2/27/18 | God is wish us!

Another amazing week here in Wellington!  I just want to say that I absolutely love being a missionary!  Talking, teaching, and testifying to people about the gospel is one of the greatest things I’ve ever experienced!  We had some interesting experiences Tracting this past week with a bunch of incredibly rude people who opposed us, threatened to call the police, and hated on us.  But it just reminds of of a scripture in 2 Kings 6:16 which says,

16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.

       It is so amazing to know this for a fact, that Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ are on our side, and as we continue to preach the gospel, we will be safe and protected.  I just want to testify that God is on our side!  Never forget that!  Anyways just some thoughts, let me tell you how the week.

       We were able to have dinner with Bob, one of our Investigators, and a lesson afterwards. We were able to teach about Faith, and how we strengthen our Faith through scripture study.  It was a great lesson, but he hasn’t been reading, and hasn’t made it to church in about a month.  Right now it has been super hard to get our Investigators to church, but we are continually doing what we can to help them!  It is a little sad, because it is ultimately their choice to make the commitment. We will continue to work with him and invite him to come closer to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! 

      We met with Paul this past Saturday with our ward mission leader Brother Whittier.  Paul has been reading from The Book Of Mormon, and he studied from the Pamphlet we left him with last time!  Amazing!  We continued to teach him more about The Plan of Salvation.  We covered all the points, but focused a lot on the Spirit World.  We read passages out of the The Bible and The Book Of Mormon that explained more about the Spirit World.  Paul loved the things we taught him, and how those who don’t get a chance to receive the gospel or who reject the message here on earth are taught by people up in the Spirit World!  Brother Whittier was an amazing member present, and was a great addition.  He also connected really well with Paul too!  We invited Paul to continue to read and to attend church.  He said he would!  We were looking forward to him coming, but he ended up not making it.  It was a little frustrating, but we think he totally spaced it.  After we even went over and dropped off a Ward basketball schedule and he didn’t mention it..... we’ll see what happened this next Saturday.  We can’t wait to continue to teach Paul about the Restored Gospel!  Each lesson we can see the Spirit touch his heart, and how happy it makes him.  He told us that this just all “makes sense” to him, how amazing!  Can’t wait to teach him again!

      We had two lessons with the Mondragon family.  They are some Investigators the previous missionaries had met with, but we hadn’t been able to get in contact for awhile, so we finally did and set weekly lessons for every Monday and Friday, so that should be good!  We mainly teach two of the Mondragon kids between the ages of 8-12, and they are really receptive!  We have had a little difficulty getting them to remember to read, so we taught them yesterday about why God asks us to read the scriptures.  We testified to them that they can feel Heavenly Father’s love for them, and the Saviors love for them as they read.  The Spirit was definitely there as we testified, and we hope the kids could feel that too!  We are hoping to continue to help them come closer to their Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father!  We had two other lessons with a man named Curly and another man named Mike.  I’ve mentioned Mike in previous letters, but haven’t talked too much about Curly.  Mike actually read on his own!  So we were super pumped about that.  We are still going to send him texts every day or so to remind him to read!  We know he will slowly become more and more converted!  Mike’s dog is still getting in the way of him attending church, but we are still working on that.  We met with Curly with the intent of dropping him after we left, but he shocked us as we spoke with him!  He told us that he had gotten really out of the habit of reading the Book Of Mormon, but has a big desire to read more and meet with us.  We were pretty shocked, but we plan on meeting with him weekly to teach him more about the Restored Gospel!  We know as he reads, he will feel Heavenly Fathers love for him and gain a desire to come to church!  

      Wellington is still pretty dead between 7:00-9:00 every single night, so we are continuing to visit less active members during that time.  We have seen so much success as we’ve done this!  We have found out that a lot of the people we have visited have moved and the people who live there aren’t interested in learning more about the Gospel.  However, we had visited a family who has gone through some huge medical issues lately and we met with them this past week.  They are from Colorado and had recently moved back from a town near Richfield Utah, so they knew where Grandma and Grandpa Burr live!  We got to know them, and we connected really well!  We were able to share a lesson about Faith using Alma 32:21, and we emphasized strengthening our Faith by reading the scriptures regularly.  We promised that it would help them through these rough trials that they have been going through.  As we said that, the Spirit was so strong to the point that my eyes welled up in tears, it was crazy!  We could see the Spirit working with them, and they said they would make an effort to read their scriptures regularly.  It was an amazing visit!  I love participating in reactivation, it is really fulfilling to share the gospel with those who once partook of the fruits of the gospel, and those who haven’t yet.  Both are different, but both are so amazing!  The joy that comes from sharing the gospel can’t be felt any other way!

       In my studies this past week, I read 2 Nephi 9:41 which states,

41 O then, my beloved brethren, come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.

        The whole talked about the Atonement Of our Savior Jesus Christ!  It is an amazing chapter, and I learned more about the sacrifice our Savior gave for us.  I would definitely invite each of you to study this chapter, it is amazing!  This verse stood out to me because it speaks so much of the truth!  Jesus Christ is the only way we can repent and receive eternal life.  I love it when it says “and He employeth no servant there”, He is the way and we have accept the everlasting gift that He has given to us in order to receive what Heavenly Father has in store for each and every one of us!  I hope you all have an amazing week!  

Love,

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1-2: some church’s in the town of Wellington!  Pretty interesting if you ask me......

 

2/20/18 | Staying in Wellington!

Elder Burke and I found out last Saturday that we will be staying together in Wellington for 6 more weeks!  We’re looking forward to this upcoming transfer, it should be a good one.  It will be nice to stay in the area for another transfer!  There are more people to find in this town!  Thanks for the Valentines Day package this past week Mom!  I loved all of the cookies and treats you sent me, and the awesome letters that all of you wrote to me!  Thanks! I love you guys so much! :)

      Last week I mentioned a referral that we were going to eat dinner with last Tuesday night.  We met this man named Scott that night for dinner at the Wellington Grill, and it was a great first meeting!  We were able to get to know him really well, and talk about his life and what he knows about the Gospel.  His girlfriend is a member, and he has a lot of questions that he wants to ask us, which is honestly the best thing we can ask for!  We set up a time next week when he would be in town to meet with him at his house, so we are looking forward to that!  It was awesome to eat dinner with him and have an incredible first contact with Scott.  He seems really promising!

       I was able to conduct two baptismal interviews this past week for Shawna and Cameron in the YSA Ward in Fort Collins for the Sisters in our District.  It is such an amazing opportunity to interview candidates who have sincerely repented of their sins, and want to be baptized!  Both interviews went very well, and being able to hear both of them bare their testimonies was pretty special.  I was able to feel the Spirit so strongly when they testified to me that they knew what they learned is true!  Especially Cameron’s testimony to me about Faith.  She has amazingly great faith, and it was awesome to learn from her.  We were able to attend both of their baptism’s and confirmations as well!  How awesome is that!  Cameron actually asked Elder Burke and I to stand in the circle when she was confirmed a member of the church and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost!  The Spirit was so strong in that Sacrament Meeting, and I’m so glad Elder Burke and I could be a part of it.  I love hearing the testimonies of those who have just found the church, they are some of the most powerful!  What a blessing it is to have the Gospel in our lives!  I’m grateful for Heavenly Father and for the love he has shown each of us in providing this wonderful gospel for us!  I know this is Jesus Christ’s Church Restored again through Joseph Smith.  What a blessing it is to be a part of that church!

       We had a few service opportunities that we helped out with this past week.  We helped with the Wellington Food Bank, we helped our Zone Leaders move someone down in Fort Collins, and we served a Texas Roadhouse lunch at a Livestock Auction at the Weaver Ranch here in Wellington or I guess out in the country a bit but close enough!  It was awesome being able to serve others, just like every single day as a missionary!  It is amazing to have our focus on others every single day!  Our bishop invited us this past Sunday to help out with the Livestock Auction, so we headed out there yesterday.  It was bitterly cold let me tell you!  It was 68 degrees on Sunday, and yesterday we woke up to it in the teens, and this morning it was in the negatives...... Anyways, we were serving lunch to all the country folk, and it was fun to meet some new people!  The Auction was in a barn, but it wasn’t sealed too well, so it was cold even with a bunch of heaters running!  Haha, Elder Burke and I got a bit chilly standing there serving up some nice steaks, potatoes, corn, and beans!  Once everyone went through we were able to get some food, and we went and warmed up our shoes and feet at one of the heaters.  This was my first Livestock Auction, and it was fun to see a little bit of how it worked!  Man can that Auction guy talk fast!  Some of the bulls they were auctioning off were HUGE! sheesh.  It was a really cool experience.  

       We had a lesson with Paul this past Saturday, and it went really well!  Paul invited his wife to join us for the lesson, but his wife was busy cleaning up for family coming over.  Hopefully she will join us next lesson.  We started with following up with him about how his reading has been going, and how his study of the Restoration Pamphlet has gone.  He told us that he had read and studied from the pamphlet!  How awesome!  We discussed some of his questions, and talked more about Joseph Smith seeing our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ face to face.  It was awesome to see him understand more and more about what we taught!  We started teaching him The Plan of Salvation, and started to have some really good conversation when his father and mother in law came with a bunch of cousins.  When they saw us, they said “Paul, you buying insurance?”  Haha, we laughed, and he said to them that we were having some gospel discussion.  We had to leave, but invited Paul to read the rest of the Plan of Salvation Pamphlet, and that we would teach him the rest next Saturday.  We invited him to church, and he said he had another thing schedule for Sunday, but that he said he wants to make it over there to church soon!  We are really excited to continue to work with Paul!  He is such an amazing investigator, and has a drive to learn more.  What a blessing it has been to find him and teach him.  

       In my studies this past week, I read 2 Nephi 5:20-21.  This is right after Nephi is commanded to separate his people from his brethren because they were going to kill him.  These verses say,

20 Wherefore, the word of the Lord was fulfilled which he spake unto me, saying that: Inasmuch as they will not hearken unto thy words they shall be cut off from the presence of the Lord. And behold, they were cut off from his presence.

21 And he had caused the cursing to come upon them, yea, even a sore cursing, because of their iniquity. For behold, they had hardened their hearts against him, that they had become like unto a flint; wherefore, as they were white, and exceedingly fair and delightsome, that they might not be enticing unto my people the Lord God did cause a skin of blackness to come upon them.

       As I read this, it made me think a lot about the cursing.  I always thought the curse of the Lamanites was the “skin of blackness,” but I read from the institute Book Of Mormon student study manual, and it said that President Joseph Fielding Smith stated,

“Some people have mistakenly thought that the dark skin placed upon the Lamanites was the curse. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) explained that the dark skin was not the curse:

“The dark skin was placed upon the Lamanites so that they could be distinguished from the Nephites and to keep the two peoples from mixing. The dark skin was the sign of the curse [not the curse itself]. The curse was the withdrawal of the Spirit of the Lord. …

“The dark skin of those who have come into the Church is no longer to be considered a sign of the curse. … These converts are delightsome and have the Spirit of the Lord” (Answers to Gospel Questions, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., 5 vols. [1957–66], 3:122–23).”

        It is amazing to think of the curse being the Spirit of the Lord withdrawing from the people, how interesting.  It reminds me of each week when we partake of the sacrament that we promise the Lord that we will keep His Commandments, take His name upon us, and “always remember Him,” but it also has a promise if we do these things and always remember Him that we will “have His Spirit to be with them.”  I would invite each of you to think about the covenants you made at baptism, especially this next Sunday when you partake of the Sacrament, and truly pay attention to the words that are said.  The Atonement, your baptismal covenants, and the Sacrament will take on a new meaning as we truly listen to those covenants we are renewing with Heavenly Father.  Truly listening to the words which are said has helped me focus more on Jesus Christ!  I wish I was better at understanding these things, but I know it has helped me to learn more!  I love you all, and hope you all have a great week!  

Love,

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1: walkin in some nice nice ice by our mission office.

2-7: Livestock Auction!  Lots of big boy cows!!

 

2/13/18 | Quick Week!

   What a week!  I can’t believe it is already over...... I wanted to start out with wishing Grandma Burr a happy Birthday today!  Also a happy birthday to Randon in a couple days and Grandpa Bailey at the end of this week.  I LOVE you guys, and I’m grateful to have you in my life.  

      This past week we were able to teach Bob, and share a wonderful message with him.  He is struggling still, but we were able to talk about the power of reading The Book Of Mormon.  He hasn’t read since his big trial came up in his life, but he told us how much the priesthood blessing we gave him helped.  He told us he felt almost instantly better after we were able to give him one.  Amazing!  I love the power of the priesthood!  We invited him to read from the Book Of Mormon, and promised him how much it would help him!  Honestly, the power of The Book Of Mormon is SO REAL! I know you can see the blessings from it as you read daily.  

       We finally got in contact with some potential investigators this past week, one of the families was the Mondragon’s.  We taught the Grandma and two grand kids.  The rest of the family was there, but they didn’t pay attention much.  We were able to read Alma 32:21 about Faith with them, and promised them that they will build their Faith in Jesus Christ and their Heavenly Father as they read from The Book Of Mormon.  They said they would, so that will be exciting to meet with them again next week!  Our lesson with Paul cancelled this last Saturday, because Paul and his family is sick with the Flu..... along with have of Colorado it seems like!  We are looking forward to meeting with them this Saturday! 

        We had an uncontacted referral when we first got into the area, and we have been trying to get in contact the whole time we’ve been here.  Yesterday we called the lady that referred this guy, and she was so happy we called!  It turns out the referral is her boyfriend, and he wants to learn more!  After talking about it, we decided it would be awesome to meet with him tonight at around 7:00.  She said she would call him, and set it all up.  She called us back and told us that we were scheduled to have dinner with him tonight, and he is very excited to talk with us!  How amazing!  Members make missionary work so much easier.  We got in contact with the man, Scott, and made sure that dinner tonight still works.  He said it does, so we are having our first meeting with an investigator over dinner, how amazing!  This one seems super promising, so I’ll keep you posted in how it goes.  

        We had Stake Conference this past Saturday night, for the adult session, and Sunday.  Wow, so uplifting!  The focus of the conference was Family History and Temple Work, Marriage (which applied a lot to working with missionary companions), Daily Book Of Mormon Scripture Study, and ministering to others.  Such amazing stuff!  I learned a lot of things I can apply to missionary work, mainly working with companions more effectively, and the importance of daily scripture study.  One of the speakers made it a point to say how we need to continually be feasting upon the word of God, to always be holding fast to the iron rod.  The iron rod is the word of God, and if we even take one day away from holding fast to the iron rod, we can slowly or quickly wander and become lost.  It is always the little things we need to do to keep our testimonies seeing, Read, Pray, Attend Church, and go to the Temple!  It is so amazing how big of a difference that can make in someone’s life!  I would invite all of you to evaluate how you are doing, and pick something that you can improve on.  God loves us, and wants us to come closer to Him!  We can By these small and simple things!  

        In my studies this past week, I read from 2 Nephi 3.  In this chapter, Lehi is prophesying to his child Joseph.  This is when Joseph Smith is prophesied by Joseph of Egypt.  So amazing!  Especially in verse 15, which states,

15 And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father. And he shall be like unto me; for the thing, which the Lord shall bring forth by his hand, by the power of the Lord shall bring my people unto salvation.

       Amazing!  I always wonder, what was Joseph Smith thinking when he translated this chapter?  Joseph did restore Jesus Christ’s Church back onto the earth, and The Book Of Mormon was provided as written evidence of God’s love and the Saviors ministry unto all of God’s children.  I know this to be true with all of my heart!  I feel it every single time I read from its pages.  I’m grateful for this Restored Gospel, and that we have The Book Of Mormon, and living prophets and apostles to guide us in these latter days! I hope you all have a wonderful week, don’t forget to read your scriptures!  :)

Love

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1: Baking Cookies!

2. District Pday in Estes Park!  This is the Stanley Hotel, supposed to be a famous haunted hotel or something.  Apparent Steven King wrote a book about it?  

2/6/18 | Tom's Baptism :)

  This past week was amazing!  As my subject line says, Tom got baptized!  Tom is an investigator that Elder Hatch and I taught in Greeley, and this past Saturday he was able to enter into the waters of baptism!  It was so amazing.  Elder Burke and I were able to attend, and it was so fun to see Tom and members from my past area.  The Spirit was so strong throughout the whole baptism, and I am so grateful we were able to go!  Tom is honestly the most golden investigator that I have ever taught on my mission!  He was so sincere about learning more about the gospel, he has a desire to come closer to Jesus Christ, and he is so open to follow His example by being baptized in His church!  What an amazing opportunity it is to see the fruits of our labors.  These are the kinds of experiences that make serving a mission so special, I love seeing the gospel change the life of an individual!  Tom is forever changed now, and he has started on his covenant path to eternal salvation!  I’m so grateful that Heavenly Father put Tom into our path.  What a miracle!

       We were able to teach Bob this past week, and it went well!  It has to be one of the most spiritual lessons I’ve ever been a part of on my mission!  We had an amazing discussion on Priesthood Authority.  This is the one topic he is having problems with, so we had an absolutely amazing discussion!  At first it was a little contentious, and Bob started to “throw stones” at us about Priesthood Authority.  We brought up how Jesus Christ came to John the Baptist and asked to be baptized.  He did this because John the Baptist had Priesthood Authority because he was of the tribe of Levi.  He then asked us how we knew that the same Priesthood was Restored to the prophet Joseph Smith.  We told him that it is because we have read from The Book Of Mormon and prayed to know if it is true, and we have gained a testimony of that through The Book Of Mormon.  He then told us that his faith is based in the Bible, and it is weird to think that ours isn’t.  We were then able to explain how our faith is based in both the Bible and The Book Of Mormon!  The Bible helps us gain a testimony of Jesus Christ and His original church that was established on the earth, and The Book Of Mormon helps us gain a testimony of how that same church has been restored again through a modern day prophet named Joseph Smith.  As we said this and testified to him, the Spirit was so overwhelmingly strong, my whole body was filled!  My bosom was burning so strongly, and Bob sat back and was really amazed.  He told us he felt such a strong power as we testified, and we explained to him that the power he felt wasn’t because of us, but it was the Holy Ghost testifying of truth!  What an incredible experience!  He committed to continue to read, and start and end his studies in prayer.  I’m so grateful and have such a strong testimony about the Holy Ghost!  I’m grateful that He testified of truth!  

        On Saturday we got in contact with Paul, a man we met while Tracting a few weeks ago, and we set up a lesson for the next day on Sunday.  Our ward mission leader was planning on coming, but he got sick, so right after church Brother Wall offered to come with us.  Brother Wall ended up being a perfect fit for him!  He was a convert 17 years ago, and shared his conversion story with Paul, it was amazing!  Paul started reading from The Book Of Mormon, and he has loved it so far!  We got to know him better, and he told us since he has moved to Wellington, he hasn’t found a church that fits him and his family.  He also told us that he is a seeker of truth, and he wants to know if The Book Of Mormon is true!  So amazing!  We were able to teach him about The Restoration, and he had so many great questions.  We invited him to read and pray about The Book Of Mormon and to come to church next week.  He told us he would, and we are teaching him again this upcoming Saturday!  He is such a miracle, and we are grateful that he has come into our life to teach him!  

       We were able to teach our investigator Mike yesterday as well.  He is still struggling with reading The Book Of Mormon daily, so we came up with a plan with him to text him reminders throughout the week, so hopefully he will start to progress more!  We promised him that as he made it an effort to read daily, he would receive help throughout the rest of the day, especially with his crazy little fuzzy dog!  We are excited for him to start progressing more!  

       While Tracting we met a drunk man, and he asked us what we believed, so we started to teach him a little.  We noticed he was drunk and started to get our way out of there.  He was smoking, had a beer in hand, and then proceeded to offer us marijuana.  We were able to get out of there safe, haha but it was a little interesting for a bit!  Oh well, we’re in Colorado so what do you expect......  

        In my studies this past week, I was in 1 Nephi 19:23 which states, 

23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.

       I love it in this verse where it talks about how Nephi likened the scriptures unto themselves!  I know that is such an important thing to do, especially scriptures from The Book Of Mormon!  These sacred scriptures were written for us, for our time.  As we liken these scriptures unto ourselves we will be able to apply those principles into our lives and strengthen our testimonies of the scriptures!  I can promise that you will have a new found love for The Book Of Mormon, and it will become a part of who you are!  Heavenly Father has provided this gospel and The Book Of Mormon to make us happy, and I’m grateful for that.  The love he has shown me in my life has been incredible, and I know He loves each and every one of you tremendously!   I hope you all have a wonderful week, and remember that Heavenly Father loves you! :)

Love,

Elder Bailey 

Pics:

1-3: nice speed limit, haha. We found Harambe while Tracting, and had a nice double rainbow!

4: Tom’s Baptism! 

5: nice time doing service at the Wellington Food Bank!