Transfersss (July 24, 2017)

New Zone Leader Elder Ence, he came out with me!!

Due to the fact that Hna Long is incredibly awkward around elders, they had their arms around each other and shes standing in front of them to complete the awkwardness of everything.

Found some pollywogs

​I was trying to not throw up when she poured them into my hands. #thethingsyoudoforpictures
 

Hna Hurst! #waitingforourwardmissionleader

​Out on the rancho, a little batdog. there were like 7 of them :)

Corn Stands and Reno, Nevada (July 17, 2017)

Fun things happened this week!

Adriana and Norma got baptized this week! We met with them everyday for the last week and Norma, this last Friday said "I don't want to talk about Jesus anymore. Can I just take a break from Jesus for one day?" as she collapsed on the couch. So close kiddo.

Transfers destroyed our zone. Four missionaries are going home, there are 5 new missionaries coming in, districts were combined, areas were combined and half of the zone is changing. The most interesting one was my companionship. Hna Long is getting transferred to WHITE SALMON!!!! And I'm greenie busting for my last little stretch. It certainly will be interesting to see what happens here in these coming weeks.

There's this corn stand that set up next to the gas station. So we're walking to an appointment and the guy at the corn stand waves us over. We circle back after and end up talking to him for like 2 hours about the gospel and asking him question after question.
Round 2, we return and end up taking a call for him on FaceTime with a guy from Reno, Nevada and expound the Book of Mormon for about an hour.
The biggest thing that catches them up is Galatians 1:8 - if it is any other gospel, even from an angel it shall be condemned. But the hole in their argument is the question:

"Well then how do you define the gospel?"

Depending on who you're talking to it could mean lots of different things.
Baptism as a baby for Adam's sins?
Baptism as an adult for the remission of your sins?
Baptism by immersion or a sprinkling?
Can anyone do it or is there an authority that has to be there?
Do you get it from a school or a priest?
Can't I get a certificate online?
How many years of schooling do I need?
Isn't baptism really just a show of faith?
Do we receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands?
Or do we just accept it whenever?
What does it mean to be baptized by fire?
Is the priesthood a thing?
Who can have it?
How do you get it?
There are prophets again.
No, a Pope.
there are lots of false prophets.
God has reached out to other countries and we have another testament.
Did you hear about the scrolls and other scriptures found in the Vatican?
Nope, there's just a Bible.
Nope actually, it's just the first 5 books.
You return to God when you die.
You go to sleep when you die?
You just kind of poof when you die.
We came from evolution!
The Big Bang theory.
Adam and Eve.
Aliens.

Alright now I'm being a little silly. And I could honestly go on for hours. But do you see the problem? Some of these are easily argued, others are the reasons there are so many churches today. And so when I am confronted with this scripture I simply think, "So you do believe there is one true church. So where is it?"
"Oh no, all of them are good."
"And yet we don't teach the correct gospel? Who does then?"

Y'all catching my drift?
God is All-Powerful. He can do anything He'd like. He also is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
So where are the prophets?
Where are the Apostles?
Where is the Priesthood?
Where is the laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost as defined in Acts 8?
Why wouldn't He talk to other countries and peoples and manifest His power and gospel to them?

The Gospel in the Bible is laid out as
Faith
Repentance
Baptism by Immersion
Gift of the Holy Ghost
Enduring to the End

Scripture after scripture teaches us this.
Isaiah 55:9 teaches "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
So it's safe to assume then that our understanding does not limit God in the slightest.

I know that this is true. My testimony has really been put through the wringer these last three weeks with person after person arguing that I'm teaching the wrong gospel. But as I've turned to the Bible and the Book of Mormon, I can say without a doubt in my mind that there is one true gospel, the same gospel that Christ taught when He was on the earth. Logically, and spiritually it boils down to one. And it is each of our job to figure out which one that is. 

To save you time, I would refer you to the Mormon Missionaries. 

Start there. :)

Love you all!

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

Fotos (July 17, 2017)

Chicks and Hens - still don't have dirt for them

 Shelter and kittens!!

normal district (kind of)

Awkward district foto

​Norma and Adriana got baptized! I promise she isn't as scared as she looks X)

Can we just appreciate her scared face?

​Slightly less scared now.

​Transfer calls where literally everything got blown apart

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

I ran over a Mailbox. . . (July 10, 2017)

Da week.

Monday we were Mexican to celebrate America. Correctly.

Tuesday we did lots of service with moving rocks, dropped a bucket on my knee (see bruises), chased off a drunk Mexican as I translated car spanish because life in trailer parks are never normal. Apartment checks that night and then we went to sleep at like 9. It was glorious.

Wednesday we picked a protein bucket full of rasberries, brought some flowers to Ruth, went to Singing service, went tracting, met a Finnish man, woke up a cop, poorly handled 2 door approaches back to back concerning passed on husbands, tracted in 102 degrees, called some members to repentance (lovingly), taught Kadyn (our almost on-date that will might actually be our baptism or California's, not sure yet - all he knows is that he wants to get baptized ASAP!!), got some fresh Ranier cherries, and contacted an INCREDIBLE referral from Columbia.

Thursday Hna Long got sick. So I studied and updated the area book for about 4 hours. Then we went on mini-exchanges so that we could go to a lesson with the referral from last night, we knocked for a minute, ate dinner, our toilet broke AGAIN, had an AWESOME lesson with Adriana, Norma and the Dominguez where Adriana put herself on-date for Saturday the 15th!!! and then a wonderful lesson with Brother Hochstatter :)

Friday we weekly planned, tracted for a while again in like 300 degrees, had a fun lesson with Miguel and his mom, had a lesson with Bunny where we learned about compassion, ate with the Dales and then had some awesome lessons with the McCombs, Kadyn and then a referral from Venezuela. I want to speak Spanish like them so bad.

Saturday I took out Elder Bergman in ultimate frisbee (Timo, remember that one time when you dove and did the flip thing? Similar except that I tripped him and he didn't catch the frisbee). We moved rocks again, visited Connie, had lunch, comp, idioma (first official ones in like literally a month #migraines) and talked about some rules, went way out to Mae Valley and used our dinner hour (that was empty - no food) to contact some people we haven't for a while, then stopped by a member and interrupted THEIR dinner to ask about my knee, got pizza and were rescued from tracting that night in the sketchy trailer park that we had the run in on Tuesday with and then had a lesson with Adriana and Norma. They are my favorite. They are the first family that I have taught since the beginning and they are so close!

Sunday I learned a lot, we weren't contacting productive but we did lots of good work for the ward. Trek just got over with and Sacrament meeting was all about their experiences. The Spirit was so strong. I wish I could have gone. We talked about the 13 Articles of Faith (memorize those if you don't know them), talked to the Primary kids about missions, coordinated about helping build the ward, translated sacrament meeting, learned about repentance (which is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately), stayed in Young Womens, had a 2 hour meeting where we went over every member in the branch and figured out if we knew them or not, grabbed a bite to eat and then went to the Cobbs (whose mail box I then ran over), had another lesson with Adriana and Norma who are so prepared and excited to be baptized. Please keep them in your prayers. Adriana is looking for a new job.

Love you!

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

Aun Mas!! (July 10, 2017)

It's getting toasty afuerita

 Kadyn - he's so close to getting baptized! And fun fact, he might actually be my last baptism as a  missionary because he might be moving back up here from California the 28th of August!! But we still have to see. Also, he's in 1st ward! Aka HE'S ENGLISH!

Also, my companion took a selfie as she is backing me...

​​and then I pulled an elder Bell. And done flattened our member's mailbox....

 They were pretty nice about it, but I was mostly just embarrassed.​

Norma - soon to be baptized with her mom​ on Saturday!!

Some Randoms (July 10, 2017)

Cleaning checks happened July 4th and we weren't quite ready when they finally showed up.​.. hence the backward skirt, and inside-out dress.

​Earlier that day I dropped a box of rocks on my knee. It's lookin pretty gnarly 

 Ward Mission Leader Kiddos

​​I'm really just excited that I can even kind of cook

Independence Day (July 10, 2017)

 

 

So Pday we decided to celebrate Independence Day with some home made Mexican food.
I think we spent about 2 hours "cooking" and by cooking I mean
slicing, dicing, rolling, mashing,  kneading and frying.

 Tortillas, avacados (future guacamole), pico de gallo

 

They weren't mashing right so I used my hands... I'm still learning.​

Fotos (July 3, 2017)

Sand dunes!

​shot a bow and arrow

exchanges part 1!

​trailer park pic

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

Fotos (June 26, 2017)

 ​Ward Mission Leaders little girls. SO CUTE

Trying to keep my hair from getting plastered in 98 degree weather.
 

Goose got adopted. So we decided to get Princess Monoke instead
​

Summary of week 2 of a migraine for Hna Long. We're both going a little bit insane.​

​We made tacoooooos! Us white girls are getting more professional at being Mexican. Fun fact. Everything you see on the table is homemade. I made the tortillas, we combined our efforts for the taco meat, Hna Long made the guacamole with fresh California avocados, and the horchata is kind of cheating because it was a powder but it still counts. Our next goal is to make REAL horchata. Best. Meal. EVER.
--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission

Fotos Part 2 (June 19, 2017)

  ​Yes I am most definitely driving and looking at a map at the same time. #exploring

​Candid. My companion is better at them than I am.

Fotos Part 1 (June 19, 2017)

 

1 kitten 2 kitten 3 kitten 4 kitten 5 kitten on my back and in my hair #ifyougiveanelderakitten

​this is Goose :) we gonna adopt him

 Mae Valley Rainbows :)

 

Quoting Shakespeare. Or just being Hna Baird *sigh*​
 

​Day 4 of Migraine for mi companera! Yay!
​

We stole a puppy since we couldn't adopt Goose​

Greenie Fire (June 19, 2017)

Mostly I just want to talk about how amazing missions are and how merciful God is. And I'll start by talking about some Milagros that happened this week.

Monday: Slime and FHE
After a typical P-day, we headed to a lesson at 5 which cancelled, ate dinner, went to a 6 o'clock who didn't show up and then contacted a couple of referrals.
The highlight of the night was having a FHE with a semi-active family who has two darling, but slightly stubborn teenage girls. After reading part of 1 Nephi 1, they taught us how to make slime and it was an awesome way to bond.

Tuesday: Puppies and Benadryl
We were enlisted to help at this Animal Shelter WAAAAY out on the Base. The service is literally walking/playing with dogs, puppies and kittens. We tried to figure out a way to pool our money and adopt a dog but unfortunately we just couldn't get it to work out. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to wait until I get home *cough cough*. An added bummer was the puppies made my arms break out in hives and so the 10th elders gave me some Benadryl and told me to take to. Forgetting that I was a lightweight and I don't usually take drugs anyway, the "they might make you drowsy" part of the drug knocked me out for an hour and for the rest of the night I could hardly walk straight. We went knocking and I can't say it was the most effective knocking hour I've ever had, being drugged out of my mind.
That night we stopped by the McCombs and got to follow up with their Book of Mormon reading. They were at the Dominguez when we had the intense lesson on the importance of reading the Book of Mormon and going to church and they have been doing it and loving it! They started talking all about how much they love what they are reading and all of the neat things that they are learning. The Book of Mormon I'm telling ya, it is they beyst.

Wednesday: Stalking Hispanics, Golden Children, and Migraines
Let me explain. Well, actually first we had Singing Service where my companion and I sang "Shine On" for the cute old people while we waited for the other missionaries to show up. They are so cute. When we sang it for the second group at the very end, one cute little woman tapped her foot and waved her arms around. Music and old people :) Lo mejor.
Later that day we ended up with a weird 30 minute chunk before dinner and so we said a prayer. Two days ago we had been driving around and saw this ONE Spanish house. When we prayed I was like "We gotta go find them." So we go. White person, white people and suddenly HISPANOOOOO. This darling girl answers and it turns out that she had just done a school project about the three kingdoms of glory! We run and get her a Book of Mormon and talk to her about 2 Nephi 2 and Adam and Eve and she got so excited! And then the dad shut it down. He did say that we could come back next week to check and so we've been praying really hard that she can soften his heart.
The stalking Hispanic part.. so they're kind of hard to find. So when we think we see them, we'll circle around and scrutinize the house. It was totally Hispanic. Wa-pachaw.
Lastly, Hna Long began to get a migraine today.

Thursday: An Answer to Prayers
Long story short, I was struggling a mite bit and got a blessing. Then I said a very intense prayer asking for some guidance and some light. I didn't really feel like I got an answer but I decided to put all my faith in Him and just go for it. That night we saw a couple of miracles, we found Kadyn and James (new investigator and recent convert), and then we went and visited Nancy.
We read 2 Nephi 2 with her to teach the Plan of Salvation because she loves the Book of Mormon. As we read, I expounded the scriptures and we went through cross-references and she was marking it up the whole time. As I taught, however, I felt like I was going to cry. I felt the veracity of the things that I was explaining. It was an answer to the prayer that I had offered earlier that day. The Lord is so incredibly merciful.
That night we also contacted two tourists from Tijuana and talked to them about the temple out there. :)

Friday: Baptisms and Girls Camp!
We had interviews, planning, and then a lesson with Kadyn where he agreed to be baptized the 1st of July and his brother is going to baptize him!
I scrubbed a toilet bowl with a pumice stone for 30 minutes and became a plumber as well.
Jason was a man we knocked into that was listening to some Johnny Cash and let us talk to him a bit. I had another moment where I realized how weird missionary work is, talking to a man that was drinking heavily and testifying that God knew of him and wanted to be a part of his life. Missionary work man.
That night we went to check on an investigator who is going to girls camp and invited her neighbor. In a crazy whirl of miracles, both girls are squared away to head off to camp on Tuesday!

Saturday: Birthday Service and Translating
I found my Bible! I couldn't even go a week without it. #missionlife. I literally felt as though I had lost all motivation to study without it. I read it for like an hour that night. Life is weird.
Got to be angels for someone. I saw a car outside of a house that we had been trying to contact for forever! We knocked and although he wasn't there, his mom was and we were able to help her set up for a birthday party and alleviate some of her stress. And then we got some really yummy food from them :)
That night I translated for 2 hours the adult session of Stake Conference. I've decided one day I will do that for a job. Not a full-time one. But an experiential one. It hurts my brain.

Sunday: Just Like They Used To Be
In Wenatchee, Sunday's were the days where everything else that had been worked for throughout the week paid off. And holy cow, did it ever this week.
It started with Stake Conference. Ana and Imelda walked in a bit late but they walked in and were there!
After a lesson fell through I felt like we should go try someone that we had been, again, trying again forever to contact them and find her uncle. After a small discussion he ends up asking if he could have a pamphlet and where the church is so that he could go.
We visit a sick sister and meet her son where we learn lots of mission wisdom.
We have an awesome lesson and dinner with the stake president and kick them into missionary gear.
Again, after praying and asking for direction we go knock.
Two favorite ones (because there were many) was Miguel - party house and one man said "I don't have a name. If you don't drink, the conversation is over" He then offered us coconut soaked in alcohol. Miguel invited us back though.
That night we were driving down the street and saw two people. "Hey I think that's Jorge!" parks, gets out of car, companion is super embarrassed, approaches them. It totally is! We walk with them up to their apartment and I talk to his friend all about the temple and how the gospel is such a blessing to us and helps us through hard times at 9pm. It was awesome.

The Lord is so merciful. He wants us to learn and become something more. He gives us trials to perfect us and teach us that we can't do it without Him. I love you all!

--
Sister Jaycie Baird
Washington Yakima Mission