Elder Gordon and I are working very well together, and I can tell it
is going to be an awesome transfer with him! Elder Gordon is from
Preston, Idaho, home of Napoleon Dynamite of course! He has been on his
mission for three months, and he is an amazing missionary! I can’t
wait for the transfer we will have, we will see a lot of miracles! We
were able to see some this week as well.
We had a really good District Meeting this past Thursday! Our District is pretty much all new except for me and another missionary, so we had a great first meeting as a brand new district! Near the end of District Meeting we had an awesome surprise! President McMurray came and joined us! The whole district was sharing really good insights, and we were setting District Goals when President walked in, then everyone went dead silent..... It was the funniest thing I saw all week! We asked President to share some thought at the end, so he did. We were able to learn a lot from him! He explained some of the announcements in his weekly letter to us, and our mission is getting smart phones in a few weeks! So crazy, I would have never thought I would have a smart phone as a missionary! The missionaries who have been out for longer don’t have to buy one, we’ll just be using loner mission smart phones. It should be interesting! I’ll keep you updated on how that goes! After District Meeting, I had a Doctrinal Question about Repentance, so Elder Gordon and I got to talk with President McMurray for a little bit. He is so knowledgeable! As we were walking out to our cars, President asked us what plans we had for the rest of the day. Right as we told him we had a lesson with Jeremiah, Jeremiah sent us a text and said he had to cancel because he was sick. That was a bummer, but then President offered to bring us to lunch! We went to Chick-fil-a with him, and had a great time! We asked him more Doctrinal questions, and he shared really amazing mission stories he has from when he served as a missionary in Australia. It was such a good time with him, I think President McMurray honestly has to be the best mission President in the world, hands down!
Later that same day after we got home, we were having Companionship Study when we witnessed a huge miracle! Earlier that day, a missionary who is now in our district told us about someone up in Wellington that we could try to teach again, a former investigator named Shawna. The missionary told us that she almost got baptized, then they were transferred. We told them we would check and see what was up, but it wasn’t on the top of our priority list. During Companionship Study, I was telling Elder Gordon about how I was sad a lady who drove up to Elder Burke and I wanted to be baptized, but never called our number she got from us. As we spoke about this, we had the impression that this lady that drove up to us back in March was Shawna the former investigator. We were a little shocked by this information, but we texted the number we had for Shawna, and about 10 minutes later she called us and told us that she was the one who talked to us on the side of the road! How amazing is that! Our dinner had cancelled on us that night, so she invited us to eat with her and her daughter at the Wellington Grill. We met them there, and had a great talk! Her 16 year old daughter, Destiny, wants to be taught too. This is going to be an amazing opportunity! I love seeing Miracles! They happen every single day!
We had a lesson with Paul which went very well! He actually invited us over for lunch beforehand, and he made us some sandwich’s. How Christlike! We were able to meet and start a good relationship with all four of his kids. This was a little miracle of itself because we know that as we become friends with the kids, it will help reach Paul’s wife better! We ended up having an amazing lesson with him, and talked with him about what he had been studying from the additional study sections in the first three pamphlets! He had a bunch of questions, and we were able to have a great lesson! He is slowly but surely progressing! We can’t wait to continue to help him on his path to conversion!!
We had exchanges yesterday with the Zone Leaders, Elder Jenson and Elder Bennett. They are both amazing guys! I got to go with a Elder Jenson for the day. We actually go home together, so it was fun to be companions with him. We had an absolutely incredible day! One of the best/most fruitful exchanges I’ve been on! By the end of the day we handed out eight copies of The Book Of Mormon, but that is just a little mediocre. The best thing was all the return appointments we scheduled for the rest of the week. The individuals we talked to were just ready to receive the gospel! If I explained what happened with each one it would be really long..... but I’ll share one! We were talking with people in Old Town Fort Collins at night. Elder Jenson actually loved Old Town because it reminds him of his hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! It is a really cool part of town, that is always busy with people. It was 9:05, and we were headed back to our car, when we ran into a guy named Blaine. He had no interest in talking with us, and told us that he would never become a Jehovah’s Witness. We explained to him that we were actually Mormon Missionaries. He immediately softened and talked with us. After our conversation, he told us he wanted to meet with us again, and that he knew that we were supposed to cross path’s tonight! We got his contact information, set up a return appointment, and went on our way. I know that Heavenly Father places people in our path’s who are ready to receive the Gospel. We see it so much! It is incredible! What an amazing day, I learned a lot from Elder Jenson, he’s such a stud!
We actually started another Book Of Mormon reading challenge as a mission this past week. We started in April 7th and we are reading nine pages a day (excluding Sunday’s and Tuesday’s, designated catch up days) and that is on average how many pages Joseph Smith Translated in an 85 day span. Our challenge is 85 days, and we’ll finish the same amount of time it took Joseph to translate it! This will be a cool experience! We are underlining the “Name’s and Titles Of Jesus Christ.” I have found in the past few days that there are a ton of references to our Savior, it is baffling how many there are! I’d invite you to just look at the first nine pages and look how many times He is mentioned! I thought it was interesting about the name “Lord.” I looked it up in the Guide to the Scriptures, and it says that when Lord is referenced it is talking about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! There are so many times that the Book Of Mormon references “Lord,” it is amazing! One verse that stood out to me was 1 Nephi 1:19 which says,
We had a really good District Meeting this past Thursday! Our District is pretty much all new except for me and another missionary, so we had a great first meeting as a brand new district! Near the end of District Meeting we had an awesome surprise! President McMurray came and joined us! The whole district was sharing really good insights, and we were setting District Goals when President walked in, then everyone went dead silent..... It was the funniest thing I saw all week! We asked President to share some thought at the end, so he did. We were able to learn a lot from him! He explained some of the announcements in his weekly letter to us, and our mission is getting smart phones in a few weeks! So crazy, I would have never thought I would have a smart phone as a missionary! The missionaries who have been out for longer don’t have to buy one, we’ll just be using loner mission smart phones. It should be interesting! I’ll keep you updated on how that goes! After District Meeting, I had a Doctrinal Question about Repentance, so Elder Gordon and I got to talk with President McMurray for a little bit. He is so knowledgeable! As we were walking out to our cars, President asked us what plans we had for the rest of the day. Right as we told him we had a lesson with Jeremiah, Jeremiah sent us a text and said he had to cancel because he was sick. That was a bummer, but then President offered to bring us to lunch! We went to Chick-fil-a with him, and had a great time! We asked him more Doctrinal questions, and he shared really amazing mission stories he has from when he served as a missionary in Australia. It was such a good time with him, I think President McMurray honestly has to be the best mission President in the world, hands down!
Later that same day after we got home, we were having Companionship Study when we witnessed a huge miracle! Earlier that day, a missionary who is now in our district told us about someone up in Wellington that we could try to teach again, a former investigator named Shawna. The missionary told us that she almost got baptized, then they were transferred. We told them we would check and see what was up, but it wasn’t on the top of our priority list. During Companionship Study, I was telling Elder Gordon about how I was sad a lady who drove up to Elder Burke and I wanted to be baptized, but never called our number she got from us. As we spoke about this, we had the impression that this lady that drove up to us back in March was Shawna the former investigator. We were a little shocked by this information, but we texted the number we had for Shawna, and about 10 minutes later she called us and told us that she was the one who talked to us on the side of the road! How amazing is that! Our dinner had cancelled on us that night, so she invited us to eat with her and her daughter at the Wellington Grill. We met them there, and had a great talk! Her 16 year old daughter, Destiny, wants to be taught too. This is going to be an amazing opportunity! I love seeing Miracles! They happen every single day!
We had a lesson with Paul which went very well! He actually invited us over for lunch beforehand, and he made us some sandwich’s. How Christlike! We were able to meet and start a good relationship with all four of his kids. This was a little miracle of itself because we know that as we become friends with the kids, it will help reach Paul’s wife better! We ended up having an amazing lesson with him, and talked with him about what he had been studying from the additional study sections in the first three pamphlets! He had a bunch of questions, and we were able to have a great lesson! He is slowly but surely progressing! We can’t wait to continue to help him on his path to conversion!!
We had exchanges yesterday with the Zone Leaders, Elder Jenson and Elder Bennett. They are both amazing guys! I got to go with a Elder Jenson for the day. We actually go home together, so it was fun to be companions with him. We had an absolutely incredible day! One of the best/most fruitful exchanges I’ve been on! By the end of the day we handed out eight copies of The Book Of Mormon, but that is just a little mediocre. The best thing was all the return appointments we scheduled for the rest of the week. The individuals we talked to were just ready to receive the gospel! If I explained what happened with each one it would be really long..... but I’ll share one! We were talking with people in Old Town Fort Collins at night. Elder Jenson actually loved Old Town because it reminds him of his hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! It is a really cool part of town, that is always busy with people. It was 9:05, and we were headed back to our car, when we ran into a guy named Blaine. He had no interest in talking with us, and told us that he would never become a Jehovah’s Witness. We explained to him that we were actually Mormon Missionaries. He immediately softened and talked with us. After our conversation, he told us he wanted to meet with us again, and that he knew that we were supposed to cross path’s tonight! We got his contact information, set up a return appointment, and went on our way. I know that Heavenly Father places people in our path’s who are ready to receive the Gospel. We see it so much! It is incredible! What an amazing day, I learned a lot from Elder Jenson, he’s such a stud!
We actually started another Book Of Mormon reading challenge as a mission this past week. We started in April 7th and we are reading nine pages a day (excluding Sunday’s and Tuesday’s, designated catch up days) and that is on average how many pages Joseph Smith Translated in an 85 day span. Our challenge is 85 days, and we’ll finish the same amount of time it took Joseph to translate it! This will be a cool experience! We are underlining the “Name’s and Titles Of Jesus Christ.” I have found in the past few days that there are a ton of references to our Savior, it is baffling how many there are! I’d invite you to just look at the first nine pages and look how many times He is mentioned! I thought it was interesting about the name “Lord.” I looked it up in the Guide to the Scriptures, and it says that when Lord is referenced it is talking about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! There are so many times that the Book Of Mormon references “Lord,” it is amazing! One verse that stood out to me was 1 Nephi 1:19 which says,
19
And it came to pass that the Jews did mock him because of the things
which he testified of them; for he truly testified of their wickedness
and their abominations; and he testified that the things which he saw
and heard, and also the things which he read in the book, manifested
plainly of the coming of a Messiah, and also the redemption of the
world.
We may be mocked for the things
we believe, for believing in Jesus Christ and His Gospel, but it is
essential that we NEVER forget those sacred experiences that built our
testimonies upon Him. I’d like to invite you guys to think of those
past spiritual experiences you’ve had in your life that have made your
testimony what it is today, reflect on them, and NEVER forget them.
When our testimonies are challenged, and doubts from the adversary creep
into our minds, always look back on those experiences. They will help
you overcome those thoughts. As Elder Uchtdorf once said, “Doubt your
Doubts, before you Doubt your Faith.” I hope you guys have a great
week. Heavenly Father loves each of us more than we can imagine, ask
and accept the blessing He wants to pour out to us! Love you!
Love,
Elder Bailey
Pics:
1: a nice word carving from Old Town Fort Collins!
2: temple trip today!
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