6/26/17 | Fast week!

  This week absolutely flew by!  It felt like yesterday I was
sitting down writing the ol weekly email.  Crazy stuff!  We had a
pretty good week.  We had a wonderful lesson with one of our
investigators named Evelyn.  She lives with her children, who are less
active members, and we are helping them get back to church as well.
She's in the new Ward we picked up for this transfer, and we have no
idea what the other missionaries taught her, so we started off with
the Restoration and the lesson went amazing!  At the end of the lesson
we committed her to read from the Book Of Mormon and to pray to know
if it is true.  She said she would, and we scheduled a follow up
lesson.  They didn't show up for that one, but we scheduled another
time for this week to meet with her and the rest of the family!  We're
excited to teach her another lesson, she seems like she is ready to
change!
      We had exchanges this week with Elder Bush and Elder Fraser down
in Windsor, and they were amazing!  I was with Elder Bush, and we had
an incredible day.  The most amazing experience we had was at the very
end of our exchange.  After dinner, we decided to go Tracting.  We
knocked from 7:45-8:45 ish. We hadn't seen any success, but we felt
like we should knock one more door before we ended the exchange.  The
yard was fenced in, and they had eight dogs barking at us.  We opened
the gate anyways, and the owner noticed the dogs were going crazy and
came out.  We got talking with her, and she was so nice!  She said she
had a Mormon friend, and she had heard a little about the Book Of
Mormon.  We explained what the Book Of Mormon was to her, and
testified of its truthfulness.  I had the impression to testify of
eternal families as well, so I bore my testimony that I knew that
families can be together forever, and that we will see all of our
loved ones again.  After I had testified of this, she told us her
mother had just passed away, and that she also knew she would see her
again.  How amazing is that!  I love the Holy Ghost and how it works
through all of us!  We set up a return appointment with her, and she
was really excited to learn more and to read the Book Of Mormon!  I
have a strong testimony of miracles at the end of a long missionary
day!  We call from 8:00-9:00 "miracle hour", and I definitely have
seen miracles such as this one during that time.  The Lord blesses us
once we put forth the faith and the effort!
       We had a bunch of appointments on Friday, but they all fell
through except for one.  One of the lessons that fell through was
those two kids that we met playing basketball last week.  They prank
called us, so they probably aren't interested, but hopefully we
planted a seed!  A crazy thing that happened this week was we were
eating our dinner that a member gave us at the church, when we heard
all of this noise from down the hall, and we saw some shadows, then we
were driving past the window of the room where the shadow was coming
from, and the window was wide open with a slash in the screen!  We
decided to call the cops, so we had six sheriffs show up, and they
searched the church with their assault rifles.  They ended up not
finding anyone, but they found that there were six windows open, and
two doors unlocked, so they were thinking the person fled after we
left the church.  Crazy stuff!
       This past Saturday, we had the opportunity to attend the
temple!  Elder Gentry had taught a couple a year ago who got baptized
in Loveland, and they were being sealed!  So we were able to attend
their sealing, and Elder Gentry was one of the witness's!  It was so
cool!  That was the first temple sealing I have ever attended, and the
Spirit was so strong there! Especially when they brought in their
little daughter all dressed in white, I couldn't stop smiling for rest
of the time in the temple.  I love the temple with all of my heart!
It is the most peaceful place on this earth, and it is the one place I
feel closest to heaven and my Heavenly Father when I am within its
walls.  I would encourage you all to attend the temple as much as
possible!  It will help you through any trial you face, any
discouragement you feel, and it will make your life so much happier!
       I was studying in Alma 5 this past week, and I loved verses
33-34.  It states,
33 Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of
mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will
receive you.
34 Yea, he saith: Come unto me and ye shall partake of the fruit of
the tree of life; yea, ye shall eat and drink of the bread and the
waters of life freely;
       The Tree of Life is the love of God that is given to us through
the Atonement of Jesus Christ!  We can all partake of His eternal
love, through Jesus Christ's Atonement if we come unto Him.  All we
need to do is come unto Him, with humble hearts and contrite spirits,
and He will receive us with such great joy!  I know that if you all
come unto Him, you will feel His everlasting love and the joy that
comes with it!  I hope you all have a great week, and remember that
Heavenly Father is always there for us.

Love,
Elder Bailey


Giving the cops a church tour and the temple!

6/19/17 | Miracles!

What a week!  Elder Gentry and I are getting along great, he's a
fantastic missionary!    He is from Mount Airy, North Carolina, he is
the youngest in his family, and he is a country boy!  He was my Zone
Leader down in Greeley so we are already friends!  I cant wait for
this transfer!  We have had a great first week.  Through our
diligence, we've seen so many miracles!  I honestly don't even know
where to start!  I fully believe that when both missionaries in a
companionship are on the same page, and are both striving to be
obedient, then the Lord sends forth blessings beyond what we can
comprehend!  We have seen this multiple times this week.  The first
one was with a lady named Evelyn.  Elder Gentry and I are covering
three wards now, Prairie View, Monterey Heights, and now Cornerstone.
When we got the area book for Cornerstone, there was a lady who
supposedly was on date for Baptism.  The problem was she didn't have
an address or any way to contact her.  The Moore's, less active
members that she lives with, didn't have any address or contact info
either.  We tried getting their number from the past missionaries,
that wasn't successful.  Then we decided to have the other
missionaries come and show us where she lived at 3:30.  At around 3:00
on that day we got a call of someone who needed a blessing.  We got
their address and we got there to meet them.  We got talking, and they
told us they were the Moore's and introduced us to their grandma,
Evelyn!  Heavenly Father showed us where she was just 30 minutes
before we were going to find out for sure!  I loved having this
experience!  Such a testimony builder of if you put forth the effort
to get something done, Heavenly Father will bless you for your effort!
    The past three days we haven't gotten over ten referrals!  It has
been so crazy!   We are going to be visiting them all in the coming
week, and we're so hopeful of the outcome!  Our area is about to
explode, I can't wait!
    We ate dinner at the lien's house this past week, and the wife was
gone visiting friends.  Turns out the husband is a non-member who
supports his family going to church.  We had a great discussion about
why he isn't too interested about learning more.  He said he was going
to bring the kids to church on Sunday, but wouldn't attend any classes
after Sacrament Meeting.  We said we would talk to him after Sacrament
Meeting this Sunday.  He didn't want us to share a lesson with them at
dinner, so we left and didn't think too much of it.  On Sunday, when
the Sacrament Meeting was over, we talked to him and a member invited
him to Sunday School.  He decided to go, that's huge!  When we were
eating dinner with them, he made it clear he would not go to any
class!  It's crazy how much of a difference it makes when a member
makes an invitation, it can make all the difference!  We'll see if he
will continue to come to church more often!
    We had a wonderful Cheyenne Stake Breakfast this past Friday with
President Bailey and his wife.  It was so awesome!   We had a
wonderful discussion with him about the different things we have
learned so far on our missions.  The Spirit was so strong their!  It
was amazing!  It is wonderful to see how the Spirit can touch our
hearts when we are talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
    Yesterday night we were finding potential investigators and we
decided to walk around a little bit.  We went down some neighborhoods,
tried to talk to a few people walking on the street but they weren't
interested.  We felt that we need to keep walking, so we did.  We came
across an elementary school that had some basketball courts.  We saw
two teenagers playing, so we decided to go and play so ball!  We went
up and asked if they wanted to play two on two!  They said yes, so we
got ready to play.  We decided to play best 2 out of 3.  The rims were
nine feet rims instead of normal size, so we had some fun!  We lost
the first game, but came back to beat them two games in a row.  It was
so fun!  Elder Gentry and I started to go off on these kids!  I was
dunking all over them, Elder Gentry was throwing me alley oops, and we
were killing them by the end!  After the last game, the kids asked us
why we were in such nice clothes?  We went on to explain that we were
missionaries for The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and
they started to ask so many questions!  We gave them a shortened
version of what we believe, and we testified that we are here on our
missions to spread this joy to everyone!  Their names are Colin and
Evan, and they each accepted a Book of Mormon and we are going to meet
them there again this Friday to teach them and play ball again.  It
should be good!  Elder Gentry and I are going to use basketball
tracting more often!  It is so effective and we have some good
chemistry on the court!  Who knew playing basketball could open so
many doors?
     I was reading in my studies this week, and this scripture stood
out to me.  It's in Mosiah 23:21-22.
21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he
trieth their patience and their faith.
22 Nevertheless--whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be
lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people.
    As we trust in the Lord through our everyday trials, with patience
and with faith, we will always feel the love of our Savior Jesus
Christ.  As we trust in Him, we can always access that overwhelming
joy and happiness that can only be found through Jesus Christ and His
everlasting Atonement.  I know this to be true!
    This week was amazing!  Elder Gentry is awesome, and I can't wait
for this upcoming transfer!  We are going to contact all the referrals
that we received this week, and start to teach Repentance and Baptize
converts this transfer!  Always remember to focus on the Savior and
His Gospel!  Search the scriptures!  Through them, you can find any
answers you have through the power of the Holy Ghost.  I hope you all
have a wonderful week this week!

Love
Elder Bailey


1. Elder Gentry and I at the Western Museum
2. Wyoming Sunsets

6/12/17 | Great Week!

 I don't even know where this week has gone!  I feel like each
week is going by faster and faster, it's crazy!!  We had a wonderful
lesson with Susan West this week!  They had us over for dinner, and it
was amazing.  What was more amazing was the lesson we had with her.
Our last lesson with her, we discussed the receiving answers to her
prayers.  We expounded a little this lesson and followed up how she
was doing!  We watched the Mormon message The Music of the Gospel, and
they loved it.  Around the end of the video, Susan blurted out "that
just gave me the chills!"  After it ended, we were able to explain how
that feeling she felt was the Holy Ghost.  As we testified to her that
if she continued to read from the Book Of Mormon, and sincerely pray
to know if it is true, the Spirit filled the room so strongly!  She
accepted the invitation, and we will be following up this week.  I
love how the Spirit works!  As we testify of what we know to be true,
that's when the Spirit can work through us.  I know that to be true!
We weren't able to meet with Trey this week, he was too busy, but we
will try again this next week!
        We did some great service this week!  We helped the alpaca
lady clean out her huge barn, and then later in the week we wrestled
with some alpacas to try and draw blood from them.  We couldn't find
the veins in their neck so she is going to take them to the vet
instead.  At the train Museum we met some old tourists, and of course
we started talking to them because I love old people!  They loved us
too!  They told me that I was welcome to come by and visit them in
Estes park so that they could show me around, so hopefully I serve
down there sometime so that I can teach them more about the gospel!
The main service we did that was great was with a lady named Linda.
Some members from the Monterey Heights Ward contacted us and they
needed help moving a single non member friend who is moving into the
Prairie View Ward.  We went over with the brother eckheart, who
contacted us, and we moved all of her stuff into the uhaul truck.  We
were in proselyting clothes, and by the end we were sweating buckets!
When we were about to head out, she thanked us for our help, and we
asked if we could come and visit her sometime, and she said that would
be great!  We will hopefully be stopping by soon to see how she is
doing soon.
        We had an exchange out in Scottsbluff, Nebraska with the
elders, and it went great!  We did service at the zoo there, and had a
great exchange. Their area is doing fantastic and the work is
progressing so well!  We had to run down to Sidney to do an apartment
check for the upcoming mission tour, and we passed Chimney Rock on the
way.  So you know how they teach you in school about Chimney Rock and
how great it is and how it's a huge?  Yeah they lied to everyone!  It
is honestly the lamest thing I've ever seen, and it's only like 50
feet tall...... I have no idea why Nebraska brags about it so much!
Apparently when the US Army was coming through to go to Fort Laramie,
they saw Chimney Rock and used it as target practice.  They shot
2/3rd's of it down!  It used to be about 200-250 feet tall, but they
destroyed it!  I thought that was pretty funny.  Anyways, we checked
their apartment and it was good.  Then we got to see the world
headquarters of Cabela's!   It was pretty cool!  I guess the guy who
made Cabela's is from there, so that's where the first one was built.
It's literally in the middle of nowhere but it was still pretty sweet!
 I love Nebraska and all, but let's just say I'm glad I'm in Cheyenne
:).
        We had some crazy hail and rain storms this week in Cheyenne,
and all the streets were like rivers, it was crazy!  I was just glad
we had a truck!  We saw so many people get stuck, and the whole city
of Cheyenne was going crazy for awhile!  I send a pic of the flooding!
 Crazy stuff.  We were also grabbing something from the Cheyenne Stake
Center, when a ton of tour bus's started pulling up.  We went out to
see why they were there, and it was a huge trek group from Denver
Colorado!  We visited with them, and asked if they needed help with
anything.  They said they would love our help, so we helped them break
down all of their dominos pizza box's.  They loved us so much they
gave us two extra pizza's!  It was so nice of them!  It was fun to
meet a bunch of amazing members of the church, I loved it!
        We had an amazing mission tour with Elder De Feo this week,
and it was honestly amazing!  The instruction we received from both
Elder De Feo, and President McMurray was both amazing and inspiring!
The main thing that Elder De Feo talked about was love, changing the
mission culture, and finding joy in doing the work.  He said that as
leaders, we should never force anyone to change, but as we love them
they will want to change.  I loved that, it's so true!  He stated that
as our mission develops a believing culture, then we will be able to
find joy in the work, and it will eliminate depression and anxiety.
As we believe and have faith that Heavenly Father will listen to our
prayers, and as we work hard and believe that we will find the elect
to teach, we will be joyful in our service!  One of my favorite quotes
he shared was, "Plan to succeed, so you can succeed in the Plan!"  I
loved that!  Elder De Feo is a master at teaching from the scriptures.
He backed up all he said and taught with scriptures.  One of my
favorites was Alma  29:9-10, it states:

9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I
do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath
commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an
instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and
this is my joy.

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and
coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do
I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard
my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended
towards me.

       As we focus on others, and focus on service we will feel so
much joy!  I know that as you all focus on becoming instruments in the
hands of God, and see how you can help your fellow men, then you will
feel a tremendous amount of joy, and you will gain a desire to serve
your Heavenly Father more and more.  It is an amazing concept!  I love
it!  After mission tour, we had apartment checks by President and
Sister McMurray, and Elder De Feo himself!  Since we are one of the
only three apartments in Cheyenne, they checked ours.  Last week we of
course spent some good time tidying up.  They approved of how clean
our apartment was, but everyone, especially Elder De Feo, disliked our
apartment a lot.  He was not impressed with it.  The old heating
system, the ants, etc.  It is super old, and our whole complex was
used as military housing in World War Two.  We will probably be moving
out of this apartment in the next couple transfers, but we'll see!
The mission did just buy us an AC Unit a few days ago, because our
apartment was getting to be super hot at night, so we have been
sleeping much better!  Honestly, I'm just glad we passed the cleaning
inspection!  Woot!
       Transfers are coming up and we found out that Elder Callahan is
leaving to Greeley, and that my new companion is going to be Elder
Gentry!  I'm gonna miss Elder Callahan, we got along great, but I'm
excited for Elder Gentry.  He's a really good missionary, and he's
hilarious so I'm way excited for this next transfer!  I'm so grateful
that I am on a mission.  I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and all He
has done for me.  I know that this Gospel is true, and that the Book
Of Mormon can change lives!  I love being a missionary, and I'm
grateful for all of you for supporting me!  Thanks for everything!  I
hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love
Elder Bailey


1. The great Chimney Rock........
2. Cabela's World Headquarters
3. The flood!
4. A member fed us at the Little America, and they have an emperor
penguin, who knew?
5. Mission Tour