This week was another good one! There were so many miracles it will be hard to include them all in this email so I’ll try my best to include the best ones! We tried contacting all of the people we met last week, but we only caught a few people home. We set up some appointments for this week, so we are excited to see what comes from those! We did have a follow up lesson with Ethan. We met with him this past Thursday night, and taught him The Restoration lesson. The Spirit was so strong throughout the lesson, and he had a lot of questions. We were able to answer his questions, and invited him to read and pray about The Book Of Mormon, and to ask God specifically if it was true. He said he would, and we are planning on meeting with him again this week with our amazing ward mission leader! It should be awesome!
We had another solid lesson with our investigator Nyssa! She has been hard to get in contact in the past, but lately we have been able to meet with her and teach her! We read with her 2 Nephi 31, which is when Nephi tells why Jesus Christ was baptized. We had a good conversation about that, and taught her how important it is to follow His example and be baptized by someone holding His priesthood authority. We also explained to her how receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost is such a blessing that our Father in Heaven has blessed us with. She asked why it is that important? So we were able to explain how everyone is born with the Light if Christ. Everyone can discern and feel the Holy Ghost touch their spirits, but once we have the Gift of the Holy Ghost we can have the Holy Ghost with us 100% of the time as long as we are living worthy of it. We had Elder Nally invite her to be baptized, and she said that she is open to it, but wants to read and learn more before she fully commits to it. We explained to her that it would be a goal, not a set in stone date, that we can work towards. She said she doesn’t feel comfortable setting it right now, but she will in the future. We know that as we continue to work with her on her conversion process, she will become more comfortable with being baptized! Can’t wait to continue to teach her!
Yesterday was honestly amazing! We went on exchanges with the Spanish Elders, and I was with Elder Nally and Elder Berkabile for the day. We had a pretty good day out finding and contacting people. We were able to give another new investigator, an older lady named Maggie, a large print copy of The Book Of Mormon and The Bible. She was so grateful we stopped by! The real miracles came before we had dinner and after dinner. Before dinner we were out Tracting, and we found this really nice lady named Janine. She accepted a copy of The Book Of Mormon and she said her and her husband would be open to having us come back! She seems really interested, so we were excited about that! We had to stop by the post office for Elder Berkabile to pick up a package. While he was picking up his package, we started talking with an atheist lady. We asked her if she knew anything about The Book Of Mormon and she said she had seen the play. We laughed about that, and asked if she wanted to find out from the actual source what The Book Of Mormon really is? After the great conversation, as we were walking out, she accepted a copy of The Book Of Mormon. We invited her to check it out and read from it, then to pray and ask if it is true. Hopefully someday she will read it! After dinner we went Tracting for the rest of the night. It was pretty cold, but we knew it would be worth it! We talked with a lot of people in the apartments. One lady, Kira, was out smoking and we started to talk with her. She expressed to us how she hasn’t been treated kindly by some other people sharing their religion with her going door to door. She said she was out smoking and another set of missionaries from another church came by with their little kids and spit at her because she was smoking..... She told us she was grateful that we were nice to her and talked with her. She said we could come back and talk more with her another time! Another lady, Holly, was walking up to her apartment and we started talking with her. After she accepted a copy of The Book Of Mormon, we asked if we could come by and share more about what we believe. She said she is home Wednesday, Thursday, and Fridays, and to come by anytime! In an hour and a half we were able to hand out seven copies of The Book Of Mormon! What a HUGE miracle! It was honestly ridiculous how many people showed interest and wanted us to come back to share more with them about Jesus Christ and what we believe! The blessings and miracles that we see out in the mission field are incredible, and it’s amazing to see the Lord’s hand throughout our work each and every day! I absolutely love it!
In my studies this past week, I read in Mormon 9:18-20 which says,
18 And who shall say that Jesus Christ did not do many mighty miracles? And there were many mighty miracles wrought by the hands of the apostles.
19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.
20 And the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust.
Yesterday was a manifestation to me that miracles are wrought upon us in our day, but as it says in these scriptures, we have to exhibit faith in order for miracles to occur. If we stop believing in miracles, they won’t occur, but if we continue in our Faith, never ceasing to believe, then we will se so many mighty miracles throughout our lives! I can truly testify that if you have Faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, read from The Book Of Mormon daily, and trust in Him continually, then you will see and be able to recognize His hand in your lives every single day! I hope you all have a great week this week, that is full of miracles! Love you guys!
Love
Elder Bailey
Wednesday, November 1, 2017
10/24/17 | Back in Greeley!
Last Wednesday was
Elder Nally’s first official day in the mission field, and it was one of
the most amazing days of my mission! In total for the day we ended up
handing out seven copies of The Book Of Mormon, and have a lot of new
potential investigators to visit and teach this upcoming week! We were
planning on contacting a bunch of potential investigators to start to
clean up our area book. I’ll share with you a few that stood out to
me! At the first potentials house, we met a lady named Sara, and she
wants us to come back and teach her this week! The second potential
also wasn’t home, but a man named Kayne answered! He was a funny guy
and accepted a copy too. The third potential wasn’t home, but we saw a
couple cutting up some huge tree limbs, so we immediately went over and
asked if we could help them out. They were so happy that we offered,
and we moved all of the big limbs in a few minutes. After we were
finished they expressed how grateful they were for our help, and we
started talking with them about The Book Of Mormon. We were able to
give both of them a copy, and we tried visiting them a few days ago but
they weren’t home. We are trying again this week! They seemed really
interested! Later that night we were Tracting, and we knocked on
Mario’s door. He was really really drunk, but we had a good quick talk
with him. We testified that as he read from The Book Of Mormon, he
would be able to overcome his addictions through the power of Jesus
Christ. We don’t know if he was all there, but he asked us how we knew
to knock on his door. We just testified to him that God has sent us
here to help him in his life. It was a cool experience and it was the
best feeling to be “on the Lord’s errand!”
We had
trainers meeting this past Friday, and we received instruction from
President and Sister McMurray. It was so cool to hear from them!
President specifically told us that it is our responsibility to start
off these new missionaries missions right! He told us how the way we
help start off their missions, will effect them eternally. That really
put it into perspective of how important it is to continue to be the
best we can be! It was inspiring to me. After the meeting, we had
interviews with President McMurray, which were amazing! I had a bunch
of gospel questions for President, and he told me a bunch of stuff to
study to find the answers, it was awesome! I’m so grateful to have such
an amazing mission president!
We had a good
lesson with one of our investigators Nyssa. We read 3 Nephi 18 when
Jesus institutes the sacrament unto the Nephites. She has little to no
knowledge of who Jesus Christ is or why we need Him, so we were able to
testify and explain how He is the only way we can return and live with
our Heavenly Father again someday! We also explained how he suffered
for all of our sins and provided the Atonement for us, so we can repent
and become clean again. She is starting to understand a little more of
who He is. We invited her to read more about Jesus visiting the
Nephites in 3 Nephi, and pray and ask Heavenly Father to help her
understand who Jesus Christ is. We know she will receive an answer if
she asks sincerely! Can’t wait to see her progress!
We had the Windsor Stake Breakfast at President Packard‘s House with
all the missionaries serving in the Stake this past Saturday morning.
During our little devotional afterwards, he brought up a scripture in
Jeremiah that struck me! It was in Jeremiah 17:7-8 which says,
7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.
8
For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that
spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat
cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the
year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
I
want to invite you to read these scriptures and relate it to how you
can plant your testimonies by the true Living Water Of our Savior Jesus
Christ. Then to apply it to your life and find a couple of ways that
you can gain and strengthen your testimonies of Him! I know that if you
do so prayerfully, the Lord will show you what you can do to strengthen
your testimonies. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want to bless us so
badly, we just need to ask!
Being back in Greeley is amazing again! The people here are
humble and ready to receive the gospel! I can’t wait to meet more
people who are ready to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a
missionary is so incredible, and I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for
letting me have this opportunity to serve. I love you guys, and hope
you have a fantastic week!
Love
Elder Bailey
Pics:
1. My new companions!
2. The World Record for “the largest stem to have ever been witnessed on a pumpkin”
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
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!
Monday, October 9, 2017
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!
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
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
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
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
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
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!
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!
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