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 

9/25/17 | Winter is on the way!

 Another great week up here in Wyoming!  It is getting a bit chilly now, it has been rainy and in the 30’s and 40’s for the past couple of days.  Winter is on the way!!  Doing missionary work in the winter time is fun, so I can’t wait!  Also, General Conference is this week!  I always love hearing inspired words from our beloved prophet and apostles.  They always feel me with love, peace, and joy!  I would invite everyone to watch it!  You will feel the spirit, guaranteed!

        We went on exchanges with Elder Bush and Elder McFadden this week, they’re awesome!  I was with Elder McFadden, he’s one my best friend friends out here in the mission field so we had a great time!  In Windsor there are these little library stations around the whole city, with books in them.  The rule is if you take a book you have to leave a book.  Elder McFadden and I found a lot of these as we were walking and driving around, so we put some copies of The Book Of Mormon in them and took some other religious books (primarily Jehovah Witness materials) out to learn more!  Just spreading the good word through the word of God! We had a good time working all day, and honestly didn’t see too much success until the very last person we visited.  We knocked on a mans door, and he was so happy to see us!  He let us in, and we had a great conversation.  He grew up a member and eventually left the church when he was 18.  After he explained his story, he asked us how we gained our testimonies.  We both told him how we gained our testimonies of the Book Of Mormon and the prophet Jospeh Smith.  The Spirit was so powerful as we testified, and we knew he was feeling it too!  After we bore our testimonies, he sincerely said thank you!  We asked him if we could go back and visit him again, and he said he would love that!  It is so cool to feel the spirit testify to someone else of truth, and to be able to bear testimony to him.  Bearing testimony invites the spirit so strongly!  That was an amazing miracle to see as we worked hard all day!  

       It has been pretty tough with Janet this week.  We contacted her daily through visits and FaceTime.  She came to the Book Of Mormon institute class for the third week in a row, and she attended the Women’s Session Of General Conference with some members who have been fellowshipping her!  We were excited about that!  The thing that was really hard was she attended the Greek Orthodox Church this Sunday, for a sense of “closure” from the catholic faith.  We talked to her Sunday night, and she is planning on watching General Conference this next weekend!  That should be so awesome!  We brought up attending our church in two weeks and she was super hesitant, it was so hard to see her slowly slipping away.  The adversary is working so hard to keep her away from the truth, and we are trying our hardest to get her to attend church, but she needs to make that decision for herself.  General Conference will help her so much, and we are praying so hard that she will come to church in two weeks.  When you see one of God’s children find the truth, but they don’t embrace and accept it fully, it is super hard and frustrating.  But that is the life of a missionary!  Janet will hopefully come to church, and we know that if she does she will start progressing very quickly, it will just take an act of Faith!  One act of Faith could change her life eternally.  Faith is huge, and I can promise that if you read The Book Of Mormon daily, you will have faith that it is true.  Faith comes from truth, and I know The Book Of Mormon is truly the word of God!  

       We had an interesting meeting with a man we met in our area late on night.  His name is Ken, and he studies the Bible very frequently.  He isn’t a member of a specific church, but he reached out to us and wanted to meet us at the Cheyenne Stake Center.  We knew he would have questions of how the Restored Gospel and The Gospel of Jesus Christ relate from The Book Of Mormon to the Bible.  We knew what member we could bring who has an absolutely amazing knowledge of the scriptures, Brother Weber!!  This man is super legit, so we knew he would be the best one to bring to this lesson.  We got to the Cheyenne Stake Center, and had an amazing lesson/visit with him.  He started with questions, which led to more questions, and it seemed as if he was digging to find ways to disprove what we were teaching him.  That is when Brother Weber laid down the hammer, and started talking to him about what he was doing.  He started teaching from the whole Bible, and quoting verse by verse exactly how it was written.  It was a sight to behold, and I hope I can be that versed in the scriptures as he is someday!  He explained that if you truly want to find and know the truth, you have to pray to ask God, the ultimate source of knowledge, if it is true or not.  He invited him to hear the words from prophets and apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ next week during General Conference and pray to know if they were prophets of God.  Throughout this, we all testified of the living prophet, President Thomas Monson.  The spirit that was in that room was undeniable!  I honestly couldn’t stop smiling, Elder Tippetts and Elder Masaniai can attest of that!  I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time!  The spirit witnessed to him of what was true, but he kept having a heard heart, and ultimately said what we were saying was false.  It was so sad to know he had felt the spirit, and to know he had rejected it.  We are praying he softens his heart and comes to the truth, but ultimately he has his agency to choose.  This experience built up my testimony, and it just makes me more happy that we as missionaries have the opportunity to bring forth this wonderful message of comfort and joy to those who are willing to accept.  These elect people are out there, the trick is finding them.  That’s what we are always trying to do, find find find.  The Lord will put those people who are ready in our path, I know He will!  

        I forgot to mention last week, that we had the opportunity to teach the mission prep class.  We taught them about the missionary purpose, and how big of a role it plays in missionary work!  Overall the lesson went well, and we have a bunch of solid youth who attended.  It brought back so many memories of attending Brother Lee’s mission prep class before my mission.  I truly appreciate the time I had to attend a class like that, with such an amazing teacher too!  I wish I would have known Preach My Gospel better than I did, it helps so much to know it well.  I would encourage anyone who is wanting to serve a mission, to attend a mission preparation class, and to read Preach My Gospel!  It will help you so much as you step into the mission field and it will honestly help you share the gospel with everyone!

       I was reading in 3 Nephi this week, and chapter 15:9 stood out to me,

9 Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.

       As we look unto the Savior, the ultimate life and light of the world, we can find peace, rest, hope, and joy in our daily struggles.  I can testify and promise you that if you look unto Him, continuously, you will always feel love and peace.  Anything you are struggling with, look unto Him for help.  He will help you endure to the end!  I hope you all have a wonderful week!  Can’t wait to hear from our beloved prophets and apostles this week, it should be absolutely amazing!  

Love

Elder Bailey 

Pics:  

1. Gary the Man stark drove here from Riverton to take us to lunch!  Haha food to see him again!

2. Service pic from exchanges!

3. pic from Kohls 

9/18/17 | Another great week in Cheyenne!

 This week was pretty good!  We had some disappointments and some
success's, but that is just how missionary work goes!   Staying
positive and working hard is the key, and we've seen that play a huge
role in this entire week!
     We had two exchanges this week, and they both went really well!
On one of the exchanges, we didn't have a dinner so I called the
Weber's last minute and asked if we could eat with them.  They had us
over, and it was a great meal and a lesson!  We role played with them,
and had them think of a specific friend that they could invite to
either church, or an activity.  They all picked one out and role
played with each other.  It went really well, and they all feel more
comfortable sharing the gospel!  Brother Weber also talked to us, and
has two of his patients who he is going to have us teach!  We are
going to set those up this week, so those should be awesome!  Member
referrals are absolutely amazing!  Can't wait to see the Gospel change
these individuals lives.  We were also able to teach an investigator
named Heather in the other elders ward.  We taught her the Restoration
and now she has a baptismal date for October 7th!  It was a really
cool lesson to be a part of.  The Spirit was extremely strong
throughout the lesson, and we asked her after we invited her to be
baptized if she was feeling the Spirit.  She said she was definitely
feeling the Spirit, and started to tear up!  The Holy Ghost is real,
and it is amazing to see how much comfort and love he can provide!  I
know that as each of us pray for guidance and help, we can receive
that help and comfort through the Holy Ghost!
     We had a meeting with our ward mission leader in the Prairie View
Ward this past week to discuss a Ward Mission plan.  We had a
wonderful meeting, and helped our ward mission leader understand how
he can help us more effectively.  We went to Bishopric Meeting for
this ward, and made a plan to visit each of them to teach their
families "the rescue plan" to help us reach out the the less actives
of the ward.  The missionary work should start to progress in the
Prairie View Ward, so we are hopeful about that!  Brother Weber's
referrals are in this ward too!  We can't wait!
      It was a pretty difficult week with Janet.  We met with her
again almost every single day, and we were working with her to finally
attend church!  During our last lesson of the week on Saturday, Janet
said she was going to attend church!  We were really excited, and
started to again explain to her how we would do everything in our
power to get her there!  Then she said that she had made the decision
to attend another church.  She said she knew every road points to
going to our church, but she has to make sure by attending the other
church to give her a sort of closure.  She said she would attend the
other church this week, then go to ours next week.  We were absolutely
devastated, and we didn't hide any of our feelings.  She asked us why
we looked so sad, and we explained to her that we knew that as she
attended Christ's true church, that she would feel so much happiness
and joy and would know for herself that it would be where she needed
to be.  We left that lesson feeling pretty sad, but we had faith that
something would happen that would make her want to attend our church
this upcoming Sunday!  On Sunday, we went to church and got a text
from Janet about how she didn't even attend the other church because
she got extremely fearful again, and just couldn't do it.  We had a
lesson with her Sunday night, and we explained to her that if she
decides to attend our church that we will help her get there, and we
know that with Heavenly Fathers help she would get there.  But it she
decides to attend another church, we can't really help her get there.
She seemed to get where we were coming from and we are hoping she
understands that she needs to attend our church.  We are praying so
hard that she does.  We know the Holy Ghost has witnessed to her that
the things we have taught her are true, but ultimately it is her
choice.  We are praying she will make the right choice!
       In church we were talking about President Monson's message this
past General Conference titled "The Power of the Book Of Mormon."
There was an article in the August 2005 Ensign titled "A Consistent
Prophetic Call," and we discussed how not only our prophet, President
Thomas S. Monson, has invited us to read The Book Of Mormon, but
prophets and apostles have consistently invited us to do so forever!
Here is the article,

President David O. McKay (1873–1970): “I testify to you that the Book
of Mormon is truly the Word of God, that communication between earth
and heaven has been opened up again, and that the true way of the Lord
has been revealed to men on earth, showing the means by which all
needful knowledge and blessings may be received by every true believer
in Christ” (“Marks Pointing to Authenticity of Book of Mormon,”
Instructor, Oct. 1952, 318).
President Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972): “No member of this Church
can stand approved in the presence of God who has not seriously and
carefully read the Book of Mormon” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1961,
18).

President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973): “It has always seemed to me that
the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith in counsel to the brethren,
impressing the value of the Book of Mormon, have greater significance
than many of us attach to them. His statement was: ‘I told the
brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on
earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to
God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book’ (History of
the Church, 4:461). …
“If one wants to get close to God, he can do it by reading the Book of
Mormon” (Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Harold B. Lee [2000], 62).

President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985): “[The Book of Mormon] is the
word of God. It is a powerful second witness of Christ. And,
certainly, all true believers who love the Redeemer will welcome
additional evidence of his divinity.
“This inspiring book was never tampered with by unauthorized
translators or biased theologians but comes to the world pure and
directly from the historians and abridgers. The book is not on
trial--its readers are” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed.
Edward L. Kimball [1982], 133).

President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994): “The Book of Mormon is studied
in our Sunday School and seminary classes every fourth year. This
four-year pattern, however, must not be followed by Church members in
their personal and family study. We need to read daily from the pages
of the book that will get a man ‘nearer to God by abiding by its
precepts, than by any other book.’ (History of the Church, 4:461.)”
(“Flooding the Earth with the Book of Mormon,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, 4).

President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95): “The Book of Mormon is the word
of God. We invite you to read this wonderful record. It is the most
remarkable volume in existence today. Read it carefully and
prayerfully, and as you do, God will give you a testimony of its
truthfulness as promised by Moroni (see Moro. 10:4)” (The Teachings of
Howard W. Hunter, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1997], 54).

      I honestly love how this shows the importance of why prophets
and apostles stress reading The Book Of Mormon so much!  This is
because it is the key part of what a testimony should be made of!  I
can promise and testify to you that if you read The Book Of Mormon
each and every day, you will have a solid testimony of Jesus Christ's
true church that has been restored back onto the earth through the
prophet Joseph Smith!  If we rely on The Book Of Mormon, we will never
fall and our testimonies will always remain strong!  I hope you all
have a great week, and always remember that Heavenly Father loves each
and every single one of you!

Love
Elder Bailey


Pic:
Beautiful Wyoming!

9/11/17 | Always Remember

Happy 9/11!  I'm grateful for all of those who sacrificed
their lives on that day, and for all of those who serve our country!
I will always love America!  Land of the free! Woo! Things were pretty
crazy this week for transfers!  Elder Tippetts and I had to drive down
to Colorado to pick up another car, so that was pretty crazy driving
solo!!  (We had permission don't worry:))  Everything eventually ran
smoothly, and we picked up our new companion Elder Masaniai!  He is
from Oakland California, and he is part Samoan, Tongan, and Hawaiian.
For the first couple hours he was pretty quiet, but  Elder Tippetts
and I could honestly break anyone out of their shell!  Once we made
him laugh, he opened up, and we're all super good friends already!  I
can just tell that this transfer is going to be so fun and we are
going to put in the work!
       We had MLC this past Friday, and we talked about a lot of
interesting things!  First off, our mission is getting Online
Proselyting (a.k.a Facebook) come October!  We were all super
surprised about this change, but it should be good.  Our next MLC is
going to be a ton of training on how to use it properly to further the
work, and we are going to receive 30 new District videos for our
training!  It's going to be an exciting change!  Another big change is
our p-days are being changed in October due to new missionaries coming
out later.  The new missionaries are now coming in Tuesday afternoon
instead of in the mornings so they are changing transfer days to
Wednesday, so changing p-days to Tuesday just makes sense!  We have
our temple trips on Tuesdays too so that works out well too!  It is
going to be weird to change that on October 24th, but it will be all
good!  One of the last big things we discussed was changing our
Standards of Excellence for our mission, which are our key indicator
goals for our mission.  The previous standards were a bit out of
reach, so we were able to change them so more missionaries could work
to reach them!  We feel it will help missionaries be more successful
and push us to work harder to reach them.  Overall it was a good
meeting, fun to see President and Sister McMurray and all of my
mission buddies again!
       We did some service for our non-members friends the Gregory's,
and we helped them fill up a dumpster full of old stuff from their
property.  They gave us a couch and a nice desk to add to our new
apartment!  Oh yeah!  We are finally able to move into our new
apartment!  We are moving over today, so we are going to be living
their now!  We are so excited, living in WWII bunkers are great and
all, but it's going to be awesome to live in a nicer apartment!  We
also have more room for exchanges, woohoo!
       We were able to meet with Janet this week almost every day.
Over the course of this week, she hadn't been reading.  There was
always something in her life that came up to interrupt her reading.
This was getting super frustrating, and we finally talked it over as a
companionship.  We decided we were going to make our Saturday lesson
the "do or die" lesson!  In preparation for this lesson we decided to
have a special fast on behalf of Janet.  I can testify that fasting
works, because the lesson went very well!  We watched President
Uchtdorf's Mormon Message "Shower of Heavenly Blessings" and talked
about how Heavenly Father is waiting to shower so many blessing upon
her as she took away the "fear and doubt umbrella" and attended
church! We talked with her about how every single time she planned to
read, something came up and interrupted her.  We explained that this
was how Satan was trying to haunt her progress.  Janet had told us
that she felt like she was feeling super peaceful while reading the
Book Of Mormon, and that she wanted to just feel that peace and not
have to worry about church.  We told her this was Satan making her
feel comfortable where she was at, and knowing that she would find a
tremendous amount of peace and joy at church, he was magnifying her
fears of coming so that she would never experience that joy and peace
of partaking of the Sacrament and attending church!  We testified to
her that as she trusted in the Lord and as she recognized the tactics
of Satan, she could overcome her fear and be able to make it to
church.  It was a really good lesson, and Janet finally began to
understand that she could make it to church if she put forth her
faith!  Janet set a goal for herself to read five chapters from the
Book Of Mormon each day in preparation to come to church next week!
We know Janet will attend church this upcoming Sunday, and it will be
so amazing!  The Spirit was overwhelmingly strong throughout the
lesson, and Janet told us she felt it! On Sunday Janet called us and
said she had planned to come to church, had all of her clothes ready
after we left the night before, but she said something kept her awake
all night.  We had a lesson yesterday, and talked about it.  We told
her that was Satan trying to get her not to come, so we promised her
again that as she prepared throughout this whole week, and as we met
every single day she would be prepared to face that fear and doubt and
combat the tactics of Satan.  We can't wait to see her at church next
week!
       For MLC we had the chance to read a wonderful talk by Elder
Lynn G. Robbins from this past BYU Education Week.  I would encourage
you all to read it!  It gives such an amazing perspective on the
tactics of Satan, and how we can become more responsible in our lives.
This talk changed the way I looked at responsibility and Satan's
tactics, and really helped me apply it to  missionary work!  If you
have a chance, please read it, and ponder how you can become better
and become more like our Savior Jesus Christ!  I promise that as you
do, you will be able to become a better more Christlike person!  I
hope you all have a great week this week!  I'm grateful for the chance
I have to be here on my mission, it has been the best decision of my
life!  Love you all!

Love
Elder Bailey :)

Elder Robbins talk

9/4/17 | Staying in Cheyenne!

 We had a great week this week!  It was a little crazy, but it
was awesome!  For this past week Elder Tippetts and I had another
companion, his name is Elder Spence.  We had to shuffle some
missionaries around in the Zone, and Elder Spence got to be with us.
It was so fun having him!  It made for a really fun hard working week.
We also found out our transfer information on Saturday, and Elder
Tippetts and I are staying together here in Cheyenne for another six
weeks!  I am so pumped to be with him for another transfer, but they
threw in a twist.  We are also getting another companion, so we will
be in a threesome.  His name is Elder Masaniai.  Things should be
good!  Threesomes are always a good time, and I'm excited for this
upcoming transfer!
       We were able to teach Janet six times this week!  She is
honestly one of the first investigators on my mission who has been
willing and wants to meet with us daily.  It was awesome!  Every
lesson we have been focusing mainly on the Book Of Mormon, and
stressing her reading.  We know that when she reads consistently, she
will feel more comfortable attending church, and conversion will
follow.  I love knowing with confidence that if someone reads from The
Book Of Mormon with an open heart and with real intent, they will be
converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The power of The Book Of
Mormon is absolutely incredible.  Janet is truly starting on her path
to conversion, and it is amazing to see it take place.  Her reading is
going very well, and she is reading consistently!  We talked with her
each time we met how her Book Of Mormon reading went, and we had some
really good discussions!  She is slowly but surely continuing on the
path of conversion, and I know she will be comfortable coming to
church soon!  I am so glad I get to stay here to continue working with
her.  We are planning to meet with her every day for this next week as
well, and we are going to continue to work with her, I can't wait!!
         We had some really good service this week.  We helped a less
active family, the Chapman's, take their trailer down to the recycling
pits to throw a bunch of trash away.  It was awesome!  We also went
and helped the Gregory's, a non member couple, spread a bunch of mulch
in their front yard.  They were so grateful for the help!  We are also
helping them clean out a barn on their property this week, so it will
be a good one!  We are waiting for a good opportunity to ask them if
they would like to take the lessons, and learn more about our church.
The Chapman's came to church this past Sunday!  We will continue to
work with them as well.  We know that as we demonstrate Christlike
service, that it softens hearts.  It is amazing to see that work in
God's children!
         Elder Tippetts got an email from a bishop in Longmont,
telling him some homeless people that he had worked with last transfer
were moving to Cheyenne.  They are in the Capitol Hill Ward, so we
took the other elders serving in that ward down to the Motel 6 where
they were staying.  We got there and it was a pretty bad situation.
They had no food, the wife was pregnant, and they were being driven
crazy because of hunger.  We talked to them for a little bit, and they
said they tried to call the bishop in the area, and he didn't answer.
They were about to give up all hope when we showed up!  They explained
to us their story and the trials they have gone through, they have had
it pretty rough.  We tried calling some members of the ward, with no
success...... but we knew it was in our hands.  We rushed over to
Walmart, and with all five of us pitching in money, we bought them a
bunch of food!  We rushed back and gave them the food. They were
absolutely overly grateful for the food.  They asked for a scripture
off the top of one of our heads, so I immediately blurted out Helaman
5:12.  They read it out loud, from The Book Of Mormon we gave them,
and it hit home.  They were crying and it really explained their life.
We promise them that as they trust in Jesus Christ, they can push
through every trial!  It was a really cool experience.  The ward is
helping them out a lot now, so they are in good hands. It was awesome
to help them out so much for doing so little!
          While we were Tracting a bunch this week, we ran into a very
inactive man.  He was a really nice guy at first, asking where we were
from, and was being very polite.  We asked if he was a member, and he
said he was but he stopped going to church six years ago.  We asked
him why, and he went off about the things he left the church for.  I'm
not going to get into detail, but it was a lot of anti-Mormon stuff he
got into.  I've noticed that there are two kinds of less active people
that I have seen and met personally on my mission.  First are the ones
who really just fell away because of laziness or they married a non
member or something to that effect.  Second are the prideful ones who
elevate themselves above all other church members, and think they have
received new knowledge of things that are incorrect about the church,
mostly because of anti-Mormon literature they run into.  This man we
met was the second type.  He told us that he had run into new topics
of doctrine that he hadn't ever heard about while growing up, and he
thought it was being hidden from him.  It was all the things that
anti-Mormon literature has focused on since the church of restored to
the earth in the year 1830.  Polygamy, Joseph Smith, modern-day
prophets, and The Book Of Mormon.  He attacked every aspect he could
while talking with us.  In the middle of the conversation, I
immediately thought of seeing my dad go through a similar experience
on our front door step a few years ago.  Someone in our neighborhood
came over to tell him he had found something knew to disprove Jospeh
Smith was a prophet of God.  I saw my dad calmly handle the situation,
he went out of the front porch with him, and testified to him that
nothing could shake his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith because
of his testimony of the Book Of Mormon.  That was powerful to see my
dad do that, and I'm thankful for the example you have set for me dad,
thanks!  That instance has stuck with me ever since, and Elder
Tippetts, Elder Spence, and I were in the same situation.  We were
able to testify of The Book Of Mormon and how we knew it to be true.
The man wasn't satisfied, but I left the conversation knowing that my
testimony of The Book Of Mormon was stronger than ever!  I had the
opportunity to finish our mission wide Book Of Mormon reading
challenge this past Saturday, and I can testify to you with all of my
soul that The Book Of Mormon is the word of God, and that Joseph Smith
is a prophet of God!  I didn't experience a huge spiritual experience
as I finished the last chapter of The Book Of Mormon, but I realized
that every single day that I read the Book Of Mormon, I felt of its
truthfulness.  Little by little, day by day it built, and honestly
that is how my testimony has grown!  Just know that you don't always
have to experience a huge spiritual experience to receive a witness of
truth.  I know that these things are true, and this means everything
else is absolutely true, because everything is dependent on the
truthfulness of The Book Of Mormon.  I would like to invite all of you
to, when you have questions, seek from the true sources of the Gospel.
The scriptures, church leaders, prayer, etc.  It is good to ask
questions, but it is essential to get the answers from the right
sources.
          I love you all so much!  I'm thankful for the prayers,
support, and love I receive each and every day from all of you.  I
hope you guys have a great week this week!  Remember that God loves
each of you, and knows you by name!

Love
Elder Bailey



Pics:
1-2 Colorado state line!
3. Elder Tippetts with the G.O.A.T
4-5. Said bye to elder Lamouli and elder Callahan, they're headed home tomorrow!