10/16/17 | Goodbye Cheyenne!

My time in Cheyenne Wyoming is about to come to a close.  We found out last Saturday about transfers, and I am being transferred right back to Greeley Colorado!  I will be serving in the Glenmere Ward, so not the same as last time!  My new companions name is Elder Hatch, and we are going to be training a new missionary who is a visa waiter.  A lot of missionaries come to our mission who are waiting for their visa’s to go through so they can go to their designated mission.  We can’t wait to meet him!  From what I have heard, Elder Hatch is a good hard working missionary from Arizona (same high school as Elder Tippetts).  I can’t wait to get to know him better!  I am honestly devastated that Elder Tippetts and I aren’t going to be companions anymore....... but I’m not worried about it, we’re homies and will definitely be after our missions!  We’re actually going to get a party house in Provo with a bunch of homies when we go to college, so bright things await in the future!  Woo!

        Besides the crazy change that’s going to happen, this past week was pretty good!  We helped Janet with installing some stuff into her apartments she owns, and she is still a little idle on her progression.  A member was telling us last week how it took her more than a year and a half to become fully converted and decide to be baptized.  This opened our eyes a lot with Janet.  We had been really impatient with her, and were trying to make things happen quickly, but we realized that it is going to take time with her.  We have been really patient the past week and a half, and honestly more Christlike, and it has been paying off!  As we’ve utilized members, Janet is planning to come to church this next week!  I won’t be here, but I couldn’t be happier!  I can’t wait for her to experience the joy and happiness that comes through Jesus Christ’s Restored Gospel!  

         We met with Travis this week as well, and things went amazing!  We jumped the gun a little on his baptismal date, and were able to talk with him about it.  We had our lesson this week with him, and we read from The Book Of Mormon.  Afterwards we talked about his baptismal date, and we pushed it back to November 11th!  As he talked about it, he started to choke up and the Spirit was so strong!  We can tell he is truly humble and ready to be taught the Gospel.  Can’t wait to hear how he progresses over the next month or so!  Also the Moyte’s ended up being a little hesitant in learning more.  They attended church last week and were received so well!  Almost all of the testimonies were about The Book Of Mormon, so Sister Moyte was concerned about having to teach her children different things.  We tried visiting them, but they ended up being busy.  We will definitely work through Brother Weber to reach them better, so we are praying they will understand what we believe better.  

         We were asked to go and give someone a blessing at the hospital, and it turned out he didn’t want one anymore.  We asked the front desk if there was a list that we could get on to be kind of “on call” to come and pray with people or administer blessings if that was wanted.  They had no idea, so we got to talk to the head chaplain and another chaplain from the hospital!  It was a cool experience.  They asked us a lot of questions concerning our missions, and we explained to them what we do, how long we’re out here, and a little of what we believe.  We tried asking them about their religions, but they said they couldn’t tell us because of legal reasons.  It was interesting, the head chaplain threw in some jabs at how his chaplains at the hospital all went to a bible school, or got some sort of training to do their jobs.  We brushed that off and continued to speak with him about what we do as missionaries.  It was a testimony builder to know that this is Jesus Christ’s Restored Church back onto the earth today!  

          I was reading in 3 Nephi this past week, and I came across a verse that struck me.  3 Nephi 20:30 says,

30 And it shall come to pass that the time cometh, when the fulness of my gospel shall be preached unto them;

          That time is now!  I love to know that as missionaries, we are a part of something bigger than we know!  It is not just full time missionaries, as President David O. Mckay said “Every member … a missionary!”  You are all missionaries too!  What we are doing, preaching the Restored gospel, has been prophesied unto the children of God forever!  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord.  Serving a mission changes people’s lives, not only people we teach, but the missionaries themselves. The growth I have seen on my mission has been incredible, and I know that every missionary who is serving, as they do their best, can be changed through Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father’s help!  I also know that as you strive to be a missionary wherever you are, you will be guided to those who are seeking to find the gospel “who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it--“ (D&C 123:12). 

           Saying goodbyes are honestly the worst..... we went around and said goodbye to all of the families that I became very close to here in Cheyenne, and it was pretty sad.  Friendships that are made on missions are amazing!  They are made for eternity!  I can’t wait to come back and visit all of the people that loved and cared about me and my companions.  I’m looking forward to meeting more amazing members of this Restored Gospel down in Greeley!  Here’s to another week of missionary work!  I love you guys and for all you do to support me on my mission.  I always feel loved and cared for as you reach out.  Hope you have a great week!

Love

Elder Bailey 

Pics!

1. The brownells!  

2. President Bailey!  (Our Stake President, found out we’re related distantly)

3. A lil kitten! 

10/9/17 | Let it Snow!

  Well, it is snowing right now up here in Cheyenne!  It has been pretty good weather for the past week or so, but last night the temperature dropped and it started to snow.  We woke up with a few inches on the ground, and it is still coming down pretty good!  Crazy stuff, the snow is going to be fun this year!  Some members told us it is supposed to be a pretty rough winter this year, so we will see!  This week was a good one!         We will be meeting with Janet this week to see if she felt a difference from when we were teaching her daily, to a week without contact.  We will see how that goes, we are hoping and praying it goes well!  We did teach Travis a lesson this week, but he has been out of town since then.  The lesson went well!  He is reading The Book Of Mormon, and his mom was there listening to the lesson as well.  She is interested, so we gave her a copy of The Book Of Mormon and she said she would read it!  She lives in Florida, so we probably won’t teach her here, but still amazing to see someone who wants to learn more!  During our lesson we talked with him about his baptismal date, and that it will have to be pushed back due to some issues, but he is still keeping his commitments and progressing towards baptism!  We are praying he continues to progress as the coming weeks go by.

        We received a referral from Brother Weber, and it is absolutely GOLDEN!  He told us to go by the Moyte’s house and tell them that he sent us to talk with them about the Gospel.  We went over and introduced ourselves.  When they answered they seemed a little skeptical, but then we mentioned Brother Weber.  They immediately brightened up and let us in!  We had a great talk and got to know them really well!  Sister Moyte has 14 kids with only two sons left at home, their names are Tyger and Antonio.  We scheduled an appointment to come back and teach them with Brother Weber for the following day!  The lesson we had the next day with Sister Moyte and Tyger was so good!  We taught them the first lesson, The Restoration Of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they were super interested!  They participated in the lesson and asked a lot of questions!  It was cool to see how the Spirit was touching their hearts, especially Tyger’s!  Some of his questions were so sincere, it was amazing!  One of them was, “how do I know it is the Spirit telling me it is true?”  We testified to him that he would know once he felt it. We explained that it was a feeling of peace, love, happiness, and comfort.  We asked him what he felt right now, and he said he felt happy! (He had a smile on his face most of the lesson:)  We testified to him that he was feeling the Spirit.  Brother Weber invited them to come to church this Sunday, to his family barbecue, and the sons to mutual next week!  They said they couldn’t go to the barbecue, but said they would love to come to church and mutual next week!  It is amazing to see how much of a difference members can make inviting investigators who they are fellowshipping to keep commitments!  The Spirit was so strong in their home, and we can’t wait to teach them this upcoming Wednesday!  The Moyte’s did make it to church this Sunday with four other grandkids we hadn’t met, and the boys are planning on attending mutual this week.  What a miracle!  

         We had MLC this past week, and it was a blast!  Literally all of my mission buddies were there!  Honestly, the whole meeting was pretty much a Facebook/Online Proselyting training with setting some key indicator goals for the mission.  It was a long portion about Facebook, but it was pretty good!  We have some good direction of how we can use Facebook in our Online Proselyting efforts!  As most of you may know, I set up my Facebook account to use in our mission a couple of days ago!  It is really weird to have and use Facebook for missionary work, but as Elder Bednar said in one of the Online Proselyting video’s, we are going to turn this trickle into a flood of spreading the gospel!  Spreading the Gospel through social media is a huge step in missionary work!  Like I said in my first post, I would invite you all to pray and ask how you can use social media to spread the Gospel, and heed upon the answer He gives you!  I know that as you do, you will see Jesus Christ’s influence more abundantly in your life, and see His light touch the lives of others!

         I love Fast Sunday’s!!  It was awesome to focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ.  I feel that it becomes more sentimental as we partake of the sacrament on Fast Sunday, and it felt like Jesus Christ is truly nourishing me yesterday!  I was able to bear my testimony about The Book Of Mormon, and it was so nice to feel that closeness with.  Elder Callister’s talk, “God’s compelling witness: The Book Of Mormon”, really stood out to me this last Conference and I was thinking about that yesterday.  In his talk he states,

 “The Book of Mormon is one of God’s priceless gifts to us. It is both sword and shield--it sends the word of God into battle to fight for the hearts of the just and serves as an arch defender of the truth.”

         This statement is so true!  I know The Book Of Mormon is the word of God, and that if you do read it and “...ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Moroni 10:4)  I have read, prayed, and asked, and I do know The Book Of Mormon to be the word of God!  That is the promise from the prophet Moroni himself!  Heed upon it, and I can testify that it shall be given unto you! 

         I absolutely love serving the Lord as a missionary, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have been given to do His work here in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission!  I hope you guys all have a great week this week!

Love,

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1. MLC

2. Snowy day today!

 

10/3/17 | General Conference is incredible!

 It has been an amazing, uplifting, spiritual week this week!  First off, it snowed yesterday here in Cheyenne...... loved it!  Our p-day switched to today because we just went to the Fort Collins temple for a session!  It was amazing to be within the temples walls again, and I’m so grateful we have sacred temples on the earth today.  I can’t wait to be a temple worker someday!  It was a great way to start off our p-day!  Of course we also had General Conference!  It was so awesome to hear the words of our beloved Prophets and Apostles who have been called by God to lead The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Jesus Christ’s Restored Church here on the earth today!  I love and sustain them with all of my heart!  I hope everyone who watched General Conference this weekend felt inspired to read from The Book Of Mormon every single day.  It is the word of God.  As the disciples of the Lord have promised, you will be able to hear the voice of the Spirit more abundantly and receive heaven’s help!  General Conference made my week, but we had some very amazing success that came as well.

        We had two exchanges this past week, and they both went very well!  I was with Elder Hatch and Elder Harris for the exchanges.  Elder Hatch is brand new as of a few weeks ago, and during our exchange we planned to talk with everyone we could!  We were able to meet a couple as they were choosing a paint color for the outside of their house.  As we talked, they asked for our opinions on a color we like.  Of course we jumped all over that!!  We had an amazing conversation that lead to us inviting them to read from The Book Of Mormon.  They said they would, so we are praying they do!  On my exchange with Elder Harris, we emphasized finding goals for each specific finding activity.  We forgot to set them during daily planning, so after knocking five or six doors during Tracting (with no answers), we decided to set these goals.  For the 35 or so minutes we had left of Tracting, we set a goal to hand out a copy of The Book Of Mormon.  After we set this goal, we saw some people loading up a Uhaul.  We thought this was the perfect opportunity to meet our goal!  We helped them, but ultimately they weren’t interested.  We continued to tract, and the first house we knocked after setting our goal, we ran into a man.  We I introduced ourselves and he said he was busy and didn’t have time.  He was about to close the door when we asked if he would accept the copy of The Book Of Mormon to read on his own time.  His countenance changed and he, a little surprisingly, said “yes, I would really like a copy.” We were able to have a five minute conversation about how The Book Of Mormon will bless his life.  We gave him our number and invited him to contact us if he had any further questions.  It was amazing to see Heavenly Father immediately help us fulfill our goal.  Goal setting brings forth miracles!!

        Zone Conference was awesome this week!  We had amazing instruction from President and Sister McMurray, the Assistants, and our mission counselor, Brother Jacobs.  The topic of the meeting was “I can do hard things!” Brother Jacobs truly inspired me.  He explained how he has a condition that should have killed him in his teenage years, but his parents worked with him and never lost hope that he would be healthy one day!  Now he is a dad, returned missionary, and successful in his line of work, and he is healthy!  He told us how it was never easy, but as he worked hard he slowly saw progress.  He is proof that as you trust in our Savior Jesus Christ, you can get through any trial!  As he spoke, the words of Elder Holland came to mind when he was speaking about the Atonement. He said life isn’t easy, because Salvation is not a cheap experience.  How would we expect it to be easy if it wasn’t easy for Him!  When I thought of this it was comforting to know that Jesus Christ knows everything we have gone through, and everything we will go through.  It reminds me of this scripture in Alma 7:11-13,

 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

        Always remember that there is always someone who knows how you feel.  You are never alone!  Along with Him, there are those around you that you can rely on, such as families!  I’m grateful for my family especially, thanks for all you do fam :) 

        General Conference was awesome as I said before!  I think my favorite talk was President Uchtdorf’s from the Priesthood Session.  If you didn’t get a chance to listen to that one, I would encourage you to do so!  Honestly, I loved all the talks, but you always have to have a favorite ;). It was sad to hear that Elder Robert D. Hales has passed away, but what an amazing apostle he was!  He served the Lord with all of his heart, and I’m grateful for his ministry.  We were able to watch three of the four sessions at the Weber’s house!  They are one of my most favorite families here in Cheyenne.  When I am with them a I feel at home!  They fed us breakfast both days, and took us to Texas Roadhouse for lunch on Saturday.  After the priesthood session, Brother Weber took us to Culver’s with his son Josh the man!  Josh is Randon’s age, so we get along pretty good :). It was so amazing to watch it in their home, and be with an amazing family for General Conference!  I felt a little touch of home when I was there!  Tender Mercies are real!  

        We had two investigators watch Conference!  Janet of course, and a man named Travis.  Janet watched almost all the sessions.  She said she felt uplifted, but she is still struggling to progress.  We watched the last session with her on Sunday, and we explained to her that if she wouldn’t come to church, and wouldn’t keep commitments, we had to stop meeting with her.  We came up with the decision to not meet with her for a week, and see if she saw a difference.  We will not be in touch with her until next week.  We are praying she will notice a difference, and it will make her have the desire to come fully unto Jesus Christ and His Restored Church!  Travis is a friend of some members in our ward.  He is going through some really hard times right now, and reached out to the friend in our ward.  He has been to church three times, and we were finally able to connect for a lesson with him after the Saturday Afternoon session.  (He watched all of the sessions of a General Conference with his friend in our ward.) We got to know him a little better and taught him the Restoration Of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He understood the lesson very well!  At the end, we invited him to be baptized on October 14th, and he said yes!  We invited him to pray to know if that was the date he should be baptized, and we also invited him to read and pray to know if The Book Of Mormon is true.  The Spirit was so strong throughout the lesson, especially when we talked about the First Vision and the invitation to be baptized!  It was an amazing lesson!  We met again after the Sunday Morning session, and taught him The Plan of Salvation.  He understood that lesson very well, and we followed up with him from the day before.  Travis prayed about October 14th and felt good about it!  He also read from The Book Of Mormon.  How amazing!  We invited him to pray and ask if The Plan of Salvation is true.  Travis is already progressing toward baptism, we are so excited for him!  We are meeting with him again on Wednesday!  It is honestly the best to see the gospel truly bless the lives of those we teach, it is the most amazing thing to see!  

        Sorry this is a bit long...... but now you get the gist of my week!  I hope you all remember to heed upon Elder Neil L. Anderson’s advice to study the words of the prophets and apostles from General Conference often.  There were so many amazing talks, I am definitely planning on reviewing them over the next couple weeks!  I definitely missed some good stuff, and I’m excited to review them!  I hope you guys have a fantastic week!  Love you!

Love

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1. Zone Conference!

2. Snowed in for the first time yesterday!  Haha crazy!

3. Temple today