Lots of crazy stuff happened this week.
Women's conference - The talk by President Uchtdorf was incredible! It is so fascinating to me to see how the Lord is aware of what goes on in our lives and how we learn precept by precept. At the start of this transfer, I did an intensive study on faith and the talk that he gave testified of all I had learned and been trying to apply. I loved the underlying message of all of the talks, how we have to have a clear understanding of the Doctrine of Christ and the Plan of Salvation. Maybe it's just because I'm a missionary and Preach My Gospel is practically scripture, but I strongly encourage all of you to begin to study Preach My Gospel in your homes with your families, study the scriptures, learn and love the doctrine because the more you learn and the more you know the more you can stand firm in the faith and with a steadfast hope in Christ that all will turn out okay. I was reading a talk from last general conference and it talked about a little girl who, when confronted with a question of "If you drank some of the brew from the witch's cauldron, what would happen?" and she responded, I would go to heaven and I would love it there because I would be with my Heavenly Father. And it made me think. Sometimes we sit here and struggle through life, suffering alone. But we don't have to. And if we recognize that we are precious children of our Heavenly Father, we not only have the assurance that He sent His son so that we would never have to feel alone, but that in the end, it is going to be okay. Death, which is so feared in so many ways is nothing but a return home.
We had the privilege of attending a wedding that was followed by a baptism. How grateful am I to be a part of the everlasting gospel where we are loved so much that we are given everything that we need to return to our Heavenly Father, to be together with our loved ones on this earth forever, in this life and the life to come.
We stopped by a less active and she had lost her license and green card. We said a prayer and almost immediately after she found it. She was sobbing, her feelings a mixture of gratitude and godly sorrow for how she has been living. She was at church this Sunday :) It is so wonderful to see how Heavenly Father cares for us, even when we fall off the path He wants us to be happy, even though the things in this life are small, they are big to us. And when these things happen, they turn our souls back to our Creator, our Savior and our Father. We relearn the meaning of the scriptures in Mosiah that remind us that we are the dust of the earth and we are nothing without His goodness and His Grace.
How lucky we are to be here on this earth, learning little by little, coming unto Christ little by little, falling and climbing. Go get Preach My Gospel! Study it! Learn it! Love it!
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
P.S. addition by Mom - Hermana Baird is being transferred to White Salmon, a town of approximately 2,200 which sits on the border across the river from Oregon.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Bye Bye Wenatchee! (September 26, 2016)
Chili dogs! Made by me.
Lucy and her three darling boys :)
Hermana Isabell :)
Bishop Harris
Elder Call and Elder Aguirre (our new zone leaders) and Elder Adams workin on their smolder
All of us trying to smolder but mostly just looking confused
Friday, September 23, 2016
The Testimony That Will Never Die (September 19, 2016)
This week has been crazy!
*We had Zone Conference on Wednesday and it was really neat. I loved all of the different trainings there were, it reminded me that there is always so much to work on. I was asked to do the special musical number and so we played Come Come Ye Saints - Elder Adams on the cello, me on the piano. It is such a simple song but the Spirit was tangible. I love music and have such a testimony of the power of music.
*Friday we had a carne asada and Abelardo, one of investigators came! He is really neat and the ward instantly fellowshipped him. There were testimonies given of how the gospel has blessed families temporally. At the end, he turned to us and said, "are you going to share your testimonies now?" We laughed and said no, we do that in the lessons! It was neat to see how much members impact the people that we are teaching. They make all of the difference. GO OUT WITH THE MISSIONARIES IN YOUR AREA! Find time, tell them "Hey I have one hour" and then consecrate that to the Lord. You will be blessed and the missionaries and those they teach or find will be blessed. Everyone wins!
*On Saturday we got to attend a baptism of Connie, our dear friend who we found and put on date. I love her so so much. Even though we didn't get to teach her, it was such a blessing for me to have developed such a brief and yet unbreakable bond with this amazing individual.
*Saturday night we practiced for Sunday with Brother Webb and it turned into a jazz session. Some much needed musical therapy. Again, music is so powerful.
*Sunday after the musical number I got kissed by a 6 year old. I confronted his dad (jokingly) and he said, "He likes blondes, he's crazy!" I also had a lot of people ask me to teach their kids piano and violin. It made me laugh.
*Sunday we played in both the English ward and the Spanish ward. One of our investigators came to church!! There were so many miracles that we saw, there are no coincidences in this world and sometimes we forget that we aren't the ones running the show. We're just little pieces to the overall picture.
That night we had an amazing dinner with a sister in the Sage Hills ward where we had a beautiful conversation about the Plan of Salvation. We just talked about the blessing that the gospel is in our lives and how much it has helped us. It reaffirmed my testimony and the reason that I am out here. It's been different to have little happening when at the same time everything is happening. But over and over I am reminded how much this gospel has changed my life. We decided to walk out pretty deep into our area and ran into a handful of guys who asked us a lot of questions about us as missionaries. They kept asking, "Wait, people slam the door on you?" "Yeah and sometimes they yell at us and tell us to get off their property!" "Why do you do it?" We got to talk to them and discuss how when you have something that you love, something that has brought you happiness, it's something you want to share. And this week I have truly come to understand that. It isn't fun to get run off of a doorstep, but it's mostly just sad that the happiness that they could have had, they just chased away. So often people think that we're here to make them Mormon. Of course not. We are here to help them come unto Christ, to receive the blessings of salvation, to have access through the Atonement. And that happens to make you a "Mormon". But it isn't the Mormon church, it isn't a prophet you worship. It is the church of Jesus Christ and if any single person will take just a small time out of their day to read and to pray they will know. So often they get offended, they think we're there to change them. We're here to invite them to change! We can't change anyone! Only Christ can do that and he can only do that when we take the steps to accept his sacrifice.
This week I have finally found the testimony that will not die. I have little time left but I would like to quote Alma 5:14-16
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Have you been spiritually born of God? As you go from day to day, think about it, ponder it. We have a purpose in this life and we have been given all the tools we need to excel in that purpose.
Les queremos!
Hna Baird
*We had Zone Conference on Wednesday and it was really neat. I loved all of the different trainings there were, it reminded me that there is always so much to work on. I was asked to do the special musical number and so we played Come Come Ye Saints - Elder Adams on the cello, me on the piano. It is such a simple song but the Spirit was tangible. I love music and have such a testimony of the power of music.
*Friday we had a carne asada and Abelardo, one of investigators came! He is really neat and the ward instantly fellowshipped him. There were testimonies given of how the gospel has blessed families temporally. At the end, he turned to us and said, "are you going to share your testimonies now?" We laughed and said no, we do that in the lessons! It was neat to see how much members impact the people that we are teaching. They make all of the difference. GO OUT WITH THE MISSIONARIES IN YOUR AREA! Find time, tell them "Hey I have one hour" and then consecrate that to the Lord. You will be blessed and the missionaries and those they teach or find will be blessed. Everyone wins!
*On Saturday we got to attend a baptism of Connie, our dear friend who we found and put on date. I love her so so much. Even though we didn't get to teach her, it was such a blessing for me to have developed such a brief and yet unbreakable bond with this amazing individual.
*Saturday night we practiced for Sunday with Brother Webb and it turned into a jazz session. Some much needed musical therapy. Again, music is so powerful.
*Sunday after the musical number I got kissed by a 6 year old. I confronted his dad (jokingly) and he said, "He likes blondes, he's crazy!" I also had a lot of people ask me to teach their kids piano and violin. It made me laugh.
*Sunday we played in both the English ward and the Spanish ward. One of our investigators came to church!! There were so many miracles that we saw, there are no coincidences in this world and sometimes we forget that we aren't the ones running the show. We're just little pieces to the overall picture.
That night we had an amazing dinner with a sister in the Sage Hills ward where we had a beautiful conversation about the Plan of Salvation. We just talked about the blessing that the gospel is in our lives and how much it has helped us. It reaffirmed my testimony and the reason that I am out here. It's been different to have little happening when at the same time everything is happening. But over and over I am reminded how much this gospel has changed my life. We decided to walk out pretty deep into our area and ran into a handful of guys who asked us a lot of questions about us as missionaries. They kept asking, "Wait, people slam the door on you?" "Yeah and sometimes they yell at us and tell us to get off their property!" "Why do you do it?" We got to talk to them and discuss how when you have something that you love, something that has brought you happiness, it's something you want to share. And this week I have truly come to understand that. It isn't fun to get run off of a doorstep, but it's mostly just sad that the happiness that they could have had, they just chased away. So often people think that we're here to make them Mormon. Of course not. We are here to help them come unto Christ, to receive the blessings of salvation, to have access through the Atonement. And that happens to make you a "Mormon". But it isn't the Mormon church, it isn't a prophet you worship. It is the church of Jesus Christ and if any single person will take just a small time out of their day to read and to pray they will know. So often they get offended, they think we're there to change them. We're here to invite them to change! We can't change anyone! Only Christ can do that and he can only do that when we take the steps to accept his sacrifice.
This week I have finally found the testimony that will not die. I have little time left but I would like to quote Alma 5:14-16
14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
15 Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
Have you been spiritually born of God? As you go from day to day, think about it, ponder it. We have a purpose in this life and we have been given all the tools we need to excel in that purpose.
Les queremos!
Hna Baird
P Day Hike to Saddle Rock w More Missionaries (September 19, 2016)
After scouting out Saddle Rock last week,
our district took some other missionaries on it this week.
all the sisters!! mostly
Candid posed senior pic
Lookin like a lion
Super wasn't paying attention
Made it to the top
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Jaycie (Titled by Mom - September 19, 2016)
CAT
I found old person glasses. They made me happy
No bake cookies for breakfast! (it was an accident)
(Insert by Mom - I had to label this post "Jaycie" because she has just summed herself up in four pictures. A little random, fun and crazy, an interesting cook, and takes time for the beautiful and intriguing things on earth; for example, the shadows of the grass in her shadow. We sure love and miss our crazy Latze).
P Day Hike to Scope out Saddle Rock (September 12, 2016)
I don't have my camera today and so I am poaching.
"Shaaaaaaaake breaaaaaaaaaaak!!"
photoception
Comp goals
District in a treeee
Dead tree on a cliff, naturally it is made to be climbed
"Everything the light touches is our kingdom."
"What about that dark shadowy place across the river?"
"That's East Wenatchee."
--
"What about that dark shadowy place across the river?"
"That's East Wenatchee."
--
Fancy sodaaaaaaaas as a district. Minus Elder Adams
--
Monday, September 5, 2016
Sharing a car with Elders (September 5, 2016)
This last transfer, the car that we shared with the other sisters was taken and sent up to Ephrata and so to make it possible for us to get to church, attend Pday or any other meetings, President flew the green flag for our district to drive us everywhere as long as there are four of them in the car. So of course we had to get pictures. The following are some candids/attempts at getting a district picture.
Personality shot
Got it! :) Well, kinda.
New district! (from 4 weeks ago)
me, hna Lindsay, E Aguirre (district leader), E adams, E Call y E Brassanini (zone leaders)
New district! (from 4 weeks ago)
me, hna Lindsay, E Aguirre (district leader), E adams, E Call y E Brassanini (zone leaders)
Also, flashback to our last district :)
Remind Me That I'm Weak (September 5, 2016)
When I grow up, I want to be like Christ.
Unfortunately, I'm not there yet. But I guess that's probably a good thing.
It's entertaining to see how the Lord reminds you every once in a while how weak you really are, and how you can't do anything without him. This week has been full of miracles and experiences that have reminded me just how little I really am.
Sometimes there are days (there have been a lot more of them recently than there used to be, which is cool) where I feel like Spanish is my best friend and I am practically a native. A guera native, but a native nonetheless. And then there are other days where I am just a guera. And super can't speak Spanish. I had one of those days this week, but it was interesting how the Lord decided to use it as a learning experience, rather than just a humbling one (because it was definitely that too.)
On Tuesday we got caught up in a mix up between one of the wards that we cover for Spanish and the elders that actually cover that ward. After deliberating for a while, it was decided that we would go out and smooth some feathers and try to fix the major miscommunication that happened. We had been painting for about 3 hours as service that day, and then we had to book it on the bikes to get over to the lesson on time. The lesson went really well and we did what we could to fix the situation and then we headed to our next appointment just a couple houses over. She wasn't able to meet with us but we found Jose outside of his house and tried to OYM him. I say tried because my Spanish had magically disappeared. I completely and totally butchered all of the things that I tried to say, I explained our purpose wrong, I introduced us wrong until the point where I was about ready to call it good, give him a pamphlet and ride off. Then Samuel, the investigator next door came out, offered us seats and pretty much told us we were going to have a lesson now with him and Jose (his uncle). So we sat down and began teaching. Throughout the entire lesson, my Spanish was trash. I kept getting frustrated that I was butchering it so badly and by the end really just wanted to leave and save myself from the rejection I knew that was going to happen. But surprisingly, they both had been touched by the Spirit, and when we asked if we could come back, they agreed. I was a little bit taken aback but we didn't have time to appreciate the moment because we had to race across town.
Note about the bikes. I have a stubborn streak in me. And due to that streak, sometimes I tend to "run (or bike) faster that I have strength" and I also tend to expect my companion to keep up with me. Neither of us are in that good of shape and by the time we arrived at dinner, we could hardly move we were hurting so bad. That night, I apologized to Hna Linsday and told her, "Hey you have to remind me that we're weak so I don't kill us on the bikes!"
The biggest thing I have come up against on my mission is my weakness. After dinner, we had another lesson that went along the same lines as the earlier one. My Spanish was all over the place and we struggled to get through even a part of the lesson. But at the end, he told us that he enjoyed meeting with us because of the Spirit that he felt during the lesson.
I thought about that the rest of the night. It's like the scriptures tell us, we are only instruments, the Lord allows us to participate in this work when He could do it all on His own. He uses the weak and the simple to proclaim His word and do His work so that we can learn that without Him, we are nothing, so that we can learn to rely on Him in everything that we do.
The next day, my Spanish came back and this week has been AWESOME. We have been blessed to find so many new people and teach with the powerful Spirit of the Lord.
I invite all those that read this to pray to the Lord to remind them that they are weak. It's a dangerous thing to ask for, but it's one of the biggest blessings that one could ask for as well.
Thank you for the letters, emails and pictures from everyone!!
--
Hermana Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
Unfortunately, I'm not there yet. But I guess that's probably a good thing.
It's entertaining to see how the Lord reminds you every once in a while how weak you really are, and how you can't do anything without him. This week has been full of miracles and experiences that have reminded me just how little I really am.
Sometimes there are days (there have been a lot more of them recently than there used to be, which is cool) where I feel like Spanish is my best friend and I am practically a native. A guera native, but a native nonetheless. And then there are other days where I am just a guera. And super can't speak Spanish. I had one of those days this week, but it was interesting how the Lord decided to use it as a learning experience, rather than just a humbling one (because it was definitely that too.)
On Tuesday we got caught up in a mix up between one of the wards that we cover for Spanish and the elders that actually cover that ward. After deliberating for a while, it was decided that we would go out and smooth some feathers and try to fix the major miscommunication that happened. We had been painting for about 3 hours as service that day, and then we had to book it on the bikes to get over to the lesson on time. The lesson went really well and we did what we could to fix the situation and then we headed to our next appointment just a couple houses over. She wasn't able to meet with us but we found Jose outside of his house and tried to OYM him. I say tried because my Spanish had magically disappeared. I completely and totally butchered all of the things that I tried to say, I explained our purpose wrong, I introduced us wrong until the point where I was about ready to call it good, give him a pamphlet and ride off. Then Samuel, the investigator next door came out, offered us seats and pretty much told us we were going to have a lesson now with him and Jose (his uncle). So we sat down and began teaching. Throughout the entire lesson, my Spanish was trash. I kept getting frustrated that I was butchering it so badly and by the end really just wanted to leave and save myself from the rejection I knew that was going to happen. But surprisingly, they both had been touched by the Spirit, and when we asked if we could come back, they agreed. I was a little bit taken aback but we didn't have time to appreciate the moment because we had to race across town.
Note about the bikes. I have a stubborn streak in me. And due to that streak, sometimes I tend to "run (or bike) faster that I have strength" and I also tend to expect my companion to keep up with me. Neither of us are in that good of shape and by the time we arrived at dinner, we could hardly move we were hurting so bad. That night, I apologized to Hna Linsday and told her, "Hey you have to remind me that we're weak so I don't kill us on the bikes!"
The biggest thing I have come up against on my mission is my weakness. After dinner, we had another lesson that went along the same lines as the earlier one. My Spanish was all over the place and we struggled to get through even a part of the lesson. But at the end, he told us that he enjoyed meeting with us because of the Spirit that he felt during the lesson.
I thought about that the rest of the night. It's like the scriptures tell us, we are only instruments, the Lord allows us to participate in this work when He could do it all on His own. He uses the weak and the simple to proclaim His word and do His work so that we can learn that without Him, we are nothing, so that we can learn to rely on Him in everything that we do.
The next day, my Spanish came back and this week has been AWESOME. We have been blessed to find so many new people and teach with the powerful Spirit of the Lord.
I invite all those that read this to pray to the Lord to remind them that they are weak. It's a dangerous thing to ask for, but it's one of the biggest blessings that one could ask for as well.
Thank you for the letters, emails and pictures from everyone!!
--
Hermana Baird
Washington Yakima Mission
We found a black widow in the Primary room. The elders sucked it up with the vacuum.... Because elders.
We were doing the family history training when suddenly, I recognized the temple! But I wasn't sure...
Is that..??
IT IS!!!!!! :DDDDDD
In the bottom left corner you can see a bit of smoke where another one
of the fires has recently started. Since we tend to work on the southern
part of the valley, we aren't terribly affected but depending on the
day, there's a lot of smoke and everything smells like campfire.
*Leavenworth Fires/HorseLake Fires*
Wenatchee lookin like a little piece of heaven ^.^
Giant pears!! We get a lot of super awesome fruit from super awesome people :)
Happy Pday! (since we never take pictures any other day and we only take them today because oops)
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