Hello everyone,
Kimbo, I just wrote you today!!
So good to hear from everyone this week. I did not get ONE letter in the mail this week. Oh, wait I take that back. I got a letter from Daryl Farnkoph from the ward. So nice of her to write to me. I still am so happy for her that her husband, John, was able to get baptized. Whenever I have attended a baptism or I have had a baptism for an investigator I feel so much joy. Not even for me or for the other missionaries because we worked hard to see this happen. But because the person being baptized has been brought closer to Christ and now they get to feel what I feel everyday.
This past week has been so awesome and this next week should be just as great. I get to be apart of my first "shifty" or I guess most people know them as "exchanges." Where an entire zone or district swaps companionships and areas within that zone or district. So basically everyone rotates and shuffles around for teaching/learning/experience purposes. So the neighboring Bremerton zone is doing a shifty and they want their set of sisters to be able to participate. Since sisters can only swap with sisters and lucky for them our zones are very near eachother, we could help them out by agreeing to swap with them. So I am going to B-town! So exciting haha. I'm seriously just going like 3 miles away but I'll be spending the night at their place, driving in their car, seeing their investigators, etc. So it's kind of like a baby transfer. Except you get to come back to your area and comp. Sister Mills is staying here and they will bring her the greenie that just came to Bremerton.
Ugh. This has been the week of nasty old granny food. Guys, I seriously was dry heaving at the dinner table. I was sly about it though so I don't think anyone noticed. One day we were fed by this recent widow in the ward. Sister Mills actually ate at her home with her husband the first week she was in the area. She warned me that the food might be on the "mushy" side. Not much has changed. Mushy central. I never in my life had experienced green jell-o with...wait for it....wait for it....CABBAGE. Yes, you heard correctly. Green jell-o w/cabbage. Gag. Then we had these ridiculously mushy carrots that were served in this like orange jelly glaze. Oh man, my stomach is turning just thinking about it. Then we had this chicken noodle casserole. Followed by gummy rhubarb pie. MMM!!! The next day we had another meal with an older lady in the ward. Sketchiest kitchen ever. Things stacked and cluttered on the counters and stove. Open containers of things everywhere. Just not exactly up to Health code. We had burnt pizza and Crook neck squash. It was like 50 times worse than that burnt pizza Grandpa Ted ate at the hospital. Just black. The cheese was cardboard. She scooped about a gallon of yellow goopey squash on my plate. Gulp..... I basically just mashed it up on my plate and then just swallowed it down with some room temp orange flavored SunnyD. I may or may not have scooped some of the squash back into the bowl when she got up to get the phone. Shh...don't tell. The next day we ate a family's house that are siliac. They can't eat anything with gluten. They also are allergic to nuts, dairy, soy, and fish. Basically what can they eat? Oh they can eat vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables. Oh want some more peas? ok here is 4 ladle full. Want some more Brocolli? Oh here let me fill a cereal bowl of it for you. You don't look like you have enough caulliflower Sister, Let me scoop you some. Save me!!! I have never had so many heaps of soggy steamed vegetables in my life. I thought that week of food would never end.
Mom, Brother Elkington knew every single person in your pictures! He was so excited. A good number of those people were his first cousins or close family friends. He said that you looked vaguely familiar. He didn't go to BYUH he just grew up in Laie but he went to school actually in California on a football scholarship. I forget which UC school it was. I can't wait to tell him that you got him a shirt he will love it!!!
This week we spent some time studying mormon.org. We are allowed an hour a week to study the website, watch video clips on it, and know what all is featured on the site so we now how to use it with teaching opportunities. Have any of you reading this checked it out lately? If so, that's great! If not, why not?? It's SOOOO user friendly and they totally redesigned it so that it actually looks interesting and not such a visual eye sore. Dad, there is this video you would love. It's under the section "Our People" and then there are a bunch of different videos about different members of the church. If you scroll down to the very last one click on the video about a guy named Steve Brouggy. I believe he is from New Zealand and he races motorbikes. They have so many really just inspiring and amazing stories of members from around the globe, from all walks of life that tell their story from an interesting perspective. There is even a video on a cute Japanese girl with the last name Adachi and she's a high school senior. I would invite all of you to make a member profile on Mormon.org. You can decide what you want to write about or what you want to share, but it is a great way to let the world know and our communities know who we are and who we are individually. Puts a more relatable and recognizable face to the Mormon name. Here are some notes I jotted down after watching a few of the video:
-There is a point in our lives where we have to have God. Because we have nothing else.
-God has given us everything that we love. That inspires us. That gives us energy.
-Life shouldn't be sad. You can always find the upside and the humor in everything.
-I'm still young. I have a chance to change. To be better.
-Good things take time.
-Whatever I do, put 100% into it
-Do I give my best to everyone else, so that when I go home my family gets my leftovers?
-If I believe in God, how can I possibly become depressed?
-If you are weak on the inside, you won't last for any time at all
-I will come to understand who I am and who God is through adversity.
-Everything GOOD comes from GOD
-The most happiness we can experience is often found within the walls of our own homes
-Embrace challenges rather than avoid them
I know that they are pretty fragmented and sound pretty cliche but if you watch the stories and lives that coincide with these basic mantras and principles, there is real power to these words. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The Gospel is beautifully simple, and simply beautiful. How many times do we complicate our own lives with things that are of really no importance? I know it is hard for many if not all of you to have an hour of personal gospel study each morning, but if you can designate some time with the scriptures, or the Ensign, or even writing in your journal as you eat your breakfast in the morning, your day will be less likely to unravel. I love my personal study time in the morning and cherish that hour that I have designated before I begin my work day by being able to invite and feel the Spirit. I can totally tell a difference in lessons with investigators or other members when I either have or have not done a very good personal study that morning.
This week I have had to learn a lesson with forgiveness. Forgiving others. Forgiving myself. Allowing the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ to take over where my own idividual shortcomings end. I love Elder Holland. I read a talk he wrote during one of my personal studies and he said that "Forgiveness was the key to the meaning of all the suffering [ Christ ] had come to endure." I don't know why, but there were 6 different people this week that told us that they were victims of sexual abuse as a child and how they are still dealing with the aftermath of those events. There is so much hurt and mistrust and sorrow in their eyes as they each told us their stories. The people and the places and times were different, but one thing was the same. That it was not their fault and that the Atonement covers them too. The innocent that was wronged just as much as the guilty that had wronged them. A big hurdle they have all had to jump was not only forgiving the perpetrator, which sadly was usually a family member or friend, but they really struggled with forgiving themselves. Feeling like somehow it was their fault. President James E. Faust had said, "Keep a place in your heart for forgiveness, and when it comes, welcome it in." I would invite all of you to take a look at today, this past week, this past month. What are some things you could ask forgiveness for from God? From others? Who are some people you could forgive? What are some grudges you have been holding on to that you need to let go? I have seen the power of forgiveness though Christ's Atonement work miracles in my life. Burdens and guilt carried for me. Sorrow and pain erased. He loved you enough to die for you, He loves you enough now to want you to live through Him.
Love you all,
Sister Baylon
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
spirit, power, boldness
Hey everyone,
Glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I got so excited to hear that Grandpa Ted was going to write me an email but then got way bummed when there wasn't one from him in my inbox. Hmm, maybe he hasn't gotten around to it yet. Man...This past week has been interesting to say the least. Remember how I mentioned that Sis Mills and I were going to be trying our best to be exactly obedient? And that we were pretty sure that biggest hurdle we were going to have to jump with obedience would have to do with leaving a member's home on time? WRONG. This past week has been the week of failed appointments and so much ANTI-mormon sentiments. Where to even begin. It seemed like the first two weeks of this transfer were just steem-roller weeks. We saw baptisms, we found people to teach, we gave church tours, basically everything that we could hope for in missionary work. We were on such a high that the test, we found out, was to be able to carry that same momentum despite major opposition.
The adversary held nothing back this past week. Particularly at the door when we were out finding. People had such hate in their eyes. Looking at us like fools, people that didn't even deserve pity. Fools for believing such "garbage." For believing in a "ridiculous science-fiction story." Scoffs and scorns that "we were out wasting our time when we could be out doing something to better the world, because clearly [you're] just making it worse." It hurts to hear words like this. To feel someone's spirit trying to attack and antagonize and demean ours. I guess I experienced a microscopic percentage of what Christ endured almost every day that he walked the earth. The lesson or point that I feel like Heavenly Father wanted us to learn was to be obedient "at all times and in all things and in all places." To "stand tall in crying and in suffering" as put by Elder Holland.
Earlier in the week, we had a training by one of our zone leaders (and one of my favorite elders in the mission) Elder Topp. He spoke on the topic of attitude. That our attitudes really are an indication of our faith; our trust in God. He shared the story of Abinadi in the Book of Mormon and how he returned to the wicked people he was crying repentance to, even after they had kicked him out of the city. Paraphrasing, he said, "Touch me not! For I still have a message to deliver. God will spare my life until I am able to deliver this message! " He had so much faith, such an unbelievable attitude as he is being tormented and ridiculed and had his very life threatened and he still stood tall in his suffering. You all know the story reveals that in the end Abinadi is ultimately killed but he valiantly bore witness and testified and warned the people of their fallen state. That when he had completed his mission he had said in Mosiah 17;19-20 "Oh God, receive my soul..." I hope that by the end of my mission, when I have the opportunity to attend a session in the temple with the other missionaries that I will be going home with, that I can turn over the mission to the Lord in His Holy House. That I can say "Oh God, receive my [mission]. That I did all that I could with the time given. I served this mission for thee. I hope it is acceptable."
Something really great happened this week though. It was the shining star amongst several dark nights. Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles came and spoke to the Tacoma and Seattle missions. Nearly 400 full-time missionaries gathered in the Federal Way stake center to be instructed and inspired by someone so close to the Savior. The first two rows of the chapel were reserved for the sister missionaries and my companion and I arrived early to guarantee the best seats. I got to sit within 7 feet of an apostle! How powerful of an experience to one day be enduring mockery and ridicule on someone's porch to not even 24hrs later to be addressed in the flesh by an apostle of the Lord. That really the person that should be felt sorry for is them. They who rejected the glad message that is the Gospel. Not me. That they were so far from the truth, with hardness in their hearts, when at one time they knew. That they had agreed to the Plan that the Savior put forth and that they came to earth wanting to return to Him.
Here are a few notes from his address:
- He said that as much as he wanted to say that he came just to see us (the missionaries) he did not. He came to address the Bishops, High Priests, Ward Mission Leaders, and Stake Presidents. The church is growing so rapidly, that it needs more Priesthood holders, specifically Melchezidek priesthood holders. This is totally the case in our YSA ward. With Rob, our ward mission leader getting married, there is an opening for that calling. With such few Melchezidek priesthood holders in the ward to begin with, it doesn't help that most are going back to school for the fall semester. The others are either aaronic priesthood holders are if they do hold the higher priesthood they are not worthy. Bottom line; We need more priesthood leadership. Did you know that 75% of stake presidents, 66% of bishops, and 60% of Elders quorum presidents are Returned missionaries?
-He mentioned the Broadway show that has caught the world's attention. Every bus stop, taxi cab, and building marquee had THE BOOK OF MORMON plastered to it. He said the church's public affairs office in Manhattan has never seen more inquiries than as the time following the broadway show. The world is becoming more aware of who we are. Of the power we hold. The Lord expects a lot of me as a full-time missionary, but he also expects a lot of the general members of the church. Now is the time to be opening our mouths and bearing witness of the truth. To help bring the less actives back in to the fold. To strengthen our recent converts. To invite our friends, family, and neighbors. To cause a mighty change of heart of the people in the world today. He stressed the importance of unity in the church. To be part of a team that works together with the SPIRIT, with POWER, and BOLDNESS.
-He reminded us that the Head of this church is not Thomas S. Monson. He is merely a designated Holy messenger. The head of the church has been and will always be Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite scriptures that I read this week during personal study is in Alma 29:1-2 "Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of my heart, and that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people...Yea I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
That is my prayer for my mission. For all of you, I hope that you could stand before someone and know that you have a testimony of the living God. Of Jesus Christ. That the boy Joseph Smith beheld a vision. That the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. And that there is a prophet on the earth today. So that when you are ever put in a position where that testimony could be questioned, that you can stand in faith, immovable in the Gospel. Make your testimony solid if it isn't today. Elder Holland counseled, "May we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only in word and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear." I know that "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people that they might have everlasting life." (Helaman 5:13)
Love you all,
Sister Baylon
Glad to hear that everyone is doing well. I got so excited to hear that Grandpa Ted was going to write me an email but then got way bummed when there wasn't one from him in my inbox. Hmm, maybe he hasn't gotten around to it yet. Man...This past week has been interesting to say the least. Remember how I mentioned that Sis Mills and I were going to be trying our best to be exactly obedient? And that we were pretty sure that biggest hurdle we were going to have to jump with obedience would have to do with leaving a member's home on time? WRONG. This past week has been the week of failed appointments and so much ANTI-mormon sentiments. Where to even begin. It seemed like the first two weeks of this transfer were just steem-roller weeks. We saw baptisms, we found people to teach, we gave church tours, basically everything that we could hope for in missionary work. We were on such a high that the test, we found out, was to be able to carry that same momentum despite major opposition.
The adversary held nothing back this past week. Particularly at the door when we were out finding. People had such hate in their eyes. Looking at us like fools, people that didn't even deserve pity. Fools for believing such "garbage." For believing in a "ridiculous science-fiction story." Scoffs and scorns that "we were out wasting our time when we could be out doing something to better the world, because clearly [you're] just making it worse." It hurts to hear words like this. To feel someone's spirit trying to attack and antagonize and demean ours. I guess I experienced a microscopic percentage of what Christ endured almost every day that he walked the earth. The lesson or point that I feel like Heavenly Father wanted us to learn was to be obedient "at all times and in all things and in all places." To "stand tall in crying and in suffering" as put by Elder Holland.
Earlier in the week, we had a training by one of our zone leaders (and one of my favorite elders in the mission) Elder Topp. He spoke on the topic of attitude. That our attitudes really are an indication of our faith; our trust in God. He shared the story of Abinadi in the Book of Mormon and how he returned to the wicked people he was crying repentance to, even after they had kicked him out of the city. Paraphrasing, he said, "Touch me not! For I still have a message to deliver. God will spare my life until I am able to deliver this message! " He had so much faith, such an unbelievable attitude as he is being tormented and ridiculed and had his very life threatened and he still stood tall in his suffering. You all know the story reveals that in the end Abinadi is ultimately killed but he valiantly bore witness and testified and warned the people of their fallen state. That when he had completed his mission he had said in Mosiah 17;19-20 "Oh God, receive my soul..." I hope that by the end of my mission, when I have the opportunity to attend a session in the temple with the other missionaries that I will be going home with, that I can turn over the mission to the Lord in His Holy House. That I can say "Oh God, receive my [mission]. That I did all that I could with the time given. I served this mission for thee. I hope it is acceptable."
Something really great happened this week though. It was the shining star amongst several dark nights. Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles came and spoke to the Tacoma and Seattle missions. Nearly 400 full-time missionaries gathered in the Federal Way stake center to be instructed and inspired by someone so close to the Savior. The first two rows of the chapel were reserved for the sister missionaries and my companion and I arrived early to guarantee the best seats. I got to sit within 7 feet of an apostle! How powerful of an experience to one day be enduring mockery and ridicule on someone's porch to not even 24hrs later to be addressed in the flesh by an apostle of the Lord. That really the person that should be felt sorry for is them. They who rejected the glad message that is the Gospel. Not me. That they were so far from the truth, with hardness in their hearts, when at one time they knew. That they had agreed to the Plan that the Savior put forth and that they came to earth wanting to return to Him.
Here are a few notes from his address:
- He said that as much as he wanted to say that he came just to see us (the missionaries) he did not. He came to address the Bishops, High Priests, Ward Mission Leaders, and Stake Presidents. The church is growing so rapidly, that it needs more Priesthood holders, specifically Melchezidek priesthood holders. This is totally the case in our YSA ward. With Rob, our ward mission leader getting married, there is an opening for that calling. With such few Melchezidek priesthood holders in the ward to begin with, it doesn't help that most are going back to school for the fall semester. The others are either aaronic priesthood holders are if they do hold the higher priesthood they are not worthy. Bottom line; We need more priesthood leadership. Did you know that 75% of stake presidents, 66% of bishops, and 60% of Elders quorum presidents are Returned missionaries?
-He mentioned the Broadway show that has caught the world's attention. Every bus stop, taxi cab, and building marquee had THE BOOK OF MORMON plastered to it. He said the church's public affairs office in Manhattan has never seen more inquiries than as the time following the broadway show. The world is becoming more aware of who we are. Of the power we hold. The Lord expects a lot of me as a full-time missionary, but he also expects a lot of the general members of the church. Now is the time to be opening our mouths and bearing witness of the truth. To help bring the less actives back in to the fold. To strengthen our recent converts. To invite our friends, family, and neighbors. To cause a mighty change of heart of the people in the world today. He stressed the importance of unity in the church. To be part of a team that works together with the SPIRIT, with POWER, and BOLDNESS.
-He reminded us that the Head of this church is not Thomas S. Monson. He is merely a designated Holy messenger. The head of the church has been and will always be Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite scriptures that I read this week during personal study is in Alma 29:1-2 "Oh that I were an angel, and could have the wish of my heart, and that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people...Yea I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.
That is my prayer for my mission. For all of you, I hope that you could stand before someone and know that you have a testimony of the living God. Of Jesus Christ. That the boy Joseph Smith beheld a vision. That the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. And that there is a prophet on the earth today. So that when you are ever put in a position where that testimony could be questioned, that you can stand in faith, immovable in the Gospel. Make your testimony solid if it isn't today. Elder Holland counseled, "May we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only in word and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear." I know that "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people that they might have everlasting life." (Helaman 5:13)
Love you all,
Sister Baylon
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Finding joy through loving service
Family!
Ok so I switched it up today and actually read your emails before I started typing mine. Good thing I did, so many good things going on at home!! Scott, that is so awesome you are making it big with the video production skillzz of yours. Keep it up. All those hours fiddling around on iMovie are paying off. That's so great that Dad sat in with the elders. Are you so excited the missionaries are meeting with you each week?? That is so cool, I wish I was one of the missionaries coming over. Haha I loved hearing that there is a ginger elder serving in our ward. Wait, which on is Elder Cazair? The one from Montana or the one from Rigby, ID? There was a whole district of elders that I was in the MTC with me that were heading to Carlsbad and got sooooo excited when I said that was my home mission. They were like "Who's your family?!?! Tell them to feed us!!!" haha. So keep your eye out for some hungry greenies. There are a few really missionary-minded families here in the ward. Just awesome supports to us. So make the Baylon family one of those for the missionaries in our ward. There is family full of 5 boys that have us over all the time. Whenever we need anything, we know who to call. This morning we went over there to wash/vaccuum our car, work out, got fed a hot breakfast, and left with groceries. They are the best!!
This week was so amazing. We had our miracle baptisms with the two Samoan sisters. We were afraid that there wasn't going to be anyone coming, because the girls are super shy and don't talk much at church and with their mother being less active and their step-dad not a member, their parents don't know anyone in the ward besides us as the missionaries. Our prayers were answered, people showed up in droves!! It was truly amazing. The primary president came and welcomed Angelina (10) with a special blanket to represent the "Comforter" as the gift of the holy ghost. The Young Women President came and presented Kimberly (12) with a white fleece scarf. Kind of a teen-version of the blanket her sister got. There was even a couple women that volunteered to do a musical number with a piano/cello duet of "Come Follow Me." So beautiful. The Bishop's wife and her kids came along with several other families in the ward. They wanted the baptism in the middle of the week in the middle of the day so we were having a hard time rounding up Priesthood holders that could make it. Brother Elkington took work off so that he could come! Amazing. He gave a talk on receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and just knocked it out of the park. He brought his son, Noah, and afterwards said that he and his son had the greatest time. The new senior couple elder and sister came and even President and Sister Weaver. It was the dream team. I gave the talk on the Restoration and could not have had it go any better. The entire room was listening, including their non-member step-dad. Their mom was even in tears. Now we are going to start working with their 11 yr old brother that was baptized in their uncle's ward in Bremerton and start getting him back to church. Eventually, we want to start teaching their 9 yr old brother that hasn't been baptized yet. They invited us over to house afterwards for a Samoan feast. Yowza. I felt like a minnow going up against a pack of hammerheads. They can pack food aaaa...wayyyyyyy. Dang. There were like 5 kinds of barbecued meat, potato salad, rice, chop suey, steamed bananas, and of course custard pie. I was the only one that didn't take seconds or clean my plate. One of their uncles jokingly gave me a hard time about it. I could never make it as a Samoan. He said that he lived in Torrance for one year and attended a Samoan ward there. What ward is Grandpa in? He said they have a ton of family in Long Beach. Remember that big Samoan gangster from the Italian Job movie? Totally his cousin.
Saturday was one of the best experiences of my life. We got special permission from President Weaver to accompany the YSA ward on their annual trip to Shaw Island in the San Juan islands to help these 7 retired Catholic nuns who run a 400acre farm. The islands are way outside of our mission boundaries and we are the first ones to ever get permission to go. Making us the first LDS missionaries, first Sister missionaries, to ever step foot on that island. Sweet! Just getting there was an adventure in and of itself. We all met at the church building bright and early at 4am. From there we caravaned to Kingston about 40 minutes away where we boarded a ferry that took us to Edmonds. From Edmonds we got off and drove an hour and 15min to Anacortes. From there we took a ferry to Shaw Island. Talk about the edge of the earth. It was the most beautiful ride. We passed a place called Orcas island. Total Free Willy status. The crazies thing happened. When we finally made it to Shaw island and were walking off the ferry, we noticed that our group of 38 people looked smaller than usual. By the time we could start getting a head count, the horn blew and the ferry headed back out to sea. Yikes. 13 people did not get off the ferry and would have to sit tight for another 3 hours until the ferry made its way back to Shaw island on its round of stops. Talk about a parable to teach by. The U.S.S. Bridegroom came and went and 13 virgins were left. Hahaha. We were shocked they were that unaware. The nuns came and picked us up in this huge 15passenger van that had clearly seen better days. It was gutted out without seats or seatbelts so Bishop didn't want the sister missionaries to be without seatbelts so we rode with him in his car while everyone else piled in. It was about a 3 mile drive to the farm and we saw maybe 2 houses. Less than 200 people live on the island, but there actually are several members of the church that live there as permanent residents. Guess what? They have sacrament meeting over the phone! Haha there are so many little islands and very few members, there is not a church building that is close enough that they could all meet at. I'm not exactly sure how digital church works but I thought that was crazy.
So we get there and are divided up into groups that are assigned different jobs around the farm. The nuns LOVE THE MORMONS. They said that groups come up occassionally to help out, but the Mormons are the only ones that show up to work. And to work hard. It's true though. I've never seen so many hands go up when Mother Superior asked for volunteers to clean the chicken coop. Talk about a crappy job. Ha. Get it? Anyway, bad joke. There were actually a few nonmembers that came up, but we were asked by the nuns to not proselyte while on the island. So while we were not able to verbally proselyte, I would say that we were able to by our actions and attitudes. I had my doubts the 20-somethings would be less than eager to give up their sleep, time, and free Saturday to do hard manual labor for some old ladies dressed in head-to-toe Habits. But I was so wrong. Smiles and laughter all around. Shy kids coming out of the woodwork, being outgoing and friendly with others. YSA's branching out and speaking with people they normally don't while bonding over their assigned jobs. So awesome. Everyone just exuded happiness. Truly "finding joy through loving service." (I was assigned to speak on that topic the next day at church) These two nonmember sisters volunteered to help stain a wooden walkway, benches, and deck so Sister Mills and I didn't wait a second to volunteer to go with them. Hahah we were not doing our duty if we didn't at least try to teach the gospel in some way or another. There were these two slightly older women that came with us to show us what to do. Their names were Maryanne and Martha and when I looked at them I thought, "Man, I swear I've seen you at Trader Joe's back home or at Swami's or something. Turns out they were from Pacific Beach. Haha and I met a kid that is interning there who is from Vista but he went to the Grauer school in Encinitas. Sister Mills never ceases to be amazed by how many people I meet that I know, have mutal friends with, or have things in common. By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED. We didn't get back to our apt by 9:30. Right on time for curfew. Mom, they had a ton of one-man outriggers on our ferries. There was a huge inter-island race going on that day. I felt super cool when I the only one that knew what they were.
So part of our extensive series of recitations that we recite as a mission is our mission motto:
Faith is the power.
Love is the Motive.
Obedience is the Price.
The Spirit is the Key.
The Restoration is the Message.
Members are the means.
Christ is the Reason.
Baptism is the way.
Joy is the reward.
I thought of this idea at the end of last transfer to pick one of these concepts from our motto to make the theme for each individual week of the transfer. The first week was Faith is the power, second week was love is the motive, and so for this week it will be obedience is the price. This week we will be making extra efforts to achieve our goal of being exactly obedient. In the MTC, our teacher told us that "obedience brings blessings; exact obedience brings miracles." I couldn't agree more. Obedience predicates everything. One of the hardest things for us to be obedient about is only staying an hour in a members home so that we can start our 5-7 tracting time right at 5. That two hour block of time should be consecrated specifically for dedicated finding. I do not find it ironic that our meal calendar is completely signed up for this week. Everyday this week we have a meal. Heavely Father is putting us to the test to see if our faith to be obedient is really as strong as we think it is. I know that if we can adhere to our goal this week, we will see miracles. An elder at our zone meeting last week gave a training on confidence. To be confident we need: Faith, love, skill, and boldness. He also said that when we don't have confidence we can't be urgent about the work. So if I don't believe that by fully utilizing 5-7pm as prime time to be out finding, I won't be urgent about the work and consequently the Lord will not want to bless me with his prepared people to be taught.
I truly have come to love my mission. I love being a missionary. I love bringing the Spirit in to people's homes. I love teaching and learning from those I teach. I love, love, love personal study. I have truly come to love the scriptures and I know that they are the word of God. I love saying 50 bazillion prayers a day. I invite all of you to take more time for the Lord and I promise you will see your world open up. As will the heavens as "He pours out blessings more abundantly upon you." It is so easy to be happy when you have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with you. Nothing can get in your way. Nothing can bring you down. It's easier to love other people when you first love Christ and our Father in Heaven. If you are not happy, if you are not content, if you are lonely, if you are lost, kneel in prayer. Ask for His help. Then open your scriptures and he'll speak back to you. The most common way He'll answer our prayers is through others. Be the answer to someone's prayer by going out and doing good. Serve and you will always be happy.
All my love,
Sister Baylon
Ok so I switched it up today and actually read your emails before I started typing mine. Good thing I did, so many good things going on at home!! Scott, that is so awesome you are making it big with the video production skillzz of yours. Keep it up. All those hours fiddling around on iMovie are paying off. That's so great that Dad sat in with the elders. Are you so excited the missionaries are meeting with you each week?? That is so cool, I wish I was one of the missionaries coming over. Haha I loved hearing that there is a ginger elder serving in our ward. Wait, which on is Elder Cazair? The one from Montana or the one from Rigby, ID? There was a whole district of elders that I was in the MTC with me that were heading to Carlsbad and got sooooo excited when I said that was my home mission. They were like "Who's your family?!?! Tell them to feed us!!!" haha. So keep your eye out for some hungry greenies. There are a few really missionary-minded families here in the ward. Just awesome supports to us. So make the Baylon family one of those for the missionaries in our ward. There is family full of 5 boys that have us over all the time. Whenever we need anything, we know who to call. This morning we went over there to wash/vaccuum our car, work out, got fed a hot breakfast, and left with groceries. They are the best!!
This week was so amazing. We had our miracle baptisms with the two Samoan sisters. We were afraid that there wasn't going to be anyone coming, because the girls are super shy and don't talk much at church and with their mother being less active and their step-dad not a member, their parents don't know anyone in the ward besides us as the missionaries. Our prayers were answered, people showed up in droves!! It was truly amazing. The primary president came and welcomed Angelina (10) with a special blanket to represent the "Comforter" as the gift of the holy ghost. The Young Women President came and presented Kimberly (12) with a white fleece scarf. Kind of a teen-version of the blanket her sister got. There was even a couple women that volunteered to do a musical number with a piano/cello duet of "Come Follow Me." So beautiful. The Bishop's wife and her kids came along with several other families in the ward. They wanted the baptism in the middle of the week in the middle of the day so we were having a hard time rounding up Priesthood holders that could make it. Brother Elkington took work off so that he could come! Amazing. He gave a talk on receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and just knocked it out of the park. He brought his son, Noah, and afterwards said that he and his son had the greatest time. The new senior couple elder and sister came and even President and Sister Weaver. It was the dream team. I gave the talk on the Restoration and could not have had it go any better. The entire room was listening, including their non-member step-dad. Their mom was even in tears. Now we are going to start working with their 11 yr old brother that was baptized in their uncle's ward in Bremerton and start getting him back to church. Eventually, we want to start teaching their 9 yr old brother that hasn't been baptized yet. They invited us over to house afterwards for a Samoan feast. Yowza. I felt like a minnow going up against a pack of hammerheads. They can pack food aaaa...wayyyyyyy. Dang. There were like 5 kinds of barbecued meat, potato salad, rice, chop suey, steamed bananas, and of course custard pie. I was the only one that didn't take seconds or clean my plate. One of their uncles jokingly gave me a hard time about it. I could never make it as a Samoan. He said that he lived in Torrance for one year and attended a Samoan ward there. What ward is Grandpa in? He said they have a ton of family in Long Beach. Remember that big Samoan gangster from the Italian Job movie? Totally his cousin.
Saturday was one of the best experiences of my life. We got special permission from President Weaver to accompany the YSA ward on their annual trip to Shaw Island in the San Juan islands to help these 7 retired Catholic nuns who run a 400acre farm. The islands are way outside of our mission boundaries and we are the first ones to ever get permission to go. Making us the first LDS missionaries, first Sister missionaries, to ever step foot on that island. Sweet! Just getting there was an adventure in and of itself. We all met at the church building bright and early at 4am. From there we caravaned to Kingston about 40 minutes away where we boarded a ferry that took us to Edmonds. From Edmonds we got off and drove an hour and 15min to Anacortes. From there we took a ferry to Shaw Island. Talk about the edge of the earth. It was the most beautiful ride. We passed a place called Orcas island. Total Free Willy status. The crazies thing happened. When we finally made it to Shaw island and were walking off the ferry, we noticed that our group of 38 people looked smaller than usual. By the time we could start getting a head count, the horn blew and the ferry headed back out to sea. Yikes. 13 people did not get off the ferry and would have to sit tight for another 3 hours until the ferry made its way back to Shaw island on its round of stops. Talk about a parable to teach by. The U.S.S. Bridegroom came and went and 13 virgins were left. Hahaha. We were shocked they were that unaware. The nuns came and picked us up in this huge 15passenger van that had clearly seen better days. It was gutted out without seats or seatbelts so Bishop didn't want the sister missionaries to be without seatbelts so we rode with him in his car while everyone else piled in. It was about a 3 mile drive to the farm and we saw maybe 2 houses. Less than 200 people live on the island, but there actually are several members of the church that live there as permanent residents. Guess what? They have sacrament meeting over the phone! Haha there are so many little islands and very few members, there is not a church building that is close enough that they could all meet at. I'm not exactly sure how digital church works but I thought that was crazy.
So we get there and are divided up into groups that are assigned different jobs around the farm. The nuns LOVE THE MORMONS. They said that groups come up occassionally to help out, but the Mormons are the only ones that show up to work. And to work hard. It's true though. I've never seen so many hands go up when Mother Superior asked for volunteers to clean the chicken coop. Talk about a crappy job. Ha. Get it? Anyway, bad joke. There were actually a few nonmembers that came up, but we were asked by the nuns to not proselyte while on the island. So while we were not able to verbally proselyte, I would say that we were able to by our actions and attitudes. I had my doubts the 20-somethings would be less than eager to give up their sleep, time, and free Saturday to do hard manual labor for some old ladies dressed in head-to-toe Habits. But I was so wrong. Smiles and laughter all around. Shy kids coming out of the woodwork, being outgoing and friendly with others. YSA's branching out and speaking with people they normally don't while bonding over their assigned jobs. So awesome. Everyone just exuded happiness. Truly "finding joy through loving service." (I was assigned to speak on that topic the next day at church) These two nonmember sisters volunteered to help stain a wooden walkway, benches, and deck so Sister Mills and I didn't wait a second to volunteer to go with them. Hahah we were not doing our duty if we didn't at least try to teach the gospel in some way or another. There were these two slightly older women that came with us to show us what to do. Their names were Maryanne and Martha and when I looked at them I thought, "Man, I swear I've seen you at Trader Joe's back home or at Swami's or something. Turns out they were from Pacific Beach. Haha and I met a kid that is interning there who is from Vista but he went to the Grauer school in Encinitas. Sister Mills never ceases to be amazed by how many people I meet that I know, have mutal friends with, or have things in common. By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED. We didn't get back to our apt by 9:30. Right on time for curfew. Mom, they had a ton of one-man outriggers on our ferries. There was a huge inter-island race going on that day. I felt super cool when I the only one that knew what they were.
So part of our extensive series of recitations that we recite as a mission is our mission motto:
Faith is the power.
Love is the Motive.
Obedience is the Price.
The Spirit is the Key.
The Restoration is the Message.
Members are the means.
Christ is the Reason.
Baptism is the way.
Joy is the reward.
I thought of this idea at the end of last transfer to pick one of these concepts from our motto to make the theme for each individual week of the transfer. The first week was Faith is the power, second week was love is the motive, and so for this week it will be obedience is the price. This week we will be making extra efforts to achieve our goal of being exactly obedient. In the MTC, our teacher told us that "obedience brings blessings; exact obedience brings miracles." I couldn't agree more. Obedience predicates everything. One of the hardest things for us to be obedient about is only staying an hour in a members home so that we can start our 5-7 tracting time right at 5. That two hour block of time should be consecrated specifically for dedicated finding. I do not find it ironic that our meal calendar is completely signed up for this week. Everyday this week we have a meal. Heavely Father is putting us to the test to see if our faith to be obedient is really as strong as we think it is. I know that if we can adhere to our goal this week, we will see miracles. An elder at our zone meeting last week gave a training on confidence. To be confident we need: Faith, love, skill, and boldness. He also said that when we don't have confidence we can't be urgent about the work. So if I don't believe that by fully utilizing 5-7pm as prime time to be out finding, I won't be urgent about the work and consequently the Lord will not want to bless me with his prepared people to be taught.
I truly have come to love my mission. I love being a missionary. I love bringing the Spirit in to people's homes. I love teaching and learning from those I teach. I love, love, love personal study. I have truly come to love the scriptures and I know that they are the word of God. I love saying 50 bazillion prayers a day. I invite all of you to take more time for the Lord and I promise you will see your world open up. As will the heavens as "He pours out blessings more abundantly upon you." It is so easy to be happy when you have the companionship of the Holy Ghost with you. Nothing can get in your way. Nothing can bring you down. It's easier to love other people when you first love Christ and our Father in Heaven. If you are not happy, if you are not content, if you are lonely, if you are lost, kneel in prayer. Ask for His help. Then open your scriptures and he'll speak back to you. The most common way He'll answer our prayers is through others. Be the answer to someone's prayer by going out and doing good. Serve and you will always be happy.
All my love,
Sister Baylon
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
although the road to the temple is steep, it is the only road i wish to travel
Hi family,
Sorry I am emailing you all a day late! We came to library yesterday to email and for some reason the email site would not work for me but it worked for Sister Mills. I was so frustrated and annoyed. So I just had to sit there while she got to email and use the computer. But no worries I had forgotten my list of things to email home about so I have them with me now to email you. Plus, I got the package that you sent me in the mail so I was luckily able to call Wells Fargo and sort out the issue with my credit card. The lady I spoke with on the phone said that they will submit the claim to the company that charged my card and they have 60 days to respond. So until then they temporarily refund my card. So it will be a while before the issue is finally and hopefully resolved in my favor.
Last week was the best week of my mission. I got to go to my favorite city ever, SEATTLE!!!!! for our ward mission leader and his fiancee's sealing. It was the neastest experience I have witnessed on my mission thus far. As I watched these two recent converts to the church kneel across the altar in the temple where they were sealed as husband and wife for time and all eternity, my role and responsiblity as a missionary came full circle. Missionaries had found Robert tracting less than two years ago and now he was being promised the greatest blessings he could receive here on earth and in the life to come. He was able to bring his now wife into the church and they faithfully waited until she was able to go through the temple. They are both the only members in their families so the sealing room was packed with members from the bishopric, endowed members of the ward, and 6 sister missionaries. Their wedding reception was very modest and simple. But the pure love for each other and their love for the Savior was so radiant. They didn't have the fanciest decorations, or the most sophisticated food, or even the most elegant crowd of people that gathered to support them, but what they did have was the kind of testimony and conviction that is needed to have the dilligence and faith to recognize being sealed in the temple was the only option. I only hope that whoever I marry will respect, honor, and cherish me like Rob does Carolyn. That my husband will love the Lord like Rob does. He has only been a member for 18 months but has just excelled in his callings and role in the church. They had a wedding picture frame that the guests could all sign and I wrote, "Rob & Carolyn, If everyone had a love and marriage like yours, the world would be a better place to live." I know that my sights are set only on the temple and although the road to the temple is steep, it is the only road I wish to travel.
Our baptism with Nolan was great!! True YSA style. People were late, the talks were a little...animated. Some of the moments could have been a tad more reverent. But at the end of the day, there was so much love in the room and the Spirit was there. Nolan was confirmed on Sunday and this coming Sunday will be interviewed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.
We have our baptism for the two Samoan girls this week also on Thursday!!!! We set a goal as a zone to baptize weekly and we are totally meeting our companionship goal so far!! President Weaver might even drive up for the ordinance. I am giving the 10min talk on the Restoration and Brother Elkington is going to try to take off work so that he can come. It is going to be great! It's crazy that their mother is less active and their step-dad is not a member but they are both extremely excited and supportive of their baptism. Their step-dad is home for the week from Alaska where he is gone for months at a time as an Alaskan fisherman (Deadliest Catch style). That is why we are having the baptism midweek, he really wants to be there and will be gone on Sunday. Plus he wants to cook us all Samoan food to have after the baptism. Apparently he is a really excellent cook so I'm excited to see what he'll make. The girls' auntie is currently in the hospital and the step-dad asked us if we would go visit her and say a prayer with her. She is currently pregnant and there have been come complications so they are hospitalizing her. Stepping foot into a hospital was a little hard. The same smells and equipment that I had become all too familiar with these past few months with Grandma, all came flooding back when we went to visit her. But I knew that this time I carried the mantle of God with me as a missionary and I was there to administer to the sick. She is a member in another stake so she had been given a blessing. We chatted with her briefly and said a quick prayer with her and her husband. The girls' family is extremely shy, so it was no surprise that her auntie's family was too. We heard back later from the girls' mom that their auntie really appreciated our visit. Brought me a lot of joy.
We have little fake callings in our zone. Prayer pope (someone that gets to pick who says the prayer) the Holy High-Fiver (someone that gives everyone encouraging high-fives) Miracle Man (someone that you call when you have a miracle happen that you want to share with the zone. So I am the stewardship scribe. I get to make the stewardship board at zone meeting and fill it out. All of our different stats, numbers, and goals for the week. I also have been self-appointed as the zone baker. I love baking for everyone. It is something that I get to do that I really enjoy, plus it makes everyone really happy. So far I have made chocolate rolo cookies, oreo truffles, german chocolate cupcakes and this week I am making muddy buddies. I try to make things that are relatively cheap and don't recquire a lot of cooking equipment and time to make. Our district leader even offered to have the elders help pitch in to pay. So far I have been able to make treats with what we have lying around our kitchen but if it ever comes to it, I might take him up on his offer.
One of the hardest things on the mission....eating when I'm not hungry. Sometimes when we stop by members homes they are like "here! eat!" It is usually just after we have eaten or when I am totally not in the mood for eating. One time, when the member wasn't looking I scraped some of my food on to Sis Mills plate and she helped me eat it. The sisters in the mission are doing a health/weight loss fitness program for the next 3 transfers. It was initiated by Sister Anderson who works in the mission office. She has gained 18 pounds on the mission so she wants to lose 1 pound/week for the next 18 weeks that she has left. We are supposed to call in our progress each monday....yeah....we haven't been doing too well. I love treats too much. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I have actually lost some. There is no way that I would be able to work 15 hour days without the help of Heavenly Father. There is just no way. So I could probably be better at filling my body with better fuel.
Last night the new military senior couple missionaries, Elder and Sister Finnegan, invited me and sis Mills over for Family Home Evening. (They work primarily on base with all the navy and military members). Elder Finnegan used to work as the guy in charge of the MTC bookstore so he has copies of almost every devotional and speaker that has ever given a talk at the MTC. Last night we watched a recording of a member of the Seventy, named Lynn G. Dobbins. He spoke on how we can better understand and perpetuate the conversion process for our investigators. He asked what is our biggest hope as missionaries after we teach a family or an individual the lessons. Naturally, we all think: BAPTISM!!!!! Wrong. Baptism is the third principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We should hope that our investigators FIRST have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because after the missionaries are gone, after ther baptism, after they start attending the ward for a while, if they do not have a foundation in the Gospel that is first built on faith, they will eventually fall away. Ever heard of an anagram? It's a word or words that can be scrambled around to have the same letters form a new word. He put up the words: THE EYES. The anagram that he made was THEY SEE. Then he quickly said that this is not true. That seeing is not believing. That you cannot gain a testimony through our five senses. How many times did people in the scriptures see an angel, hear the word of God, taste manna from heaven, feel the tangible gifts from God and so on an so forth and yet STILL DID NOT BELIEVE? Read these scriptures (3 Nephi 1: 11-13, 22 and 2:1-2) As missionaries we should not be holding their hands through their conversion process where we are the ones leading them solely, pulling or dragging them to the Christ. Instead, we should be taking their hands and placing them on the iron rod, where they can then (with our support and encouragement) learn to lead themselves. Because if we didn't plant their hands there, when we leave, they will be in mists of darkness (Read 1Nephi 8 so good!)
I encourage and invite you all today to read the Book of Mormon. To read with a sincere heart, with real intent. Did you know that if you were to read just 5 pages/day from the Book of Mormon you could have read it 3.5 times in one year?? 3.5 times multiplied by however many years we will live = lifetime of knowledge and increased insight from the word of God. It has brought so much more understanding and recognition of how much my Savior knows and loves me. Individually as a child and daughter of God. It is the best conversion tool I have as a missionary for my investigators and I know this, because it has been the best conversion tool the Lord has given me in my personal conversion. Start today. The rest of your life and the happiness you can have await you.
I read this quoteby Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and thought I would leave them with you:
" Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the "High Priest of good things to come" (Hebrews 9:11) "
I love you all and hope that all is well at home. Dad, yes I get your emails and love them! Have you received the cards I've sent you. I'll write you another this week. Good luck with everything as you head back to school, Mom. You too, Scott and Jill. Love you guys.
Sis Baylon
Sorry I am emailing you all a day late! We came to library yesterday to email and for some reason the email site would not work for me but it worked for Sister Mills. I was so frustrated and annoyed. So I just had to sit there while she got to email and use the computer. But no worries I had forgotten my list of things to email home about so I have them with me now to email you. Plus, I got the package that you sent me in the mail so I was luckily able to call Wells Fargo and sort out the issue with my credit card. The lady I spoke with on the phone said that they will submit the claim to the company that charged my card and they have 60 days to respond. So until then they temporarily refund my card. So it will be a while before the issue is finally and hopefully resolved in my favor.
Last week was the best week of my mission. I got to go to my favorite city ever, SEATTLE!!!!! for our ward mission leader and his fiancee's sealing. It was the neastest experience I have witnessed on my mission thus far. As I watched these two recent converts to the church kneel across the altar in the temple where they were sealed as husband and wife for time and all eternity, my role and responsiblity as a missionary came full circle. Missionaries had found Robert tracting less than two years ago and now he was being promised the greatest blessings he could receive here on earth and in the life to come. He was able to bring his now wife into the church and they faithfully waited until she was able to go through the temple. They are both the only members in their families so the sealing room was packed with members from the bishopric, endowed members of the ward, and 6 sister missionaries. Their wedding reception was very modest and simple. But the pure love for each other and their love for the Savior was so radiant. They didn't have the fanciest decorations, or the most sophisticated food, or even the most elegant crowd of people that gathered to support them, but what they did have was the kind of testimony and conviction that is needed to have the dilligence and faith to recognize being sealed in the temple was the only option. I only hope that whoever I marry will respect, honor, and cherish me like Rob does Carolyn. That my husband will love the Lord like Rob does. He has only been a member for 18 months but has just excelled in his callings and role in the church. They had a wedding picture frame that the guests could all sign and I wrote, "Rob & Carolyn, If everyone had a love and marriage like yours, the world would be a better place to live." I know that my sights are set only on the temple and although the road to the temple is steep, it is the only road I wish to travel.
Our baptism with Nolan was great!! True YSA style. People were late, the talks were a little...animated. Some of the moments could have been a tad more reverent. But at the end of the day, there was so much love in the room and the Spirit was there. Nolan was confirmed on Sunday and this coming Sunday will be interviewed to receive the Aaronic Priesthood.
We have our baptism for the two Samoan girls this week also on Thursday!!!! We set a goal as a zone to baptize weekly and we are totally meeting our companionship goal so far!! President Weaver might even drive up for the ordinance. I am giving the 10min talk on the Restoration and Brother Elkington is going to try to take off work so that he can come. It is going to be great! It's crazy that their mother is less active and their step-dad is not a member but they are both extremely excited and supportive of their baptism. Their step-dad is home for the week from Alaska where he is gone for months at a time as an Alaskan fisherman (Deadliest Catch style). That is why we are having the baptism midweek, he really wants to be there and will be gone on Sunday. Plus he wants to cook us all Samoan food to have after the baptism. Apparently he is a really excellent cook so I'm excited to see what he'll make. The girls' auntie is currently in the hospital and the step-dad asked us if we would go visit her and say a prayer with her. She is currently pregnant and there have been come complications so they are hospitalizing her. Stepping foot into a hospital was a little hard. The same smells and equipment that I had become all too familiar with these past few months with Grandma, all came flooding back when we went to visit her. But I knew that this time I carried the mantle of God with me as a missionary and I was there to administer to the sick. She is a member in another stake so she had been given a blessing. We chatted with her briefly and said a quick prayer with her and her husband. The girls' family is extremely shy, so it was no surprise that her auntie's family was too. We heard back later from the girls' mom that their auntie really appreciated our visit. Brought me a lot of joy.
We have little fake callings in our zone. Prayer pope (someone that gets to pick who says the prayer) the Holy High-Fiver (someone that gives everyone encouraging high-fives) Miracle Man (someone that you call when you have a miracle happen that you want to share with the zone. So I am the stewardship scribe. I get to make the stewardship board at zone meeting and fill it out. All of our different stats, numbers, and goals for the week. I also have been self-appointed as the zone baker. I love baking for everyone. It is something that I get to do that I really enjoy, plus it makes everyone really happy. So far I have made chocolate rolo cookies, oreo truffles, german chocolate cupcakes and this week I am making muddy buddies. I try to make things that are relatively cheap and don't recquire a lot of cooking equipment and time to make. Our district leader even offered to have the elders help pitch in to pay. So far I have been able to make treats with what we have lying around our kitchen but if it ever comes to it, I might take him up on his offer.
One of the hardest things on the mission....eating when I'm not hungry. Sometimes when we stop by members homes they are like "here! eat!" It is usually just after we have eaten or when I am totally not in the mood for eating. One time, when the member wasn't looking I scraped some of my food on to Sis Mills plate and she helped me eat it. The sisters in the mission are doing a health/weight loss fitness program for the next 3 transfers. It was initiated by Sister Anderson who works in the mission office. She has gained 18 pounds on the mission so she wants to lose 1 pound/week for the next 18 weeks that she has left. We are supposed to call in our progress each monday....yeah....we haven't been doing too well. I love treats too much. Luckily, I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I have actually lost some. There is no way that I would be able to work 15 hour days without the help of Heavenly Father. There is just no way. So I could probably be better at filling my body with better fuel.
Last night the new military senior couple missionaries, Elder and Sister Finnegan, invited me and sis Mills over for Family Home Evening. (They work primarily on base with all the navy and military members). Elder Finnegan used to work as the guy in charge of the MTC bookstore so he has copies of almost every devotional and speaker that has ever given a talk at the MTC. Last night we watched a recording of a member of the Seventy, named Lynn G. Dobbins. He spoke on how we can better understand and perpetuate the conversion process for our investigators. He asked what is our biggest hope as missionaries after we teach a family or an individual the lessons. Naturally, we all think: BAPTISM!!!!! Wrong. Baptism is the third principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We should hope that our investigators FIRST have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because after the missionaries are gone, after ther baptism, after they start attending the ward for a while, if they do not have a foundation in the Gospel that is first built on faith, they will eventually fall away. Ever heard of an anagram? It's a word or words that can be scrambled around to have the same letters form a new word. He put up the words: THE EYES. The anagram that he made was THEY SEE. Then he quickly said that this is not true. That seeing is not believing. That you cannot gain a testimony through our five senses. How many times did people in the scriptures see an angel, hear the word of God, taste manna from heaven, feel the tangible gifts from God and so on an so forth and yet STILL DID NOT BELIEVE? Read these scriptures (3 Nephi 1: 11-13, 22 and 2:1-2) As missionaries we should not be holding their hands through their conversion process where we are the ones leading them solely, pulling or dragging them to the Christ. Instead, we should be taking their hands and placing them on the iron rod, where they can then (with our support and encouragement) learn to lead themselves. Because if we didn't plant their hands there, when we leave, they will be in mists of darkness (Read 1Nephi 8 so good!)
I encourage and invite you all today to read the Book of Mormon. To read with a sincere heart, with real intent. Did you know that if you were to read just 5 pages/day from the Book of Mormon you could have read it 3.5 times in one year?? 3.5 times multiplied by however many years we will live = lifetime of knowledge and increased insight from the word of God. It has brought so much more understanding and recognition of how much my Savior knows and loves me. Individually as a child and daughter of God. It is the best conversion tool I have as a missionary for my investigators and I know this, because it has been the best conversion tool the Lord has given me in my personal conversion. Start today. The rest of your life and the happiness you can have await you.
I read this quoteby Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and thought I would leave them with you:
" Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the "High Priest of good things to come" (Hebrews 9:11) "
I love you all and hope that all is well at home. Dad, yes I get your emails and love them! Have you received the cards I've sent you. I'll write you another this week. Good luck with everything as you head back to school, Mom. You too, Scott and Jill. Love you guys.
Sis Baylon
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
start of the second transfer...
Hello family,
Guess what? I am staying in Silverdale! Yesterday marked the start of my second transfer in the mission. I had no idea what or where my transfer assignment was going to be and I was dying on Saturday waiting for the phone call. Usually the AP's or the President make the calls from 8:30-12:30 am so I figured that I would know at least before our whole zone went out for lunch at 12:30. The Saturday before the end of the transfer has been nicknamed "Seattle Saturday." It basically is in reference to the inferiority of the neighboring Seattle mission and how compared to the WA-TAC they don't really do anything. Kind of ironic in that the Seattle mission actually idolizes us here. President Weaver said that he is changing the name to "Sowing Saturday." A day that we can still sow gospel seeds and not waste time, even when to us the transfer is seemingly over. I was mentally checked out and secretly hoping that I would get transferred. I felt like this past transfer has been a time of a lot of learning and experience and I hoped that I would be able to take what I've learned here and then asked to apply it in a totally new area with a totally new companion, ward, etc. But at the same time I had a feeling in the back of my mind that I would be staying. Not only to learn a lot of lessons that I totally still need to learn here on the mission, but that there are people here waiting to receive me. There are prepared children of God that I have been sent here to find.
So when 3 o'clock finally rolled around and we still hadn't been called, I got really nervous. I assumed that I would be staying and I assumed right. AP Berger called mintutes later to inform both Sister Mills and I that we would both be staying here in the Silverdale zone. When I heard the news, the Spirit confirmed to me that this is where I am supposed to be at this time. That the missionaries assigned to this zone are the best missionaries that could be here at this particular time. Today we had our weekly zone meeting and I received further witness that I was kept here for a reason. We got a new Zone leader, Elder Coronado, an elder from my MTC district, Elder Pagano, a 300 lb. Hawaiian as my new district leader, Elder Jenkins, and a painfully shy/awkward greenie that came in yesterday, Elder Cook. They all came from really successful areas and brought with them such a great intensity and fire to do missionary work and to see miracles here in Silverdale. There are zones throughout the mission that have reputations. For high baptizing, low baptizing, good wards, bad wards, etc. They all, myself included, feel like we can boost our zone to become the next "Lakewood" or "Tacoma" zones, which happen to be some of the highest baptizing and powerhouse zones of the mission. I like to think of Silverdale as a sleeping giant. Greatness that has been laying dormant for so long and needs to woken up and when it does it will explode. We set a goal as a companionship that we could baptize 5 people this transfer with the hopes of 6. Personally, I think that we can baptize 6 people.
At the start of this transfer it was really hard for me to have the faith to find. To believe that there are people that are in search of the Gospel and that are waiting for me to bring it to them. That I can knock a thousand doors and invite every person I meet on the street, but if I don't believe that the Lord has prepared some of His elect for me to find, that I will not find them. One particular day, I felt like I needed to pray and ask for the faith to find. No joke, we found like 5 people to teach or atleast come back and talk to again just within the 2 hours of finding time that followed that prayer. I remembered that "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called by Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life." (3 Nephi 5:13) It is part of our 4 recitations that we declare every zone meeting and at every gathering of the mission. Words and phrases that proclaim our identity, role, and mission here as the Lords servants in the Washinton Tacoma mission.
We found this 84 yr old man named Andy Tuttobene. He is a retired navy lieutenant and a widower of 5 years. He lives alone. Wakes up at 10 am makes breakfast. Goes to the commecery on base to grocery shop. Comes home. Eats dinner. Watches TV. Reads the paper. Goes to bed. We had knocked on his door one day and he said that he wasn't interested in the church but that he said that he had a lot of respect for the Mormon faith and its people. That he could not think of one bad thing to say about the religion or those that practiced it, but graciously declined our offer for a church tour or even help to do some service for him. Two days later we get a call from an old man saying that two young girls came to his door and offered him help and that he woke up feeling like he should call them. He was so impressed by our appearance, demeanor, and offer to help that he felt like he could call us and asked us to come over and meet with him. He was looking for someone to do some light housework and to "look over his shoulder." Being that he lvies alone and that he has no friends or family in the area or I think even living, that he feels very lonely and does not know where to turn for some company or help. We earned his trust in 30 seconds on his doorstep and said that he would like us to come over and visit him once a week in exchange for some refreshments. We have seen him twice now, left him with a Book of Mormon and have tried to introduce different aspects of the Gospel but he feels like he is too late and too old in life to start having a religion. We told him that it is never too late and that we know of a way that he could be with his wife again one day and how he could find peace and not feel so lonely while he is still alive on the earth. This peaked his interest but quickly grew exhausted when we invited him to come to church and how he could find so many answers to his questions there and to receive revelation. He basically wants maximum results for minimum to zero effort. I felt so sad for him in that moment as we ate gelato in his living room. That he had completely forsaken the idea of seeing his wife again or being happy because he was old and too tired to start doing something new. It made me feel peace to know that my Grandpa would never be like Andy Tuttobene. That despite losing his beloved wife that he KNOWS and BELIEVES he will see her again and that they can be together forever. That he has meaning and purpose still in his life today and that he does not have to feel alone. That he has so many family and loved ones and friends there to "look over his shoulder" and to comfort and uplift him. The gospel is so powerful and beautiful and I feel sorrow for those that need it so badly but cannot recognize that they do.
Another tracting miracle that we found is a 16 yr old boy named Taylor. We were tracting this street that was totally dead. Hardly anyone was home or at least no one opened the door for us. We saw like one car drive by in like 2 hours of finding and just seemed like there was not a living soul to be found. Knock on this one door and Taylor opened it. He looked like he was maybe 13 so we asked if his parents were home so he left the door to go get his stepmom. She comes to the door and we invite her to church and so on and so forth. She said she wasn't really interested but then motioned to somone that apparently was listening from behind the door to come talk to us. She said "Taylor, you've been looking to go to a church. Here, you should be talking to them." He steps out from behind the door and we get to talking. He moved here about 2 months ago from HI and is here living with his step mom. He used to go to church as a young kid with his grandma in HI and has even attended an LDS church a couple of times. We invited him to a mutual activity that was happening that night at 6:30. The young men were helping a disabled man in the ward with some yardwork and that it would be a good opportunity for him to meet boys his age that would be starting school with him at the high school in the fall. Hesays "yeah sure, maybe." We tell him to just give us a call if he changes his mind and we leave to go knock more doors. That all happened at 6:05 pm. We are across the street about to knock on his neighbor's door and at 6:21 see a mini-van pull out of Taylor's driveway. I look at Sis Mills and go "Do you think he is going to mutual?" Without waiting another second we run to our car and race to the church on the chance that he might be. En route to the building he calls us and said he wants to go to the activity and was on his way there. MIRACLE!!!!!! No joke by 6:35 he is with several other boys pulling out brush and Scotch broom in the yard of a man he has never met. He loved it and wants to go camping with the young men this month. We are going to try to put him on date to be baptized this week!!!
Speaking of baptisms we are having a baptism this Thursday!! So this 21 yr old guy Nolan had been baptized two years ago but never came back on Sunday to get confirmed and receive the gift of the holy ghost. Thus, it is considered void since it has been so long. So he approached our ward mission leader like a couple weeks ago and we have been meeting with him a couple times and he does not want to wait to get baptized so we are doing it midweek. So rad. We have two baptisms scheduled for the following week, too, with two Samoan girls that are part of a less active family. We are starting the transfer off so strong and will be halfway to our transfer baptism goal!!
I am so excited for Friday because we got special permission to attend a temple sealing for two members of our YSA ward!!!! He is our ward mission leader and they are both recent converts within the past year-year and a half. We are driving with a member and taking the ferry to Seattle and then drive to the temple in Bellvue. This will be the first sealing I have witnessed and could not be more excited. Some of the missionaries that taught and baptized the two of them are still in the mission and are coming too.
Ok, I could not end this email without sharing a dog story. It's way scary too. Ok so we got this feeling that we needed to leave this one neighborhood we were tracting and to go to another street. So we are driving down a street that a ward member lives on. We were going to park at their house and then walk down and tract the rest of the road. Good thing we didn't because we would have been attacked by these two giant dogs!!! We were driving along the gravel road and I look in the left side mirror and see this pit bull running after us at full speed. Just completely exerting it self to get to our car. We are probably driving like 15 miles an hour. When it catches up to us it is barking and jumping up to the driver window so I just start freaking out. Slobbering all over the glass and was just trying to bust through the car and rip us to shreds. Next thing you know a giant brown bull mastif comes up to the passenger side and starts jumping up on the passenger side and just about gives sister Mills a heart attack. I try driving forward but the pit bull kept running in front of the car or trying to jump on the hood and the bull mastif is just ramming itself against the side doors. We literally trapped and being attacked by the devil's dogs no joke. They harassed our car and would not let us go for like 15 minutes until finally I decided I was just going to gun it and if I was supposed to hit them I would but that hopefully I wouldn't. They kept up with the car at 25 mph!! crazyyyyyy. We could have died if we had gotten out of the car. When we were finally able to escape and pulled over we got out to look at the car and there were gobs of gooey sticky slobber streaked along the door panels. Heavenly Father was definitely protecting us that day.
Well I hope that everyone is doing well and keeping busy. Write to me! This address will be good for another 6 weeks so you won't have to send mail to the mission home. Jordan Miles, if you are reading this I don't have your address. Write me again or email it to me at sbaylon@myldsmail.net. All others, thanks for writing me and I am trying my best to write you all back. If you get a chance read Mosiah 4:9-10 it has been one of my favorite scriptures to share with peope that we meet with and teach.
Love you all!
Sis Baylon
Guess what? I am staying in Silverdale! Yesterday marked the start of my second transfer in the mission. I had no idea what or where my transfer assignment was going to be and I was dying on Saturday waiting for the phone call. Usually the AP's or the President make the calls from 8:30-12:30 am so I figured that I would know at least before our whole zone went out for lunch at 12:30. The Saturday before the end of the transfer has been nicknamed "Seattle Saturday." It basically is in reference to the inferiority of the neighboring Seattle mission and how compared to the WA-TAC they don't really do anything. Kind of ironic in that the Seattle mission actually idolizes us here. President Weaver said that he is changing the name to "Sowing Saturday." A day that we can still sow gospel seeds and not waste time, even when to us the transfer is seemingly over. I was mentally checked out and secretly hoping that I would get transferred. I felt like this past transfer has been a time of a lot of learning and experience and I hoped that I would be able to take what I've learned here and then asked to apply it in a totally new area with a totally new companion, ward, etc. But at the same time I had a feeling in the back of my mind that I would be staying. Not only to learn a lot of lessons that I totally still need to learn here on the mission, but that there are people here waiting to receive me. There are prepared children of God that I have been sent here to find.
So when 3 o'clock finally rolled around and we still hadn't been called, I got really nervous. I assumed that I would be staying and I assumed right. AP Berger called mintutes later to inform both Sister Mills and I that we would both be staying here in the Silverdale zone. When I heard the news, the Spirit confirmed to me that this is where I am supposed to be at this time. That the missionaries assigned to this zone are the best missionaries that could be here at this particular time. Today we had our weekly zone meeting and I received further witness that I was kept here for a reason. We got a new Zone leader, Elder Coronado, an elder from my MTC district, Elder Pagano, a 300 lb. Hawaiian as my new district leader, Elder Jenkins, and a painfully shy/awkward greenie that came in yesterday, Elder Cook. They all came from really successful areas and brought with them such a great intensity and fire to do missionary work and to see miracles here in Silverdale. There are zones throughout the mission that have reputations. For high baptizing, low baptizing, good wards, bad wards, etc. They all, myself included, feel like we can boost our zone to become the next "Lakewood" or "Tacoma" zones, which happen to be some of the highest baptizing and powerhouse zones of the mission. I like to think of Silverdale as a sleeping giant. Greatness that has been laying dormant for so long and needs to woken up and when it does it will explode. We set a goal as a companionship that we could baptize 5 people this transfer with the hopes of 6. Personally, I think that we can baptize 6 people.
At the start of this transfer it was really hard for me to have the faith to find. To believe that there are people that are in search of the Gospel and that are waiting for me to bring it to them. That I can knock a thousand doors and invite every person I meet on the street, but if I don't believe that the Lord has prepared some of His elect for me to find, that I will not find them. One particular day, I felt like I needed to pray and ask for the faith to find. No joke, we found like 5 people to teach or atleast come back and talk to again just within the 2 hours of finding time that followed that prayer. I remembered that "I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called by Him to declare His word among His people, that they might have everlasting life." (3 Nephi 5:13) It is part of our 4 recitations that we declare every zone meeting and at every gathering of the mission. Words and phrases that proclaim our identity, role, and mission here as the Lords servants in the Washinton Tacoma mission.
We found this 84 yr old man named Andy Tuttobene. He is a retired navy lieutenant and a widower of 5 years. He lives alone. Wakes up at 10 am makes breakfast. Goes to the commecery on base to grocery shop. Comes home. Eats dinner. Watches TV. Reads the paper. Goes to bed. We had knocked on his door one day and he said that he wasn't interested in the church but that he said that he had a lot of respect for the Mormon faith and its people. That he could not think of one bad thing to say about the religion or those that practiced it, but graciously declined our offer for a church tour or even help to do some service for him. Two days later we get a call from an old man saying that two young girls came to his door and offered him help and that he woke up feeling like he should call them. He was so impressed by our appearance, demeanor, and offer to help that he felt like he could call us and asked us to come over and meet with him. He was looking for someone to do some light housework and to "look over his shoulder." Being that he lvies alone and that he has no friends or family in the area or I think even living, that he feels very lonely and does not know where to turn for some company or help. We earned his trust in 30 seconds on his doorstep and said that he would like us to come over and visit him once a week in exchange for some refreshments. We have seen him twice now, left him with a Book of Mormon and have tried to introduce different aspects of the Gospel but he feels like he is too late and too old in life to start having a religion. We told him that it is never too late and that we know of a way that he could be with his wife again one day and how he could find peace and not feel so lonely while he is still alive on the earth. This peaked his interest but quickly grew exhausted when we invited him to come to church and how he could find so many answers to his questions there and to receive revelation. He basically wants maximum results for minimum to zero effort. I felt so sad for him in that moment as we ate gelato in his living room. That he had completely forsaken the idea of seeing his wife again or being happy because he was old and too tired to start doing something new. It made me feel peace to know that my Grandpa would never be like Andy Tuttobene. That despite losing his beloved wife that he KNOWS and BELIEVES he will see her again and that they can be together forever. That he has meaning and purpose still in his life today and that he does not have to feel alone. That he has so many family and loved ones and friends there to "look over his shoulder" and to comfort and uplift him. The gospel is so powerful and beautiful and I feel sorrow for those that need it so badly but cannot recognize that they do.
Another tracting miracle that we found is a 16 yr old boy named Taylor. We were tracting this street that was totally dead. Hardly anyone was home or at least no one opened the door for us. We saw like one car drive by in like 2 hours of finding and just seemed like there was not a living soul to be found. Knock on this one door and Taylor opened it. He looked like he was maybe 13 so we asked if his parents were home so he left the door to go get his stepmom. She comes to the door and we invite her to church and so on and so forth. She said she wasn't really interested but then motioned to somone that apparently was listening from behind the door to come talk to us. She said "Taylor, you've been looking to go to a church. Here, you should be talking to them." He steps out from behind the door and we get to talking. He moved here about 2 months ago from HI and is here living with his step mom. He used to go to church as a young kid with his grandma in HI and has even attended an LDS church a couple of times. We invited him to a mutual activity that was happening that night at 6:30. The young men were helping a disabled man in the ward with some yardwork and that it would be a good opportunity for him to meet boys his age that would be starting school with him at the high school in the fall. Hesays "yeah sure, maybe." We tell him to just give us a call if he changes his mind and we leave to go knock more doors. That all happened at 6:05 pm. We are across the street about to knock on his neighbor's door and at 6:21 see a mini-van pull out of Taylor's driveway. I look at Sis Mills and go "Do you think he is going to mutual?" Without waiting another second we run to our car and race to the church on the chance that he might be. En route to the building he calls us and said he wants to go to the activity and was on his way there. MIRACLE!!!!!! No joke by 6:35 he is with several other boys pulling out brush and Scotch broom in the yard of a man he has never met. He loved it and wants to go camping with the young men this month. We are going to try to put him on date to be baptized this week!!!
Speaking of baptisms we are having a baptism this Thursday!! So this 21 yr old guy Nolan had been baptized two years ago but never came back on Sunday to get confirmed and receive the gift of the holy ghost. Thus, it is considered void since it has been so long. So he approached our ward mission leader like a couple weeks ago and we have been meeting with him a couple times and he does not want to wait to get baptized so we are doing it midweek. So rad. We have two baptisms scheduled for the following week, too, with two Samoan girls that are part of a less active family. We are starting the transfer off so strong and will be halfway to our transfer baptism goal!!
I am so excited for Friday because we got special permission to attend a temple sealing for two members of our YSA ward!!!! He is our ward mission leader and they are both recent converts within the past year-year and a half. We are driving with a member and taking the ferry to Seattle and then drive to the temple in Bellvue. This will be the first sealing I have witnessed and could not be more excited. Some of the missionaries that taught and baptized the two of them are still in the mission and are coming too.
Ok, I could not end this email without sharing a dog story. It's way scary too. Ok so we got this feeling that we needed to leave this one neighborhood we were tracting and to go to another street. So we are driving down a street that a ward member lives on. We were going to park at their house and then walk down and tract the rest of the road. Good thing we didn't because we would have been attacked by these two giant dogs!!! We were driving along the gravel road and I look in the left side mirror and see this pit bull running after us at full speed. Just completely exerting it self to get to our car. We are probably driving like 15 miles an hour. When it catches up to us it is barking and jumping up to the driver window so I just start freaking out. Slobbering all over the glass and was just trying to bust through the car and rip us to shreds. Next thing you know a giant brown bull mastif comes up to the passenger side and starts jumping up on the passenger side and just about gives sister Mills a heart attack. I try driving forward but the pit bull kept running in front of the car or trying to jump on the hood and the bull mastif is just ramming itself against the side doors. We literally trapped and being attacked by the devil's dogs no joke. They harassed our car and would not let us go for like 15 minutes until finally I decided I was just going to gun it and if I was supposed to hit them I would but that hopefully I wouldn't. They kept up with the car at 25 mph!! crazyyyyyy. We could have died if we had gotten out of the car. When we were finally able to escape and pulled over we got out to look at the car and there were gobs of gooey sticky slobber streaked along the door panels. Heavenly Father was definitely protecting us that day.
Well I hope that everyone is doing well and keeping busy. Write to me! This address will be good for another 6 weeks so you won't have to send mail to the mission home. Jordan Miles, if you are reading this I don't have your address. Write me again or email it to me at sbaylon@myldsmail.net. All others, thanks for writing me and I am trying my best to write you all back. If you get a chance read Mosiah 4:9-10 it has been one of my favorite scriptures to share with peope that we meet with and teach.
Love you all!
Sis Baylon
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
an unwavering testimony of the plan of salvation
To my beloved family and friends,
This week has been a week of miracles. Of tender mercies. Of prayers answered. Of confirmations from the Spirit. Of healing. Of prayer. One specific miracle that has blessed my life this past week has been the discovery that I, in fact, have an unwavering testimony of the Plan of Salvation with Christ's Atonement being at the center of that plan. On Saturday morning I woke up and prepared myself to attend a funeral that was being held at our church building for a less active boy that drowned in the local lake. Although we didn't know the family it seemed like an opportunity for us to offer service and support as the missionaries in the area. When we decided midweek that we were going to attend the funeral we had to cancel our highly anticipated plans to go with our entire zone to Bainbridge Island to watch a free showing of the church movie, "Legacy." A member on the island owns the theater and offered it as a fun activity for Pioneer Day weekend. But we thought that the funeral would be a more effective use of the Lord's time and that we should go to that instead.
However I was surprised to wake up feeling that we shouldn't go. We had already cancelled our ride with our district leaders that were going to take us and we had already commited to attend the funeral. But I felt really uneasy and told Sister Mills I don't think we should go. Luckily, our 10am appointment with a recent convert cancelled on us, freeing our schedule. We got in the car and made the 40 min drive to the island. The sky was cloudless, perfectly blue. The sun was shining and for the first time in a long while I felt warmth. The drive was picturesque. Just absolutely beautiful driving on winding forest roads overlooking the beautiful sparkling Puget Sound. Mount Rainier was visible in the distance. We ended up having a wonderful time. I never thought that while on my mission I would be sitting in a movie theater with popcorn on my lap, happy as a clam. There was a high level of excitment as myself and all the other 15 missonaries squealed with delight to be there. There was a Pioneer Day BBQ that followed. Life was so good. I was so happy and content and just feeling that there was nothing that could bring me down.
So when we received an unexpected call from Sister Weaver and the mission President, I assumed that the day was just getting better and better. I absolutely adore the Weavers and any time I can see them I am beside myself with happiness. They exude Christlike attributes. They were coming up to Bremerton for a baptism and wanted to see us while they were up here. We rushed to meet them at our church building, gladly leaving the BBQ early. The last few relief society sisters that had helped with the food at the funeral were cleaning up as we arrived. They said it went well but understood that we couldn't come. President and Sister Weaver arrived minutes later and greeted us warmly with hugs. We proceeded to sit in the RS room and I began to wonder what we would be talking about. Maybe we were going to be briefing them on our area. Or an emergency interview. I was not expecting what was said next.
President Weaver turned to me and wasted no time letting me know that Grandma Margaret had passed away. I can remember my response was, "Ok, I understand." The moments that followed were a teary blur. I was not overly emotional or hysterical but I sat there a bit frozen, looking around at the tear filled eyes that greeted me. Sister Weaver immediately hugged me and held me there for a while as we cried together. She told me in my ear that Mom had spoken with her earlier the previous evening and that there was no way that should could tell me the news in any other form than in person with a hug ready for me. In that moment I realized that this was a devastating blow and I had a few moments to decide how this was going to effect me. We had a teaching appoinment in 20 minutes and the Weavers were going to be leaving to attend that baptism. I had to choose to let this tragedy devastate me. To allow myself to be crippled and lose all energy. Or I could draw from my faith and testimony that she is alright and that I will be alright too. That my knowledge of death and the Father's Plan of Happiness can sustain me at this time. President Weaver asked if I would like a blessing and I graciously accepted. What a once in a lifetime opportunity to receive a blessing from my mission president, but also an opportunity for healing and strength that comes from the Spirit through the hands of a worth Melchezidek priesthood holder. He blessed me with comfort and peace. For the strength to be able to carry on. For the energy restored that will surely be drained from me. He blessed me that I will have an even stronger witness of the Atonement and that this will be an even powerful witness that will have converting power with the people I will find and teach. He carried on and said some very beautiful, simple, yet powerful promises and words that I know helped get me through the rest of that day and evening.
It really wasn't until yesterday, Sunday, that I was able to even stop for a moment and acklowedge Grandma's passing and allow myself to feel sorrow and to cry about it. I decided that morning as I was on my knees in prayer that I needed to fast that day. To fast for comfor and peace, but also for a confirmation of my testimony of all that I knew and believed about this mortal life and death. About the life hereafter and the power of the Atonement and knowledge of the resurrection. I strongly reccomend keeping a fasting journal. I have notebook designated specifically for fasting. I write about why I am fasting and all the questions I have or whatever I am in need of or seeking. And throughout the time that I am fasting I record all things that I felt were revelations, inspirations and things that were answeres to whatever I was fasting for. So by the end of yesterday I had scriptures, hymns, thoughts and mentionings in other's prayers that were all things that helped me find what I was looking for. That lended me the peace I was seeking.
One thing that I found to be extrememly revelatory to me was a collection of scriptures that I found during sacrament meeting. In the Doctine and Covenants 76: 50-70 lists the Glory and Rewards for exalted beings in the Celestial Kingdom. These brought great peace and comfort to me knowing that she was far too great for this life and the condition that she was in.
v. 55 They are given into whose hands the Father has given all things--
v. 59 Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's
v. 60 And they shall overcome all things
v 62 They shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever
v. 63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign..
v. 65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
v. 66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
v. 67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels...
v. 68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
v. 70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all...
I know without a doubt that all of these promises and blessings pertain to her. I know that she is deserving of the highest place in God's Celestial Kingdom and she is reunited with her loved ones. Before President Weaver gave me the blessing he asked me to briefly tell him about my relationship with Grandma. I told him that from a very young age I felt that she was an example of someone that lived her religion and her testimony. That she could stand before the judgment bar and say that she had done her very best and endured to the end. That she was truly an example of the believers. With tears in his eyes, President Weaver said that was the highest honor that I could pay anyone and that I will be strengthed from her as my own angel in Heaven. Sister Weaver said that everything I stated about Grandma right then is her biggest hope and wish that her grandchildren could someday say about her..
With yesterday being Pioneer day, I couldn't think of a more honory Sunday to think about a pioneer in my own life. While she didn't cross the plains to the Salf Lake valley she fearlessly forged a path of righteousness and faith for all those that followed her. She taught me how to be obedient and how to love the Lord. She taught me how to pray sincerely and how to rely on the Savior for help and for guidance. She taught me how to be a better person, a better friend, a better sister, a better daughter, a better student, a better member of the Church and made me want to be a missionary. I owe so much of who I am today to the living legacy that she left me with. I felt that each time I do something good, each time I serve, each time I bear my testimony, each time I reach out to someone in love, in the name of Christ, I am honoring her.
I know that it was a tender mercy from God that I had fun that Saturday morning. That I didn't have to attend a funeral only to be told soon after that there would be a funeral in my own family. I know that He is mindful of me and that as one of His missionaries I am able to be extremely close to the Spirit. On Friday morning, the morning that she passed, I was at a Filipino woman's house that we had miraculously found tracting helping her sort through her two deceased daughter's personal possessions. They were 21 and 22 years old and both unexpectedly died of cardiac arithmia. She had not touched their things for seven years, since the day that they died. I felt extremely close to the Spirit that morning as I bore powerful testimony of the Plan of Salvation with her in her garage. I told her about Grandma Margaret and the knowledge that I have of His plan allows me to be ok. I told her that we pray to find people like her. That it was no coincidence that two girls the same ages as her daughters happen to show up on her doorstep the morning they received the coroner's autopsy they had been awaiting for over a year. We cried together and offered her support and told her of the comfort and peace that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that I must have had Grandma's spirit with me helping me find the words to say as I spoke with this woman. She allowed herself to grieve and wants us to come back and begin teaching her the gospel. Everyone we had met that week while tracting had all had experiences with losing a loved one. I truly feel that we had so much success with them because I was able to be so close to the Spirit as Grandma Margaret's life was slowly drawing to a close. I feel her around me very strongly. I know that I do not need to worry about her anymore. Tell Grandpa that I love him so much and that everything will be ok. That he can still have joy in this life and that we will see her again on the other side of the veil.
I want to bear my solemn witness that this life is a probationary state. A time for us to prepare to meet God. I know that this seperation is only for this life and that I will see her again. I know without a doubt that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives. That God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he loves me. I know that all grief, heartache, injustice, sin, sorrow, and pain can me made right and lifted through the Savior's Atonement. I know that there are still things to hope for and things to be joyous about. I know that there is a life free of pain and suffering or wrongs and evil and it is the life eternal. I know that I am working toward the same place that Grandma so faithfully has made her final resting stop. I believe in prayer. In honest and sincere pleading with the Father, we can receive the peace that we all so desperately need. I know there is a work here for me to do and that I can and will face the future with faith. That I will be a pioneer here on my mission for people that are preparing to meet me and for me to find them. Keep pressing foward. Keep believing. Keep the faith. Keep trusting in the Lord. Keep Positive. I love you all so much. This gospel means everything to me and I know it can for you, too. Cleave unto Him and he will carry you through this time. I love you all so much.
Sister Baylon
This week has been a week of miracles. Of tender mercies. Of prayers answered. Of confirmations from the Spirit. Of healing. Of prayer. One specific miracle that has blessed my life this past week has been the discovery that I, in fact, have an unwavering testimony of the Plan of Salvation with Christ's Atonement being at the center of that plan. On Saturday morning I woke up and prepared myself to attend a funeral that was being held at our church building for a less active boy that drowned in the local lake. Although we didn't know the family it seemed like an opportunity for us to offer service and support as the missionaries in the area. When we decided midweek that we were going to attend the funeral we had to cancel our highly anticipated plans to go with our entire zone to Bainbridge Island to watch a free showing of the church movie, "Legacy." A member on the island owns the theater and offered it as a fun activity for Pioneer Day weekend. But we thought that the funeral would be a more effective use of the Lord's time and that we should go to that instead.
However I was surprised to wake up feeling that we shouldn't go. We had already cancelled our ride with our district leaders that were going to take us and we had already commited to attend the funeral. But I felt really uneasy and told Sister Mills I don't think we should go. Luckily, our 10am appointment with a recent convert cancelled on us, freeing our schedule. We got in the car and made the 40 min drive to the island. The sky was cloudless, perfectly blue. The sun was shining and for the first time in a long while I felt warmth. The drive was picturesque. Just absolutely beautiful driving on winding forest roads overlooking the beautiful sparkling Puget Sound. Mount Rainier was visible in the distance. We ended up having a wonderful time. I never thought that while on my mission I would be sitting in a movie theater with popcorn on my lap, happy as a clam. There was a high level of excitment as myself and all the other 15 missonaries squealed with delight to be there. There was a Pioneer Day BBQ that followed. Life was so good. I was so happy and content and just feeling that there was nothing that could bring me down.
So when we received an unexpected call from Sister Weaver and the mission President, I assumed that the day was just getting better and better. I absolutely adore the Weavers and any time I can see them I am beside myself with happiness. They exude Christlike attributes. They were coming up to Bremerton for a baptism and wanted to see us while they were up here. We rushed to meet them at our church building, gladly leaving the BBQ early. The last few relief society sisters that had helped with the food at the funeral were cleaning up as we arrived. They said it went well but understood that we couldn't come. President and Sister Weaver arrived minutes later and greeted us warmly with hugs. We proceeded to sit in the RS room and I began to wonder what we would be talking about. Maybe we were going to be briefing them on our area. Or an emergency interview. I was not expecting what was said next.
President Weaver turned to me and wasted no time letting me know that Grandma Margaret had passed away. I can remember my response was, "Ok, I understand." The moments that followed were a teary blur. I was not overly emotional or hysterical but I sat there a bit frozen, looking around at the tear filled eyes that greeted me. Sister Weaver immediately hugged me and held me there for a while as we cried together. She told me in my ear that Mom had spoken with her earlier the previous evening and that there was no way that should could tell me the news in any other form than in person with a hug ready for me. In that moment I realized that this was a devastating blow and I had a few moments to decide how this was going to effect me. We had a teaching appoinment in 20 minutes and the Weavers were going to be leaving to attend that baptism. I had to choose to let this tragedy devastate me. To allow myself to be crippled and lose all energy. Or I could draw from my faith and testimony that she is alright and that I will be alright too. That my knowledge of death and the Father's Plan of Happiness can sustain me at this time. President Weaver asked if I would like a blessing and I graciously accepted. What a once in a lifetime opportunity to receive a blessing from my mission president, but also an opportunity for healing and strength that comes from the Spirit through the hands of a worth Melchezidek priesthood holder. He blessed me with comfort and peace. For the strength to be able to carry on. For the energy restored that will surely be drained from me. He blessed me that I will have an even stronger witness of the Atonement and that this will be an even powerful witness that will have converting power with the people I will find and teach. He carried on and said some very beautiful, simple, yet powerful promises and words that I know helped get me through the rest of that day and evening.
It really wasn't until yesterday, Sunday, that I was able to even stop for a moment and acklowedge Grandma's passing and allow myself to feel sorrow and to cry about it. I decided that morning as I was on my knees in prayer that I needed to fast that day. To fast for comfor and peace, but also for a confirmation of my testimony of all that I knew and believed about this mortal life and death. About the life hereafter and the power of the Atonement and knowledge of the resurrection. I strongly reccomend keeping a fasting journal. I have notebook designated specifically for fasting. I write about why I am fasting and all the questions I have or whatever I am in need of or seeking. And throughout the time that I am fasting I record all things that I felt were revelations, inspirations and things that were answeres to whatever I was fasting for. So by the end of yesterday I had scriptures, hymns, thoughts and mentionings in other's prayers that were all things that helped me find what I was looking for. That lended me the peace I was seeking.
One thing that I found to be extrememly revelatory to me was a collection of scriptures that I found during sacrament meeting. In the Doctine and Covenants 76: 50-70 lists the Glory and Rewards for exalted beings in the Celestial Kingdom. These brought great peace and comfort to me knowing that she was far too great for this life and the condition that she was in.
v. 55 They are given into whose hands the Father has given all things--
v. 59 Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's, and Christ is God's
v. 60 And they shall overcome all things
v 62 They shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever
v. 63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign..
v. 65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.
v. 66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.
v. 67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels...
v. 68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.
v. 70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all...
I know without a doubt that all of these promises and blessings pertain to her. I know that she is deserving of the highest place in God's Celestial Kingdom and she is reunited with her loved ones. Before President Weaver gave me the blessing he asked me to briefly tell him about my relationship with Grandma. I told him that from a very young age I felt that she was an example of someone that lived her religion and her testimony. That she could stand before the judgment bar and say that she had done her very best and endured to the end. That she was truly an example of the believers. With tears in his eyes, President Weaver said that was the highest honor that I could pay anyone and that I will be strengthed from her as my own angel in Heaven. Sister Weaver said that everything I stated about Grandma right then is her biggest hope and wish that her grandchildren could someday say about her..
With yesterday being Pioneer day, I couldn't think of a more honory Sunday to think about a pioneer in my own life. While she didn't cross the plains to the Salf Lake valley she fearlessly forged a path of righteousness and faith for all those that followed her. She taught me how to be obedient and how to love the Lord. She taught me how to pray sincerely and how to rely on the Savior for help and for guidance. She taught me how to be a better person, a better friend, a better sister, a better daughter, a better student, a better member of the Church and made me want to be a missionary. I owe so much of who I am today to the living legacy that she left me with. I felt that each time I do something good, each time I serve, each time I bear my testimony, each time I reach out to someone in love, in the name of Christ, I am honoring her.
I know that it was a tender mercy from God that I had fun that Saturday morning. That I didn't have to attend a funeral only to be told soon after that there would be a funeral in my own family. I know that He is mindful of me and that as one of His missionaries I am able to be extremely close to the Spirit. On Friday morning, the morning that she passed, I was at a Filipino woman's house that we had miraculously found tracting helping her sort through her two deceased daughter's personal possessions. They were 21 and 22 years old and both unexpectedly died of cardiac arithmia. She had not touched their things for seven years, since the day that they died. I felt extremely close to the Spirit that morning as I bore powerful testimony of the Plan of Salvation with her in her garage. I told her about Grandma Margaret and the knowledge that I have of His plan allows me to be ok. I told her that we pray to find people like her. That it was no coincidence that two girls the same ages as her daughters happen to show up on her doorstep the morning they received the coroner's autopsy they had been awaiting for over a year. We cried together and offered her support and told her of the comfort and peace that comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that I must have had Grandma's spirit with me helping me find the words to say as I spoke with this woman. She allowed herself to grieve and wants us to come back and begin teaching her the gospel. Everyone we had met that week while tracting had all had experiences with losing a loved one. I truly feel that we had so much success with them because I was able to be so close to the Spirit as Grandma Margaret's life was slowly drawing to a close. I feel her around me very strongly. I know that I do not need to worry about her anymore. Tell Grandpa that I love him so much and that everything will be ok. That he can still have joy in this life and that we will see her again on the other side of the veil.
I want to bear my solemn witness that this life is a probationary state. A time for us to prepare to meet God. I know that this seperation is only for this life and that I will see her again. I know without a doubt that Jesus is the Christ. That He lives. That God is our loving Heavenly Father and that he loves me. I know that all grief, heartache, injustice, sin, sorrow, and pain can me made right and lifted through the Savior's Atonement. I know that there are still things to hope for and things to be joyous about. I know that there is a life free of pain and suffering or wrongs and evil and it is the life eternal. I know that I am working toward the same place that Grandma so faithfully has made her final resting stop. I believe in prayer. In honest and sincere pleading with the Father, we can receive the peace that we all so desperately need. I know there is a work here for me to do and that I can and will face the future with faith. That I will be a pioneer here on my mission for people that are preparing to meet me and for me to find them. Keep pressing foward. Keep believing. Keep the faith. Keep trusting in the Lord. Keep Positive. I love you all so much. This gospel means everything to me and I know it can for you, too. Cleave unto Him and he will carry you through this time. I love you all so much.
Sister Baylon
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
despite the untraditional setting, the spirit was there..
Hi family and friends!
Today has been such a great day so far. We started off the day doing the "Insanity" workout DVD at one of our favorite member family's house. Laundry, wrote a couple letters, then had a BBQ at a park with our entire zone and then the neighboring zone of missionaries. There was a couple in our ward that recently got married and they had a BBQ style reception and had tons of leftover hamburgers and hot dogs and chips and buns so they gave them to us and we fed nearly 40 missionaries. So fun! The other set of sisters and us just went and got Cold Stone ice cream and then came here to email. I LOVE my zone!! I have made some really good friends so far and I will be bummed if I get transferred out or if some of them get transferred out, because I will miss seeing them! I saw Elder Homer today at the BBQ. haha so good to see my "son."
Some little fun facts of the week:
Dad!! We were tracting and met this Filipino kid (which is like everyday) and his Dad went to Carson High!! Hahah go figure. His last name is Itchon.
We met a Filipino lady that lives across from a Less Active Samoan family that we visit. She is always out watering her lawn and says it's her "therapy" (say it with a Tagalog accent) haha. Guess what her name is? Zena! And her sister's name is Azucena just like our Grandma Cena.
There is a girl in our singles ward named Katy Porter and she knows Katy Andrews from the BYU X-Country team! Her family is on our list of "Focus Families" that we go out to make regular visits to. She wasn't coming out to the singles ward but on the first visit that we went over there I invited her to come out and she came that Sunday and has been coming ever since.
Mom, do you remember the Stanges from the Vista 8th ward? Well there is an Elder Stange in the mission! I met him my first day in the field, actually, at the transfer meeting. He looks just like his siblings. He came up and was like "Hey, you're from Encinitas?" We got to talking and we totally know a ton of the same people. He goes home soon though.
There is an LDS chiropractor that has his own practice here in Silverdale and gives free adjustments to missionaries. So on Pdays we get to go get worked on. He even does the neck adjustment where it looks like he is going to snap or break it off and pops it. Haha but it actually feels really good.
Ok, so I think it has been a while since I have shared a nasty dog story. Yuck. Ok so we go and visit this recent convert named Deorbrah (Dee or brah) that is from Georgia. Thick southern drawl accent. The first time we ever came in to visit her I go and sit down on the couch. A second later I hear the jinglig of dog collars in the next room. Not one, not two, not three but FIVE miniature pinchers come barreling out like those little dinosaurs from the second Jurassic Park movie and descend on me like a frisky wolf pack. Five little dinosaur dogs jumping on me from all angles. One on each shoulder. My lap and one on my leg. I may or may not have swatted one with my scripture case and not even felt bad about it. She calls them "min pins" for short. I call them heinous miniature reindeer from the underworld. They are way ugly and yip and sniff and bark and jump. So nastyyyyy.
So this past weekend was the best weekend ever!!! We had lunch with my favorite Japanese lady ever, Sister Warner!! I told you about her last email. She is moving this week to Utah and I am so sad. I requested her homemade yakisoba noodles and she offered to teach us how to make them. So good! I went to this specialty supermarket and bought her some Soba noodles that I thought would be perfect for the lunch. But apparently I bought the wrong ones. They were the kind that "you make on New Years" according to her. I guess they go in some type of noodle soup like the Udon noodles do. She makes her yakisoba with spaghetti noodles that she stirfrys. She even makes her own sauce. Sooo good. I got the recipe from her and she even wrote it in Japanese. (and English too). She also made us delicious fried rice, fresh fruit slices and even home made creme puffs for desert. Since all of their stuff was pretty much packed up in boxes we ate on a little card table and she used a larged furushike as a table cloth! Haha so Japanese! While Sis Mills and I were eating she wrote in my Testimony Journal. It's a journal that I bought in the MTC that is specifically for people that I love and new members and our investigators to write their testimonies in. Kinda like a missionary yearbook. So neat. She wrote her conversion story so you'll have to read it when I get back!
After that we got to go down to Tacoma for the first ever Sisters Conference!! Our mission president's wife, Sister Weaver, wanted all the sisters in the mission to come and spend the night with them at the Mission home in University Place. So we carpooled down with the sisters from Port Angeles and all met there. (I got my blue card so I can drive now!!) Sister Weaver is seriously the sweetest lady ever. It was such a nice gesture for them to invite 24 sisters into their personal home and to spend a part of the weekend with them. I remembered when I first met her that she said her first week was really hard so I could totally relate to her being new and the fact that we arrived in the field a week apart. She had mentioned that she lovvves chocolate, so naturally I knew I needed to get her some chocolate. At Central Market, that specialty market I told you about, they have the hugest candy section. All kinds of foreign, local, and unique sweets. So I bought her two bars of chocolate by a company called Seattle Chocolates and a cute note pad and tied it up with ribbon and a card. She LOVED IT. It made her so happy and we were able to connect on our common bond of being new in the mission. Sister Warner taught me a greeting in Japanese that I could use towards President Weaver when we were at her house for lunch. He served his mission in Japan so I thought he would like it. She taught me to say, "Konichiwa, dendo bucho san!" Which translates to hello mission president. But she said that the "san" denotes a very high and respected status almost like a master. I bought him that little brick of azuki bean that you had bought that Japanese lady that you knew, Mom. He was so happy to get a little something that he remembered from his mission. I We spent the first 45 min- hour all just talking and laughing and chatting and visiting. They fed us a delicious dinner and breakfast and we had a fireside and morning scripture study together. So funnnnnnn. It was so great to meet all of the other sisters and of course to see sister Eichenmiller and sister Robinson from the MTC. The elders found out from all the sisters in their zones that this sleepover extravaganza was going on and they got so jealous and even annoyed. Said that it was a waste of time and why didn't they ever get invited to do that. Before we were all about to leave the mission home, President Weaver said this: "As your mission president, I have been trained and instructed to have you as missionaries have everything you do and say pointed towards baptisms. So how might I justify this time we have spent together?" For the first time, I saw my mission president get emotional and he even shed a few tears when he said, "We invited you to our home because we love you. We know how hard this is and know that some of you might feel alone. We wanted for a weekend to have you here in a place that will make you feel like you are loved and appreciated. If you can leave feeling encouraged, uplifted, motivated, and rejuvenated so that you can go off and continue on in the work, then this Sisters Conference was not in vain." I couldn not agree more. It felt good to do something fun and to feel loved. I could tell that the old mission president was not very affectionate or particularly warm and loving. This mission president is the total opposite. He has told me several times how much he appreciates and loves me and that he is so proud of me and my work that I am doing. He is the greatest!
One day while we were tracting we knocked on this one door and this Japanese lady opened the door. It was obvious that she was upset and had been crying. Her eyes were wet, red and puffy with tears. There was sadness in her countenance and she looked like she was in distress. Before we could say anything I else, I asked her if she was alright. She proceeded to tell us that she had just gotten in a fight at the grocery store because some lady carelessly cut in front of her in line. They got in an argument and it escalated and became pretty heated. The lady at the door said she was cursing at the woman and so much hatred and anger inside of her. She had been home from the store for a while and continued to cry because that angry and hateful feeling would not leave her. She said that when we knocked on the door the feelings went away and she was able to stop crying. Her name was Toshiko and she is a Japanese buddhist. She was not interested in the gospel at this time but she thanked us for coming by her door so that she could have that awful feeling go away.
I probably am making it sound that everyone here is Japanese or Filipino. Hahah I guess it is true but only half true. Caucasian people haven't made for as interesting stories so far. The following story doesn't really help the cause haha. So last week when we were tracting we met this Chinese man. When he opened the door it was pretty obvious after the first couple words that we managed to say were not understood by him. He told us he did not speak english and we clearly did not speak Chinese. Well, Sister Mills actually spent a couple months in China as a foreign exchange student so she was able to say hello and how are you. Although he didn't have any idea what we were saying he didn't send us away either. All I could think of was that we needed to come back tomorrow. "Tomorrow," I said, "Tomorrow we will come back." It's funny how you can think that saying it slower and louder will make english suddenly understandable. He repeated, "tomorrow," and we hoped that he really understood what we meant. I saw that we had one of two options. Either we come back with a Chinese Book of Mormon or we come back with someone that speaks Chinese. Lucky for us I was able to come back with both. I made a few phone calls to a lady in our ward who recently adopted two kids from china and she gave us the name and number of a lady, Sister Batchi, in a different ward that served a mission in Taiwan so she spoke Mandarin. She happened to have a simplified mandarin chinese BOM to give to us. I thought of a few simple phrases that I wanted to say to Mah (the name of the man) when we presented him with the book so she translated it outloud and I wrote it down how it sounded phonetically so I would be able to read it back to him. So here is what I told Mah when we went back to the door the next day (keep in mind that it is spelled how it sounds and not how it is actually spelled)
Song gay knee (This is for you)
Jay bun shoo hun how hway gay knee hun do-wah kwigh la shing fu (I promise that if you read this book you will have much happiness in your life)
Shun eye knee (God loves you)
He really seemed to like it and was shocked that we not only came back but we returned with a gift for him, spoke some Mandarin, and had Sister Batchi on the phone ready to speak to him. She told him that we were missionaries and we were inviting him to learn more about his Savior Jesus Christ. The conversation over the phone went on for about 15 minutes. While my companion and I stood there on his porch we were offering silent prayers that something Sister Batchi was saying would cause the Spirit to touch his heart and that he would want to know more. He told us after he hung up that he had a son. A son that spoke english. Then he wrote some Japanese characters down and said "work" "sushi" "go" "son" english" "talk". We were able to figure out that he had a son that worked at a sushi restaurant nearby that spoke english and his dad wanted us to go visit him. We took the slip of paper with the Japanese on it and scowered the streets of Silverdale until we found it. We knew that we needed to find and speak to his son. We had no idea what he looked like or what to say but we knew we needed to meet him. So we had a legit stake out. We sat down like regular customers and asked to waitress to tell us when Ma was getting off work because we wanted to speak with him after she brought us the check. We waited for him for nearly an hour and when we finally were able to speak to him, we realized that he didn't really speak english either. Turns out the sushi chef was actually chinese so he translated for us right there at the sushi bar in front of a bunch of loud navy men drinking sake. Despite the untraditional setting the Spirit was there and I was able to bear powerful witness infront of all those people. I don't think anything will come from it at this point but I know that a seed was planted and that at some time, some where they will be ready and harvested in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love,
Sister Baylon
Today has been such a great day so far. We started off the day doing the "Insanity" workout DVD at one of our favorite member family's house. Laundry, wrote a couple letters, then had a BBQ at a park with our entire zone and then the neighboring zone of missionaries. There was a couple in our ward that recently got married and they had a BBQ style reception and had tons of leftover hamburgers and hot dogs and chips and buns so they gave them to us and we fed nearly 40 missionaries. So fun! The other set of sisters and us just went and got Cold Stone ice cream and then came here to email. I LOVE my zone!! I have made some really good friends so far and I will be bummed if I get transferred out or if some of them get transferred out, because I will miss seeing them! I saw Elder Homer today at the BBQ. haha so good to see my "son."
Some little fun facts of the week:
Dad!! We were tracting and met this Filipino kid (which is like everyday) and his Dad went to Carson High!! Hahah go figure. His last name is Itchon.
We met a Filipino lady that lives across from a Less Active Samoan family that we visit. She is always out watering her lawn and says it's her "therapy" (say it with a Tagalog accent) haha. Guess what her name is? Zena! And her sister's name is Azucena just like our Grandma Cena.
There is a girl in our singles ward named Katy Porter and she knows Katy Andrews from the BYU X-Country team! Her family is on our list of "Focus Families" that we go out to make regular visits to. She wasn't coming out to the singles ward but on the first visit that we went over there I invited her to come out and she came that Sunday and has been coming ever since.
Mom, do you remember the Stanges from the Vista 8th ward? Well there is an Elder Stange in the mission! I met him my first day in the field, actually, at the transfer meeting. He looks just like his siblings. He came up and was like "Hey, you're from Encinitas?" We got to talking and we totally know a ton of the same people. He goes home soon though.
There is an LDS chiropractor that has his own practice here in Silverdale and gives free adjustments to missionaries. So on Pdays we get to go get worked on. He even does the neck adjustment where it looks like he is going to snap or break it off and pops it. Haha but it actually feels really good.
Ok, so I think it has been a while since I have shared a nasty dog story. Yuck. Ok so we go and visit this recent convert named Deorbrah (Dee or brah) that is from Georgia. Thick southern drawl accent. The first time we ever came in to visit her I go and sit down on the couch. A second later I hear the jinglig of dog collars in the next room. Not one, not two, not three but FIVE miniature pinchers come barreling out like those little dinosaurs from the second Jurassic Park movie and descend on me like a frisky wolf pack. Five little dinosaur dogs jumping on me from all angles. One on each shoulder. My lap and one on my leg. I may or may not have swatted one with my scripture case and not even felt bad about it. She calls them "min pins" for short. I call them heinous miniature reindeer from the underworld. They are way ugly and yip and sniff and bark and jump. So nastyyyyy.
So this past weekend was the best weekend ever!!! We had lunch with my favorite Japanese lady ever, Sister Warner!! I told you about her last email. She is moving this week to Utah and I am so sad. I requested her homemade yakisoba noodles and she offered to teach us how to make them. So good! I went to this specialty supermarket and bought her some Soba noodles that I thought would be perfect for the lunch. But apparently I bought the wrong ones. They were the kind that "you make on New Years" according to her. I guess they go in some type of noodle soup like the Udon noodles do. She makes her yakisoba with spaghetti noodles that she stirfrys. She even makes her own sauce. Sooo good. I got the recipe from her and she even wrote it in Japanese. (and English too). She also made us delicious fried rice, fresh fruit slices and even home made creme puffs for desert. Since all of their stuff was pretty much packed up in boxes we ate on a little card table and she used a larged furushike as a table cloth! Haha so Japanese! While Sis Mills and I were eating she wrote in my Testimony Journal. It's a journal that I bought in the MTC that is specifically for people that I love and new members and our investigators to write their testimonies in. Kinda like a missionary yearbook. So neat. She wrote her conversion story so you'll have to read it when I get back!
After that we got to go down to Tacoma for the first ever Sisters Conference!! Our mission president's wife, Sister Weaver, wanted all the sisters in the mission to come and spend the night with them at the Mission home in University Place. So we carpooled down with the sisters from Port Angeles and all met there. (I got my blue card so I can drive now!!) Sister Weaver is seriously the sweetest lady ever. It was such a nice gesture for them to invite 24 sisters into their personal home and to spend a part of the weekend with them. I remembered when I first met her that she said her first week was really hard so I could totally relate to her being new and the fact that we arrived in the field a week apart. She had mentioned that she lovvves chocolate, so naturally I knew I needed to get her some chocolate. At Central Market, that specialty market I told you about, they have the hugest candy section. All kinds of foreign, local, and unique sweets. So I bought her two bars of chocolate by a company called Seattle Chocolates and a cute note pad and tied it up with ribbon and a card. She LOVED IT. It made her so happy and we were able to connect on our common bond of being new in the mission. Sister Warner taught me a greeting in Japanese that I could use towards President Weaver when we were at her house for lunch. He served his mission in Japan so I thought he would like it. She taught me to say, "Konichiwa, dendo bucho san!" Which translates to hello mission president. But she said that the "san" denotes a very high and respected status almost like a master. I bought him that little brick of azuki bean that you had bought that Japanese lady that you knew, Mom. He was so happy to get a little something that he remembered from his mission. I We spent the first 45 min- hour all just talking and laughing and chatting and visiting. They fed us a delicious dinner and breakfast and we had a fireside and morning scripture study together. So funnnnnnn. It was so great to meet all of the other sisters and of course to see sister Eichenmiller and sister Robinson from the MTC. The elders found out from all the sisters in their zones that this sleepover extravaganza was going on and they got so jealous and even annoyed. Said that it was a waste of time and why didn't they ever get invited to do that. Before we were all about to leave the mission home, President Weaver said this: "As your mission president, I have been trained and instructed to have you as missionaries have everything you do and say pointed towards baptisms. So how might I justify this time we have spent together?" For the first time, I saw my mission president get emotional and he even shed a few tears when he said, "We invited you to our home because we love you. We know how hard this is and know that some of you might feel alone. We wanted for a weekend to have you here in a place that will make you feel like you are loved and appreciated. If you can leave feeling encouraged, uplifted, motivated, and rejuvenated so that you can go off and continue on in the work, then this Sisters Conference was not in vain." I couldn not agree more. It felt good to do something fun and to feel loved. I could tell that the old mission president was not very affectionate or particularly warm and loving. This mission president is the total opposite. He has told me several times how much he appreciates and loves me and that he is so proud of me and my work that I am doing. He is the greatest!
One day while we were tracting we knocked on this one door and this Japanese lady opened the door. It was obvious that she was upset and had been crying. Her eyes were wet, red and puffy with tears. There was sadness in her countenance and she looked like she was in distress. Before we could say anything I else, I asked her if she was alright. She proceeded to tell us that she had just gotten in a fight at the grocery store because some lady carelessly cut in front of her in line. They got in an argument and it escalated and became pretty heated. The lady at the door said she was cursing at the woman and so much hatred and anger inside of her. She had been home from the store for a while and continued to cry because that angry and hateful feeling would not leave her. She said that when we knocked on the door the feelings went away and she was able to stop crying. Her name was Toshiko and she is a Japanese buddhist. She was not interested in the gospel at this time but she thanked us for coming by her door so that she could have that awful feeling go away.
I probably am making it sound that everyone here is Japanese or Filipino. Hahah I guess it is true but only half true. Caucasian people haven't made for as interesting stories so far. The following story doesn't really help the cause haha. So last week when we were tracting we met this Chinese man. When he opened the door it was pretty obvious after the first couple words that we managed to say were not understood by him. He told us he did not speak english and we clearly did not speak Chinese. Well, Sister Mills actually spent a couple months in China as a foreign exchange student so she was able to say hello and how are you. Although he didn't have any idea what we were saying he didn't send us away either. All I could think of was that we needed to come back tomorrow. "Tomorrow," I said, "Tomorrow we will come back." It's funny how you can think that saying it slower and louder will make english suddenly understandable. He repeated, "tomorrow," and we hoped that he really understood what we meant. I saw that we had one of two options. Either we come back with a Chinese Book of Mormon or we come back with someone that speaks Chinese. Lucky for us I was able to come back with both. I made a few phone calls to a lady in our ward who recently adopted two kids from china and she gave us the name and number of a lady, Sister Batchi, in a different ward that served a mission in Taiwan so she spoke Mandarin. She happened to have a simplified mandarin chinese BOM to give to us. I thought of a few simple phrases that I wanted to say to Mah (the name of the man) when we presented him with the book so she translated it outloud and I wrote it down how it sounded phonetically so I would be able to read it back to him. So here is what I told Mah when we went back to the door the next day (keep in mind that it is spelled how it sounds and not how it is actually spelled)
Song gay knee (This is for you)
Jay bun shoo hun how hway gay knee hun do-wah kwigh la shing fu (I promise that if you read this book you will have much happiness in your life)
Shun eye knee (God loves you)
He really seemed to like it and was shocked that we not only came back but we returned with a gift for him, spoke some Mandarin, and had Sister Batchi on the phone ready to speak to him. She told him that we were missionaries and we were inviting him to learn more about his Savior Jesus Christ. The conversation over the phone went on for about 15 minutes. While my companion and I stood there on his porch we were offering silent prayers that something Sister Batchi was saying would cause the Spirit to touch his heart and that he would want to know more. He told us after he hung up that he had a son. A son that spoke english. Then he wrote some Japanese characters down and said "work" "sushi" "go" "son" english" "talk". We were able to figure out that he had a son that worked at a sushi restaurant nearby that spoke english and his dad wanted us to go visit him. We took the slip of paper with the Japanese on it and scowered the streets of Silverdale until we found it. We knew that we needed to find and speak to his son. We had no idea what he looked like or what to say but we knew we needed to meet him. So we had a legit stake out. We sat down like regular customers and asked to waitress to tell us when Ma was getting off work because we wanted to speak with him after she brought us the check. We waited for him for nearly an hour and when we finally were able to speak to him, we realized that he didn't really speak english either. Turns out the sushi chef was actually chinese so he translated for us right there at the sushi bar in front of a bunch of loud navy men drinking sake. Despite the untraditional setting the Spirit was there and I was able to bear powerful witness infront of all those people. I don't think anything will come from it at this point but I know that a seed was planted and that at some time, some where they will be ready and harvested in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Love,
Sister Baylon
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
miracles through service
Hello family!!
So I forgot my treasured little black study journal that I keep a running list throughout the week of everything that I want to include in my emails at home in the apt! Rats!!! I had quite the list going and I carry it with me everywhere so that I don't forget anything to tell you in my weekly email home. So I will have to go from memory this week. I sent all of you guys a handwritten letter in the mail so a lot of what I won't write in the email this week for the sake of time will at least make it out to you in a card.
The ants here are HUGE. Giant black thick ants that can scurry and climb sooo fast. I have been bitten by something or other multiple times on both ankles when tracting and I would assume that they were the ants, because I haven't really seen any mosquitos.
I still have not adjusted to the concept of dogs here. Their smell and their constant shedding of fur. I have not taken to the abundance of cigarette smoke in various homes that we tract around either.
I saw my favorite guy ever last night, Brother Elkington!! I just love him and his family, even though he is the only one that talks to us. I told him that you knew a Raiha Elkington and that is totally his cousin!! He was pleasantly surprised that you knew some of his family! His family sounded like spiritual giants in every sense of the word. We didn't think he was home when we circled his neighborhood for the 50th time that day, because his black truck wasn't in the driveway. But I had the impression that we should still stop by anyway, because his wife's car was there. We were going to knock on the door and ask if he was there (even though we assumed he wouldn't be) so that we could maybe say hi to his wife and try to build a good rappore (sp?) with her. His son Noah answered the door and said that they had just gotten home from a soccer tournament down in Vancouver and that his dad was home!! Score. I was so excited. I had left my scriptures in the car, because we assumed he would be gone so we started off with just a casual visit. I told him that you might send him a paddling shirt and he got so excited! He said he wears an XL. His club is prepping for the "Gorge" race this next weekend. After visiting with him for a while I felt prompted to share a couple scriptures that I had read in my personal study a couple days before. It was in Alma 49: 8, 19-20. It was talking about the Lamanites and they're preparation to come in and just annihilate the Nephites with a vicious and merciless attack. But the Nephites were lead by Captain Moroni and were prepared. In just those three verses alone the word "prepared" comes up I think like 6 times. It stuck out to me that that particular word was used so frequently. So it got me thinking about how we too must be prepared. The Lamanites tried as they might to penetrate any and every portion of the Nephite's fortresses but to no avail. They tried to force entry from the front entrance but were forced to draw back because they were not making an advances. We asked Brother Elkington how he prepares and fortifies himself to keep the adversary from penetrating him. Like his usual self, he tried skirting the question and began diverting to ways that others prepare themselves. Sister Mills had to just keep repeating the question and each time being more concrete and asked "what is ONE way that YOU safeguard yourself from the world through preparation?" He finally managed to talk about service and how it makes him feel edified and humbled to do things for other people. Especially preparing lessons for the High Priest group. I told him that just as we are constantly having to come up with ways to prepare and strengthen ourselves and our homes, so is Satan. If he can't force entry through the front door, he will try to come through the back. Through an open window. Any chink in our armor, any vulnerable part of us and our homes he will try to pierce us. I told him that we look forward to coming over and visiting him everyweek and that I love him and his family so much. I was nervous that the last time we had come over I might have laid down the hammer, but I guess it turned out to be just what he needed to hear because his response surprised me. He said that he loves it when we come over and appreciates our visits. He said he loves giving service but has a hard time accepting service, but our visits leave him feeling happy and inspired so he likes having us over. The last time we were there I had cried a lot so when I introduced myself to his wife my eyes were red and puffy. He said that his wife told him to "Stop making the Sisters cry!" That gave me hope. That she has acknowledged us and that maybe over time we can gain her trust and she will be more open with us. I am planning on baking something for her and the family the next time we come over. She is Samoan so maybe food will at least earn me some points. I told him that I have a half Samoan half Japanese cousin and that he refers to himself as "Jamoan" and Brother Elkington thought that was super funny.
We were tracting in one particular area and knocked on the door of a family in our ward named the Hew-Lens. When I saw them at church they looked like some type of Asian-Islander mix and I thought that they would be a good family to get to know. The wife first answered the door and did not seem all too excited that we were there. Not annoyed or anything but just kind of wondering what was the purpose of our visit. She said they were on their way out the door soon en route to Seattle to visit some family that had flown in from the Big Island of Hawaii. Sister Mills asked to use the bathroom so she let us in the house. While she was in the bathroom, I started looking at their family pictures and things on the wall. Not gonna lie it was kind of awkward at first because no one was talking, but I felt like there was no way I could leave this house and not establish some kind of relationship with them as the new missionary in the ward. She seemed like a pretty private person and her kids are very quiet as well so it was up to me to keep my foot in the door while my companion was in the bathroom. I asked if they were from Hawaii as a lot of the framed pictures on the wall were on Hawaiian-esque things and the conversation slowly began to blossom. I contunued to keep the conversation about her and her family, and sure enough she told me more and more. Turns out she is half-japanese half-filipino also!! Once she found that out she got increasingly more friendly. She even gave us two bags of Washington cherries. Soooo GOOD. One bag of Ranier and one bag of Bing cherries. She told us her conversion story and how her and her husband met and their journey to be sealed in the temple. That never would have happened if I didn't open my mouth and start talking. I had no idea what I was going to say but I trusted that the Spirit would guide me to ask her inspired questions that would help me gain her trust. I would drop little things about Hawaii that I knew or remembered and she lit up when I asked her if she was going to stop for malasadas at Leonard's when they go to HI next month. Boom, we got invited back for shave ice next Friday. Mom, you'll have to send me names of our family members and the cities they live in Hawaii so that I can sound credible when I tell people that I have family in HI. Haha they ask me for names of people and places and then I look dumb when I can't think of any.
There is another Japanese lady in our ward named Sister Warner and she is the best. She is orginally from Yokosko, Japan and speaks in pretty broken english but she is so missionary minded and so cool! Her and her husband were out of town for a while so I just met them and then I found out they are moving to Utah next week. Lame! When she finally found out I was Japanese she was like "Wha? Why you no tell me till now?? We kindred spirits! I make you Japanese food!!" Haha she is going to make us home made Yaki Soba or Spam musube. She totally helped us out with a small miracle that we experienced this week. So our new mission President, President Weaver (who is so RAD by the way. Awesomest mission president ever) really challenged us to do one act of service a day. Big or small. But that we will see miracles when we give service stemmed from the pure love of Christ. So the other day we were driving out of a neighborhood of a girl we just visited and taught a short lesson to. We turned on to a main road to drive to visit an elderly woman whose husband just passed away. It was maybe a 1 mintute drive. On the way, we saw a man on crutches hobbling down the road. I felt for the guy immediately. He was no where near anything. The town wasn't for at least another 2 miles. But we proceeded on to visit the elderly lady. She ended up not being home so we drove back out to the road we were on to try to visit another family. 10 minutes or so had passed from the time that we had first noticed the man and he had barely moved. Maybe 30 feet max. He had stopped to rest. It wasn't a particularly sunny or warm day but he was sweating and looked exhausted. Sister Mills goes, "Man, I feel for that guy" and we proceed down the road in the opposite direction. I watched him from the side mirror and felt like we needed to go back. "Stop," I said, "We need to go back and see if he needs our help." We flipped a U-turn and parked on the side of the road. As soon as she put the car in Park I ran out down the road to try to catch up after him, skirt and all. I asked him if there was anything we could do to help him. Knowing that we are not allowed to give rides to anyone in our car besides other missionaries or members, I tried to ask or offer services to him that didn't include a ride. Like "Do you need to use our cell phone?" "Where were you heading? We could go get you whatever you were going to get and bring it back to you?" "Would you like us to call someone for you?" But to him it just made sense to ask for a ride. He was planning on walking 4 miles into town to go to the grocery store to get some food. On crutches with a broken ankle and torn ligaments. I looked at my companion and realized I needed to make an instant judgment call about what we would agree to. I felt the Spirit prompting me to allow him to ride in our car and I told him "sure." He had on jean shorts, a long pony tail, facial scruff and a mustache. He looked pretty clean but at the same time this was a total stranger we were literally picking up from the side of the road. But the Spirit continued to whisper to me that this was ok. Sister Mills proceeded to move our stuff out of the backseat to make room for him, leaving me with him to have a brief conversation before we pulled out. Before I could even introduce myself or ask him his name he asked, "What church are you from?" My hair and scarf was covering up my name tag so I had no idea how he knew who we were." I pulled my hair back and pointed to "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" that was engraven upon a piece of plastic that I wear over my heart. "Oh, he said. You're Mormon? I met some sister missionaries 5 years ago. I didn't really have any interest in religion at the time, but I didn't want to be rude so I let them in." Next thing I know, we are off and on our way to the store. He obviously needed a ride home so Sister Warner agreed to drive her car with us inside to go pick him up an hour or so later from the store. When we dropped him off there were almost tears in his eyes. He said that countless cars passed him that day and he was just wishing one would stop and even just offer him help. Never did he expect that two young ladies in skirts and with missionary name tags would be the ones to pull over and offer help. It was the best rule breaking experience I have had yet while on my mission. He said that he had been attending AA type meetings at a church in a neighboring town and was delighted to hear that our church building had an Addiction Recovery Group of our own. He said he would love to check it out and even has an interest in coming to church!! Miracles through service. Heavenly Father blessed us that day and I will never forget that.
So many other things I am forgetting and want to tell you but that will have to wait until next week. I love you all so much!
Love,
Sis Baylon
So I forgot my treasured little black study journal that I keep a running list throughout the week of everything that I want to include in my emails at home in the apt! Rats!!! I had quite the list going and I carry it with me everywhere so that I don't forget anything to tell you in my weekly email home. So I will have to go from memory this week. I sent all of you guys a handwritten letter in the mail so a lot of what I won't write in the email this week for the sake of time will at least make it out to you in a card.
The ants here are HUGE. Giant black thick ants that can scurry and climb sooo fast. I have been bitten by something or other multiple times on both ankles when tracting and I would assume that they were the ants, because I haven't really seen any mosquitos.
I still have not adjusted to the concept of dogs here. Their smell and their constant shedding of fur. I have not taken to the abundance of cigarette smoke in various homes that we tract around either.
I saw my favorite guy ever last night, Brother Elkington!! I just love him and his family, even though he is the only one that talks to us. I told him that you knew a Raiha Elkington and that is totally his cousin!! He was pleasantly surprised that you knew some of his family! His family sounded like spiritual giants in every sense of the word. We didn't think he was home when we circled his neighborhood for the 50th time that day, because his black truck wasn't in the driveway. But I had the impression that we should still stop by anyway, because his wife's car was there. We were going to knock on the door and ask if he was there (even though we assumed he wouldn't be) so that we could maybe say hi to his wife and try to build a good rappore (sp?) with her. His son Noah answered the door and said that they had just gotten home from a soccer tournament down in Vancouver and that his dad was home!! Score. I was so excited. I had left my scriptures in the car, because we assumed he would be gone so we started off with just a casual visit. I told him that you might send him a paddling shirt and he got so excited! He said he wears an XL. His club is prepping for the "Gorge" race this next weekend. After visiting with him for a while I felt prompted to share a couple scriptures that I had read in my personal study a couple days before. It was in Alma 49: 8, 19-20. It was talking about the Lamanites and they're preparation to come in and just annihilate the Nephites with a vicious and merciless attack. But the Nephites were lead by Captain Moroni and were prepared. In just those three verses alone the word "prepared" comes up I think like 6 times. It stuck out to me that that particular word was used so frequently. So it got me thinking about how we too must be prepared. The Lamanites tried as they might to penetrate any and every portion of the Nephite's fortresses but to no avail. They tried to force entry from the front entrance but were forced to draw back because they were not making an advances. We asked Brother Elkington how he prepares and fortifies himself to keep the adversary from penetrating him. Like his usual self, he tried skirting the question and began diverting to ways that others prepare themselves. Sister Mills had to just keep repeating the question and each time being more concrete and asked "what is ONE way that YOU safeguard yourself from the world through preparation?" He finally managed to talk about service and how it makes him feel edified and humbled to do things for other people. Especially preparing lessons for the High Priest group. I told him that just as we are constantly having to come up with ways to prepare and strengthen ourselves and our homes, so is Satan. If he can't force entry through the front door, he will try to come through the back. Through an open window. Any chink in our armor, any vulnerable part of us and our homes he will try to pierce us. I told him that we look forward to coming over and visiting him everyweek and that I love him and his family so much. I was nervous that the last time we had come over I might have laid down the hammer, but I guess it turned out to be just what he needed to hear because his response surprised me. He said that he loves it when we come over and appreciates our visits. He said he loves giving service but has a hard time accepting service, but our visits leave him feeling happy and inspired so he likes having us over. The last time we were there I had cried a lot so when I introduced myself to his wife my eyes were red and puffy. He said that his wife told him to "Stop making the Sisters cry!" That gave me hope. That she has acknowledged us and that maybe over time we can gain her trust and she will be more open with us. I am planning on baking something for her and the family the next time we come over. She is Samoan so maybe food will at least earn me some points. I told him that I have a half Samoan half Japanese cousin and that he refers to himself as "Jamoan" and Brother Elkington thought that was super funny.
We were tracting in one particular area and knocked on the door of a family in our ward named the Hew-Lens. When I saw them at church they looked like some type of Asian-Islander mix and I thought that they would be a good family to get to know. The wife first answered the door and did not seem all too excited that we were there. Not annoyed or anything but just kind of wondering what was the purpose of our visit. She said they were on their way out the door soon en route to Seattle to visit some family that had flown in from the Big Island of Hawaii. Sister Mills asked to use the bathroom so she let us in the house. While she was in the bathroom, I started looking at their family pictures and things on the wall. Not gonna lie it was kind of awkward at first because no one was talking, but I felt like there was no way I could leave this house and not establish some kind of relationship with them as the new missionary in the ward. She seemed like a pretty private person and her kids are very quiet as well so it was up to me to keep my foot in the door while my companion was in the bathroom. I asked if they were from Hawaii as a lot of the framed pictures on the wall were on Hawaiian-esque things and the conversation slowly began to blossom. I contunued to keep the conversation about her and her family, and sure enough she told me more and more. Turns out she is half-japanese half-filipino also!! Once she found that out she got increasingly more friendly. She even gave us two bags of Washington cherries. Soooo GOOD. One bag of Ranier and one bag of Bing cherries. She told us her conversion story and how her and her husband met and their journey to be sealed in the temple. That never would have happened if I didn't open my mouth and start talking. I had no idea what I was going to say but I trusted that the Spirit would guide me to ask her inspired questions that would help me gain her trust. I would drop little things about Hawaii that I knew or remembered and she lit up when I asked her if she was going to stop for malasadas at Leonard's when they go to HI next month. Boom, we got invited back for shave ice next Friday. Mom, you'll have to send me names of our family members and the cities they live in Hawaii so that I can sound credible when I tell people that I have family in HI. Haha they ask me for names of people and places and then I look dumb when I can't think of any.
There is another Japanese lady in our ward named Sister Warner and she is the best. She is orginally from Yokosko, Japan and speaks in pretty broken english but she is so missionary minded and so cool! Her and her husband were out of town for a while so I just met them and then I found out they are moving to Utah next week. Lame! When she finally found out I was Japanese she was like "Wha? Why you no tell me till now?? We kindred spirits! I make you Japanese food!!" Haha she is going to make us home made Yaki Soba or Spam musube. She totally helped us out with a small miracle that we experienced this week. So our new mission President, President Weaver (who is so RAD by the way. Awesomest mission president ever) really challenged us to do one act of service a day. Big or small. But that we will see miracles when we give service stemmed from the pure love of Christ. So the other day we were driving out of a neighborhood of a girl we just visited and taught a short lesson to. We turned on to a main road to drive to visit an elderly woman whose husband just passed away. It was maybe a 1 mintute drive. On the way, we saw a man on crutches hobbling down the road. I felt for the guy immediately. He was no where near anything. The town wasn't for at least another 2 miles. But we proceeded on to visit the elderly lady. She ended up not being home so we drove back out to the road we were on to try to visit another family. 10 minutes or so had passed from the time that we had first noticed the man and he had barely moved. Maybe 30 feet max. He had stopped to rest. It wasn't a particularly sunny or warm day but he was sweating and looked exhausted. Sister Mills goes, "Man, I feel for that guy" and we proceed down the road in the opposite direction. I watched him from the side mirror and felt like we needed to go back. "Stop," I said, "We need to go back and see if he needs our help." We flipped a U-turn and parked on the side of the road. As soon as she put the car in Park I ran out down the road to try to catch up after him, skirt and all. I asked him if there was anything we could do to help him. Knowing that we are not allowed to give rides to anyone in our car besides other missionaries or members, I tried to ask or offer services to him that didn't include a ride. Like "Do you need to use our cell phone?" "Where were you heading? We could go get you whatever you were going to get and bring it back to you?" "Would you like us to call someone for you?" But to him it just made sense to ask for a ride. He was planning on walking 4 miles into town to go to the grocery store to get some food. On crutches with a broken ankle and torn ligaments. I looked at my companion and realized I needed to make an instant judgment call about what we would agree to. I felt the Spirit prompting me to allow him to ride in our car and I told him "sure." He had on jean shorts, a long pony tail, facial scruff and a mustache. He looked pretty clean but at the same time this was a total stranger we were literally picking up from the side of the road. But the Spirit continued to whisper to me that this was ok. Sister Mills proceeded to move our stuff out of the backseat to make room for him, leaving me with him to have a brief conversation before we pulled out. Before I could even introduce myself or ask him his name he asked, "What church are you from?" My hair and scarf was covering up my name tag so I had no idea how he knew who we were." I pulled my hair back and pointed to "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" that was engraven upon a piece of plastic that I wear over my heart. "Oh, he said. You're Mormon? I met some sister missionaries 5 years ago. I didn't really have any interest in religion at the time, but I didn't want to be rude so I let them in." Next thing I know, we are off and on our way to the store. He obviously needed a ride home so Sister Warner agreed to drive her car with us inside to go pick him up an hour or so later from the store. When we dropped him off there were almost tears in his eyes. He said that countless cars passed him that day and he was just wishing one would stop and even just offer him help. Never did he expect that two young ladies in skirts and with missionary name tags would be the ones to pull over and offer help. It was the best rule breaking experience I have had yet while on my mission. He said that he had been attending AA type meetings at a church in a neighboring town and was delighted to hear that our church building had an Addiction Recovery Group of our own. He said he would love to check it out and even has an interest in coming to church!! Miracles through service. Heavenly Father blessed us that day and I will never forget that.
So many other things I am forgetting and want to tell you but that will have to wait until next week. I love you all so much!
Love,
Sis Baylon
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
''i need to surrender my heart''
Hello family and friends!
I can't believe it but I writing to you on a beautiful, sunny, warm day in Washinton state. Family, I am going to print off all of your emails so that I can read them later today since I only get 1 hr of time on the computer and don't want to end up with no time to write.
Today has been the best day ever! We had new missionary training in Tacoma today! So all the new missionaries and their trainers got to go down to meet with President Weaver and his wife and have an orientation meeting and bunch of trainings and break-out sessions. It was really great to see all of my MTC district after our first couple of weeks and to hear about how they are doing. All the elders have no longer been able to evade the "missionary hair part." They all had pretty conservative hairstyles before, but today they all had the very straight-edged combed hair part. Hahah it was sooooo good to see them. They were so excited to see me, too. It was so hard not to hug them all. Some of the elders that I thought would be powerhouses from the moment we landed ended up having a really rough couple of days or first couple of weeks. But that is to be expected. After our meeting we got to go over to the mission home (where President and Sister Weaver live) and all eat a great lunch. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was such a nice day that we all got to eat outside on their deck in the backyard. So fun! I was supposed to get my blue card today that lets me drive a mission car, but I forgot some paperwork at the apartment so I was not able to get it today. Bummer!! Therefore I am banished to the passenger seat and backing the car. Did I already explain this to you guys? So every time the car is in reverse, one of us (aka me) has to be behind the car to guide them backing up. Even in a giant empty parking lot.
I really hope that I get called to serve in Tacoma or Lakewood. Just driving around Tacoma today I know I will love it. More city-like. A lot of black people and Samoans. Haha so it's more diverse. I wish you guys could see some of the places we have tracted or some of the member's homes we have gone to. It was something you would see on an A&E reality TV show. Either middle class or way ghetto. With the occassional super nice house.
There is a lady named Keiko, our YSA ward's bishop's wife. (did I talk about her before?) Anyway, she is so cool I will tell you about her again. She is Japanese! From Yokohama and the sweetest, cutest lady. She has us over for dinner or breakfast like once a week and is such a good cook. She make really unique but simple and complex things at the same time. Hahah hard to explain it. All very fresh too. She reminds me so much of Grandma Margaret. The way she walks around her kitchen. Her cadence in her voice. But she has an accent though. She even keeps her vitamins in one of those little ceramic dishes! Warms my heart every time I see her.
So I have been praying and I fasted on Sunday to help me have a change of heart and attitude to help me take on fully what it means to be a missionary. Sister Mills gave me an article that was written by the WA-TAC mission's former president who is know a member of the Seventy, Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge. It is called, "The Fourth Missionary." It describes 4 different kinds of missionaries, their attributes, attitudes, their successes (or lack thereof for two of them) and their happiness. I won't describe the first three missionaries, but I will tell you about what it means to be a "fourth" missionary because that is the kind of missionary that I want to be. That I know I can be. That the Lord knows I can be. That He expects me to be. A fourth missionary is obedient and is obedient not because he wants to outwardly appear so, but because he understands the principles behind obedience. He wants to be obedient not for the mission president or even for himself, but because he loves the Lord and knows that the first law of all things in Heaven is obedience. Through his obedience and faith he has a complete change of heart. He no longer desires to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. But instead thinks of what the Lord wants him to do, when to do it, and how to do it. This does not mean that he is exempt from frustration, exhaustion or never feels like the work is hard but he presses forward because he knows that this will be for his good and that blessings will come.
An excerpt from the talk said: "If you aren't happy, if you are frustrated or resentful, look inside. It is within you. The Savior said, "The Kingdom of God is within you." It is in your head and in youur heart. It starts in your head and your heart follows. You only need to say to the Lord in your head, "I give up. I surrender. I won't fight anymore. Here it is. Here are my desires. Here is my will. I want noly to do what you want me to do. That's enough for me. That's all I want, because it's the only intelligent thing to do."
I learned an important lesson this week. I need to be willing to fully consecrate myself to this work. To my mission. To my wards. To the members. To the people I am serving. To my companion. To my investigators. To the Lord. I have to not only serve with all my might and strength but I need to surrender my heart. For the first two weeks I did not surrender my heart. I was being a "third" missionary. I was doing everything I was supposed to. I was even being effective. I had the Spirit with me. I did good works. Taught well. But I with held my heart. And it made the work far more difficult than it ever had to be. But now, I realize that for 18 months I agreed to give all of myself to my misson, to Heavenly Father, and his children who are looking for the truth and "know not where to find it."
I had an interesting discussion with my favorite, Mauri, Brother Elkington. I felt like we needed to go visit him after we had an appointment with a member that lived near his home. We went over. His son, Noah, 12, is the only one that his wife allows to come to church on occasion with his dad. He is always so excited when we come over and let us in. We originally were going to share a scripture from 1 Nephi but I was prompted to ask Brother Elkington what we call in the mission "inspired questions." Questions that unlock and uncover so much more about the individual, their spirituality, needs, and concerns. If truly insspired questions are asked with the Spirit present, your mind is enlightened with how to discern what they are telling you and what to say that they might not even know they need to hear. So someway, somehow I was able to find out that he is very troubled, dare I even say unhappy. He has given up hope on his wife who is not a member and feels like there is little to look forward to or no reason to work on his individual progression and salvation. He feels this way because he thinks that what kind of place would Heaven be if he could not be there with his family. He thinks that his ability and privilige to exercise the Priesthood ends at the door when he walks in the house. Several other things came pouring out and I really felt for him. I told him about you, Mom and how you have set such a great example for me and our family by being worthy and working to receive your own endowments and have not let yourself get discouraged. I can't even remember all that I said, but what I do remember was that the Spirit spoke so, so strongly through me to him. I was bold in a way that I have never been before. It was a call to action without being overbearing. I told him that regardless of his situation with his family that the Lord is bound when we do what He asks. That if Brother Elkington was to prepare himself to enter the temple again that not only him but his family would be blessed. If the we are living the gospel and doing all that we possibly can on our own, the Lord will fulfill our righteous desires. They just might not be on our time or they exact way we envisioned them to be fulfilled. I told him to NEVER, EVER give up hope. Change can happen. And it starts with him. When we put the Lord first and trust in His arm that all things are made possible. He is a very talkative guy. Always trying to divert the attention away from him and speaks a lot so that he can put the attention back on us. But for the first time he was quiet. He was pondering. Reflecting. You could see the trouble in his eyes and the pain in his heart. But I assured him that the hope that we so desperately need in this life is through the Savior, Jesus Christ.
I was reading in the latest Ensign magazine and this quote by Elder Uchtdorf caught my eye so I wrote it down in my journal. It's called
"The Ultimate Formula for Happiness"
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to all of our problems. The gospel is not a secret. It is not complicated or hidden...It is not someone's theory or proposition. It does not come from man at all. It springs from the pure and everlasting waters of the Creator of the universe, who knows truths we cannot even begin to comprehend. And with that knowledge, He has given us the gospel-- a divine gift, the ultimate formula for happiness and success."
I love this gospel. It is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. It can heal broken hearts. Lift heavy loads. Wipe our teary eyes. Give us a perspective vision as we navigate this life. It brings justice to those that have been wronged. It extends mercy to those that have done wrong. It builds. It strengthens. It comforts. It unifies. It gives hope. It brings peace. It can change our hearts. It can ease our minds. It can bring us joy. Let us experience love and teach us how to love others. Even as the Savior loves us.
Please, please pray for missionary opportunities. Think of people to share the gospel with. Open your mouths and testify of what you know to be true. Invite others to church or to your home. The Lord will bless you. Help in the efforts of one heart, one mind, one church. Allow the missionaries to visit you. They bring a message from the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. They carry with them the Spirit and will fill the walls of your home with that very spirit. I promise that you will not regret it. As the Lord's missionaries, we are united and working towards the same purpose. So by helping them, you in turn, are helping me. You are supporting some missionary that is just like me. But ultimately you are supporting your Heavenly Father. Rejoice in the gospel together. As families. With friends. There is so much to be grateful for and to be happy about. "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
I love you so much,
Sister Baylon
I can't believe it but I writing to you on a beautiful, sunny, warm day in Washinton state. Family, I am going to print off all of your emails so that I can read them later today since I only get 1 hr of time on the computer and don't want to end up with no time to write.
Today has been the best day ever! We had new missionary training in Tacoma today! So all the new missionaries and their trainers got to go down to meet with President Weaver and his wife and have an orientation meeting and bunch of trainings and break-out sessions. It was really great to see all of my MTC district after our first couple of weeks and to hear about how they are doing. All the elders have no longer been able to evade the "missionary hair part." They all had pretty conservative hairstyles before, but today they all had the very straight-edged combed hair part. Hahah it was sooooo good to see them. They were so excited to see me, too. It was so hard not to hug them all. Some of the elders that I thought would be powerhouses from the moment we landed ended up having a really rough couple of days or first couple of weeks. But that is to be expected. After our meeting we got to go over to the mission home (where President and Sister Weaver live) and all eat a great lunch. We had lasagna, salad, garlic bread, and brownies and ice cream for dessert. It was such a nice day that we all got to eat outside on their deck in the backyard. So fun! I was supposed to get my blue card today that lets me drive a mission car, but I forgot some paperwork at the apartment so I was not able to get it today. Bummer!! Therefore I am banished to the passenger seat and backing the car. Did I already explain this to you guys? So every time the car is in reverse, one of us (aka me) has to be behind the car to guide them backing up. Even in a giant empty parking lot.
I really hope that I get called to serve in Tacoma or Lakewood. Just driving around Tacoma today I know I will love it. More city-like. A lot of black people and Samoans. Haha so it's more diverse. I wish you guys could see some of the places we have tracted or some of the member's homes we have gone to. It was something you would see on an A&E reality TV show. Either middle class or way ghetto. With the occassional super nice house.
There is a lady named Keiko, our YSA ward's bishop's wife. (did I talk about her before?) Anyway, she is so cool I will tell you about her again. She is Japanese! From Yokohama and the sweetest, cutest lady. She has us over for dinner or breakfast like once a week and is such a good cook. She make really unique but simple and complex things at the same time. Hahah hard to explain it. All very fresh too. She reminds me so much of Grandma Margaret. The way she walks around her kitchen. Her cadence in her voice. But she has an accent though. She even keeps her vitamins in one of those little ceramic dishes! Warms my heart every time I see her.
So I have been praying and I fasted on Sunday to help me have a change of heart and attitude to help me take on fully what it means to be a missionary. Sister Mills gave me an article that was written by the WA-TAC mission's former president who is know a member of the Seventy, Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge. It is called, "The Fourth Missionary." It describes 4 different kinds of missionaries, their attributes, attitudes, their successes (or lack thereof for two of them) and their happiness. I won't describe the first three missionaries, but I will tell you about what it means to be a "fourth" missionary because that is the kind of missionary that I want to be. That I know I can be. That the Lord knows I can be. That He expects me to be. A fourth missionary is obedient and is obedient not because he wants to outwardly appear so, but because he understands the principles behind obedience. He wants to be obedient not for the mission president or even for himself, but because he loves the Lord and knows that the first law of all things in Heaven is obedience. Through his obedience and faith he has a complete change of heart. He no longer desires to do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants. But instead thinks of what the Lord wants him to do, when to do it, and how to do it. This does not mean that he is exempt from frustration, exhaustion or never feels like the work is hard but he presses forward because he knows that this will be for his good and that blessings will come.
An excerpt from the talk said: "If you aren't happy, if you are frustrated or resentful, look inside. It is within you. The Savior said, "The Kingdom of God is within you." It is in your head and in youur heart. It starts in your head and your heart follows. You only need to say to the Lord in your head, "I give up. I surrender. I won't fight anymore. Here it is. Here are my desires. Here is my will. I want noly to do what you want me to do. That's enough for me. That's all I want, because it's the only intelligent thing to do."
I learned an important lesson this week. I need to be willing to fully consecrate myself to this work. To my mission. To my wards. To the members. To the people I am serving. To my companion. To my investigators. To the Lord. I have to not only serve with all my might and strength but I need to surrender my heart. For the first two weeks I did not surrender my heart. I was being a "third" missionary. I was doing everything I was supposed to. I was even being effective. I had the Spirit with me. I did good works. Taught well. But I with held my heart. And it made the work far more difficult than it ever had to be. But now, I realize that for 18 months I agreed to give all of myself to my misson, to Heavenly Father, and his children who are looking for the truth and "know not where to find it."
I had an interesting discussion with my favorite, Mauri, Brother Elkington. I felt like we needed to go visit him after we had an appointment with a member that lived near his home. We went over. His son, Noah, 12, is the only one that his wife allows to come to church on occasion with his dad. He is always so excited when we come over and let us in. We originally were going to share a scripture from 1 Nephi but I was prompted to ask Brother Elkington what we call in the mission "inspired questions." Questions that unlock and uncover so much more about the individual, their spirituality, needs, and concerns. If truly insspired questions are asked with the Spirit present, your mind is enlightened with how to discern what they are telling you and what to say that they might not even know they need to hear. So someway, somehow I was able to find out that he is very troubled, dare I even say unhappy. He has given up hope on his wife who is not a member and feels like there is little to look forward to or no reason to work on his individual progression and salvation. He feels this way because he thinks that what kind of place would Heaven be if he could not be there with his family. He thinks that his ability and privilige to exercise the Priesthood ends at the door when he walks in the house. Several other things came pouring out and I really felt for him. I told him about you, Mom and how you have set such a great example for me and our family by being worthy and working to receive your own endowments and have not let yourself get discouraged. I can't even remember all that I said, but what I do remember was that the Spirit spoke so, so strongly through me to him. I was bold in a way that I have never been before. It was a call to action without being overbearing. I told him that regardless of his situation with his family that the Lord is bound when we do what He asks. That if Brother Elkington was to prepare himself to enter the temple again that not only him but his family would be blessed. If the we are living the gospel and doing all that we possibly can on our own, the Lord will fulfill our righteous desires. They just might not be on our time or they exact way we envisioned them to be fulfilled. I told him to NEVER, EVER give up hope. Change can happen. And it starts with him. When we put the Lord first and trust in His arm that all things are made possible. He is a very talkative guy. Always trying to divert the attention away from him and speaks a lot so that he can put the attention back on us. But for the first time he was quiet. He was pondering. Reflecting. You could see the trouble in his eyes and the pain in his heart. But I assured him that the hope that we so desperately need in this life is through the Savior, Jesus Christ.
I was reading in the latest Ensign magazine and this quote by Elder Uchtdorf caught my eye so I wrote it down in my journal. It's called
"The Ultimate Formula for Happiness"
The Gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to all of our problems. The gospel is not a secret. It is not complicated or hidden...It is not someone's theory or proposition. It does not come from man at all. It springs from the pure and everlasting waters of the Creator of the universe, who knows truths we cannot even begin to comprehend. And with that knowledge, He has given us the gospel-- a divine gift, the ultimate formula for happiness and success."
I love this gospel. It is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. It can heal broken hearts. Lift heavy loads. Wipe our teary eyes. Give us a perspective vision as we navigate this life. It brings justice to those that have been wronged. It extends mercy to those that have done wrong. It builds. It strengthens. It comforts. It unifies. It gives hope. It brings peace. It can change our hearts. It can ease our minds. It can bring us joy. Let us experience love and teach us how to love others. Even as the Savior loves us.
Please, please pray for missionary opportunities. Think of people to share the gospel with. Open your mouths and testify of what you know to be true. Invite others to church or to your home. The Lord will bless you. Help in the efforts of one heart, one mind, one church. Allow the missionaries to visit you. They bring a message from the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. They carry with them the Spirit and will fill the walls of your home with that very spirit. I promise that you will not regret it. As the Lord's missionaries, we are united and working towards the same purpose. So by helping them, you in turn, are helping me. You are supporting some missionary that is just like me. But ultimately you are supporting your Heavenly Father. Rejoice in the gospel together. As families. With friends. There is so much to be grateful for and to be happy about. "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
I love you so much,
Sister Baylon
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