea what
was coming, and he was so happy! He told us that he had never
celebrated his birthday before, and this was honestly one of the first
times he had ever celebrated with a bunch of people. That kind of
touched all of our hears a little, and we were glad we celebrated! It
turned out to be a great birthday for him.
Okay one last thing. We had an incredible lesson with a
part-member family last night. Sister Whitehead had asked us to find
a Serbian copy of the Book Of Mormon so that she could mail it to a
friend with her testimony in it. She said she has been wanting to do
it for years, and that when we were at her house for dinner last week,
she had randomly had the though to do it again! Turns out the Book of
Mormon was barely translated into Serbian last Spring, so this had not
been a random prompting. We found one for her, and delivered it last
night. We were able to share an easter message with Sister Whitehead,
her husband, and her daughter, who are both non-members. We showed
them the easter video, and the whole time I prayed that they would all
feel the Spirit while they watched. About halfway through the video,
the Spirit entered the room, and it was so strong! I know they felt
it! We invited them to watch the rest of the seven videos about the
Principles of Peace that Christ taught on the earth. I would invite
you to do the same! Watch the Easter video on Mormon.org, and watch
one of the principles each day until Easter. This will help you get
in the mindset for Easter, and help you remember what Jesus Christ has
done for you! I know that if you do this, you will better know and
understand what your Savior, Jesus Christ, has done for you.
I love you all so much! Thanks for the support each and
every week! I know that all of your prayers and love towards me has
helped me every single day of my mission! I am so thankful for that.
I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that He lives! I
know that as you prepare for easter by studying His ministry here on
earth that you will come to love Him so much more than you already do,
and that you will begin to understand what He has sacrificed and done
for each and every one of us! I hope you all have a great easter this
week, and remember, He knows what you are going through, always!
Love,
Elder Bailey
1. Elder Prescott and I at dinner, their home schooled children wanted
to have us wear these hats
2. Doctor Joseph M. Smith, M.D. (Modern Day Prophet) :)
3. Elder Kimball and I
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