This week, like every other week, was pretty intense. You never have time to breathe!
Monday - beautiful P-Day where we had a lesson with a new investigator and his friend, Joel and Megan and put Rey and Elver on date! It was so awesome, he had called earlier that morning and asked us to bring Joel who is our returned less active. So Joel came and before we had even gotten there, Joel had taught Rey the Restoration! So when we got there, we just went over more in depth, Megan even read some of the scriptures in Spanish (she doesn't speak it at all, but can understand a little bit), and it was such an awesome experience!
We had Megan drop us off at the trailer park where Joel lives and we ended up talking for the next hour about all of missionary stuff because she's leaving on the 28th for the MTC!!! It was a lot of fun to see her, trying to get all ready to leave, and remember that one day a long long long time ago it seems that was me. I'm not sure what we're going to do once she leaves! She is the most willing person in the entire world to come out with us at a moments notice!
Tuesday - Volunteered at the 7th day Goodwill of sorts except it's all free. I like to go through the ties and find ones for the elders. It's easier than trying to come up with transfer journal entries and I've never seen a guy so happy to receive a piece of cloth in my life. They LOVE ties. Hna Hernandez and I have been trying to get enough for them for Christmas. I think the ladies at the 7th Day church think we're boy crazy and don't quite understand that we're essentially getting the ties for our brothers but we find some pretty awesome ties and so we call it good. We talked to a lot of people today. I have a confession - I really struggle talking to Americans. So I have decided. There are two reasons I can think of as to why Lord sent me to an area where I have to do both English and Spanish work.
1.) Because I need to learn how to share the gospel in English.
2.) He's using my fear of English to start a Spanish group here. The first day I got to the area I was told that Spanish work is pretty dead. Over the course of the 4 months I've been here, we've found more that 50 people willing to at least let us in and talk to us that SPEAKA DA SPANISH.
Personally, I think it's #2.
That being said we had a lesson with an English investigator and realized quickly that nothing we said would change what he thought, mostly because he was drunk beyond reasoning.
Wednesday was transfers and we thought that we weren't going to be affected. Then we were told that we were needed as Hna Shewell's companions for the day because she wouldn't be getting her real companion until nearly 4 o'clock. So we headed over to Hood River at 6:45 where we helped load up the missionaries that were leaving. The rest of the day we were in a tripan! We stopped by Megan to inspect her wardrobe (she managed to be stuck with three of the most un-fashion-savvy missionaries there are) before visiting some less actives and investigators. Close to 4 we felt like we should go visit Estrella and on the way there we saw that Darlisa had gotten home and was shoveling the driveway! We stopped (of course) and helped her. She then invited us in and we talked for a little while. As we did so, we got updates on the caravan of new missionaries and realized that we weren't going to be able to make it to our dinner appointment at 5 because that was when we were supposed to be in Hood River to make the switch. So Darlisa whipped up some tamales (I mean microwaved) and sent us out the door. It was neat to see how the Lord knew what was coming and set it up so that we not only got to spend some time with Darlisa whose sister just died but get fed and to Hood River on time!
We had another lesson and Elver wasn't there so after going in, we decided to go knock on his door because he was their neighbor. As we left, Rey told us, "No se vayan a caer!" or in other words don't fall! Well, Hna Hernandez almost immediately steps onto a frozen step and lands on her tail and we die laughing. I turn around and realize that Rey was watching and he was cracking up along with Joel. It was awesome. We had a really cool lesson with him about the Book of Mormon that night and promised him that as he does his best to read the Book of Mormon, he will learn how to read little bit by little bit.
Thursday - We decided to tract Lyle because I don't think missionaries ever have! We quickly found out why though.
After knocking on one trailer (with Simon in tow), we had spent about 5 minutes talking to this really sweet girl with a son with Down Syndrome. They were darling and weren't shutting the door on us as we continued to talk to them. We hear a yell in Spanish shortly thereafter, "What do they want? No! Ask them what on earth they want!!" Then this small hispanic lady comes to the door. "Who are you and what do you want? Don't you know you aren't supposed to talk to strangers? And you are STRANGERS."
"We're missionaries and that's actually what we do all day. We just wanted to share a neat Christmas video about Christ and service."
"Yeah well I am 100% Catholic. My dad is Jesus and Mary is my mom and I will never change!! What, are you embarrassed? (directed at the grandson) Well I'm not."
We bid farewell and left pretty quick.
We have dinner in Lyle this week. And this time we won't be strangers :)
It's actually something to think about. When Christ comes knocking on our door, is He a stranger? Or do we recognize Him and let Him in? Especially this Christmas season, I hope we all take a little more time to recognize His hand when it is knocking on the door to our hearts.
Lots of other stuff happened including church in Hood River but there isn't time for all of that.
Love you all and strive to share the gospel whenever you can!
Luke 6:20-23
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Friday, December 23, 2016
Transfers! and Deer (December 19, 2016)
Normal
Actual personalities. Mexican, Cash City gangster, blonde.
deer
VENADO. We decided that it would be really cold and miserable to be a
deer. They have hard lives. It's 16 degrees out there and she's just
sitting in the snow. Where is the food? The comfy bed? A blanket? All in
all, I'm glad to be a human.
Friday, December 16, 2016
Fotos (December 12, 2016)
My boots aren't really a match for the weather we get here
It's snowing!
Snowwwwwww
Christmas gathering :) Sis Miller, me, Sis Fabiano and Hna Hernanandez
Our Christmas shrine with our tiny tree and borrowed nativity set.
Actual snow. We got about 18 inches and it has wrecked havoc. I'm
actually a huge fan though because we get to serve people right and left
(pushing cars onto the road, shoveling, walking across ice), and
everyone is home! It's lighter outside and everyone is walking because
they don't want to drive. Snow is the BEYST.
Thursday it really snowed. We would go into lessons and we walked out 30
minutes later to another 3 inches burying our car. Actually epic. I
think we cleaned off the car 7 or 8 times that day.
Our almost crash that wasn't almost at all. I'm relearning how to drive
in the snow and after a few mishaps I think I've got it figured out
again ;D
Tyler, Ryan and Tristan cleaned off our car for us :) And then pushed us out too because we actually ended up getting stuck.
The God Named "Self" (December 12, 2016)
We had some fun this week. :)
Tuesday we were up in Appleton where there was some black ice. On the way back down we parked on this old Hwy where there are houses maybe every quarter mile and walked in the pitch black darkness in 27 degree weather from house to house. That was the day we learned that people get really weirded out when they see a couple of girls in skirts walking down a road in the dark :)
Wednesday we had the Christmas gathering up in Yakima! It was a lot of fun and it was great to see all of the friends I have made across the mission :) We got back at 8 that night where we met with the Bishop. It was kind of cool because we've been working really hard with the ward and have been doing a lot of finding and at the end of our report he sat there for a moment before saying, "Thank you for your hard work. It's inspiring." It reminded me that sometimes we have blinders on and don't notice the impact we really have where we are working because we don't see immediate results. But holy cow I love this work and am so grateful to be a part of it.
Thursday was the day the heavens opened and the angels had a massive pillow fight. According to Mary anyway. We stopped by a handful of our RCLA's and over the course of three hours where we didn't drive, just walked and taught, our car got 5 1/2 inches piled on it. WE also are now the proud parents of 20 little plants. Our dear friend Amber has been trying to let go slowly of all of her plants. So we offered to take some, figuring we could use them to fellowship some of the inactive sisters that I have never met. I hope they don't die. I'm not very good at keeping plants alive. That night we accidentally triple booked and had a couple people wondering if we had died. Good to know that we are loved :)
Friday was actually the best. Nimmas - we taught the 10 commandments! We are working on helping Tyler become a priest and get his patriarchal blessing and we helped them learn them with the handsigns. Then I confronted Bro Nimma about getting his patriarchal blessing and finally he said,
"I'll think about it."
"Ok!"
*approximately 2 minutes later*
"I thought about it. No."
Later that night we took Tyler with us to the Brandts and faced down a room of about 7 men, ranging from inactive to non member to maybe a little anti, more than half of them being "Heathens" as they call themselves. We rounded them up and cornered them into the dining room with Sis Brandt watching with amusement from the living room. Then Skip walks in and we rope him in. The beautiful thing about it was once we got one, none of them wanted to be chastised alone, if one of them was going down, they were ALL going down. He asks,
"What is this all about?"
"The Church!"
"The Church? I know everything there is to know about the church! What do you want to know?"
"I wanna know why you don't go to Church."
I know the Spirit isn't sassy, but I swear there was a split second where I had to decide how to answer and that is what came to mind. It had the desired effect, they all flipped out and threw him under the bus as he fumbled for an answer. He regained his composure after a couple of seconds and actually bore an incredibly powerful testimony of how he knew the importance of going to church and how he had seen it bless his life. Then Tyler challenged them all to come to church, Tristan gave Alex a Book of Mormon and we committed Devin to taking the missionary lessons again since he works on Sundays. Then, as we walked back to our car, Tyler taught Ryan and Tristan the 10 commandments using the hand signs. The little missionary mom inside of me was beaming.
That night we had a lesson with Dakota and John (codenames) and she is finally beginning to accept the Book of Mormon!
Saturday we walked pretty much all day, helped a former investigator get back onto the road, and got majorly bashed twice, once in Spanish, once in English.
The first one was interesting because he prefaced it with (translation)
"Now let's not invite our enemy Satan into the conversation okay?"
Almost immediately thereafter he slandered Joseph Smith and called us fools for believing. It was not my favorite experience but also I am incredibly grateful for it because I eventually just shut it down, after testifying that I had received my own personal witness. We told him that there were others waiting for us and that he wasn't going to change our mind or "enlighten" us to the truth. We told him that unless he had read the Book of Mormon for himself and asked God with a pure heart, he cannot slander it and tell us that it is from the devil and not of God. He simply couldn't. Finally I asked him to pray right then and there to know if this was truth, what he was saying and he said "Of course!"
He then prayed and asked God to please enlighten us and help us find the right path so that we could be saved. Afterwards, I thanked him and told him, "No hizo lo que pregunte pero esta bien." We promised we would pray for him and he promised the same.
The second was by a "black sheep" Jehovah Witness who was drunk. He was 24 and essentially told us to get out of religion while we could and be free. Besides the fact that he wasn't listening, he was just plain drunk and refused to actually "hear" anything we said. We parted with friendly feelings, him telling us to be ready for more questions next time we met and us letting him know that we would have a Book of Mormon with his name on it. He laughed and ran.
During Stake Conference, Elder Cornish said two things that impressed me greatly.
1. Sometimes we get so caught up in the things that imperfect people have done imperfectly, particularly with the Church history and background. He said, "I'll try to put it delicately, but the Lord simply doesn't care. He has never been one to care what the world or anyone thinks of Him." Although at first I was a little taken aback, I realized it was true. After all was said and done, the gospel is still true and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says.
2. The reason we do not keep the 4th commandment (keep the Sabbath day holy) is because we do not keep the first: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Well the god we put above God is named "Self".
I realized that I get caught up in those two things a lot. Sometimes I worry too much about what others think and focus to much on Self. Fortunately, this Christmas season we get a little extra help in turning us away from ourselves and more to others, aka God.
"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God."
Mosiah 2:17
So don't give into Self! I challenge you all to really focus on everyone and everything other than Self because when we do that I promise that is where we truly find happiness - knee deep in a snowy ditch helping someone else push their car out.
Love you all! :)
Hna Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Tuesday we were up in Appleton where there was some black ice. On the way back down we parked on this old Hwy where there are houses maybe every quarter mile and walked in the pitch black darkness in 27 degree weather from house to house. That was the day we learned that people get really weirded out when they see a couple of girls in skirts walking down a road in the dark :)
Wednesday we had the Christmas gathering up in Yakima! It was a lot of fun and it was great to see all of the friends I have made across the mission :) We got back at 8 that night where we met with the Bishop. It was kind of cool because we've been working really hard with the ward and have been doing a lot of finding and at the end of our report he sat there for a moment before saying, "Thank you for your hard work. It's inspiring." It reminded me that sometimes we have blinders on and don't notice the impact we really have where we are working because we don't see immediate results. But holy cow I love this work and am so grateful to be a part of it.
Thursday was the day the heavens opened and the angels had a massive pillow fight. According to Mary anyway. We stopped by a handful of our RCLA's and over the course of three hours where we didn't drive, just walked and taught, our car got 5 1/2 inches piled on it. WE also are now the proud parents of 20 little plants. Our dear friend Amber has been trying to let go slowly of all of her plants. So we offered to take some, figuring we could use them to fellowship some of the inactive sisters that I have never met. I hope they don't die. I'm not very good at keeping plants alive. That night we accidentally triple booked and had a couple people wondering if we had died. Good to know that we are loved :)
Friday was actually the best. Nimmas - we taught the 10 commandments! We are working on helping Tyler become a priest and get his patriarchal blessing and we helped them learn them with the handsigns. Then I confronted Bro Nimma about getting his patriarchal blessing and finally he said,
"I'll think about it."
"Ok!"
*approximately 2 minutes later*
"I thought about it. No."
Later that night we took Tyler with us to the Brandts and faced down a room of about 7 men, ranging from inactive to non member to maybe a little anti, more than half of them being "Heathens" as they call themselves. We rounded them up and cornered them into the dining room with Sis Brandt watching with amusement from the living room. Then Skip walks in and we rope him in. The beautiful thing about it was once we got one, none of them wanted to be chastised alone, if one of them was going down, they were ALL going down. He asks,
"What is this all about?"
"The Church!"
"The Church? I know everything there is to know about the church! What do you want to know?"
"I wanna know why you don't go to Church."
I know the Spirit isn't sassy, but I swear there was a split second where I had to decide how to answer and that is what came to mind. It had the desired effect, they all flipped out and threw him under the bus as he fumbled for an answer. He regained his composure after a couple of seconds and actually bore an incredibly powerful testimony of how he knew the importance of going to church and how he had seen it bless his life. Then Tyler challenged them all to come to church, Tristan gave Alex a Book of Mormon and we committed Devin to taking the missionary lessons again since he works on Sundays. Then, as we walked back to our car, Tyler taught Ryan and Tristan the 10 commandments using the hand signs. The little missionary mom inside of me was beaming.
That night we had a lesson with Dakota and John (codenames) and she is finally beginning to accept the Book of Mormon!
Saturday we walked pretty much all day, helped a former investigator get back onto the road, and got majorly bashed twice, once in Spanish, once in English.
The first one was interesting because he prefaced it with (translation)
"Now let's not invite our enemy Satan into the conversation okay?"
Almost immediately thereafter he slandered Joseph Smith and called us fools for believing. It was not my favorite experience but also I am incredibly grateful for it because I eventually just shut it down, after testifying that I had received my own personal witness. We told him that there were others waiting for us and that he wasn't going to change our mind or "enlighten" us to the truth. We told him that unless he had read the Book of Mormon for himself and asked God with a pure heart, he cannot slander it and tell us that it is from the devil and not of God. He simply couldn't. Finally I asked him to pray right then and there to know if this was truth, what he was saying and he said "Of course!"
He then prayed and asked God to please enlighten us and help us find the right path so that we could be saved. Afterwards, I thanked him and told him, "No hizo lo que pregunte pero esta bien." We promised we would pray for him and he promised the same.
The second was by a "black sheep" Jehovah Witness who was drunk. He was 24 and essentially told us to get out of religion while we could and be free. Besides the fact that he wasn't listening, he was just plain drunk and refused to actually "hear" anything we said. We parted with friendly feelings, him telling us to be ready for more questions next time we met and us letting him know that we would have a Book of Mormon with his name on it. He laughed and ran.
During Stake Conference, Elder Cornish said two things that impressed me greatly.
1. Sometimes we get so caught up in the things that imperfect people have done imperfectly, particularly with the Church history and background. He said, "I'll try to put it delicately, but the Lord simply doesn't care. He has never been one to care what the world or anyone thinks of Him." Although at first I was a little taken aback, I realized it was true. After all was said and done, the gospel is still true and it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks or says.
2. The reason we do not keep the 4th commandment (keep the Sabbath day holy) is because we do not keep the first: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Well the god we put above God is named "Self".
I realized that I get caught up in those two things a lot. Sometimes I worry too much about what others think and focus to much on Self. Fortunately, this Christmas season we get a little extra help in turning us away from ourselves and more to others, aka God.
"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, you are only in the service of your God."
Mosiah 2:17
So don't give into Self! I challenge you all to really focus on everyone and everything other than Self because when we do that I promise that is where we truly find happiness - knee deep in a snowy ditch helping someone else push their car out.
Love you all! :)
Hna Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
I'm Actually the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland (December 5, 2016)
Dec1 - We helped Matt clean his house and get it ready to be moved out of so that he can add it to the family hotel business. His mother was there who wasn't a member and she doesn't ever want to be one but we helped them a lot and got a lot of work done. It appeared as though his mom had a little bit of a changed idea of us and they were grateful we had stopped by to help.
Later that day we got lost driving down a really random road and found a house a mile or so in in the middle of nowhere. We had had little success among people that day and I said "Let's just go knock it, what's the worst that will happen? They'll chase us off. Big deal." So we park a little ways down the road and walk up to the house and proceed to engage in a standoff with this gorgeous, and yet unhappy dog. We got to the property line before the dog wouldn't let us get any closer and I didn't really want to be attacked so we just kind of stood there for a couple minutes that someone would come out and save us. Soon a girl with super curly hair comes out and pulls the dog away. Long story short they aren't interested in religion but she invited us in and asked a ton of questions about the mission and what we do. We slyly threw in family history hoping that it would go somewhere but didn't and eventually she had to go. It was funny because she wanted to hear stories of people who weren't very nice or interested and after telling a couple, she said, "You know, that's actually my parents. If they were here my mom probably would have told you we weren't interested and sent you away." Talk about a celestial moment. As she was walking us to the door she said, "I'm really sorry, I have to finish that essay, but you had mentioned something about family history work and actually that's something that I'm really interested in and I would love to know more." We left her our number and left walking on clouds. Well, running because we were late for dinner. Again. But, the neat thing is that we found someone in the middle of nowhere at a time that was the only time we probably ever would have found only Leaf and Emerald (codenames) home alone.
There's this thing called Tiwi in our car that monitors speed and aggressive driving. There are a couple of different ways to get an aggressive driving - speeding, gunning/revving the car, hitting a curb, and POTHOLES. I have never gotten an aggressive driving for anything EXCEPT for potholes. I shall now describe what the majority of our area is. Gravel roads. Dirt roads. The occasional paved road that has giant holes and pieces missing. And yet they wonder why I have upwards of 11 aggressive drivings. *sigh* But it's okay.
Dec2 - I may not have had the opportunity to honor my parents but I was able to honor my elders by listening to their stories. I kind of failed that one.
BUT we had an awesome experience knocking. So we recently found a new apartment complex and decided to knock it. First door we knock on is this really pretty woman from Colima MX answers the door. When she sees me she spoke English but as soon as she saw Hna Hernandez she switched to Spanish and said, "Pasense." We sat down and found out we had interrupted a call to her family in Mexico but she was totally fine with it. We shared the Light the World video with her and then tied it into the Restoration. She mentioned that by tradition she was Catholic but really never went. It was really cool and we set up a return appointment on Sunday. We knocked on another door or two and then we head upstairs. She had mentioned a sister that was living somewhere in the apartments and we were on a mission to find her. Guided by the Spirit we knocked on a door but almost immediately heard "Quien?" yelled from the other side. I was like "Dangit we picked the wrong door" but responded "Las misioneras!" "Oh, esperame." So we waited a moment or two before she opened the door and invited us in. Her name was (codenames) Luna and she was Sola's sister! We talk to her for a little bit before suddenly we hear a knock on the door and in walks a family of 5. They walk by and we keep talking to Luna who then gets up to make some sweet enchiladas from Colima for us and the family that walked in. As we talked she told us that Sola had just told her about us and that's why she let us in! The enchiladas were made with potatoes and meat and carrots on the inside and then mole sauce with lettuce and radish. It was really really good. Soon Estrella comes over (the mother of the family) and starts eating with us right about the time that Sola walks in. It was crazy awesome. So then we start talking to Estrella about the video and set up an appointment with her as well! It was honestly amazing. They were all best friends and an answer to our prayers. They were all "Catholic" but laughed when they said it because it was only by tradition. They were all so awesome and receptive to the gospel!
Dec3 - We helped others to see ways that they could reach out to others and share the gospel with them. As a missionary this is obviously something that we do everyday but we had the opportunity to talk with a returning less active couple and show them how they can share the gospel with others through the Light the World movement. She was so excited about it :)
Also that day we ran into Kiko, yet another extension of the group with Estrella, Luna and Sola. It was really funny because the news had spread that a white girl and a Mexican girl had been over there eating enchiladas with them and he seemed a little bit more open to listening because of them. Essentially, if we can get Sola and Luna to church, Kiko will fall in line with the rest of them. They are all each other's fellowship!! :D
Dec4 - Today was the day that so many wonderful things happened. There was a little bit less stress because we didn't have any investigators to get to church unfortunately (we're still working on it) but we Tyler came with Curly and Traci and Dottie and all the Nimmas! AND Tyler brought his friend Griffin! My heart was full to bursting when I saw them, and afterwards he asked Bishop about how he could get his Patriarchal blessing. I love being a missionary and I love Sundays because that is the day where everything else is made okay. I was able to worship the Father through fasting and grateful prayer as well as helping other families have kneeling prayers. I love these themes because there is so much that we can learn as we strive to do them in our everyday life.
Dec5 - Although I have not yet had the opportunity to heal the sick or do one of the things on the calendar, I had a PT appointment and was able to talk a little about the gospel with my doctor. We also had the opportunity to go and do felting and begin to make a hummingbird out of beads with a member in our ward :) Which was AWESOME. She fed us grilled cheese and tomato soup which healed all of our souls I think.
Also, as we began to go to our appointments, only Luna ended up being there. But as we were there, Sola, Estrella and then Kiko all walked in and we got to talk to them about fasting and why we do it, fast offerings and serving others. It was awesommmeeeeeeeee!!!
To explain the title - we are always late to everything. Literally everything. It's really frustrating but slowly we have been working on getting places on time! We do that by setting alarms, letting people know we have appointments and not lingering :) Slowly but surely I am leaving the White Rabbit life behind. Just kidding. It's getting worse. But we are battling it with everything we've got and it's sure to work out! :)
Love you all!
Love,
Hna Baird
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Later that day we got lost driving down a really random road and found a house a mile or so in in the middle of nowhere. We had had little success among people that day and I said "Let's just go knock it, what's the worst that will happen? They'll chase us off. Big deal." So we park a little ways down the road and walk up to the house and proceed to engage in a standoff with this gorgeous, and yet unhappy dog. We got to the property line before the dog wouldn't let us get any closer and I didn't really want to be attacked so we just kind of stood there for a couple minutes that someone would come out and save us. Soon a girl with super curly hair comes out and pulls the dog away. Long story short they aren't interested in religion but she invited us in and asked a ton of questions about the mission and what we do. We slyly threw in family history hoping that it would go somewhere but didn't and eventually she had to go. It was funny because she wanted to hear stories of people who weren't very nice or interested and after telling a couple, she said, "You know, that's actually my parents. If they were here my mom probably would have told you we weren't interested and sent you away." Talk about a celestial moment. As she was walking us to the door she said, "I'm really sorry, I have to finish that essay, but you had mentioned something about family history work and actually that's something that I'm really interested in and I would love to know more." We left her our number and left walking on clouds. Well, running because we were late for dinner. Again. But, the neat thing is that we found someone in the middle of nowhere at a time that was the only time we probably ever would have found only Leaf and Emerald (codenames) home alone.
There's this thing called Tiwi in our car that monitors speed and aggressive driving. There are a couple of different ways to get an aggressive driving - speeding, gunning/revving the car, hitting a curb, and POTHOLES. I have never gotten an aggressive driving for anything EXCEPT for potholes. I shall now describe what the majority of our area is. Gravel roads. Dirt roads. The occasional paved road that has giant holes and pieces missing. And yet they wonder why I have upwards of 11 aggressive drivings. *sigh* But it's okay.
Dec2 - I may not have had the opportunity to honor my parents but I was able to honor my elders by listening to their stories. I kind of failed that one.
BUT we had an awesome experience knocking. So we recently found a new apartment complex and decided to knock it. First door we knock on is this really pretty woman from Colima MX answers the door. When she sees me she spoke English but as soon as she saw Hna Hernandez she switched to Spanish and said, "Pasense." We sat down and found out we had interrupted a call to her family in Mexico but she was totally fine with it. We shared the Light the World video with her and then tied it into the Restoration. She mentioned that by tradition she was Catholic but really never went. It was really cool and we set up a return appointment on Sunday. We knocked on another door or two and then we head upstairs. She had mentioned a sister that was living somewhere in the apartments and we were on a mission to find her. Guided by the Spirit we knocked on a door but almost immediately heard "Quien?" yelled from the other side. I was like "Dangit we picked the wrong door" but responded "Las misioneras!" "Oh, esperame." So we waited a moment or two before she opened the door and invited us in. Her name was (codenames) Luna and she was Sola's sister! We talk to her for a little bit before suddenly we hear a knock on the door and in walks a family of 5. They walk by and we keep talking to Luna who then gets up to make some sweet enchiladas from Colima for us and the family that walked in. As we talked she told us that Sola had just told her about us and that's why she let us in! The enchiladas were made with potatoes and meat and carrots on the inside and then mole sauce with lettuce and radish. It was really really good. Soon Estrella comes over (the mother of the family) and starts eating with us right about the time that Sola walks in. It was crazy awesome. So then we start talking to Estrella about the video and set up an appointment with her as well! It was honestly amazing. They were all best friends and an answer to our prayers. They were all "Catholic" but laughed when they said it because it was only by tradition. They were all so awesome and receptive to the gospel!
Dec3 - We helped others to see ways that they could reach out to others and share the gospel with them. As a missionary this is obviously something that we do everyday but we had the opportunity to talk with a returning less active couple and show them how they can share the gospel with others through the Light the World movement. She was so excited about it :)
Also that day we ran into Kiko, yet another extension of the group with Estrella, Luna and Sola. It was really funny because the news had spread that a white girl and a Mexican girl had been over there eating enchiladas with them and he seemed a little bit more open to listening because of them. Essentially, if we can get Sola and Luna to church, Kiko will fall in line with the rest of them. They are all each other's fellowship!! :D
Dec4 - Today was the day that so many wonderful things happened. There was a little bit less stress because we didn't have any investigators to get to church unfortunately (we're still working on it) but we Tyler came with Curly and Traci and Dottie and all the Nimmas! AND Tyler brought his friend Griffin! My heart was full to bursting when I saw them, and afterwards he asked Bishop about how he could get his Patriarchal blessing. I love being a missionary and I love Sundays because that is the day where everything else is made okay. I was able to worship the Father through fasting and grateful prayer as well as helping other families have kneeling prayers. I love these themes because there is so much that we can learn as we strive to do them in our everyday life.
Dec5 - Although I have not yet had the opportunity to heal the sick or do one of the things on the calendar, I had a PT appointment and was able to talk a little about the gospel with my doctor. We also had the opportunity to go and do felting and begin to make a hummingbird out of beads with a member in our ward :) Which was AWESOME. She fed us grilled cheese and tomato soup which healed all of our souls I think.
Also, as we began to go to our appointments, only Luna ended up being there. But as we were there, Sola, Estrella and then Kiko all walked in and we got to talk to them about fasting and why we do it, fast offerings and serving others. It was awesommmeeeeeeeee!!!
To explain the title - we are always late to everything. Literally everything. It's really frustrating but slowly we have been working on getting places on time! We do that by setting alarms, letting people know we have appointments and not lingering :) Slowly but surely I am leaving the White Rabbit life behind. Just kidding. It's getting worse. But we are battling it with everything we've got and it's sure to work out! :)
Love you all!
Love,
Hna Baird
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
I'm sorry I don't take pictures of my actual companion or my face. (November 28, 2016)
deer!
Deer!
DEER!
Suddenly, a wild giraffe
Hna Hull :)
saw each other at a zone conference
Gorgeous double rainbow on our way to church
Sunday, November 27, 2016
"Jaycie, will you pray?" (Novenber 21, 2016)
This week has felt like an eternity, probably because so much happened in it!
Service - Thanksgiving we get to help set up a quincenera #servicegoals
Exchanges
"El tuvo una vaca con asthma le dio medicina y estuvo bien feliz por tres dias y entonces despues murio."
"Murio?!!"
"Si, pero corrio bien feliz!!"
("He had a cow with asthma that he gave medicine and it was very happy for three days and then after died."
"Died?!"
"Yes, but it ran very happy!!"
Some things are just better in Spanish)
Spanish investigators
Jesus says, "Las preguntas *holds up el folleto*, las respuestas *holds up the Libro de Mormon*
("The questions *pamphlet*, the answers *Book of Mormon*"
Seriously though. It's so much funnier in Spanish.)
Yolanda
"Tienes novio?"
"No"
"Oh. Pues tu debes tener muchos pretendientes."
("Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No"
"Oh well you should have many suitors.")
Baptismal Invites
"Seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo..."
"Claro, claro que si!"
"..y ser bautizado.."
"Ah, eso yo no se!"
"Cree que esas cosas son verdaderas??"
"Pues, porque no? Es de Dios!"
"Okay! Entonces, seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo..."
"Claro, claro que si!"
"..y ser bautizado.."
"Ah, eso yo no se!"
"Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ..."
"Of course!!"
"...And be baptized?"
"Now that I don't know!"
"Do you believe these things are true?"
"Well why not! They're of God!"
"Okay! Then will you follow the example of Jesus Christ"
"Yes of course!"
"...and BE BAPTIZED"
"Now that I don't know!"
"Julian!!")
Dinner
me - "Dangit I poured too much mustard"
Jace (4yo) - *in the background* "I wanna play the game!"
Bro Taylor - "Life is full of disappointments Jace."
*small freak out moment*
me - "Ohmygosh I thought you were talking to me because my name is really close to his."
Sis Taylor - "Oh really? What is it?"
me - "Jaycie"
Bro Taylor - "Ha! Sorry about that."
*fastforward to end of meal*
Sis Taylor - "Isn't that cool? Her name is like yours!
Bro Taylor - "Sister Hernandez, will you -"
Jace - "Jaycie, will you pray?"
*dying*
Little kids are fun. Here's to hoping he doesn't blurt out my name at church.
And then the hurdle. So for a while now I've been really excited about starting up a Spanish group here in White Salmon. And we were getting so close! Then Saturday we get a text from the Zone Leaders telling us that they have to go to Hood River, no exceptions. The rest of the day we were running back and forth trying to get anyone to give them rides, to figure out who was going etc. The next morning we were up bright and early in a meeting with Bishop trying to figure out all what to do. Then we ran back and forth trying to get everyone where they needed to be. It will certainly be interesting to see how it all pans out but I am willing to do whatever the Lord needs me to do and am excited for what lies ahead :)
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Service - Thanksgiving we get to help set up a quincenera #servicegoals
Exchanges
"El tuvo una vaca con asthma le dio medicina y estuvo bien feliz por tres dias y entonces despues murio."
"Murio?!!"
"Si, pero corrio bien feliz!!"
("He had a cow with asthma that he gave medicine and it was very happy for three days and then after died."
"Died?!"
"Yes, but it ran very happy!!"
Some things are just better in Spanish)
Spanish investigators
Jesus says, "Las preguntas *holds up el folleto*, las respuestas *holds up the Libro de Mormon*
("The questions *pamphlet*, the answers *Book of Mormon*"
Seriously though. It's so much funnier in Spanish.)
Yolanda
"Tienes novio?"
"No"
"Oh. Pues tu debes tener muchos pretendientes."
("Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No"
"Oh well you should have many suitors.")
Baptismal Invites
"Seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo..."
"Claro, claro que si!"
"..y ser bautizado.."
"Ah, eso yo no se!"
"Cree que esas cosas son verdaderas??"
"Pues, porque no? Es de Dios!"
"Okay! Entonces, seguira el ejemplo de Jesucristo..."
"Claro, claro que si!"
"..y ser bautizado.."
"Ah, eso yo no se!"
"Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ..."
"Of course!!"
"...And be baptized?"
"Now that I don't know!"
"Do you believe these things are true?"
"Well why not! They're of God!"
"Okay! Then will you follow the example of Jesus Christ"
"Yes of course!"
"...and BE BAPTIZED"
"Now that I don't know!"
"Julian!!")
Dinner
me - "Dangit I poured too much mustard"
Jace (4yo) - *in the background* "I wanna play the game!"
Bro Taylor - "Life is full of disappointments Jace."
*small freak out moment*
me - "Ohmygosh I thought you were talking to me because my name is really close to his."
Sis Taylor - "Oh really? What is it?"
me - "Jaycie"
Bro Taylor - "Ha! Sorry about that."
*fastforward to end of meal*
Sis Taylor - "Isn't that cool? Her name is like yours!
Bro Taylor - "Sister Hernandez, will you -"
Jace - "Jaycie, will you pray?"
*dying*
Little kids are fun. Here's to hoping he doesn't blurt out my name at church.
And then the hurdle. So for a while now I've been really excited about starting up a Spanish group here in White Salmon. And we were getting so close! Then Saturday we get a text from the Zone Leaders telling us that they have to go to Hood River, no exceptions. The rest of the day we were running back and forth trying to get anyone to give them rides, to figure out who was going etc. The next morning we were up bright and early in a meeting with Bishop trying to figure out all what to do. Then we ran back and forth trying to get everyone where they needed to be. It will certainly be interesting to see how it all pans out but I am willing to do whatever the Lord needs me to do and am excited for what lies ahead :)
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
I'm so bad at fotos (November 21, 2016)
when you're all lactose intolerant #silkmilkfordays
The sunsets here are gorgeous
exchanges!
me, hna luevano from Mexico, hna pons from Argentina, and my comp hna hernandez from Mexico.
me, hna luevano from Mexico, hna pons from Argentina, and my comp hna hernandez from Mexico.
Call me guerra.
Help Thou My Unbelief (November 14, 2016)
Transfers have come and gone and here I am in White Salmon with a native companion! Her name is Hermana Hernandez and she's from Jalisco Mexico but came from Portland. She's a convert of about 3 years and has always wanted to serve a mission since the missionaries first began teaching her.
So this week, like most other weeks, I learned a thing or two about faith.
We have an investigator pool of about 12 people, the majority being Hispanic. There's never enough time and yet way too much every day, a paradox I'm still trying to figure out. So we've begun to weed people out here and there. We've invited just about all of them to baptism but the main concern is that they were already baptized and they have no need to be baptized again. We discuss the whole authority thing but still, it just doesn't seem to stick.
Thursday we decided to go knock Klickitat. We brought Matt (our recent convert) with us and we started from one end of the town and knocked every door on the street (and it's a long one.) Lots of people weren't home, lots of people were and mostly looked like they couldn't believe that we dared to stand on their porch and ask them if they knew their grandparents. Sometimes, they would just laugh and then shut the door. I got a little bit indignant honestly, I wanted to tell them, "Hiwe'remissionariesandI'monly19andI'veleftmyfamilytobehereandtotalktoyouhere'sacardthatexplainshowyoucanfindallofyourancestorsandprintoutyourfamilytreebecausehowawesomeisthatIhavevikingsinmyfamilyhistoryandyoucanevendoitallbyyourselfyoudon'tevenneedusthankyouhaveniceday!" Just kidding. But seriously. They won't even listen to something that could bring them so much joy because I'm standing on their porch in a skirt. It's actually rather comical. Anyway, we knocked about 20 doors and no one was interested at all. And I remained positive and happy even though I really hate knocking doors. There came a point where I wanted to call it quits and head to find some less-actives, but I remembered the Ricciardi letter where he had been sent to a horrible and rotten area so that he could learn and grow and was eventually blessed for it. So onward we went. And two houses later, out come a couple of people on bikes. Matt had now seen us attempt to talk to someone 20 times and took the lead as we talked to them. He started with fishing and then just told them upright that we were sharing a message about family history. They asked, "Have you had any luck?" "A little" And then, we got to talk to them about family history and I got so excited. When I get excited I tend to talk really fast and I was off, talking a mile a minute about how awesome family history is and they loved it. She told me I reminded her of her niece and was excited to check out her ancestors. It was a reminder to me that we have to just keep going. So we did. And silly me, I lost a little faith once again as we were knocking and nothing was happening. And right before I was about to turn around and call it a day on this street, Matt said "Hey lets talk to that guy." Again, he initiated the conversation and got us a return appointment. I'm rather embarrassed to admit how much faith I had lacked but I am grateful that even though I really hadn't wanted to continue, I pushed forward and was blessed for it.
I had a similar experience that Saturday. We knocked a handful of doors and everyone was so offended that we were there. So I said to heck with it, lets go up to Underwood. As we were driving we pull up to a car that had just barely crashed on one of the really windy roads. She was pretty shaken up and we immediately pulled over to the side and directed traffic and made sure she had people coming. She looked like the last person that would have wanted missionaries to come to her door but she was so grateful that we had stopped and waited with her. When her guardians showed up they weren't very kind and basically shooed us off but she gave us a big hug and said "Thank you for stopping!"
I thought a while about that. If someone had let us in while we had been knocking, we wouldn't have been driving to Underwood at the very same moment that happened. And perhaps we won't ever see her again. But, I know that we made a difference to her in that moment and maybe in the future, she'll remember those two girls in skirts that stopped when missionaries knock on her door.
Anyway, we continued to Underwood and decided to knock because every single appointment had fallen through. I decided to finally just abandon every bit of pride and unwillingness and just knocked on doors I knew white people hid behind with an attitude of "They are going to love us!" I have gained a testimony of spiritually creating physical happenings because two of the doors were totally willing for us to come back and the third was this awesome lady named Carolina. She talked to us for a bit until she asked what church we were from. We told her and she said, "Riiight the Jehovah's Witnesses." "Actually the Mormons!" She blinked and then said "I was baptized as a Mormon when I was 10 years old." We talked a bit longer and then she said, :Come in."
Wait what??
Honestly??
I am so glad I kept knocking!
She let us in and told us about all of the different churches she's been to and made us some herbal tea. Then she asked for a summary of the Mormon church. We gave her about a 5 summary of the Restoration and ended with the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon so much and I promised her that this book is how she could know that what we are saying is true. I got really excited and started telling stories from it and her 15 year old son Justin said, "Wow! I think I'm going to really like this book!" She then asked whether we believe in Hell or what happens after this life and so we explained the three kingdoms of glory. She sat there with a pensive look while Justin exclaimed, "Wow, what a cool religion!!"
On Sunday we had a lesson on faith and I was reminded of the story from the Bible of the man who brings his son to Christ to heal him.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
To me it is such an incredibly tender moment and how I felt often this week. ALL THINGS, not just some things, but ALL things are possible when we have the faith to believe. And we do believe! We do have faith, but sometimes we have just the tiniest bit of doubt, of fear which causes us to cry out "Help thou mine unbelief."
Sunday night we visited a handful of families and helped them make a family mission plan, starting with inviting friends to the Primary Program because it's easy and not a huge commitment. I think we all tend to forget that missionary work isn't always knocking on doors but inviting anyone even to just a mutual or the Primary Program. It's so simple! It's helped me to realize how to better help the members become more missionary oriented and it gives them a purpose.
I invite you all to ask the Lord this week to help your unbelief, help you overcome the doubts, fears, walls you may be facing. We have the promise that all things are possible when we have the faith, but even when we lack it, He will be there to make up the difference.
"27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties,even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise aparticle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire tobelieve, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe ina manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."
Alma 32:27
So this week, like most other weeks, I learned a thing or two about faith.
We have an investigator pool of about 12 people, the majority being Hispanic. There's never enough time and yet way too much every day, a paradox I'm still trying to figure out. So we've begun to weed people out here and there. We've invited just about all of them to baptism but the main concern is that they were already baptized and they have no need to be baptized again. We discuss the whole authority thing but still, it just doesn't seem to stick.
Thursday we decided to go knock Klickitat. We brought Matt (our recent convert) with us and we started from one end of the town and knocked every door on the street (and it's a long one.) Lots of people weren't home, lots of people were and mostly looked like they couldn't believe that we dared to stand on their porch and ask them if they knew their grandparents. Sometimes, they would just laugh and then shut the door. I got a little bit indignant honestly, I wanted to tell them, "Hiwe'remissionariesandI'monly19andI'veleftmyfamilytobehereandtotalktoyouhere'sacardthatexplainshowyoucanfindallofyourancestorsandprintoutyourfamilytreebecausehowawesomeisthatIhavevikingsinmyfamilyhistoryandyoucanevendoitallbyyourselfyoudon'tevenneedusthankyouhaveniceday!" Just kidding. But seriously. They won't even listen to something that could bring them so much joy because I'm standing on their porch in a skirt. It's actually rather comical. Anyway, we knocked about 20 doors and no one was interested at all. And I remained positive and happy even though I really hate knocking doors. There came a point where I wanted to call it quits and head to find some less-actives, but I remembered the Ricciardi letter where he had been sent to a horrible and rotten area so that he could learn and grow and was eventually blessed for it. So onward we went. And two houses later, out come a couple of people on bikes. Matt had now seen us attempt to talk to someone 20 times and took the lead as we talked to them. He started with fishing and then just told them upright that we were sharing a message about family history. They asked, "Have you had any luck?" "A little" And then, we got to talk to them about family history and I got so excited. When I get excited I tend to talk really fast and I was off, talking a mile a minute about how awesome family history is and they loved it. She told me I reminded her of her niece and was excited to check out her ancestors. It was a reminder to me that we have to just keep going. So we did. And silly me, I lost a little faith once again as we were knocking and nothing was happening. And right before I was about to turn around and call it a day on this street, Matt said "Hey lets talk to that guy." Again, he initiated the conversation and got us a return appointment. I'm rather embarrassed to admit how much faith I had lacked but I am grateful that even though I really hadn't wanted to continue, I pushed forward and was blessed for it.
I had a similar experience that Saturday. We knocked a handful of doors and everyone was so offended that we were there. So I said to heck with it, lets go up to Underwood. As we were driving we pull up to a car that had just barely crashed on one of the really windy roads. She was pretty shaken up and we immediately pulled over to the side and directed traffic and made sure she had people coming. She looked like the last person that would have wanted missionaries to come to her door but she was so grateful that we had stopped and waited with her. When her guardians showed up they weren't very kind and basically shooed us off but she gave us a big hug and said "Thank you for stopping!"
I thought a while about that. If someone had let us in while we had been knocking, we wouldn't have been driving to Underwood at the very same moment that happened. And perhaps we won't ever see her again. But, I know that we made a difference to her in that moment and maybe in the future, she'll remember those two girls in skirts that stopped when missionaries knock on her door.
Anyway, we continued to Underwood and decided to knock because every single appointment had fallen through. I decided to finally just abandon every bit of pride and unwillingness and just knocked on doors I knew white people hid behind with an attitude of "They are going to love us!" I have gained a testimony of spiritually creating physical happenings because two of the doors were totally willing for us to come back and the third was this awesome lady named Carolina. She talked to us for a bit until she asked what church we were from. We told her and she said, "Riiight the Jehovah's Witnesses." "Actually the Mormons!" She blinked and then said "I was baptized as a Mormon when I was 10 years old." We talked a bit longer and then she said, :Come in."
Wait what??
Honestly??
I am so glad I kept knocking!
She let us in and told us about all of the different churches she's been to and made us some herbal tea. Then she asked for a summary of the Mormon church. We gave her about a 5 summary of the Restoration and ended with the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon so much and I promised her that this book is how she could know that what we are saying is true. I got really excited and started telling stories from it and her 15 year old son Justin said, "Wow! I think I'm going to really like this book!" She then asked whether we believe in Hell or what happens after this life and so we explained the three kingdoms of glory. She sat there with a pensive look while Justin exclaimed, "Wow, what a cool religion!!"
On Sunday we had a lesson on faith and I was reminded of the story from the Bible of the man who brings his son to Christ to heal him.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
To me it is such an incredibly tender moment and how I felt often this week. ALL THINGS, not just some things, but ALL things are possible when we have the faith to believe. And we do believe! We do have faith, but sometimes we have just the tiniest bit of doubt, of fear which causes us to cry out "Help thou mine unbelief."
Sunday night we visited a handful of families and helped them make a family mission plan, starting with inviting friends to the Primary Program because it's easy and not a huge commitment. I think we all tend to forget that missionary work isn't always knocking on doors but inviting anyone even to just a mutual or the Primary Program. It's so simple! It's helped me to realize how to better help the members become more missionary oriented and it gives them a purpose.
I invite you all to ask the Lord this week to help your unbelief, help you overcome the doubts, fears, walls you may be facing. We have the promise that all things are possible when we have the faith, but even when we lack it, He will be there to make up the difference.
"27 But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties,even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise aparticle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire tobelieve, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe ina manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."
Alma 32:27
Another Transfer, Another Companion (November 7, 2016)
So in short
Hermana Hull is being transferred to Yakima! I will be receiving a native companion from Jalisco, Mexico, Hermana Hernandez.
We found a bunch of new investigators this week, again. The first couple of weeks here was a real struggle due to the fact that we had nothing to do it seemed other than tract. But now we are finding about 8 new investigators a week and since then we've had plenty to do. This last ZTM (zone transfer meeting) was also really cool because we were given a lot of new policies, one of which is we are to tract an hour a day. Everything that I have since struggled with on my mission has been solved little by little at each ZTM and I am so excited for this next transfer.
We're working on starting a Spanish group in White Salmon. The Stake President told us that the requirements are 10-15 regularly attending people and it takes care of the hurdle we have been hitting with trying to get Hispanics over to Hood River. It's been something that I have been praying about a lot, trying to figure out how to get our investigators to church, how to fellowship them with members from across the river and finally it's all come together. We have a solid base of 12-15 spanish investigators and I'm getting a native companion. We have started implementing tracting with the youth and the members. Our goal is to have more member presents than other lessons so that every investigator we find instantly has a friend in the church. Already we have seen some enormous blessings from it, we have enlisted the help of the handful of Spanish speaking RM's and the youth, translating as we go and the ward is so excited!
Things are really looking up :) Be a missionary! Study Preach My Gospel! Love you!
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Hermana Hull is being transferred to Yakima! I will be receiving a native companion from Jalisco, Mexico, Hermana Hernandez.
We found a bunch of new investigators this week, again. The first couple of weeks here was a real struggle due to the fact that we had nothing to do it seemed other than tract. But now we are finding about 8 new investigators a week and since then we've had plenty to do. This last ZTM (zone transfer meeting) was also really cool because we were given a lot of new policies, one of which is we are to tract an hour a day. Everything that I have since struggled with on my mission has been solved little by little at each ZTM and I am so excited for this next transfer.
We're working on starting a Spanish group in White Salmon. The Stake President told us that the requirements are 10-15 regularly attending people and it takes care of the hurdle we have been hitting with trying to get Hispanics over to Hood River. It's been something that I have been praying about a lot, trying to figure out how to get our investigators to church, how to fellowship them with members from across the river and finally it's all come together. We have a solid base of 12-15 spanish investigators and I'm getting a native companion. We have started implementing tracting with the youth and the members. Our goal is to have more member presents than other lessons so that every investigator we find instantly has a friend in the church. Already we have seen some enormous blessings from it, we have enlisted the help of the handful of Spanish speaking RM's and the youth, translating as we go and the ward is so excited!
Things are really looking up :) Be a missionary! Study Preach My Gospel! Love you!
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Monday, November 21, 2016
fotos (November 7, 2016)
gorgeous sunsets on the Dalles gorge
zone pic! since the last one I should have been in was missing on my camera because they ditched us at the temple :)
Obviously we're not even close to anything normal
Gorgeous plain on top of a mountain. Hopefully some future investigators will be found up here
we're goals. and being split up. But. It's okay.
can't park
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Wet Boots and the Gift of Tongues (October 31, 2016)
Some silly things -
-Hna Hull doesn't know what a cold is or how you get it. So when I told her to take off her wet socks and boots she shrugged and said "It's fine" She now knows what a cold is and is hating life. Sometimes we have to learn from experience X)
-There are crazy killer clowns infesting Washington. Pray we don't get killed!
So this week was amazing.
Highlights/Lowlights
Tuesday we had District Council and then interviews with President! While we were waiting, we dropped off our car to get its tires changed and then after interviews and such we headed to dinner. We've been really working with the members lately because our training in District Council was all about
Wednesday we went to the ENT to figure out what's wrong with my ear. I was really grateful to just be there for my ear this time. We walked past a glass case with a bunch of the throat scopes that go down your nose and it brought back some happy memories. Hna Hull was majorly grossed out.
Thursday we had exchanges. We have recently been planning a little bit differently, and on Thursday we were incredibly blessed! We have begun to plan more people each day than we can possibly visit. Not when we have appointments, but instead of only planning one or two backups every hour, we have a list of at least 10 people for each hour. So, when we went on exchanges we had dozens of people to go contact, all potentials and formers. It was amazing to see how blessed we were because we had overprepared! Throughout the day, we were never lacking for someone to talk to. When the people we had written down weren't home or we couldn't find them, we contacted around the area. Hna Pons and I were walking during the day time and between the constant Spanish and walking, I really felt like I was back in Wenatchee. It was such a good day. At the end of the day, we had found 18 new investigators. We were all in disbelief and beyond that, 15 of them were Spanish. I was reminded again that the Lord is the one driving this work. Yes, we had split up and there were four of us working in the same area but we had more success in that one day than we have had in weeks combined. The Lord truly does bless us after the hard work, diligence and enduring to the end that sometimes we have to do.
Also, due to the amount of walking we did, my boots soaked through. I jokingly asked if we could stop and wring out my socks and then I was actually able to wring them out. We decided to stop by a less active to see if she had some extra socks and she not only gave me some socks, she gave me a pair of brown ugg boots that she was going to give away to GoodWill. They didn't match with anything I was wearing, and my leggings didn't quite make it down to where the boots stopped, but my feet were warm and dry and so I buried my pride and walked on. The Lord works in mysterious ways to humble us and to show us the goodness in those around us. It's really quite amazing to me.
Saturday was an awesome day for me. We revisited a lot of the people we found on Saturday and all day long I got to speak in Spanish.
Saturday was an awful day for Hna Hull. Despite all of her studying, she has struggled with Spanish badly and didn't speak the entire day.
Sunday was a day full of miracles. Hermana Hull asked Bishop for a blessing and in it she was promised that her tongue and mind would be loosed. I spoke to her in Spanish all during lunch and she understood and replied to everything I said. It was amazing! We had lots of Spanish to speak that day as we went by more of the investigators we found on Thursday and she understood and responded in every conversation/lesson we had.
Later that night we had a lesson with Angel and Roman, two new investigators. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't have much faith, I didn't think that it was going to go very far. We went in and began to talk and I was immediately humbled by Roman as he summarized the Restoration for us. Angel and Roman then asked us lots of questions about prophets and how we know and are really excited to begin to read the Book of Mormon.
Over and over I am reminded of the mercy and the goodness of God. I am so incredibly grateful that I get to be a missionary and encourage all of you to be one too! I am so proud of my little sisters that ran around sharing little pass along cards, because it's what made them happy. Guys, this gospel is what makes us happy, do we not want others to be happy??? Of course we do!! So we need to let them know how they can be more happy!!! If you have not gotten a Preach My Gospel and have not been studying it diligently, I encourage you to do so. In our mission we are striving to be Preach My Gospel missionaries but we all need to strive to be Preach My Gospel wards and members!
I love you all so much and Dios les bendiga!
Hna Baird
-Hna Hull doesn't know what a cold is or how you get it. So when I told her to take off her wet socks and boots she shrugged and said "It's fine" She now knows what a cold is and is hating life. Sometimes we have to learn from experience X)
-There are crazy killer clowns infesting Washington. Pray we don't get killed!
So this week was amazing.
Highlights/Lowlights
Tuesday we had District Council and then interviews with President! While we were waiting, we dropped off our car to get its tires changed and then after interviews and such we headed to dinner. We've been really working with the members lately because our training in District Council was all about
Wednesday we went to the ENT to figure out what's wrong with my ear. I was really grateful to just be there for my ear this time. We walked past a glass case with a bunch of the throat scopes that go down your nose and it brought back some happy memories. Hna Hull was majorly grossed out.
Thursday we had exchanges. We have recently been planning a little bit differently, and on Thursday we were incredibly blessed! We have begun to plan more people each day than we can possibly visit. Not when we have appointments, but instead of only planning one or two backups every hour, we have a list of at least 10 people for each hour. So, when we went on exchanges we had dozens of people to go contact, all potentials and formers. It was amazing to see how blessed we were because we had overprepared! Throughout the day, we were never lacking for someone to talk to. When the people we had written down weren't home or we couldn't find them, we contacted around the area. Hna Pons and I were walking during the day time and between the constant Spanish and walking, I really felt like I was back in Wenatchee. It was such a good day. At the end of the day, we had found 18 new investigators. We were all in disbelief and beyond that, 15 of them were Spanish. I was reminded again that the Lord is the one driving this work. Yes, we had split up and there were four of us working in the same area but we had more success in that one day than we have had in weeks combined. The Lord truly does bless us after the hard work, diligence and enduring to the end that sometimes we have to do.
Also, due to the amount of walking we did, my boots soaked through. I jokingly asked if we could stop and wring out my socks and then I was actually able to wring them out. We decided to stop by a less active to see if she had some extra socks and she not only gave me some socks, she gave me a pair of brown ugg boots that she was going to give away to GoodWill. They didn't match with anything I was wearing, and my leggings didn't quite make it down to where the boots stopped, but my feet were warm and dry and so I buried my pride and walked on. The Lord works in mysterious ways to humble us and to show us the goodness in those around us. It's really quite amazing to me.
Saturday was an awesome day for me. We revisited a lot of the people we found on Saturday and all day long I got to speak in Spanish.
Saturday was an awful day for Hna Hull. Despite all of her studying, she has struggled with Spanish badly and didn't speak the entire day.
Sunday was a day full of miracles. Hermana Hull asked Bishop for a blessing and in it she was promised that her tongue and mind would be loosed. I spoke to her in Spanish all during lunch and she understood and replied to everything I said. It was amazing! We had lots of Spanish to speak that day as we went by more of the investigators we found on Thursday and she understood and responded in every conversation/lesson we had.
Later that night we had a lesson with Angel and Roman, two new investigators. I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't have much faith, I didn't think that it was going to go very far. We went in and began to talk and I was immediately humbled by Roman as he summarized the Restoration for us. Angel and Roman then asked us lots of questions about prophets and how we know and are really excited to begin to read the Book of Mormon.
Over and over I am reminded of the mercy and the goodness of God. I am so incredibly grateful that I get to be a missionary and encourage all of you to be one too! I am so proud of my little sisters that ran around sharing little pass along cards, because it's what made them happy. Guys, this gospel is what makes us happy, do we not want others to be happy??? Of course we do!! So we need to let them know how they can be more happy!!! If you have not gotten a Preach My Gospel and have not been studying it diligently, I encourage you to do so. In our mission we are striving to be Preach My Gospel missionaries but we all need to strive to be Preach My Gospel wards and members!
I love you all so much and Dios les bendiga!
Hna Baird
When your boots aren't rain boots and get soaked through and your socks too. Yas.
Found this dead mouse in front of our car like an offering of some sort. I mean sure it's gross but if she had to touch it, why didn't it just go in the trashcan? Poor mouse.
"I Mean We're All Children of God!" "No we're not."
It's been so long since I've written an actual email I hardly remember what I used to write!
We've been doing a lot of finding lately and building member trust. We've been working a lot with the members and it really feels like home.
Wednesday we went to do service for Amber. Unfortunately, she cancelled but it was okay because we went and helped Paul build a retaining wall. He had jokingly asked if we wanted to help and we were more than happy. I mean come on, digging up ancient cinder blocks and chipping away at the dirt? It was awesome. Paul was actually almost baptized in Hood River, and so for the 2 and a half hours we dug, we talked all about the church. We asked him all about what he knew, why he wasn't baptized and he just kept talking and talking. It was really really cool to me to see that there are so many people that are prepared for the gospel. In the scriptures it talks about how there are so many who are searching for the truth but are kept from it because they know not where to find it. On Sunday he came to church because we were playing a violin duet and he spent the next two hours talking with different priesthood holders. Once, we walked by and heard him say, "I know it's true, I just have some things I need to get figured out." It honestly is such a blessing to be a part of this work. We don't even do anything and the Lord allows us to bring to pass the salvation of many souls.
Thursday we were able to go back and do service for Amber. It was raining and cold but we loved planting chicken and hens, washing out pots, missing the pots and soaking our feet, clipping off twigs to make garden sticks, it was wonderful. Before my mission I loved to serve but truly I have learned to love it with all my heart here. It can be snowing, raining, 107 degrees, NO IMPORTA. Service is literally my favorite thing to do. AND Amber came to church on Sunday! Again, because we were playing the violins (because how awesome is it that Sister Hull and I BOTH play the violins I mean so cool) but one of the talks was meant for her. She's so cute and funny, when we invited her she asked, "But none of them are going to try and convert me right?" We assured her that they would just be nice :) And she loved it! Hopefully she'll keep coming. But service. Service is the key :)
Thursday we also went out to Lyle, one of the many surrounding towns in our area to meet with a less active that turned out to be sick. So we stopped by a member to see if she had suggestions for where we should knock. We ended up sitting and talking with her for a while, we could tell she really just needed to talk. I love her so much. She is a returned missionary and has 4 kids I think. She told us a story about her stroller being stolen and how she knows it shouldn't bug her but her inner mommy won't let it go. "I was so desperate to get another stroller, I found one on Craiglist and immediately loaded the kids up to go to Portland (2 hours away) but I didn't have any cash so I grabbed all of the yard sale money, a bunch of ones and I had 57 with a bunch of quarters which was perfect but then I had to cross the bridge and there went a dollar and NO ONE would let me get cash off of my card and I only had 15 minutes left and I finally just broke down and said 'Please I just need some cash!!' and the lady said 'well how much do you need?' and I said ' a dollar' and she said 'oh well here! just take it!' and then I started crying and said 'You made me realize that not everyone steals strollers!!'" We were all in hysterics and she gave us a couple of people to stop by but more importantly, I'm glad we stopped by to help her. Sometimes we all need a little bit of a hysterical moment.
On Friday night we helped a young couple clean the church. It's odd here, they have one family clean it a week and there are only two of them so we offered to help. I learned then that there are lots of different ways to earn member trust. Sometimes it's service, being really serious, and other times it's messing around with the vacuum with your companion and accidentally sucking up your skirt as they turn the corner. #missionaccomplished.
Saturday - So when I grow up and am old I hope that I am the kind of lady that invites a couple of young whippersnapper missionaries to her turkey dinner with a bunch of other old lady friends. Mary, a less active due to health, had us over with a couple of her non member friends and we had a blast. We talked about the Doctrine of Christ and sat in and listened to them bicker about how many boyfriends Linda really had. Then we talked about baptism. It was kind of awesome. Actually it was really awesome and I am so grateful that she invited us. Linda is actually sweetest little lady I have ever met, she was recently baptized as a Methodist but she loved listening to the scriptures we read from 2 Nephi 31.
Other quotes of the week:
"Fins have Aspergers"
"Dolphins have Aspergers?"
#stillwaitingtobeabletohearoutofmyrightear
"My wife had kids and it's like the dog had puppies."
He turned it around with a really tender story about the said children catching fish and being so proud and showing him. He also said, "There's something to the eternities. It's literally in our genetics." kind of cool.
"Yeah, I mean we're all children of God"
"No we're not. You would know that if you read your scriptures."
#scaryladiesbehindreallyprettypinkdoors. I've learned a new meaning to the scripture "Pray for them that curse you". I had walked away from that door trying not to cry at the brutality but after praying that she would have a nice day for the last couple of nights, I love her enough to knock on her door again.
"Hi!"
"Yeah, we're not interested."
"Yessir!."
#southernhospitalityinthenorthwest
There were some other really neat experiences that ironically taught me that we really are all children of God. The (codename) Nimma's are a family that we have been working with for a long time. We visit them twice a week, reading the scriptures with them and helping them grow in their conversion. We're finally bringing back Art and Tyler! Tyler has even given us some of his friends to go visit. Sunday morning we were so excited to see them at church but they never showed up. We went that night to see if everything was okay and they told us about his sister codename Curly who has bipolar disorder. That morning they had all been dressed and ready to go, Tyler, Art, Dottie but as they were about to leave something triggered Curly and ultimately led to them being unable to go to church. It was so hard to feel their pain, to feel the pain the Curly must have and to know that they had been trying their best to go back to church but were unable because when we are doing good, Satan tries even harder to prevent us from receiving those blessings. I know that if nothing else good comes from me being in White Salmon, I have at least been sent for their little family. I love them so much I can hardly believe it and every time I see them trucking along, getting back on their feet I want to give them all the biggest hug in the entire world but I can only hug Dottie so we hug her a lot.
The Lord is so good to us. I'm so grateful to hear that little ole' Jackson, MO is coming together, uniting in Christ. Christ truly is the path to happiness and it brings me such hope to hear that there are still places that are fighting for what they believe by simply rejoicing in the gift that it is.
I love you all and am so grateful for the letters and emails and I am so sorry that I am terrible at writing back. Love you!!
Hna Baird
We've been doing a lot of finding lately and building member trust. We've been working a lot with the members and it really feels like home.
Wednesday we went to do service for Amber. Unfortunately, she cancelled but it was okay because we went and helped Paul build a retaining wall. He had jokingly asked if we wanted to help and we were more than happy. I mean come on, digging up ancient cinder blocks and chipping away at the dirt? It was awesome. Paul was actually almost baptized in Hood River, and so for the 2 and a half hours we dug, we talked all about the church. We asked him all about what he knew, why he wasn't baptized and he just kept talking and talking. It was really really cool to me to see that there are so many people that are prepared for the gospel. In the scriptures it talks about how there are so many who are searching for the truth but are kept from it because they know not where to find it. On Sunday he came to church because we were playing a violin duet and he spent the next two hours talking with different priesthood holders. Once, we walked by and heard him say, "I know it's true, I just have some things I need to get figured out." It honestly is such a blessing to be a part of this work. We don't even do anything and the Lord allows us to bring to pass the salvation of many souls.
Thursday we were able to go back and do service for Amber. It was raining and cold but we loved planting chicken and hens, washing out pots, missing the pots and soaking our feet, clipping off twigs to make garden sticks, it was wonderful. Before my mission I loved to serve but truly I have learned to love it with all my heart here. It can be snowing, raining, 107 degrees, NO IMPORTA. Service is literally my favorite thing to do. AND Amber came to church on Sunday! Again, because we were playing the violins (because how awesome is it that Sister Hull and I BOTH play the violins I mean so cool) but one of the talks was meant for her. She's so cute and funny, when we invited her she asked, "But none of them are going to try and convert me right?" We assured her that they would just be nice :) And she loved it! Hopefully she'll keep coming. But service. Service is the key :)
Thursday we also went out to Lyle, one of the many surrounding towns in our area to meet with a less active that turned out to be sick. So we stopped by a member to see if she had suggestions for where we should knock. We ended up sitting and talking with her for a while, we could tell she really just needed to talk. I love her so much. She is a returned missionary and has 4 kids I think. She told us a story about her stroller being stolen and how she knows it shouldn't bug her but her inner mommy won't let it go. "I was so desperate to get another stroller, I found one on Craiglist and immediately loaded the kids up to go to Portland (2 hours away) but I didn't have any cash so I grabbed all of the yard sale money, a bunch of ones and I had 57 with a bunch of quarters which was perfect but then I had to cross the bridge and there went a dollar and NO ONE would let me get cash off of my card and I only had 15 minutes left and I finally just broke down and said 'Please I just need some cash!!' and the lady said 'well how much do you need?' and I said ' a dollar' and she said 'oh well here! just take it!' and then I started crying and said 'You made me realize that not everyone steals strollers!!'" We were all in hysterics and she gave us a couple of people to stop by but more importantly, I'm glad we stopped by to help her. Sometimes we all need a little bit of a hysterical moment.
On Friday night we helped a young couple clean the church. It's odd here, they have one family clean it a week and there are only two of them so we offered to help. I learned then that there are lots of different ways to earn member trust. Sometimes it's service, being really serious, and other times it's messing around with the vacuum with your companion and accidentally sucking up your skirt as they turn the corner. #missionaccomplished.
Saturday - So when I grow up and am old I hope that I am the kind of lady that invites a couple of young whippersnapper missionaries to her turkey dinner with a bunch of other old lady friends. Mary, a less active due to health, had us over with a couple of her non member friends and we had a blast. We talked about the Doctrine of Christ and sat in and listened to them bicker about how many boyfriends Linda really had. Then we talked about baptism. It was kind of awesome. Actually it was really awesome and I am so grateful that she invited us. Linda is actually sweetest little lady I have ever met, she was recently baptized as a Methodist but she loved listening to the scriptures we read from 2 Nephi 31.
Other quotes of the week:
"Fins have Aspergers"
"Dolphins have Aspergers?"
#stillwaitingtobeabletohearoutofmyrightear
"My wife had kids and it's like the dog had puppies."
He turned it around with a really tender story about the said children catching fish and being so proud and showing him. He also said, "There's something to the eternities. It's literally in our genetics." kind of cool.
"Yeah, I mean we're all children of God"
"No we're not. You would know that if you read your scriptures."
#scaryladiesbehindreallyprettypinkdoors. I've learned a new meaning to the scripture "Pray for them that curse you". I had walked away from that door trying not to cry at the brutality but after praying that she would have a nice day for the last couple of nights, I love her enough to knock on her door again.
"Hi!"
"Yeah, we're not interested."
"Yessir!."
#southernhospitalityinthenorthwest
There were some other really neat experiences that ironically taught me that we really are all children of God. The (codename) Nimma's are a family that we have been working with for a long time. We visit them twice a week, reading the scriptures with them and helping them grow in their conversion. We're finally bringing back Art and Tyler! Tyler has even given us some of his friends to go visit. Sunday morning we were so excited to see them at church but they never showed up. We went that night to see if everything was okay and they told us about his sister codename Curly who has bipolar disorder. That morning they had all been dressed and ready to go, Tyler, Art, Dottie but as they were about to leave something triggered Curly and ultimately led to them being unable to go to church. It was so hard to feel their pain, to feel the pain the Curly must have and to know that they had been trying their best to go back to church but were unable because when we are doing good, Satan tries even harder to prevent us from receiving those blessings. I know that if nothing else good comes from me being in White Salmon, I have at least been sent for their little family. I love them so much I can hardly believe it and every time I see them trucking along, getting back on their feet I want to give them all the biggest hug in the entire world but I can only hug Dottie so we hug her a lot.
The Lord is so good to us. I'm so grateful to hear that little ole' Jackson, MO is coming together, uniting in Christ. Christ truly is the path to happiness and it brings me such hope to hear that there are still places that are fighting for what they believe by simply rejoicing in the gift that it is.
I love you all and am so grateful for the letters and emails and I am so sorry that I am terrible at writing back. Love you!!
Hna Baird
PICTURES finally (sent October 24, 2016)
Shaaaaaaake breaaaaaaak! I don't remember if I sent this one a year and a day ago but anywho. Gosh that felt like forever ago.
Baby chicks! Also, my wonderful companion, Sister Hull :D
Klickitat. When we accidentally went there at 6 at night. Fun fact -
they don't know what missionaries are and also if you go after 5 they
look at you like you came from Mars. Long story short, we don't go there
unless it's broad daylight.
Sometimes you have to gain member trust. And sometimes that means
cutting up a deer. (Dad are you proud of me yet?) Jk, we didn't help
them cut it up but they promised that if they get an elk they will call
us to help them.
Another one because I was just so happy that Sister Hull dragged me
over to see the deer because I honestly refused to get anywhere close
for a while.
pictures pictures pictures (send October 24, 2016)
first day in White Salmon - 117 miles. I can now testify that actually that is totally normal.
Alpaca and goat friends. Just kidding the alpaca actually hates us I don't know why.
Wild turkeys! (shoutout to dad)
Matt's baptism!! It was so amazing. He is the funniest guy. His son
is Japhia and is quite the character. We love them both a lot.
Old trucks that are super awesome and also a mural painted by a
less active who we spent all of dinner talking about art with. It was
kind of awesome and it made me realize how much I really love art.
Sometimes we let our hair down. a couple of pdays ago we went to a gorgeous waterfall hike. it was pretty epic
Some pics (sent October 24, 2016)
1 My best friend on Pday's because he would play frisbee with me! Elder Mayes
2. The zone one last time
3. Elder Favila. #BFFS
4-5. Elder Colunga. We butt heads a lot but we're still friends
6-8. White Salmon sunsets/road to Lyle
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)