God has given us so much to be grateful for

Greetings from the North Pole,

 

It.

Is.

Freezing.

 

Brrrr. emerton.  I am having a hard typing right now because I can't really feel my fingers.  Outside it is grey as a field mouse and very very not warm.  There is rumor that it is supposed to snow.  Yuck.  It snowed really, really bad last thanksgiving.  The cities were without power for about 4 days and you couldn't be out driving the streets were so bad.  Hopefully that doesn't happen to us because that would slow missionary work down a lot.  And make it more painful.  I'm going to quote my old District Leader who is quoting Batman: "the night is darkest before the dawn."  Good things are approaching.  They have to be, because things couldn't get any darker.

 

But on a lighter note, who wants to hear some fun facts about my life as a missionary lately? Ok, so there is a member of the bishopric that has had us over for dinner and another time has had us over for breakfast.  Both times...BOTH TIMES...we had venison.  Yes, I ate deer for breakfast.  Gulp.  He is part of our tour of people we are stopping by to see on Thanksgiving and I would be more suprised if we actually had turkey than if he is sharpening his electric carver to mince up some Bambi.  My comp had never had venison before or had never even heard of it until she came on the mission.  I told her that it was baby cat.  So now we have this running joke that every time we go to this guy's house we better bring the meow mix. 

 

Speaking of cats...we were out tracting one night and we changed our mind about these apt complexes that we were going to go knock.  We drive out of the complex and pull over on the side of a nearby street so that we can look at our map and pick a new spot.  The street was pitch black.  Not a soul in sight.  The car was in park, the E brake was on, the street was level.  All of a sudden the car lurches forward.  Hmmm. That was really creepy.  I looked at my companion and she felt the car rock too.  We decide that we are both freaked out and that we should leave immediately.  I throw the car in drive and make the fastes Uturn of my life (second only to the one I made the catch the guy in the wheel chair ie last week's email).  All of a sudden we hear this scratching and thumping on the top of the car.  I slam the breaks.  A giant feline had jumped on top of the car and slid down the back window and ricocheted off the bike rack.  I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  I floor it forward hoping that the cat would launch off the front when I soon after hit the brakes.  Nope.  The devil cat just scampered up on the roof and dug its little claws in even tighter.  So then I try the swerving technique and try to shake off the dang thing.  You can hear it sliding around like butter on a hot skillet.  Alright, that's it.  I'm over this dumb cat.  I put it in reverse, gun it back and then hit the brake one last time.  It flew off so fast I died laughing for like 5 minutes straight.  The craziest part of the whole story was just imagining what the whole scene looked like to someone watching from inside their house. 

 

Thank you Sister Rondo for sending me the yummy pumpkin bread!  Wow, what a nice surprise to receive after a long, hard, cold day of missionary work.  You're the best!!!!

 

Our fridge sounds like a clucking hen.  We will be either trying to fall asleep at night or studying together in the morning and you would think that Farmer Joe just sprinkled some chicken feed in our kitchen the way it sounds.

 

Tracting in the dark, freezing cold is getting more and more painful.  A ward member bought us some pepper spray because they were worried that it was really dangerous for us to be out there at night.  Honestly, I think we are the only ones brave or dumb enough to be walking the streets of Bremerton at 32 degrees.  If we do see people walking they are not strolling, they are hurrying as fast as they can to get to wherever it is they are going.

 

We had our first anti experience last night when we were out finding.  Waayyy bad energy coming from this guy.  He was a Jdub (Jehovah Witness) Tag team attacked us with his wife.  Even got his little kids involved.  We confounded him a couple times with some doctrinal truths and he would pause for a second and then just change the subject and go off on something else he hated about us.  Ridiculous.

 

We found the coolest Samoan family! (figures right?  got to put my poly comp to use somehow) Well, actually they were a referal from my last zone leaders.  I'll have to tell you guys about them in my next email.  My internet time is almost up and my fingers are locking up.  But anyway we are going to stop by their house for thanksgiving.  Brown town.  Hey what is Royce's family's name that is up here in Bremerton.  Maybe they know eachother!

 

You can see the Seattle skyline in the distance from the hilltops of Bremerton.  It's way neat.  Especially at night.

 

Our investigators are slowly progressing.  Slowly but surely.  None of them came to church yesterday which was a big bummer but it happens.  They all have really varying circumstances but a few experiences I had this week involving me questioning a lot about what I really do believe and why I am on a mission shed some light on the fact that I have more in common with these people then I originally thought.

 

My comp and I were invited to bear our testimonies on Sunday before the High Councilor spoke.  It just so happened the chapter that I left off on for my reading from the Book of Mormon was Alma 26.  My favorite chapter ever.  All about one of the greatest missionaries ever, Ammon.  I think it was verse 35 and 36 that I read at the pulpit about having so much to rejoice over.  And not just during this thanksgiving season, but in every season of our lives.  That God has given us so much to be grateful for and that lately I haven't been happy because I haven't been grateful.  I haven't been as good at looking for or recognizing how much Heavenly Father has given me in my life and what He continues to do for me and bless me with.  What are you thankful for?  Your lists are very long, I'm sure.  Love you guys.  Hope home for Thanksgiving is warm.  Warm in the sense of love and hope.  Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.  Probably gain 5 pounds from all the food I'll have to eat.  Smile more. 

"That which is to give light, must endure burning"

Hey,

 

Another rough rough week.  This is by far the hardest transfer of the mission.  Somedays I just think "December 5th, December 5th, December 5th."  That's the beginning of the new transfer.  But I can't keep waiting for the next transfer or the next companion or the next area or the next investigator.  I have to know how to be content at the current moment.  How am I going to magnify the next 10 minutes, the next hour, the next day, the next week?  There is a quote tacked to the wall of our apartment that was there when we moved in.  It's above one of the lamps in the living room and says, "That which is to give light, must endure burning."  I completely know the feeling.

 

 At one point I had to pull the car over and just cry.  I asked a brother in the ward to give me a priesthood blessing of comfort.  Nothing he said was a surprise.  They were words that Heavenly Father spoke through him to tell me that I needed to hear from Him.  Confirming to me that the Lord knows me individually and that I am not forgotten.  That He has never left me, even when so often I leave Him.

 

I got my copy of the General Conference edition of the Ensign magazine.  What a saving grace.  I have been pouring over its pages these last couple of days.  I especially loved our former beloved stake president, Chris Waddell's remarks that were given during the Priesthood session.  His talk was entitled, "The Opportunity of a Lifetime."  And it is about, you guessed it, missionary work.  A part that really stood out to me was when he said,

 

"Long before leaving our earthly home to serve a full-time mission, we left heavenly parents to fulfill our mortal mission.  We have a Father in Heaven, who knows us-- our strengths and weaknesses, our abilities and potential.  He knows which mission president and companions and which members and investigators we need in order to become the missionary, the husband and father (or wife and mother), and the priesthood holder we are capable of becoming.  Prophets, seers, and revelators assign missionaries under the direction and influence of the Holy Ghost.  Inspired mission presidents direct transfers every six weeks and quickly learn that the Lord knows exactly where He wants each missionary to serve." 

 

The Sisters conference this past weekend was a much needed break from the prison that I feel like my area has been.  Nice to just get out and see a change of scenery.  All 30 of us sisters went out to dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Tacoma and then went to watch the Tacoma stake's performance of Savior of the World.  It was a really well put-together musical depicting the foretelling, birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ.  The next morning we all had a fireside in their family room and then headed back to our areas.  I always scan the room, thinking "which one of you will be my next comp..."

 

I sent you guys the copy of the ticket to give me any insights about how to fight it.  My court date is coming up on November 30th.  My cop friend out here is going to help me fight it.  So no, hopefully no one will be paying for this ticket.

 

It's pretty sad, but I don't think the ward really knows what to do with Sister missioaries.  They haven't had them for at least 3 decades and so they are kind of skiddish around us.  We're like a wet dish rag.  No one is sure what to do with us so they leave us out to dry. Just kidding. Sort of.  No one signed up to feed us this week.  Sad day.  You would think that with how many old people are in this ward, 4pm dinners would be the prime time.  People must love their routines too much to break them for a couple of new sister missionaries.  We are going to have to work more on building ward relations so that people can get to know and trust us and want us over in the their homes.  In the talk by Elder Uchtdorf he says, "..what mattered to Him (the Lord) was that I was doing the best I could, that my heart was inclined toward Him, and that I was willing to help those around me.  I knew if I did the best I could, all would be well...and all was well." 

 

The weather here has been freezing.  Not too much rain, but gray and overccast pretty much everyday.  Some scattered sunshine.  But the air has been really chilly.  Just as long as there is no snow, I'm good.  Boots, tights, scarves, and gloves everyday.  Tracting at night is kind of painful.  But it's to be expected.

 

I received the sweetest package from Grandpa Ted chocked full of goodies from Hawaii.  Hawaiian flower hair accessories and a bunch of snacks.  I let my comp take two clips, I kept one, and then gave the rest to this house full of Samoan girls that we visit about once a week.  They loved them!  Good to see them go to people that really will enjoy and appreciate them.

 

This past week we had so many dogged appointments.  Meaning people bailed, ditched, skipped out.  It's the worst ever.  I hate getting dogged.  We do everything we can to see that the appointments go through but at the end of the day they still have their agency and we can't force them to do anything.  We invite, they commit, we follow up.  When we invite people to act, we are inviting them to repent essentially.  To increase their faith and move closer to Christ.  Keep your commitments, people!

 

I've really been trying to be better at keeping in touch with my recent converts from Silverdale.  Luckily, all of the people I had the opportunity to find, teach, and baptize are still active and strong in the gospel.  Tim, our superstar, just passed the Sacrament for the first time this past Sunday.  When Sister Holman called me on the phone to tell me about it, it literally made my entire day.  I am really thinking and hoping that he will be able to receive his temple endowment before I end my mission. MIRACLE.  Taylor is doing great as well, Sis Holman said that both his parents came to church on Sunday and seem to really like it.  I know that Kristy has felt the spirit and that she really wants to believe the church is true, if she secretly doesn't already.

 

 

Our investigator Dani is moving right along.  She is a very tell you how it is straight up, kind of person.  So I felt like I could just ask her point blank if she has received answers about what we have taught her so far is true.  Specifically, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  She looked at us and said, "Well, I'll put it this way...if I hadn't do you think you'd guys would still be over here?"  Wow.  She is totally becoming converted!  It's the greatest feeling ever to see the gospel change people's lives.  She wants to be baptized and wants her husband to start coming with her to church when he gets home from his navy deployment in the next couple weeks.

 

Oh!  There is another elder that is serving in the Carlsbad mission that has a connection to the WA-TAC.  There is an elderly lady in our ward that was talking about where all her grandsons have served their missions.  One, Elder Shirley, is currently out in the field and is serving in Del Mar.  Keep an eye out for him.  I think we might have been in the MTC at the same time as well.  I feel bad that I haven't written any of the missionaries from our home ward that are serving right now.  I will make time to do that next Pday. 

 

We are having dinner with the Wahlquists tonight and Family Home Evening with them and their neighbor, Robert and his son Angelo.  They are the ones I talked about last email.  They are both Catholic so some of the gospel topics that usually take minimal explanation to other investigators, require a lot more time with them.  Slowly and surely, Robert is moving right along.  They even came to church yesterday!  As fate would have it, it was the ward's primary program.  40 or so angelic voices testifying through word and song of their testimonies of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I don't know how you couldn't feel the Spirit through them.  Very powerful.  Robert, like a lot of investigators, do not know how to react or handle the power or influence of the Holy Ghost telling them that what they are hearing or learning is true.  It's a feeling that is too big for them to internalize so they often make light or make jokes to dispell what they are really feeling.  So that's what he did.  Hopefully tonight he can really just allow himself to be aware and sensitive to the promptings and whisperings of the Holy Ghost.  We are teaching him about the Plan of Salvation, a lesson that, I feel, will make of break it for him.  His wife died a few years ago and I can imagine that a lot of what we will cover tonight will answer questions of his soul. 

 

I can't believe the Christmas season is upon us.  We got permission from President Weaver to go to the Graves' house in Silverdale for Thanksgiving.  We are going to "chop some wood" or "rake some leaves" so that we can wear our service clothes.  Aka jeans.  It's going to be weird to not be home for the holidays, but I look forward to spending Christmas in the mission.

 

I apologize for how fragmented this email probably is.  My brain is in a million different places at the moment.  Don't worry about me, guys.  I have the Lord on my side.  What else do I need?

 

Love you,

Sis Baylon

it's always better to look up, because He is looking down

Hey!

Alright. Feels way good to write home today.  I have made the conscious choice to stop struggling.  I apologize for sounding really downie brownie last email.  We are instructed to not write home anything negative about our areas, companions, etc.  So I felt really bad that I didn't strictly adhere to that guideline.  I am really trying to embrace the ghetto!! Haha as weird as that sounds.  There is a sister missionary that hate my guts right now because she feels that she should be here.  She wanted to be here so she isn't and I didn't want to be here so I am.  Same thing with companions.  Be careful what you wish for or what you don't wish for.  I have to quit comparing everything to Silverdale.  Which is semi-difficult because that was all I ever knew until this point.  But I am here now so that's where my mind and heart are going to be as well.  I wanted to take the majority of my email time like always to devote to writing so I didn't really read any of the emails you guys sent me in lieu of having more time to type.  So if I didn't answer your questions, sorry! I will handwrite you letters sometime this week.

My comp's name is Faoliu (Fah-oh-lee-ooh).  Haha yeah everyone including myself just calls her Sister F.  Saves you like 10 seconds of your life each time you do.  She is straight up from da islandzz.  (that's how she talks and writes).  Her and the other poly elders in my district say that they'll turn me brown by the end of the transfer.  I said that they couldn't turn me brown with a 40 gallon bucket of paint. Ha!  She is kind of an unusual Polynesian in that she is an only child.  Pretty quiet.  Her dad works in the states and sends money back home to her and her mom in Tonga.  Her mom is an english teacher at the Church high school, Liahona.  We have really different senses of humor but we still manage to laugh together.  Most of the time at her expense.  She is way afraid of birds!  Haha and she laughs everytime families feed us gross food or food in general when I am not hungry.  She can pack it away like nobody's business.  My stomach has definitely shrunk significantly since being on the mission.  Good for the waistline but bad for being at members' houses.  Especially Samoan members. My stomach churns everytime I see a boiled banana!

Want to hear a funny but pathetic story? Sure you do!  Ok so the other day it was raining way hard. We were driving up this super steep hill and it's really really dark out.  Hardly any street lights in WA.  We drive past this large elderly man going up the hill in a motorized wheel chair.  No umbrella. Just a baseball cap on and a light jacket.  We pass him in our nice heated car.  Hmm..we should help him.  But how?  We are not allowed to give him a ride and even if we did, where were we going to put the power chair.  I know!  Let's walk beside him with my giant umbrella over his head.  Ok! Flipped the fastest U-turn of my life.  The fact that he whizzed past the car super fast should have been a tell-tale sign of what was coming next.  By the time I threw the car in park on the side of the road and got the umbrella out of the trunk he was a speck at the top of the hill.  WHAT THE HECKKK!! How did he get up there so fast.  So get this, I take off running in the pouring rain with my skirt flailing and my umbrella turning inside out from the intense wind chasing after a fat guy in a motorized wheel chair.  With a tongan girl huffing and puffing up the hill behind me.  We couldn't catch him.  I finally just yell, while trying not to just bust out laughing or crying at the same time, "Heyyy!!!!! Wait uppppppp!!!"  Just then he crosses the street and zooms into underground parking of an assisted living home.  It was a scene out of a Robin Williams movie, I swear.  We were soaked and just got out run by a guy who can't walk.  All in the name of service!

Want to hear a gross story?  Sure you do! Ok so we are tracting this semi-ghetto street during the middle of the day on Saturday.  We walk up to the front door which was kind of on the side of this one house.  I round the corner and low and behold there are about a half dozen giant raccoons just feasting on a spread of dry dog food that is scattered all over this persons porch.  I have never seen so many all at once and in broad daylight!!! I was staring into the eyes of disease carrying vermin the size of spaniels.  My comp was like "oh, cutttee!!"  I told her that they are way dangerous and propelled her into the swarm, sending the group scattering all over the yard.  We quickly knock on the person's door as we are watched by the peeved raccoons.  "Um, do you know that you have like a billion raccoons on your porch?"  The lady that answered was like "yeah, they're my friends."  Hmm. Ok cool well, want to come to church?  Bring the whole gang!

Want to hear a grosser story?  We knock on the very next house to the coon lady and this place looked like a cough or sneeze could blow the thing down.  Just beyond condemned.  Nasty, nasty place.  We give a couple of solid knocks on the door.  As we are pivoting around to leave, this lady opens the door.  Looks like the last time she took a shower was 1995.  No pants on.  Cigarette breath out the wazoo.  Just had seen better days.  Invited her to church and she was like "right now is not a good time."  Oh, because you don't have any pants on? Just kidding I didn't say that. But who opens the door with no pants on??  Bremerton's finest on parade, I'm telling you.

I love the support that all of you showed me in the form of getting peeved at the lady who took out her frustration/anger that the elders left and was therefore stuck with us the sisters.  Haha yes, she may or may not have contributed to me crying.  We had an appointment to go back and teach her on Friday but I just was dreading it.  Just dreading it.  We were reviewing our lesson plan and right before we were about to go over we get a call that she is feeling "sick" and that we can't come over tonight.  Haha oddly enough, my prayer worked! Usually missionaries pray for people to teach, but that night I prayed for not having to teach her.

Time for a "when it helps not being white" story moment!  So we have the feeling that we should go knock this one street.  We don't really get a lot of anything but "Nope"s.  Then we knock on this one lady's door.  Turns out she is Samoan and her Dad's name is Faoliu.  She was staring hard core at my comp's name tag.  Usually when people stare at our name tags they follow it up by shutting the door.  But this time she invited us in to look at family pictures.  Turns out she has a mormon sister that lives in none other than Gardena, CA.  Her name is Sarah Teo and her husband's name is Eric and they had a daughter name Emalina who passed away.  Maybe Grandpa Ted knows her.  Don't know if she is really interested in the church, my guess is probably not, but she told us to come back any time.  Here is another Samoan story.  So we get this referral from my last zone leaders in Silverdale that there is this Samoan family that they met tracting that is interested in the church and moving into our area.  They tell us the street that they are moving on but they didn't know an address.  They described vaguely what kind of cars that they drove, but that was about it.  We looked at the street and saw that it was about a mile walk round trip.  Hmm.  Lot of houses to knock on when we are only looking for one.  We pull over on the side of the road after surveying the street and say a prayer asking for help in finding the house.  The spirit prompted us to start in the middle and to walk to the right.  It was a miracle but the very last house on the street was the family!! I literally jumped for joy when we found it.  Two cars that matched their description.  Turns out they weren't home, but it's ok because now we know where they live and can go back and pretend to "knock into them". MIRACLE.

Another miracle is our investigator Dani.  We found her tracting our first week here.  She is a 22 yr old navy wife that was at her friend's house who actually just joined the church a couple of months ago.  She was looking for a church to join but didn't know where to go or how to even go about looking.  Her recent convert friend said, "Why don't you do what I did? Pray about it."  So Dani prayed about what church to join and then missionaries knocked on her door the very next day.  COOL, RIGHT??? We taught her about the Restoration, which she totally identifies with, took her on a church tour, and she came to church on Sunday.  She said that she was a little overhwhelmed.  It was the first time that she stepped into a church in 8 years.  She said she liked it and wants to start bringing her husband when he gets home from the boat in a couple weeks.  MIRACLE.

Last night we broke our fast with our new favorite family, the Wahlquists.  The mom is this itty-bitty Filipina lady (of course) and is the YW president.  She had told us about her neighbors across the street the last time we were over there for lunch.  It's a half Japanese widower with a son that is japanese/filipino.  Score.  We asked her if she would want to walk over there and introduce us after dinner and so after dessert we walked across the street.  Long story short, the Lord answered my prayer to find a family to teach, we are now teaching them!!!  MIRACLE.

Heavenly Father let me sink to the bottom so that I could rise to the top and help the people of Bremerton do the same.  People here need the gospel so desperately I just don't even know where to begin.  I feel embarassed and ashamed that I even questioned why God would send me here.  I am finally starting to realize that I can either complain and wallow or get to work.  My companion and I are the only missionaries in the entire world assigned to this area at this time to find the people that are waiting to receive the message that we bring.  That Jesus is the Christ.  That He lives.  That God, our loving Heavenly Father still reaches out to His children today and has called a Prophet on the earth.  That the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel and that by living by its precepts we can find quench the thirst for joy and peace that the world can never offer.

Don't worry about me here.  I am fine.  I am more than fine.  I am doing great.  Not to say that it isn't hard, but I need to find the people that have wandered off on forbidden paths and stumbled through mists of darkness and bring them back.  To place their hands on the iron rod and allow the Spirit to guide them the rest of their journey.  I love you all.

It's always better to look up, because He is looking down

Sis Baylon

picture time!!

 Sister Baylon and her MTC District!

And here she is in Washington....

Halloween Pday

 Hello everyone
Writing you from this sunny Halloween Pday. Today will be a relatively easy
day which is much appreciated, because this last week was way hard.  Today
the President wants us to have our weekly zone meetings at night so that we
are not out in the streets.  Not a good time for missionaries to be walking
around.  After the zone meeting we are having a Halloween party.  Weird to
think that we are going to a Halloween party on the mission.  Ususally
 Pdays are actually kind of stressful.  A whole lot of things to do and not
a lot of time to do it.  The majority of the day is consumed with playing
sports and going out to lunch with the Zone.   Today, we got permission to
leave the area and go to Silverdale so that my comp could go shopping.
Kind of bittersweet.  I saw members at Target, at the mall, and at the library just now from my old wards.  They either didn't even know that I
was transferred or they were way bummed to see that I had left the area.
Well, that is the nature of missionary work.  We change around a lot.
Sometimes that doesn't really sit well with investigators.

To any of you that might have just recently sent me mail to my old
Silverdale address chances are I didn't get it.  My old comp tried to
forward them to me but I should have received them by now and they haven't
come.  The mail system might have bounced them back to the original return addresses.

So my new comp is doing pretty well.  Waaaaay different then Holman.  She
 is an islander and all that comes with that.  Different personality,
> different sense of humor, different way of thinking, different pace,
> different likes/dislikes.  Not bad, just different.  Definitely an
> adjustment from Holman.  Fortunately she is really humble and teachable so
> that helps the work a lot.  I feel like I have to correct or teach her a
> lot more of what not to do as well as what to do then my last companion.
> It is teaching me patience and understanding.  This past week has been a
> proving ground and one that definitely is causing me to stretch far out of
> my comfort zone.  It's hard starting from zero.  So much pressure.
> Unspoken pressure, of course. Pressure that I mostly place on my own
> shoulders.  In just this first week though we have three new investigators
> and one on date to be baptized.  So that is a miracle!!  I keep trying to
> tell myself that I am doing my best and that is enough.
>
> The area is....scary sometimes.  Mom, I don't want to worry you
> unnecessarily so I think there are some stories that I'll just have to tell
> you when I get back.Yes, the Spirit will whisper and prompt you of danger
> but at the same time you have to be smart and use good judgment about what
> situations you are placing yourself in.  Missionaries are not invincible
> and I think that is a common misconception a lot of young elders have.
> Sometimes when we are out tracting or even just driving around I think to
> myself, "Man, what in the world am I doing here?  Why would President think
> to send me to this place?"  But then I think on it a little more and
> remember that Heavenly Father called me to this area at this time with this
> companion and that he is the all-knowing, all-powerful Master planner and
> has a divine design for this Washington Tacoma mission.  I think of all the
> places in the world that I could be at that exact minute of the day and
> know that this is where He needs me to be.  Humbling.  Makes you feel a
> little more significant when sometimes you feel like an ant on a playground.
>
> I made it all the way until Thursday night before I cried.  Frustration,
> sadness, confusion, and honestly just feelings of being alone reached their
> breaking point.  I let heavy, wet tears roll down my cheeks as I sat in
> this lady's house as she is laying in to us about how upset she is that the
> elders left her and now she is stuck with us.  Luckily, I was able to pass
> off my tears as a product of the Spirit as I bore my testimony but really
> they outpouring of my emotional dam breaking.  I was able to pull it
> together and salvage the rest of the night.  I don't want to turn this into
> a cry fest so this letter will be brief. I uploaded some pictures from
> lately.
>
> I know that the Savior of the world is the one that is going to get me
> through this little rough transition.  I know that there are great things
> that are in store for us here.  I just have to keep the faith and keep
> believing that this is true.  If you feel like life is trying to defeat
> you, read my favorite scripture: Alma 26:12 .  Has gotten me through a lot
> of sleepless nights.
>
> Love you guys,
> Sister Baylon

in Bremerton!

Hey!!

Everyone, guess what?? I am writing you this email from Bremerton.  Haha that's right...the wonderful world of transfers came and went.  I have been called to serve in the Manette ward here in the Bremerton Zone.  So this is a really unique circumstance.  Manette has been in the history of forever an Elders area.  No missionaries that anyone that I have met so far has ever heard of sisters serving in the area.  So when I got my transfer call on Saturday I was floored when they told me that not only would I be opening a Sister area but that I would be training AGAIN.  In other words, doubling in.  In other words, wow that is a lot of pressue.  In other words, I don't know anything or anyone in that area.  But as fate would have it, I DO know people in this area.  The Galeai girls that I baptized my second transfer, well, there family lives here in my ward.  Oh, and the Graves family, my go-to saving graces, their grandpa lives in my ward, so of couse, I have already eaten dinner over there last night.  So it really is as an ideal of a doubling in as you could get.  Plus, I do have some help.  They originally had a set of elders and a set of Spanish speaking elders in the Manette ward.  They closed spanish down and brought in us.  So the elders that stayed are kind of taking this first week to train us on the area.  Which helps A LOT.  Sis Graves came to dinner with her car FULL of groceries for us to have.  Which was a saving grace because we didn't have the time or the funds to stock the apartment.  Plus we were dead dog tired that night when we came in and there would have been no way we could have gone out to get stuff.

So here is my new address:

2511 Magnuson #333
Bremerton, WA 98310

So.. B-town is totally BROWN-TOWN.  Well, at least my district.   Hahah my district leader, Elder Hamilton is the craziest guy in the mission.  He is a Samoan/Tongan/Filipino from Long Beach and is the loudest, friendliest, high-energy person you would ever meet.  His comp is also Samoan from Samoa named Elder Polaveo and he is way cool.  Are you ready for where my comp is from??  Oh, yeah my comp is from TONGA.  So we got a Brown DL, a Brown elder, a Brown greenie, and me.  Haha it's probably the most diverse zone in the mission.  We definitely get noticed when we walk around together.  All these intimidating poly missionaries and a lil asian one on the side.  Quite the site.  So it's awesome. My comp is pretty cool.  Different.  Not like my insta-pal, Holman, who I miss a lot.  But I know we'll go through a lot together out here and so we'll probably be a pretty tight companionship.

Sis Holman's new comp is this little short basketball phenom from Utah.  Holman is not a super bubbly girl, so when she told me that she made a really big effort to come up and say hi to her new comp at transfer meeting and sound super excited about it (which inside she wasn't) I was bummed to hear that the excitement wasn't really reciprocated from the new comp.  Hm.  I really am hoping and praying

Plus it helps that these are the people that I am serving with cause my area is the GHETTO.  Hahah missionaries dream of the ghetto and I am the first sister that gets to go there.  Since they only assign the elders to go to dangerous areas of the mission, it would make sense that the first sisters they send in to one are of a persuasion other than caucasion.  We are taking over all of the Spanish elder's stuff including their apt.  Um...definitely not like my cute little apartment in Silverdale.  I probably won't ever be walking around the place without socks or shoes on, I'll say that much.  But don't worry, I'm fine!! This will all be part of my ever-changing, increasingly more amazing stockpile of mission stories.  Tonight we are tracting in the one of the more "hood areas" in Manette.  Should be interesting.  Who knows...maybe by the time I get transferred out of here I'll know how to knife fight, boost a car, or throw a pair of sneakers on a telephone wire.  Sweeet.

Yesterday, transfer day, was a day of a lot of firsts for me.  First time getting transferred out of an area.  First time getting a foreign comp, first time getting doubled in to an area.  First time training in an area I don't know.  First time I oddly didn't feel too nervous for the transfer.  Even though of all the transfers I have previously have had minor heart attacks right before.  I guess because this is all completely new everything for me, I will 100% need to rely on the Lord for this one.  No matter how much talent, skill, experience I have/do not have, I need Him to be with me this transfer as I take on all of these "firsts."  But I am ready to!

Haha last night we went to see the Samoan family that is related to the girls I baptized in Silverdale.  They are the quietest Samoans you would ever meet.  Must run in their blood.  We went over there right after dinner with the Graves.  So I probably jinxed myself when we parked the car and said that if they try to feed me one bite of food I would barf.  Luckily, I didn't actually barf, but when they sit us down to a whole tabled chocked with food, I was s-t-r-u-g-g-l-i-n-g.  The Samoan elders looked at me like "Sorry, but you got to eat that otherwise it's rude."  I looked back at them like "Pleasssseeeeee, help me eat this.  So when the family congregated in the living room, leaving us in the kitchen, I gave them my food and even my glass of juice and they ate it for me.  Phewwww.  I don't know how many times I will be able to get away with doing that o my mission.  But last night worked, so I can't complain.  Ew, the elders were chowing down on what looked like a hot glue gun glue stick.  It was crunching as they ate it.   I asked them what that was and they said a "chewy bone."  A what?  Oh a chewy bone is cartilege. um, yuck.

So, my birthday was the besssssttttt!  Wow, talk about all the love I got.  Haha sis Holman was like, "Man, today feels like a holiday."  The whole zone took me out to lunch for Red Robin, I went to a favorite family of mine, The Bisons, for dinner and she made me a special bday cake on a cakestand and got me a gift, and then I went on base with the Graves family and had more cake and ice cream at the firestation.  It was the neatest thing ever!!!  I got to sit in the truck and put on the uniform and everything and they took my picture.  After that I got to teach the coolest investigator, Franz, the guy from Laos.  I re-committed him to baptism so he is getting baptized this Sunday, so sadly I won't be able to be there for it.  That is the nature of missionary work, we are always changing and sometimes that means missing baptisms.  That night I opened all of my gifts and ate a bunch of candy.  It was the perfect day.

Then the next day happened.  I got my first ticket.  I KNOWWWW , what the heck????  Don't worry, I'm fighting it.  I'm sending Dad a copy of the ticket in the mail.  Sis Grave's dad was a cop so he is gonna help me fight it.  Hopefully the cop won't show up to court and I get off without having to testify.  But if he does, I am ready to tell teh judge that I was not going 50 in a 40 and I definitely was not driving a Toyota CORONA.  Hmm..not sure how you could speed in a bottle of Mexican beer.  But whatever you say, officer.  LAME.

Well, I know that this transfer will be a crazy/interesting/stretching/possibly scary one with lots of stories to come.  I am excited to tell you of the things that I'll experience here.  I feel humbled to know that President trusted me enough to place me here and that Heavenly Father has a lot of work He needs me to do in Manette.  A lot of expectation is put on me to lead and perform, but ultimately the only person I think about pleasing is God.  Because this is His mission, not mine.  I'm just lucky enough He has let me be a apart of it.  Have any of you seen the Lamb of God DVD? I'm sure most of you have.  If you haven't, request a free copy of it from Mormon.org.  I was asked way last minute on Sunday to teach Relief Society in the YSA ward and I felt prompted to share that DVD and bare my testimony of the Savior to the girls.  It is a really powerful film and I would invite all of you to watch it.

Love and prayers from Btown.  So long to Silverdale.  The wards really were sad when they found out on Sunday that I leaving, but the ward here is so excited to hear that they are finally getting some sisters.  The WA-TAC is greatest place in the world.  Someone told me when I got here, "Welcome to the Celestial Kingdom."  At the time i thought that was a little corny and a smidge sac religious, but I have come to agree.  We are doing the work of angels and joy our reward.  I love the Lord Jesus Christ.  He loves you guys, too.

Stay warm,
Sis Baylon

the easiest way is the Lord's way

(ps--pics to be posted soon!)

Hi from Silverdale,

Today is the final Pday of the transfer and it is sunny!!! It is also the last Pday of my friend, Elder Davis' mission.  He goes home at the end of this transfer.  Since it was a nice day today we played ultimate frisbee outside and flag football.  We don't have flags so instead we use old missionary ties.  Elders always seem to have old nasty ties from previous missionaries laying around in their apartments so they bring a whole pile of them and we tuck a couple in the tops of our shorts and thats what we use to play flag football.  Haha this is the second sport that I never really played and ended up being pretty decent at it and having fun while learning.  I can't really throw to save my life so instead they just throw me the ball (from a near distance of course) and I just run it down the field while the other elders just block for me.  Haha it's pretty fun.

So I think that there is a slug in WA in just about every color of the rainbow.  Black, brown, orange, green, yellow.  This one lady we met at a door said that if you lick a banana slug it tastes like sugar.  Hmmm I think I'll just take her word for it.

I thought that I wasn't that picky of an eater.  Then I came on a mission.  I might be picky, but I am respectful so I usually can down whatever I'm served without a fuss.  Combined with my companion we are probably the two most secretly picky eaters around.  Sis Holman hates ham.  We have been fed ham at least 3 times so far.  That day she told me that she doesn't really like carrots.  So we were naturally served Ham and carrots later that night for dinner.  One day I told her that I don't really care for corn.  We were fed corn chowder 2 hours later.  Man we just can't catch a break!

On a more serious and spiritual note, last night was Tim's baptism!  Miracle. Miracle. Miracle.  This was my most special baptism and was by far the most miraculous conversion I have been privileged to be apart of thus far on my mission. To witness Tim enter the waters of baptism changed the way I think about missionary work.  Here was someone that was so humble.  So willing.  So obedient.  And so prepared to follow his Savior Jesus Christ.  From the very moment we met him at the door, to the time that he was all dressed in white, his whole countenance changed.  He gradually came to stand a little taller, smile a little bigger, and beam a little brighter because he grew to know and love the Gospel.  The converting power of the Holy Ghost changes people from the inside out.  Just like the refiner's fire that I had described to him on his church tour, Tim was shining, gleaming, changed to be a newly formed follower of Christ.  He truly walked by faith as we taught him and relied on the feelings he received whenever we taught him, whenever we prayed together, whenever he offered a prayer, whenever he read the Book of Mormon, or whenever he came to church.

The Elder's Quorum President's daughters sang the opening song, "Teach Me to Walk in the Light."  Small children's voices coupled with primary hymns is a no fail recipe to bring the Spirit into a room.  So tender.  A couple sisters in the ward played a cello-piano duet of "Nearer My God to Thee."  Oh my goodness.  Sooooo beautifully moving.  Two converts to the church gave the talks on baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Both just knocked it out of the park.  Brother Bison, who is a spitting image of Sean Connery gave his first talk of his entire life and just knocked it out of the park.  When our ward mission leader called him to give the talk his wife said he probably would say "no" but he said "yes."  They are one of my favorite families and they are having us over for my birthday dinner on Thursday. The other ward member that spoke on the Holy Ghost really just did an excellent job as well.  The Holy Ghost was the single thing that got Tim interested in at the door when we very first met him.  We told him that it brings peace, comforts, guides, warns, testifies.  He said that he wanted that.  In the talk the speaker told Tim that once he is given the gift of the Holy Ghost, he would never have to feel alone ever again for the rest of his existence.  Because the Holy Ghost is our constant companion and fills that empty space that so many people feel in their hearts.  Tim really needed to hear that.  He lives alone.  His father fied when he was 3 yrs old.  I don't think he has family near by.  He's never been married.  No girlfriend.  No friends really.  Just work to keep him busy during the day and the rest of the time he is alone.  I hate thinking that there are people out there who feel alone in the world.  People that do not know or have never been told that they are a child of God and that they have a Heavenly Father who knows and loves them dearly. 

We taught Mike and Christy, Taylor's parents the first Gospel lesson about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.  That was the first time that I had taught two adult investigators at once.  That meant double the questions.  Double the opinions.  Double the checking for understanding.  Double the comments.  And so therefor the lesson took double the time to teach.  Granted one of them is on the chatty side as well as the member that we brought along with us as fellowship, so it wasn't like we were teaching for a really really long time.  Mike is a very logical, scientific guy.  He wants proof, evidence, factual things.  Christy is a bit more open to the idea of faith and always seems to gravitate towards us whenever we come over to see Taylor.  I'll have to update you when we teach them again and see how things really went.

Shauna and Kellie, if you are reading this you are about to die.  You'll never believe what happened yesterday at church.  So I am standing in the foyer with my comp talking to our investigator (now recent convert) Tim and who walks in from the chapel?  Oh, none other than........LLOYD LEE.  Hahah Lloyyyyyyydddd.  It was such an out of body experience.  My brain registered that I knew him but it was out of context.  I was blending the mission world and my old BYU-I world and it was weird!!  But I immediately knew who he was and we were so SHOCKED to see eachother.  We took a picture together outside the church building so I'll have to upload it next time.  He got a job working for a junior college in the area and will be in our YSA ward.  So crazy!

So the "I'm a Mormon" media campaign has begun!  It started back on the 3rd of October but it hasn't picked up the momentum yet that I thought it would.  At least not here in Silverdale.  No media referrals yet.  I was talking to a kid in our YSA ward that served his mission out in Fresno, CA and they had the campaign when he was on his mission last year.  He said that no sooner than a month after it started they were getting around 15-20 media referrals a week!! Can you believe that?? That is 15-20 new investigators a week.  Holy cow that is a lot.

I want to testify that the Lord will immediately bless you if you keep His commandments.  That is promise right out of the scriptures.  One way that you are immediately blessed is that you are changed, and change may be the greatest blessing of all.  You are the sum total of all that you have thought, done, said, seen, heard and felt in this life and before.  You change immediately with each good thought, each good act, and every good word changes you for the better.  When you willingly obey the principles of the gospel, you are changed by the Spirit of God to become incrementally more like Him.  The degree of change with each small act of obedience may be small, but it is real and immediate.  Don't think that you can't do this.  Often we are deceived to think that the gospel is harder than what it is.  Life is hard, not the gospel.  The easiest way is the Lord's way.

Love you all,
Sis Baylon

Miracles

Today I got invited to attend a leadership meeting that is normally just for Zone and District leaders.  President Weaver told me that if he could he would make me an AP.  WOW! What a compliment.  The night before the meeting when my Zone leader invited me to attend the meeting he said that he wishes I could be a Zone leader because I would do a great job as one.  These were powerful and confirming words to hear.  Last week I doubted my skills as a missionary.  I seem to be having these struggling moments more often than I would ever like.  They come when I ever just open the door to doubt or disbelief or discouragment just a crack.  Satan ever so gently tries to push the door open further and further by tempting me to become lazy, complacent, and believe that I am good for nothing.  But have no fear, the Savior came to the rescue.  He always does.  He always will.  As I sat in this meeting with all of these top-notch, cream of the crop elders in their white shirt and ties and suits I felt very humbled.  Very humbled to be in the presence of the such strong Priesthood.  Now, these priesthood holders are also 19-21 yr old boys.  They are by no means perfect, but they carry upon their shoulders the mantle of Christ.  They do things that boys their same age cannot do and might not ever have the privilege and opportunity to do.

 

Have any of you watched the Priesthood session of General Conference.  I have watched a few of the talks, some of them more than once, with members in their homes.  WOW.  Elder Holland, am I right??  His talk, "We Are All Enlisted" shook me and I am sure it shook many of you.  He didn't really mince words.  But in that regard, when does he not mice words.  Bretheren, you have a duty to fulfill, a calling to accept, and a Master to serve.  What are you doing to ensure that you can be worthy to join the ranks?  The Lord needs you.  People of the world need you.  You need you.  Pretty cool that our old stake President, President Waddell was amongst the speakers right?  Wow. He gave a great talk.  I loved the missionary theme that was strung all through the session.  If you have not had a chance to listen to these talks yet, I urge you to listen or watch them as soon as you can.  And when you do, to listen with not only open ears but with open minds and hearts as well.

 

Tim is getting baptized this Sunday.  MIRACLE.  I taught him the lesson on the Word of Wisdom this past week on a split.  Much to my surprise he has or should I say had an addiction to chewing tobacco.  From the moment I extended the invitation to begin living the WOW he has been sober from tobacco!! Isn't that amazing? He is 41 years old and has been chewing since he was 11 years old. ELEVEN YEARS OLD, PEOPLE!!!!  That is 30 yrs of being addicted to that awful stuff.  And with the help of us and the Savior Jesus Christ he has successfully been able to withstand that addiction.  His motivation and strength to overcome his addiction has been driven by his desire to follow Christ and be baptized in his name.  He has gone through 2 bags of Jolly Ranchers to curb his addiction.  That coupled with the help of the Savior and daily encouragement from us, Tim is continuing to climb upward.  Just purely a miracle.

 

I finished reading the entire Book of Mormon for the first time in my entire left.  Yes, you heard correctly.  I am a missionary and I have just now read the entire Book of Mormon.  I guess that's not entirely accurate.  I have read the Book of Mormon before but not like I have since coming on my mission.  Before I would study a few verses or books or chapters intently but I didn't do that for the entire book.  Or I would read the entire book but not really study it out.  This time I did both.  I testify that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.  It is the truest book I have ever read.  It will bring you closer to Christ than any other published work and I know because I have read it.  I took Moroni's challenge to read it with a sincere heart with real intent and ask in the name of Christ if the Book was not true and by the power of the Holy Ghost I will know the truth of all things.  The Book of Mormon IS true.  It brought me closer to the Savior and continues to do so each and every time that I read it.  It has the power to heal the human soul.  It has healed mine.  I invite you all to read from its pages and allow the influence of the Holy Ghost enter your heart and mind.  It will bring you peace.  It will answer questions.  It will give you hope.

 

All my love,

Sister Baylon

conference weekend was the best

Hi guys!

 

Mom, I take it you haven't had the chance to email me yet because you were a litte preoccupied running in the St. George marathon!! Congratulations for completing it for the second time!  How many marathons is that for you now?  So we watched conference Saturday morning with the Finnegans at their apt and after the session was over they said that they needed to log on and watch a live video stream of their son coming in at the finish line of the St. George marathon.  I was like "No way! My mom is running that too.  Or she ran it.  Because she is probably already done by now."  By the time we logged on and started scanning all the runners coming through the finish line it was around the 5hr 25min mark.  "Oh," I said, "My mom has been done for over an hour probably."  Hhaha. Props to mom.  But at the same time I was kind of hoping that you did bad or had to walk to blew out your knee or something just so that I could see you for a couple seconds on the computer screen. 

 

Conference weekend was the best.  General conference takes on a whole new meaning and is on a way higher level for me since becoming a full-time missionary.  I feel like I hang on every word that is spoken and crave the spiritual enlightenment and wisdom that is shared at each coming session.  It's interesting because when I listened to conference I feel like I am listening not only for myself, but I am listening for all of my recent converts, less-active members and of course my investigators.  I had all three of my progressing investigators watch conference!!!! MIRACLE.  Remember Tim?  The guy we met at the door, navy welder, committed him to baptism on the church tour?  Well, he came to watch conference with us at the stake center on Sunday morning.  We sent him a text to remind him the night before that we would come by his house in the morning and so he could follow us down to the church building.  That is kind of a hit or miss scenario with investigators.  Luckily with Tim it was a direct bullseye.  We knock on his door and he opens it right away standing there in a white shirt and tie and shiny shoes. ( AHHHHH!!!! I pray for things like to happen and for people like this to find. That was me screaming inside)  We sent Brandon to watch it with our Ward mission leader, Bro Miles and his family and Sonia was watching it at home on her laptop.  So we head off to the stake center to watch conference.  Most people here just watch it at home so there were probably 10-12 people at the stake center to watch.  4 of which were us missionaries.  We told Tim that most people are watching it at home and that there are A LOT more members of the church in the area that what was currently being represented.  For those of you that watched the Sunday morning session.....WOW. Wow, right???!!!  I was like "Are you listening to this guys? All my investigators, are you all hearing this?? They are speaking to directly to you, Sonia!  Or Tim, your question you asked last night was just answered.  Brandon, this is the Prophet."  For someone that grew up Baptist and has not stepped foot in a church for quite a while, I wasn't sure how Tim was taking it all in.  He sat with his head looking down for a few of the talks or he was watching very intently.  After the Session was over we asked him what he thought.  He said that he "felt really connected to what they were saying" and that he "couldn't really describe the feelings that he felt."  (AHHHH!!!  Me screaming inside again)  The talk about the Book of Mormon either being from God or from the Devil and that there was no other option didn't really mince words, did it?  I asked Tim what he thought about that talk and he said "it makes a lot of sense."  He told us he hasn't read the entire Book of Mormon but he has good feelings when he reads it and that something keeps pushing him to do more and more.  First it was to agree to come on the church tour, then it was to accept baptism, then it was to allow us to teach him, then he accepted the First Vision and Joseph Smith, then the Plan of Salvation, then he accepted to come to conference, and he still is interested in learning more about the gospel and working towards his baptism on October 16th.  He is a miracle.

 

What were some of your favorite conference topics and talks?  I really loved Elder Scott's talk about really delving into the scriptures.  He talked about when we study, understand, and memorize verses, stories, and principles taught in the scriptures we have a mental filing cabinet of knowledge, inspiration, and spiritual strength to draw from for not only our personal benefit but also for the benefit of helping others.  I really, really connected with President Uchtdorf's talk about God weighing us as his children on completely different scales then the world does.  That all of the money, wealth, and power combined on the entire planet could not even buy you a loaf of bread in the economy of heaven. To Heavenly Father, money means nothing.  How much your worth is in the scheme of eternity to Him, where as the world looks at your bank account, social status, and appearance.  Before the morning session started the Finnegans made us breakfast.  Sausage, pancakes, eggs, hot chocolate, and toast.  Sis. Finnegan had bought this blanket from Costco a couple weeks ago and it is seriously the softest blanket I have ever felt in my life.  One side is this buttery soft sherpa fleece and on the other side is this minky velvety soft fabric.  I use it everytime I go over there.  She bought me one as an early birthday gift!! She brought it out and gave it to me to snuggle with during conference.  So naturally they had to get Sis Holman one, too.  Her birthday is not until Feb.  They bought me a blue one and Sis Holman a red one for ASU Sundevils.  It was so fun just sitting on their memory foam bed watching conference with our blankets and sipping cocoa. 

 

We watched the Saturday afternoon session with the Thompson family.  They have the cutest 4 boys you've ever seen.  They have an 11yr old that is a freak genius.  He talks about the latest HTML code website he is building and physics and other sorts of things I know nothing about.  They were the same family that had us over for fireworks on the 4th of July.  For the Sunday afternoon session we watched it over at the Piete Family's house.  Brother and Sister Piete and their 9 yr old daughter Brooke.  They fed us soup and rolls for lunch which was great for the freezing wet day that Sunday was.  Sis Piete is from San Diego and is half Filipina.  You would never really know it though.  She is a convert to the church and waaayyy cool.  They are working towards being sealed in the temple.  They might move back to San Diego in about a year so I told them that if they get sealed by the time I come home in SD that I will be there!!

 

In between the sessions of conference on Sunday we had gone to the church building so that we could prepare for a dinner/lesson that we had later that evening with a recent convert lady in the ward that has since become less-active because she married a guy in the navy who is not a member of the church.  She moved up from CA to WA and has since been working to help blend her and her husband's families.  He apparently has a lot of "questions" about the church.  Uh oh.  Sometimes "questions" can be very hostile missiles that people want to open fire at the missionaries all at once right after the other.  We learned our lesson in dealing with that the hard way when last week we didn't go in to teach this other guy, Blake, one of the lessons but let him just rattle off all of the questions that he had.  Yikes.  BIG MISTAKE.  Just a bunch of ping ponged deep doctrinal, hypothetical questions that were just all over the board that we easily could have organized and or answered all in the first gospel lesson about the Restoration.  So we were prepping for avoiding that situation with this new guy.  All the day before the dinner and the day of the dinner I just had this bad feeling about it and it was not sitting well with me.  I had a feeling that it was going to be a potentially very hostile situation and was honestly not really looking forward to it.  Well, about 2 hours before we were supposed to go over there, the wife called us and said that it would be a better idea if we didn't come over anymore.  Her husband had kind of gotten into it with her the night before and there was some remaining tension.  If we came trapsing in it would just make it worse.  She said she needs to work out her relationship with her husband and the church before she brings the church into the relationship.  Phew.  That was kind of a relief to hear.

 

But on the flip side....BRANDON GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!  Haha we have just been on a roll with baptism lately and I know the Lord is behind us.  It was a really nice baptismal service and a lot of ward members came out to support him even at somewhat last minute notice.  Even President and Sister Weaver came up for the baptism.  I gave the talk on the Restoration.  It went really well.  The spirit was very present so it made the talk pretty powerful.  I didn't have anything written out or prepared but just hoped and prayed that the Holy Ghost would direct me as to what I should say. 

 

Another amazing thing that happened yesterday was that we had a miracle church tour.  Last Sunday we went tracting before Taylor's baptism.  Do you remember my whole internal debacle and how stressed out I was so we felt like we should go out finding?  Anyway so we tracted this whole street and the very last person we talked to was this guy named Franz.  We ran into him about three times while we were tracting on that street. He does some independent landscaping work for some of his neighbors so he was going back and forth with gardening tools and equipment.  Finally when we were about to leave he says, "So what are you guys selling?  Anything that I want?"  Haha we tell him that we are not selling anything.  That it has already been paid for and that what we were offering was free.  And that he would definitely want it.  The look on his face was HUH???  He is single.  Probably mid-late 30's from Laos.  Said that he had actually been to an LDS church in San Diego when he was stationed down there.  He is a marine.  We invited him on a church tour.  He seemed about 60% committed.  We went back to check on him a couple days later and luckily caught him as he was backing out of his driveway.  "Man, you guys are persistant."  Haha yep.  We sure are.  No joking around when Salvation is at stake.  Now he seemed about 75% committed to coming on a church tour.  Well when we were at the church studying for the lesson that we didn't end up having to give, he showed up for a church tour.  Did you hear me? HE SHOWED UP FOR THE CHURCH TOUR.  Long story short he is on date to be baptized on the 23rd.  Day before transfers.  On the off chance that I'll get transferred out I hope that this baptism goes through because I really want to witness that happen.

 

Ok we got a brand new car this morning!!! We got a red, yes RED 2011 Toyota Corolla.  It had 9 miles on it when we picked it up from Tacoma this morning.  It smells so gooood inside.  It's pristine.

 

Sowe get fed almost every single day and 9.5 times out of 10 its really good.  I only write home about the .5 times that they are not.  Because they are usually more fun.  And by fun I mean gross and therefore entertaining.  But every single person that feeds us weird food is sooooo nice and put a lot of work and thought into the meals so I feel bad and eat it all.  Aka scrape it on to Sis Mills plate.  But Sis Mills is no longer here.  This past week we had southern food.  Hmm. I don't think I care for Southern food unless Paula Deen made it.  Lima Beans......yuck.  I hate salty food and lima beans floating in bacon juice is salty. Yuck.  Mushy fruit.  Ham as thick as a 2x4, more squash.....squish.  Salad with lettuce whiter than the driven snow.  There were like 15 dishes of food that I wasn't too stoked to heap on my plate.  So I ate what I could and what I couldn't....I covered with my napkin.

 

The work is going great here in the mission.  One of my favorite lines from Sunday Afternoon session was the guy who was the second counselor in the General Sunday School Presidency.  He was talking about teaching and living by the Spirit and missionary work.  He said that his misison was the best two years FOR his life.  Not just OF his life.  Could not agree more.  I LOVE MY MISSION.  Mission life is the best life.  I hope that everyone is doing well at home and are as happy as I am.  If you aren't happy read your scriptures and pray on your knees everyday and Heavenly Father will tell you how to be happy.  There is so much beauty in this life, you just have to look around for it.  My comp is doing great.  I already know we'll be friends after the mission.  I love and pray for you guys.

 

Love,

Sis Baylon

 

Ps. BRIANNE FLINT WRITE ME ALREADY!!

Faithful instead of fearful

Hello!

Oh man. What a week.

First of all...yesterday Taylor was....BAPTIZED AND CONFIRMED!!!!!! Yeahhhhhhhh!! Haha I was laughing reading mom's email about not rushing Taylor into anything and that conversion takes time.  Not that that is a laughable matter, because it's not, but it was funny or I guess more ironic that when I was reading that paragraph he has already been a confirmed member of the church for almost 24 hours.  Just FYI...in the WA-TAC we invite people to be baptized after the first lesson.  Hard and fast rule.  We invite people to be baptized on every church tour.  We even invite people to be baptized at the door.  We are baptism focused missionaries.  Not baptism number hungry missionaries.  But ones that understand our roles and do everything we can to bring people to the Gospel.

So rewind the clock to yesterday morning.  We had a mission wide fast for our 200 baptisms for the month of October goal.  I fasted for that and I also fasted for Taylor.  The adversary as you all know works so hard the last days, hours, minutes, and seconds to keep people from going through with their baptisms.  Taylor had shown up to church yesterday and seemed fine.  There were a few minutes between the time he arrived and the time that sac mtg started so we took him around and introduced him to people.  I later found out during the meeting that it really freaked him out that people I introduced him to that morning already knew his name before he even met him.  I told him that they were just excited and happy for his baptism.  He felt a lot of eyes on him even though there really weren't.  He has ADHD so he is kind of anxious/nervous in general.  He sat sandwiched between Sis Holman and I on the pew along with the senior couple missionaries and Brandon, our other investigator.  It was ward conference and the entire stake presidency was there along with several stake leadership people.  He couldn't figure out why everyone was "voting." I told him that the members of the ward were sustaining people to their callings in the church or basically showing their support of them and their callings.  Babies seemed to have been particularly noisy that day.  Lots of kids fussing.  I looked down to see Taylor's leg bouncing up and down.  His face looked drained of color and I thought I saw him wipe some tears from his eyes.  I passed him a note asking him if he was ok.  He said that he just felt really nervous.  I told him that it was ok to feel a little nervous, but that he shouldn't feel fearful because everyone is in support of him no matter what.  5 minutes later he jumps up and climbs over 4 people in our row to literally run to the bathroom with his hands over his mouth.  I asked Elder Finnegan to go in the bathroom and check on him if he didn't come back in a few minutes.  A few minutes went by so Elder Finnegan went to check on him.  Taylor came back about 5 minutes after that and said that he had thrown up and is going home.  Oh my goodness...

When you have an investigator go running out of sac mtg to go throw up because he is so nervous, you become nervous.  Elder Finnegan took him home even before the meeting was over.  Worry struck my mind.  I became filled with doubt.  I doubted my ability to calm his nerves.  I doubted my teaching.  I doubted that I had prepared him enough.  I doubted myself.  I doubted and became discouraged.  It seemed like Satan was working on me as much if not more than he was working on Taylor.  A rain cloud accumulated over my head and followed me around the rest of church.  I didn't even rejoice in the fact that our other investigator, Brandon, had come to church.  I was so distracted and distraught over Taylor.  Was this baptism going to happen?  Just as I thought "Well at least it hasn't been announced over the pulpit" the counselor conducting sac mtg announced the baptism over the pulpit.  Hm.  The look on my face as I discussed what had happened out in the halls after the meeting made it apparent that I was worried because a lady in the ward thought that maybe the baptism wasn't going to happen. 

I realized though as I was continuing my fast that day was that I was fearful instead of FAITH-FUL.  I was doubting not only in myself but I was doubting in God and what He could make happen.  We left the second ward we attend during the second hour so that we could check on Taylor.  Brother Hew-Len had noticed Taylor had run out and looked sick so he offered to come over and give him a blessing.  Taylor declined the blessing because he said that he was feeling a lot better.  I felt such a sense of relief.  I decided that right then and there the Lord was looking out for Taylor and for me as well.  So I decided that I needed to show my faith.  So we did our 5-7 at 3pm that day.  We did our full-time finding like we are asked to do when originally I thought that we should just skip it because we didn't have the time.  We faithfully went out finding, knowing that if we did all that we are asked we would be blessed.  And we were.  Not only did we find a potential investigator that agreed to come on a church tour, Taylor was ready and excited to be baptized.

The baptism couldn't have gone better.  Guess what?  I was the chorister.  Hahaha it was so scary!  I have never lead music IN MY ENTIRE LIFE.  But I practiced with the pianist like 5 min before everyone started arriving and it worked out ok.  We had such a good turn out.  About 30-40 members from the ward came out to support Taylor and be there to witness his baptism.  Sis Holman gave the 10min Restoration talk and our ward mission leader conducted the meeting.  The YM president and one of the YM gave the talks on Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  Elder Jenkins, our district leader, baptized him.  Taylor asked for him to baptize him because Elder Jenkins is from HI and Taylor felt connected to him in that way.  Even more so than the other boys that were his fellowship throughout the lessons.  It was the neatest thing to witness.  This was the first baptism that I saw from start to finish.  Meaning that I was there when we found him at the door, when we took him on a church tour, when we invited him to be baptized, when we taught him the lessons, when we reinvited him to be baptized, when we dropped by his door at night to just say a prayer with him or read a scripture with him if he had a bad day, to the time that he entered the waters of baptism to follow his Savior Jesus Christ, and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and receive gift of the Holy Ghost.  What an honor and a privilege.  A humbling and gratifying experience to be apart of the very start of someone's journey back to Heavenly Father. After the baptism there was awesome fellowshipping going on.  Sister Hew-Len and Sis Finnegan stepped up and made refreshments to encourage lingering and conversation after the service.  Worked like a charm.  Taylor's parents got to know so many people from the ward, many of which were in attendance at the baptism are also in their neighborhood.  Addison, Taylor's 13 yr old sister who usually never talks, surprisingly came and in a dress for that matter.  I asked two of the YW there to introduce themselves to her and they totally hit it off.  Instant BFF's.  Hahaha.  Now she is gonna start coming to mutual.  Score.  Basically we are hoping to bring his Dad and his girlfriend Christy and her two kids into the church so that this can be a family unit.  If they are baptized by December I could possibly see them sealed by the time I end my mission. 

The day started as a lowest low so that when it ended it ended on the highest high.  It was such a joyous experience.  I love bringing souls unto Christ.  Brandon, our other investigator is getting baptized on the 9th. Wahooo!!!

We met this guy named Tim when we were out finding this week.  I felt impressed to use the picture of Christ being baptized by John the Baptist at the door with him.  Did I ever tell you about how our zone started doing that?  It is an excellent, I think genius, finding tool that our own Silverdale zone started.  We basically bring a part of the church tour right to their door.  We asked Tim, a 41 yr old single navy man, if he had ever seen that picture before.  He said no. We taught him what was going on and the doctrine of baptism.  that Christ was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" or to fulfill all of God's commandments and to set the perfect example for us to follow him.  He said that he had already been baptized in the Baptist church.  We taught him that Christ taught of two baptisms.  Baptism by water and baptism by fire.  We explained the Gift of the Holy Ghost and what it meant to receive it after baptism.  We told him that it sanctifies us.  Cleanses us.  It acts as a guide, comforter, protector, testifier of truth.  We asked him if that was something that he wanted.  He said he was at a loss for wards.  To make a sweet story even sweeter we invited him on a church tour to hear more about the message that we shared with him and he accepted.  It was scheduled for two days later and he was going to follow us down to the church after we met him at his apt.  Sure enough he was ready to go with jeys in hand when we knocked on his door first thing Saturday morning.  Ok....THIS NEVER HAPPENS.  But that day it did.  It was a miracle.  Mac, remember him?  My first baptism in the mission.  He came and was the fellowship on the tour.  Next thing you know it we invite him to baptism and he accepts instantly.  We ask him why and he said because I want the peace that you told me about at my door two days ago.  I suddenly felt prompted to relate an analogy of the baptism by fire through the Holy Ghost again to him.  Even though we had already told him and even though he had already accepted a baptismal date.  I said, Tim, I don't know anything about welding but I would imagine that the baptism by fire works like a welder.  It puts the once hard, firm, immovable metal through an intense heat.  Making it pliable.  The heat causes there to be a glow, a sheen to the metal.  It becomes pure.  New almost.  That is what the Holy Ghost does to us.  It helps shape our lives for the better.  Makes us glow.  Shine.  And feel new.  He stared at me.  "Why did you give that explanation?" he asked.  "I don't know," I said.  It just seemed to make sense that way in my head as something you would relate to.  Turns out he is a welder in teh navy.  WOW.  Talk about inspiration from the Holy Ghost.  That totally helped seal the deal and he is getting baptized on Oct 16th!!  Miracles in Silverdale.

Welll on a different note my companion is the BEST.  I love her.  We get along so well!!! Not even get along but we genuinely have so much fun together.  We laugh all day everyday.  When you can have fun with your comp, the work doesn't feel like work.  It is so awesome.  I am giving her more opportunity to take the lead in teaching situations of not spoon-feeding her as much with things but really helping her gain her footing and style as a missionary.  She is reserved but not.  She has opened up a lot more because she has become totally comfortable with me now.  She just needs to get to know the ward a little more and we will be golden.  She is doing great!! Couldn't ask for a better greenie.  I love it.

The luau was a success by the way.  We had abou 350 people there!!! Lots of nonmembers and less actives came out for it.  Sadly I didn't dance the hukilau.  My comp never learned it and I didn't want to do it without her.  I regret it though.  Oh well.  I recorded it though.

Well we are working hard and seeing miracles.  I have the life.  Being a missionary is the best.

Love you,
Sis Baylon

one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work!

Hello everyone!

This was a stellar week.  And a wet and cold one at that.  But as far as missionary work it was a great week.  My greenie, Sis Holman, and I worked really hard and our efforts paid off.  She is a trooper.  We were asked by Pres Weaver to do seven 5to7's a week when he got to the mission.  Tracting seven days a week is tough stuff.  Even just logistically and schedule wise.  We have two wards we attend on Sundays so we are in church and meetings from 8am to 4-4:30 pm every sunday.  So to tract directly after church takes a lot out of us.  We are tired and starving.  But I knew that whatever we did our first week of the transfer, her first week of her mission, would set the precedent for all of the folowing weeks and transfers for the rest of both mine and her missions.  Yes, its hard.  But just like a lot of other things I am asked to do are hard, I am obedient anyway.  So the same applied to seven 5-7's.  I never accomplished that with Sis Mills.  I guess we didn't have enough faith to.  In a talk titled "Desire" by Elder Dallin H. Oaks in this last General Conference he said the following: "Our desires dictate our thoughts and our thoughts dictate our actions."  And then from that point on I believe that our actions shape our habits and our habits shape our character.  Desire is relative to our faith.  Bottom line: Greenie Faith is a force to be reckoned with.

So we didn't have any nasty meals this week.  The Hew-lens, the ones from HI, are our new best friends. I called them up and asked if they could feed us when a dinner appt fell through.  Brother Hew-len in his best pigeon english said, "Shuuuurre, come ova!!"  We had stew, rice, some macaroni type salad in it with Krab, cantelope and Tillamook ice cream.  They sent us home with a container of Butter Mochi or as they call it "Buttamochee."  We go over there for shave ice too.  They are the best family!  Our whole meal calendar is booked for September.  The members love feeding us. 

Sis Holman and I set up 6 church tours this week!!! Well, 3 for this past week and 3 for this next week.  This past week only one of them went through and that was Taylor's parents.  Oh my goodness. Talk about a spiritual experience.  First of all, they both showed up.  Showing up is a feat in and of itself.  I don't know how many times I've waited by the church doors like a puppy at a window waiting for people to arrive for a church tour.  Only to get dogged.  Pun intended.  But anyway, they came!  So in everything we do and everytime we teach in the WA-TAC we make sure there is fellowship there.  Someone from the ward that is an instant friend or connection in their newly forming gospel network.  We were needing fellowship for this church tour and we thought of Sis Thompson who happens to live on the next street over from them.  We called her an hour before the tour and asked her to come.  She said she picks her kids up from the bus at 3:45 so 4:00 would be cutting it close.  Then she was like "You know what...I'll just pick them up and we can go to the church straight from the bus stop."  AMAZINGGG!!! Member missionary in action!!  So she was great fellowship on the tour.  Christy knew her already from a lesson that she had come for and the Spirit was just there.  We taught and discussed a lot about the Savior and his Atonement when we were all sitting in the chapel.  The chapel, I'm telling you is the conduit for the Spirit to just illuminate a person.  Christy at one point started crying.  Long story short not only are they both allowing Taylor to get baptized but Christy is planning on bringing the entire family to church.  MIRACLE.

So two days later on Thursday we go over to Taylor's house to teach Lesson 3: The Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We brought the Finnegans as fellowship because Elder Finnegan is retired Air Force and Taylor eventually wants to join the airforce.  The lesson went great.  Spirit was there.  Christy was sitting in and totally getting in to it.  Dang it, we should have put her on date to be baptized!! Still kicking myself about not.  Sister Finnegan bore great testimony about her conversion story in Scotland.  I asked Sis Holman before we went in to teach the lesson if she would be the one to recommit Taylor to Baptism.  She said that she would and she did!!  OH man the greatest feeling ever.  So much joy to see someone that you found at the door learn the Gospel one step at a time and to make a decision to follow the Savior's example and to be baptized.  So he is getting baptized on Sunday!!  So when Taylor didn't show up to church, nor did his family, yesterday we got a little worried.  We went over there yesterday evening after our dinner appt to see how he was doing.  There was a great deal of heaviness about him and his head was hanging low.  Its a long story but I got down to the root of it all and asked Taylor if he believed the Book of Mormon was true.  He said that he didn't know (AHHHHHH that is devasting to hear).  I asked him if he has been reading it everyday and if he has prayed about whether or not it is true.  He said that he hasn't been reading it lately and that he has not prayed about it being true.  So we had him read with us the challenge in Moroni 10:3-5 and extended the invitation to read about the BOM and then to ask God for himself if it was true and that if he did that, sincerely wanting to know, that God would reveal the truth to him by the power of the Holy Ghost.  So yeah...I have to have faith that this baptism will go through on Sunday.  We set up his appointment to get interviewed for baptism this Wednesday.  We are going to DPC. (Daily Positive Contact) Every day this week.

Oh man...ok. So this is crazy, awesome, stinky miracle.  Yes, a stinky miracle.  Like it literally stinks.  So we had an appt fall through, a church tour actually, and we went to the person's apt after they didn't show up.  They forgot and invited company over so we rescheduled for a different time.  So I decide that we should spend an hour tracting the rest of the apt complex.  Boom, the first door we knock.  So we are walking up to this door and on the side of the apt building we see a bunch of stuffed animals and toys in the window.  Perfect they have kids.  Families = the dream of every missionary.  Knock on the door.  We hear screaming of small children inside.  The door flies open.  "Seriously?  Seriously right now?  Mormon missionaries.  You have got to be kidding me right now."  That was the comment that we were greeted with at the door by a woman named Maggie.  We hadn't even said a word at that point.  She is standing there hair a mess.  Bra straps hanging out.  Baby slung on her hip with its mouth covered in dried spaghetti-O's.  Bags under her eyes.  She just looked like....a hot mess.  No sooner than we could say another word were we greeted by three other children.  All 5 yrs old and under.  Two of which have severe autism.  Wow.  She has a lot on her plate.  She said that everytime she is right on the verge of a breakdown.....she runs into missionaries.  Rather, missionaries run into her.  She said that she usually sends the missionaries away but today she wasn't going to.  A good 5 minutes had gone by of her telling us how "creepy" missionaries are for always popping up in her life ever since she was 16yrs old.  We didn't even give her our names, we just asked her if she needed any service.  She lets us in.  Oh myyy goodness.  Someone call the CPS.  No joke, she was like "I hesitated letting you in because you'll probably go call CPS on me."  Um...the smell of urine and fecal matter was ripe.  Yeah....at first I thought that it was just from the large floppy eared bunny that was hopping around on and off his "pee pad" that is typically found under elderly patients at hospitals.  The kitchen was an explosion of old food and dirty dishes.  It was disturbing.  But! We are missionaries.  We don't get grossed out by anything right! Wrong.  It was hard to stomach it.  She goes on to tell us the craziest stories and experiences she had throughout her life with the Mormon church and particularly the missionaries.  She said she typically really likes missionaries but some of them have been "crap-tastic."  By the way....she is EXTREMELY sarcastic, roots for team pessimism, is a convert to Judaism who attends Silverdale Baptist church where she likes to go "muffin muggin'" as she likes to call it.  Basically show up to their events, hear a little sermon, and get a free muffin or two afterward. HAHAHAHA my email will never quite capture the extent of crazy this lady is.  Crazy cool though.  Speaking of capture...when we went back the next day to give service in the form of helping her clean her apt I may or may not have scooped up a human turd ball.  Sorry for those of you with weak stomachs.  I had asked if she had a broom.  Nope.  Dustpan.  Nope.  She hands me a stack of papers.  A cell phone bill and a parent newsletter from her kids school to sweep in the kitchen.  Soon after I am handed my cleaning device I sweep a pile of junk from under the dishwasher.  Lo and behold I won the contest for whoever could get grossed out the fastest.  She basically asked us to take them on a church tour.  We scheduled it.  We waited.  They never came.  LAME!  Hopefully it was only because the brakes on their van went out.  Seriously though.  Their breaks were busted so we got them some C-Clamps from our ward mission leader so that they could fix it up and come on a church tour.  In the mission its called WEIT-ing.  Whatever It Takes.

I found this quote while studying in the chapter about Christlike Attributes in Preach My Gospel about Dilligence:

"I have often said that one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work!  If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit, if he gets the spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy.  There will be no homesickness, no worrying about families, for time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry.  Work, work, work- there is no satisfactory substitute. " President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Rest assured we are working hard in Silverdale.  I am trying to be the best missionary and the best trainer for my Greenie.  We are just loving the work and loving the people we are serving and that is why we are continuing to see miracles!

Love you all,

Sis Baylon.