We had another fantastic week.
Thanks for everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It was super weird
to see all of the birthday wishes on Facebook, but thanks so much! I
really appreciate it, and I’m grateful for the family and friends I
have. The support and love I feel each week, and especially this last
week was awesome, and I thank each of you for it! Thanks so much mom
and dad, grandma and grandpa, jenna and mike, alyssa, spencer, randon,
and President and Sister McMurray for the hand written letters and
packages you guys sent! My first and last birthday in the mission field
was one to remember, it was awesome being able to serve other people.
We did a bunch of Tracting, so that made me happy! Also, we enjoyed my
favorite cake mom, it arrived here in one piece and tasted incredible! We’re still working on eating it! Thank you so much, your the best mom in the world, I’m fully convinced!
We had a couple of exchanges this past week with the Spanish
Elders and Peak View Missionaries. The first exchange Elder Nally and I
went with Elder Michels, and we had a great day! During Tracting we
found a bunch of people to go back and visit, and were able to give
people copies of The Book Of Mormon left and right! It was awesome! We
had a little Q&A with a young couple who are dating. They had a
bunch of questions for us, and we were able to answer them all.
Throughout the questions we could tell that they were a little hesitant,
but at the end we told them all of their questions lead back to The
Book Of Mormon. We read Moroni 10:3-5 and promised them that if they
read it sincerely, and prayed with real intent they would receive an
answer of the truthfulness of The Book Of Mormon. The Spirit was
definitely working on them, and they each accepted a copy. How
amazing! We were able to connect with them on Facebook and we started a
group chat on Facebook Messenger. What a great tool to have! That
made our day worth all the work! Our next exchange I went with Elder
Robbins. He’s a Utah boy like me! We had a great exchange, and we had
such a great day! We Tracted a lot and only one lady wanted us to come
back, and another guy wanted us to come back so he could convince us
we’re wrong....... so not too much success there, but later that night
we had a lot of success. We had our dinner down in their area in
Millikan at a super amazing little Mexican restaurant! Afterwards we
visited a bunch of the people in their area book who had been forgotten
by the missionaries, and they hadn’t been visited or contacts in 200-420
Days! That seemed a little crazy to me, so were able to visit five of
them on our list. At the end of the night we had gotten four people to
answer, and at all four we were able to set return appointments for next
week. What a MIRACLE! These people had just slipped past missionaries
who hadn’t looked for that opportunity in their area book. I’ve
learned that Tracting is awesome and there is no substitute, but using
the area book to contact people who have already been found is like
Tracting with a scope and a target. Instead of knocking on a thousand
doors, you have one person who expressed interest in the past, and
they’re honestly 1,000 times more likely to be a legit investigator.
Elder Robbins and I definitely saw that while on exchanges. So
incredible!
We were actually able to get in contact
with some of the people we Tracted into over the past couple of weeks.
We had about an hour long conversation with two girls, and it was really
amazing. They started asking questions, so we were able to teach them
more about The Book Of Mormon, why we come out as missionaries, and how
much Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love them. They expressed to us
how alcohol and smoking is consuming their lives, and has been a huge
challenge for them. The conversation got really sincere and the Spirit
was definitely present. At that moment we expressed to one of them and
testified that Jesus Christ knows and loved her so much. Immediately we
all felt the Spirit super strong and she started to cry. We gave her a
little bit to be able to talk again, and we told her that feeling she
felt was the Holy Ghost. We invited them to attend church, and they
said they want to make a change in their lives. They weren’t able to
make it this week, but we are hoping they come sometime soon. During
that same night we Tracted into a man named Keen. He is in his early
30’s, and we were able to talk with him about The Book Of Mormon, where
it came from, and that it is another testament of Jesus Christ. He
accepted a copy, and we have a return appointment with him this Saturday.
He told us just recently he had been talking to his brother about how
they need to get back to a church and have that spiritual aspect in
their lives again, then we show up at his door. “There are no
coincidences”, as Elder Rasband said this past General Conference. I
know there are divine coincidences all around us, we just need to
recognize them! Yesterday we also got in contact with Joe and Isabel,
the people we met my first day back in Greeley. We helped them move a
tree they had just cut down, and taught them about The Book Of Mormon.
We were able to set a return appointment for next week! I can’t wait to
meet with them!
The part member family that we were
working with, got kicked out of their house and we couldn’t find them.
Their phones didn’t receive calls or anything. We found them on
Facebook and reached out to them through Facebook Messenger as a last
effort to find out what happened to them. Actually just this morning
about an hour ago, we received a lengthy response explaining the hard
situation that they are in. They told us that they have been reading
from The Book Of Mormon for comfort, and they are still interested in us
coming over. We gave them our bishops number so they can be helped
out. That is such a miracle! We had no way of contacting them, and then
we had Facebook Messenger as a tool to find them, reach out to them,
and start teaching them again! I am so glad the Lord has entrusted us
with these tools, and I know that He is hastening His work! We also met
with Ethan this week. We haven’t had contact with him for awhile
because he has been out of town with the national guard. We had a
wonderful lesson with him! He was so happy to see us, and told us
earlier that day he had been thinking about us, and how he felt like he
needed more spirituality in his life. Another “divine coincidence!” He
told us a friend told him we believe in three heavens, so we knew
exactly how to answer his question :). We taught him The Plan of
Salvation and he had so many awesome questions to ask! We invited him
to read and pray about The Book Of Mormon, and he told us he would! We
promised it would bring him happiness throughout all of the difficulties
he has had lately in his life. Such an awesome lesson! Parker
is still on date to be baptized, the part member families son, but we
will have to push it back because we couldn’t find them for a week. We
were also able to set Isaiah Lopez on date to be baptized as well! He
is part of another part member family who we started teaching this past
week. I can’t wait to teach them more as well!
A random guy walked into church the other day, and told us he was
a non active member who hadn’t been active since his baptism. He told
us him and his wife wanted to come back and join the church! His wife
isn’t a member, so we are excited! We are teaching them tonight!
Interesting thing is, the church can’t find his records. We might have
to baptize him again if they can’t find his records, so things should be
interesting! Our plan is to teach them The Restoration tonight and
invite them to be baptized. We can’t wait!
I was reading in Ether this week, and all of chapter 5 stood out
to me! It is six verses, but it is jam packed with so much
information! It is Moroni telling us that the Book Of Mormon will have
witnesses. In verse two he references the testimony of the eight
witnesses, and in three and four he references the testimony of the
three witnesses. I haven’t ever realized this before but it is
incredible. It says,
2 And behold, ye may be privileged that ye may show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work;
3 And unto three shall they be shown by the power of God; wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true.
4
And in the mouth of three witnesses shall these things be established;
and the testimony of three, and this work, in the which shall be shown
forth the power of God and also his word, of which the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Ghost bear record--and all this shall stand as a
testimony against the world at the last day.
Isn’t it amazing to think that 11 men, along with Jospeh Smith
have given their names to the world as a witness that The Book Of Mormon
is the word of God, and they have witnessed them! I invite each of you
to read these witnesses at the front of The Book Of Mormon, and to
think of how amazing it is that we have their testimonies! These men
never denied these things, and had testimonies till they died. I can
testify to you that I know The Book Of Mormon is the word of God, and
that Jospeh Smith is indeed a prophet of God who restored Jesus Christ
Church back to the earth, in preparation for the second coming of our
Savior Jesus Christ! I love how if we read from The Book Of Mormon, we
can receive a witness of its divinity if we ask. All we have to do is
ask! I love each of you, and hope you have a great week!
Love
Elder Bailey
Pics:
1-2: My Bday! (The incredible cake!)
3: Our District Meeting, Sister McMurray came!
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