week went by stupidly fast, I don't even know where time is going
anymore. Days are weeks and weeks are days, it is absolutely crazy!
We had a pretty busy week this week. We had two exchanges, and they
both went very well! We were able to teach Evelyn this past Tuesday.
We read 1 Nephi 1 with her and the less active members she lives with.
We read through the first 12 verses and explained each verse to her,
relating it to her life and Joseph Smith! The first 12 verses in the
Book Of Mormon relate so much to Joseph Smith receiving an answer to
his prayer! We related that to Evelyn, and promised her just as
Jospeh Smith and Lehi received answers to their prayers, that she can
receive an answer for herself! We committed her to read the rest of
the chapter and to pray to know if the Book Of Mormon is true. She
said she would, so we're so excited for that! We were supposed to
have another lesson with her this past week, but she went out of town
unexpectedly, so we will be following up this upcoming week! Can't
wait!
We visited some less active families this week, and saw some
success! We first visited the Stevenson's, and they were so happy to
let us in! We talked to them for awhile, and brother Stevenson
started to joke around with us, so we shot back with a lot of
questions! We asked him directly why he isn't coming to church, and
he was a little hesitant about answering, but we challenged him to get
back to church! He said he'd think about it, so hopefully we sparked
something in him! We are going to start visiting them more often to
try and get him back to church! We visited the Chapman's this week,
and they were happy to see us as well! We scheduled a return
appointment to teach them, so we will be doing that this Thursday. It
was awesome, because the Chapman's showed up for church this Sunday!
We were so pumped! Hopefully they keep coming and as we teach them,
that they will grasp the importance to partaking of the Sacrament each
week! The last family we visited were the Brinkerhoff's. I hadn't
ever met them before, so we were excited to talk to them! We were
pulling up in their driveway out on the prairie, and all of the sudden
a massive Doberman came out of nowhere! This is honestly the biggest,
most muscular dog I have ever witnessed! Of course, who wants to get
out of the car when a massive guard dog is staring at you......... but
luckily they were outside and they called him off. We got out and
started to talk to them. They were so nice, and offered us some
lemonade. This lemonade was amazing! They said it was raspberry
lemonade mixed with orange juice, it was amazing! We sat out in their
beautiful yard just getting to know them, they're an awesome couple!
We asked if we could come back to visit them again, and they said they
would love to have us and just to call ahead to check if they would be
home! We are going to call them this week to schedule a time to meet,
it should be good! I can't wait to help these less active members
find the joy and peace in Jesus Christ and His Atonement through
partaking of the Sacrament each week!
We were doing service at a retirement home this past week
serving them lunch, and we had a pretty good experience! They were
all asking how tall I was, and if I like to play basketball, it was
pretty hilarious! We were having a pretty good time serving the
residents lunch, and talking to all of them when one of the residents
took a little interest in Elder Gentry....... she snuck back into the
kitchen, where all the workers were, snatched his hand and gave him a
huge hug! At this point I didn't know what to do, we just looked at
each other, and then the lady tried to give him a kiss! Luckily Elder
Gentry dodged and put her head on his chest so she wouldn't kiss him!
She asked him if he would come with her, but he politely declined the
offer...... She finally just let him go. It was a very interesting
experience! Glad things didn't go anymore south then they already
did.
I was studying in Alma 17-19 this week about Ammon. I love the
stories of the sons of Mosiah in Alma, but Ammon's story has always
been one of my favorites. He is one of the greatest examples of a
faithful servant in the Book Of Mormon! The faithfulness and love
that he demonstrated towards his brethren, the Lamanites. Some of my
favorite verses are in Alma 18:8-10. It states,
8 And it came to pass that king Lamoni inquired of his servants,
saying: Where is this man that has such great power?
9 And they said unto him: Behold, he is feeding thy horses. Now the
king had commanded his servants, previous to the time of the watering
of their flocks, that they should prepare his horses and chariots, and
conduct him forth to the land of Nephi; for there had been a great
feast appointed at the land of Nephi, by the father of Lamoni, who was
king over all the land.
10 Now when king Lamoni heard that Ammon was preparing his horses and
his chariots he was more astonished, because of the faithfulness of
Ammon, saying: Surely there has not been any servant among all my
servants that has been so faithful as this man; for even he doth
remember all my commandments to execute them.
To be the best servants to our Heavenly Father, we have to
execute all of His commands with exactness as Ammon did! No one will
ever be perfect in this aspect, but as we do our best to perform all
that we have been asked to do with exactness, we will be blessed for
our efforts. I promise that as you guys read from the Book Of Mormon,
keep the commandments, and follow what our prophets and apostles have
taught us with exactness, you will be blessed tremendously, and Life
will work out so much better!
I hope that you all have a happy 4th of July! I am grateful for
all those who have served our wonderful country, and who have
sacrificed so much for the freedoms we enjoy each and every day! I'm
especially grateful for my wonderful grandpas, Grandpa Burr and
Grandpa Bailey, who both served in the military. They have been such
amazing examples to me in my life, and have raised wonderful children
to be my parents, I thank you for that! I am who I am today because
of your wonderful examples! I would love to thank all of the other
veterans out there, who have sacrificed so much, thank you for your
service. I hope you all have a fantastic week this week!
Love
Elder Bailey
1. Good ol sunset!
2. We had to dog sit for a less active member for the weekend, and
this chihuahua was ridiculous, we have no idea what is wrong with it!
Haha
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