What a week! I love being a missionary!!! Man time flies, so crazy that it is September 11th! Well, this week went great. We had exchanges with Elder Treanor and Elder Fronk this last Wednesday, and they went great! I was with Elder Treanor. It was a great day and a great exchange! We decided we were going to do a bit of street contacting after dinner, so we went and walked some busy streets of Casper. Well, they were usually busy, but they were kind of dead. We talked to the people we came across, but none were super interested. At about 8:45, we saw this guy sitting in his truck on the side of the road. We walked past him and both of us felt like we definitely needed to talk with this guy. We approached his window and waived hello. He rolled in down, and we talked with him. He was not too interested, but Elder Treanor saw he had a camera around his neck. That struck up a conversation. When it was about to end, Elder Treanor asked if he would take our pictures. He said he would for sure! He got out and actually talked with us for another 45 minutes! It was amazing how just been friendly and asking for him to take our picture, open some doors! At the end of our conversation, after a lot of laughs and then testifying to him of what we knew to be true, we invited him to attend church. He told us, “Well I can’t believe it, but I’m actually going to come and check it out!” We hope and pray he does! How amazing! He took a few pics of us, and then we were off. It is amazing to see the people we are able to touch when we put forth the effort, even when it was not very “busy.” God still provides a way for all of His children to hear about the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ!! Even thought this man may not join the church anytime soon, we helped him feel the spirit. He will remember that experience someday to when he is completely ready to change. Missions are truly incredible!
We had a lesson with Mark and Debbie again this past week. We read Alma 42 with them. They are starting to read more again on their own. We invited them to church, but they couldn’t make it once again this week. It has been a frustrating time teaching them, not seeing the progress too much, but hopefully someday they will come around! They are great people, who have a great desire to change. All on God’s timetable! Right after that, we had a lesson with a inactive member, Sarah, who we got in contact with a few weeks ago. We talked to her about The Gospel of Jesus Christ, with an emphasis and focus on faith. We read Alma 32:21, 26-30 with her, and had a great discussion about how we can each individually develop and grow our faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. She asked us if she should focus her studies in the Book of Mormon, and we said that would be great! We invited her to read daily from The Book of Mormon and to pray daily as well. She said she would, so that is awesome! She hopes to attend church in a week or two! It has been great to see her desire to come back to church since she reached out to us. So amazing!
We had a bunch of member visits, teaching families about missionary work, this past week! We also met and taught Roger and Jerri again, a member and a non member we’ve been working with. They are doing good, coming to church every week (except one since they were out of town) since we’ve been meeting with them! That has been cool to see their knowledge in the gospel grow, and their desire to meet with us grow as well. I love them! We hope and pray they may continue to attend church, and have a desire to meet with us continually!
One of the most exciting lessons we’ve had this past week were with Ken and his wife Nicole. We taught them two more times, and reviewed the Baptismal interview questions with him. He is so prepared and humble. He understood all we have taught him, and has committed to follow all of the gospel standards and commandments. It has been cool to see not only Ken, but his wife change for the better as we’ve taught them! They are both progressing so well. Ken had his Baptismal Interview yesterday, and is all ready to go this Thursday! What a miracle it has been to have Ken and Nicole come into our lives so that we could teach them. Wow! Can’t believe this is all happening so fast. We are looking forward to Thursday night for Ken’s baptism, we can’t wait to see him make those first covenants with God! We are so grateful that they both came into our lives, what a tender mercy from our loving Heavenly Father!
We had dinner last Friday with Angel, Jessica, and Jessica’s boyfriend. Angel is the little 9 year old girl we have been working with. It was a great dinner. We had a great lesson about the Atonement, reading from Alma 7:10-13. She hasn’t attended church in awhile, because they’ve been very busy with different things, but hopefully she starts attending soon! We’re grateful that God sent us to talk with them on the street next to our apartment so that they could start progressing in the gospel. Heavenly Father hand is in all the aspects of our lives, most the time He goes unnoticed. We always need to remember the small and simple blessing that he blesses us with every day. Speaking of this topic, I am grateful to be a missionary. This experience has blessed me now and for eternity. I love Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They are all so incredible!
Yesterday, we were determined to visit and contact a ton of people with interest. We didn’t get to talk to a lot of them, haha but it provided us a way to talk with a bunch of random people we wouldn’t have been able to talk with otherwise. Even though we didn’t see much “success” in finding more people to teach, we know we made an impact in someone yesterday through all the rejection!
Well, a lot of you may know this. My time is far spent...... this is very crazy to think about how two years of hard work, studying, preparing, sweat, rejection, enduring both hot and cold days, disappointments, daily fatigue, love, happiness, hardships, and difficulty, has been two of the most joyful years of my entire life! There is nothing like serving the Lord and doing His work! I’ve learned so much throughout my mission, I can’t even begin to write them, it would take up most of this email! Through all of the things I’ve learned, one things stands above them all. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He is your Savior. He suffered, bled, and died for us, so we can live with God again. He loved us enough to perform the Atonement, so that we could become perfect like our Father in Heaven. It was the most loving act ever performed, and I’m so grateful for it. I can’t express how much I love Him and my Heavenly Father. I know that The Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. If anyone doubts this, please prayerfully study it with an open heart! If you study and ponder about it, you will feel the Holy Ghost touch your heart! Every time I read from its pages, I feel the spirit testify to me that it is truly Christ’s Doctrine! I know that Joseph Smith is truly the prophet that God called to restore the same church that Jesus Christ himself established when He was on the earth. I love and respect the prophet Joseph with all my heart. I know that we have a living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. He receives revelation and guidance for the whole world! He is God’s mouthpiece. All of these things I know to be true were kindled and are continually being fed by a book, The Book of Mormon! What a blessing it has been to teach people about this joy and happiness I’ve experienced my whole life! I’m grateful for the people that Heavenly Father has sent in my path for my companions and I to reach out to. All things are done by and through our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ! I hope each of you feel how much love I have for this gospel as you’ve read my weekly emails! Because I truly do! :) There has been a scripture running through my mind the last transfer, it is 2 Timothy 4:1-7, which states,
We had a lesson with Mark and Debbie again this past week. We read Alma 42 with them. They are starting to read more again on their own. We invited them to church, but they couldn’t make it once again this week. It has been a frustrating time teaching them, not seeing the progress too much, but hopefully someday they will come around! They are great people, who have a great desire to change. All on God’s timetable! Right after that, we had a lesson with a inactive member, Sarah, who we got in contact with a few weeks ago. We talked to her about The Gospel of Jesus Christ, with an emphasis and focus on faith. We read Alma 32:21, 26-30 with her, and had a great discussion about how we can each individually develop and grow our faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. She asked us if she should focus her studies in the Book of Mormon, and we said that would be great! We invited her to read daily from The Book of Mormon and to pray daily as well. She said she would, so that is awesome! She hopes to attend church in a week or two! It has been great to see her desire to come back to church since she reached out to us. So amazing!
We had a bunch of member visits, teaching families about missionary work, this past week! We also met and taught Roger and Jerri again, a member and a non member we’ve been working with. They are doing good, coming to church every week (except one since they were out of town) since we’ve been meeting with them! That has been cool to see their knowledge in the gospel grow, and their desire to meet with us grow as well. I love them! We hope and pray they may continue to attend church, and have a desire to meet with us continually!
One of the most exciting lessons we’ve had this past week were with Ken and his wife Nicole. We taught them two more times, and reviewed the Baptismal interview questions with him. He is so prepared and humble. He understood all we have taught him, and has committed to follow all of the gospel standards and commandments. It has been cool to see not only Ken, but his wife change for the better as we’ve taught them! They are both progressing so well. Ken had his Baptismal Interview yesterday, and is all ready to go this Thursday! What a miracle it has been to have Ken and Nicole come into our lives so that we could teach them. Wow! Can’t believe this is all happening so fast. We are looking forward to Thursday night for Ken’s baptism, we can’t wait to see him make those first covenants with God! We are so grateful that they both came into our lives, what a tender mercy from our loving Heavenly Father!
We had dinner last Friday with Angel, Jessica, and Jessica’s boyfriend. Angel is the little 9 year old girl we have been working with. It was a great dinner. We had a great lesson about the Atonement, reading from Alma 7:10-13. She hasn’t attended church in awhile, because they’ve been very busy with different things, but hopefully she starts attending soon! We’re grateful that God sent us to talk with them on the street next to our apartment so that they could start progressing in the gospel. Heavenly Father hand is in all the aspects of our lives, most the time He goes unnoticed. We always need to remember the small and simple blessing that he blesses us with every day. Speaking of this topic, I am grateful to be a missionary. This experience has blessed me now and for eternity. I love Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They are all so incredible!
Yesterday, we were determined to visit and contact a ton of people with interest. We didn’t get to talk to a lot of them, haha but it provided us a way to talk with a bunch of random people we wouldn’t have been able to talk with otherwise. Even though we didn’t see much “success” in finding more people to teach, we know we made an impact in someone yesterday through all the rejection!
Well, a lot of you may know this. My time is far spent...... this is very crazy to think about how two years of hard work, studying, preparing, sweat, rejection, enduring both hot and cold days, disappointments, daily fatigue, love, happiness, hardships, and difficulty, has been two of the most joyful years of my entire life! There is nothing like serving the Lord and doing His work! I’ve learned so much throughout my mission, I can’t even begin to write them, it would take up most of this email! Through all of the things I’ve learned, one things stands above them all. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. He is your Savior. He suffered, bled, and died for us, so we can live with God again. He loved us enough to perform the Atonement, so that we could become perfect like our Father in Heaven. It was the most loving act ever performed, and I’m so grateful for it. I can’t express how much I love Him and my Heavenly Father. I know that The Book of Mormon is truly the word of God. If anyone doubts this, please prayerfully study it with an open heart! If you study and ponder about it, you will feel the Holy Ghost touch your heart! Every time I read from its pages, I feel the spirit testify to me that it is truly Christ’s Doctrine! I know that Joseph Smith is truly the prophet that God called to restore the same church that Jesus Christ himself established when He was on the earth. I love and respect the prophet Joseph with all my heart. I know that we have a living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson. He receives revelation and guidance for the whole world! He is God’s mouthpiece. All of these things I know to be true were kindled and are continually being fed by a book, The Book of Mormon! What a blessing it has been to teach people about this joy and happiness I’ve experienced my whole life! I’m grateful for the people that Heavenly Father has sent in my path for my companions and I to reach out to. All things are done by and through our Father in Heaven and His son, Jesus Christ! I hope each of you feel how much love I have for this gospel as you’ve read my weekly emails! Because I truly do! :) There has been a scripture running through my mind the last transfer, it is 2 Timothy 4:1-7, which states,
1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
My mission has changed me, it has refined me, and it has defined what I will be for the rest of my life. I hope to continue and become the disciple I need to be for my Savior Jesus Christ! I may be released as a full time missionary soon, but I will never stop doing missionary work! I want to continue what has brought me such an insurmountable amount of happiness and joy for the past two years, for the rest of my life! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the way we can feel this pure joy and happiness, and I know as we all love the teaching of Jesus, and live by them each day, we can all find happiness, peace, comfort, and joy in an ever changing world! I want to thank you all for supporting me in this endeavor. I’ve been blessed with the best mission President and wife, President and Sister McMurray, the best parents, siblings, grandparents, extended family, and dear friends who have helped me through these two years. Thank you. I am so blessed to have each of you in my life! I love you all so much! I will see you all shortly, but for now I am still Elder Bailey and have a calling to finish! Have a wonderful rest of your week!
Love,
Elder Bailey
1-2: helped a member get a coyote tail off of a hide he is preparing to be tanned! (Smelled like straight up death......)
3: alleyway in downtown Casper, while we were street contacting!
4: said bye to Scott Saulnier!
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