We went on exchanges with Elder Bush and Elder McFadden this
week, they’re awesome! I was with Elder McFadden, he’s one my best
friend friends out here in the mission field so we had a great time! In
Windsor there are these little library stations around the whole city,
with books in them. The rule is if you take a book you have to leave a
book. Elder McFadden and I found a lot of these as we were walking and
driving around, so we put some copies of The Book Of Mormon in them and
took some other religious books (primarily Jehovah Witness materials)
out to learn more! Just spreading the good word through the word of
God! We had a good time working all day, and honestly didn’t see too
much success until the very last person we visited. We knocked on a
mans door, and he was so happy to see us! He let us in, and we had a
great conversation. He grew up a member and eventually left the church
when he was 18. After he explained his story, he asked us how we gained
our testimonies. We both told him how we gained our testimonies of the
Book Of Mormon and the prophet Jospeh Smith. The Spirit was so
powerful as we testified, and we knew he was feeling it too! After we
bore our testimonies, he sincerely said thank you! We asked him if we
could go back and visit him again, and he said he would love that! It
is so cool to feel the spirit testify to someone else of truth, and to
be able to bear testimony to him. Bearing testimony invites the spirit
so strongly! That was an amazing miracle to see as we worked hard all
day!
It has been pretty tough with Janet this week.
We contacted her daily through visits and FaceTime. She came to the
Book Of Mormon institute class for the third week in a row, and she
attended the Women’s Session Of General Conference with some members who
have been fellowshipping her! We were excited about that! The thing
that was really hard was she attended the Greek Orthodox Church this
Sunday, for a sense of “closure” from the catholic faith. We talked to
her Sunday
night, and she is planning on watching General Conference this next
weekend! That should be so awesome! We brought up attending our church
in two weeks
and she was super hesitant, it was so hard to see her slowly slipping
away. The adversary is working so hard to keep her away from the truth,
and we are trying our hardest to get her to attend church, but she
needs to make that decision for herself. General Conference will help
her so much, and we are praying so hard that she will come to church in two weeks.
When you see one of God’s children find the truth, but they don’t
embrace and accept it fully, it is super hard and frustrating. But that
is the life of a missionary! Janet will hopefully come to church, and
we know that if she does she will start progressing very quickly, it
will just take an act of Faith! One act of Faith could change her life
eternally. Faith is huge, and I can promise that if you read The Book
Of Mormon daily, you will have faith that it is true. Faith comes from
truth, and I know The Book Of Mormon is truly the word of God!
We had an interesting meeting with a man we met in our area late
on night. His name is Ken, and he studies the Bible very frequently.
He isn’t a member of a specific church, but he reached out to us and
wanted to meet us at the Cheyenne Stake Center. We knew he would have
questions of how the Restored Gospel and The Gospel of Jesus Christ
relate from The Book Of Mormon to the Bible. We knew what member we
could bring who has an absolutely amazing knowledge of the scriptures,
Brother Weber!! This man is super legit, so we knew he would be the
best one to bring to this lesson. We got to the Cheyenne Stake Center,
and had an amazing lesson/visit with him. He started with questions,
which led to more questions, and it seemed as if he was digging to find
ways to disprove what we were teaching him. That is when Brother Weber
laid down the hammer, and started talking to him about what he was
doing. He started teaching from the whole Bible, and quoting verse by
verse exactly how it was written. It was a sight to behold, and I hope I
can be that versed in the scriptures as he is someday! He explained
that if you truly want to find and know the truth, you have to pray to
ask God, the ultimate source of knowledge, if it is true or not. He
invited him to hear the words from prophets and apostles of the Lord
Jesus Christ next week during General Conference and pray to know if
they were prophets of God. Throughout this, we all testified of the
living prophet, President Thomas Monson. The spirit that was in that
room was undeniable! I honestly couldn’t stop smiling, Elder Tippetts
and Elder Masaniai can attest of that! I was grinning from ear to ear
the whole time! The spirit witnessed to him of what was true, but he
kept having a heard heart, and ultimately said what we were saying was
false. It was so sad to know he had felt the spirit, and to know he had
rejected it. We are praying he softens his heart and comes to the
truth, but ultimately he has his agency to choose. This experience
built up my testimony, and it just makes me more happy that we as
missionaries have the opportunity to bring forth this wonderful message
of comfort and joy to those who are willing to accept. These elect
people are out there, the trick is finding them. That’s what we are
always trying to do, find find find. The Lord will put those people who
are ready in our path, I know He will!
I forgot to
mention last week, that we had the opportunity to teach the mission prep
class. We taught them about the missionary purpose, and how big of a
role it plays in missionary work! Overall the lesson went well, and we
have a bunch of solid youth who attended. It brought back so many
memories of attending Brother Lee’s mission prep class before my
mission. I truly appreciate the time I had to attend a class like that,
with such an amazing teacher too! I wish I would have known Preach My Gospel better than I did, it helps so much to know it well. I
would encourage anyone who is wanting to serve a mission, to attend a
mission preparation class, and to read Preach My Gospel! It will help
you so much as you step into the mission field and it will honestly help
you share the gospel with everyone!
I was reading in 3 Nephi this week, and chapter 15:9 stood out to me,
9
Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the
end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I
give eternal life.
As we look unto the
Savior, the ultimate life and light of the world, we can find peace,
rest, hope, and joy in our daily struggles. I can testify and promise
you that if you look unto Him, continuously, you will always feel love
and peace. Anything you are struggling with, look unto Him for help.
He will help you endure to the end! I hope you all have a wonderful
week! Can’t wait to hear from our beloved prophets and apostles this
week, it should be absolutely amazing!
Love
Elder Bailey
Pics:
1. Gary the Man stark drove here from Riverton to take us to lunch! Haha food to see him again!
2. Service pic from exchanges!
3. pic from Kohls
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