March 28, 2011 Letter

March 28, 2011

Dear Mom,

I am so happy I have emails this week! I can't tell you how much hearing from you means to me. When I got on last week and only had a letter from Paul Dickamore, I was so sad (not that I don't love Pauls letters, because I do! They are awesome!! He is awesome for writing me! Thank you Paul!!!) But I missed hearing from you. I wanted to cry, but I was in the library so I was brave. And plus, I didnt want Sister Terry to think I was a freak. But I was so worried about y'all. I didn't know if something had happened. Of course, I thought y'all were dead. I tend to over-exaggerate...I think it must be a family trait. :)

Well this week was good. We had alot of return appointments and taught alot on the doorsteps. Sister Terry and I were so excited. Sunday rolled around and we were so close to hitting some of our goals. By 8:00 p.m., we needed one more lesson to hit our goal and we were just pulling into the Rice's house. We had a great lesson planned for them. We were going to read 2 Nephi 31-32. It talks about Baptism and how we must ask for ourselves. We were planning on resetting their baptismal date for April 17. Well right as we put our car in park, we got a text from Justin asking if we could reschedule. This is the 4th time he has done this. So we said yes and asked what day would be best, and he said they weren't sure because they were so busy. We, of course, asked if we could plan on next Sunday and he said no because they are so busy, so he would let us know. They dropped us mom! I was so sad. We just sat in that car and were like, "What just happened?" I thought they were so solid, and I think Justin is so solid. He is an awesome kid, he just won't do anything without his mom. She is not so solid. She is so active in her other church. I am sad for them. I hate when people say no. I just want to tell them how dumb it is to say no! They are missing out on so many blessings! How can you say no to an eternal family? How can you say no to having the spirit with you always? How can you say no the the guidance of a living prophet? Sure our church has a harder path than most, but the blessings far out-weigh the hard stuff! As you can see, I'm still a little bumbed. Lame. Thats what I think. I think its lame.

Ok, Lauren is Crazy!! I am praying for her like crazy though. She is so amazing and so cute. I bet she will be awesome! Will you tell the crazy girl to just make up her mind already! Goodness, that child. She bounces around so much! I am tired thinking about it. I love her though, and I know that she will be the cutest cheerleader in the world! How does dad feel about working with her?

So y'all are going to Mexico huh? Sister Terry and I were actually contemplating the same thing last night. We were going to pack up our stuff in the car and head on down. As long as we answer the phone at night no one will know because we dont have meetings this week. So maybe we can see each other, huh? That would be neat! Luckily, the month ends this week as well, so we get a refresh on our miles 1250 oughta do it right? Ok, I will stay here. I dont want to get Heavenly Father mad at me. That always scares me.

I heard that there is a new broadway play that is sweeping the nation. Its called, The Book of Momon. Its about two 18 year-old missionaries in Africa. I heard it's, "wildly inappropriate." That sounds just like how I would picture a musical about our church! Thats certainly how I describe Saturday's Warrior. Which is awesome! We rock out to it all the time! Sister Terry doesn't sing it quite as well as Dad does, but what can you do?

Well keep us in your prayers because we sure need it! We have one investigator currently. She is skipping out on conference this weekend to go to a baptist retreat...pretty solid huh? Ok, she is solid except for that. I promise I am positive. I love it here in Texas. We hit 92 degrees on Saturday, and then 52 on Sunday. It was crazy we were sweating like crazy one day, and layering the sweaters the next. Texas is a strange place......

Well I love you TOOOOOOOOO much momma! I miss you like crazy. Yesterday in church I saw this kid leaning on his moms shoulder and she gave him a big hug and it made me miss you so much. Sure the kid was young and all, but it just made me really miss my mom hugs. Sister Terry and I talk about how that is the hardest part. Coming out here when everyone said it was hard, I thought they meant the rejection or the long days, the constant fatigue, or the lack of investigators, knocking on a billion doors and having people laugh at you, but no, none of that is hard. I don't mind any of it. The hard part is not seeing our talking to your family. You feel so lonely. Sometimes it hurts. And then I started thinking about Christ in Gethsemane. He felt all of our pains and sorrows. So if my pain is that intense and other missionaries feel that way too, He felt all of that. How awful! I cannot even imagine it. I love my Savior so much. What He did for me and for all of us is uncomprehendable. How he did it, I don't know. I feel so unworthy of it everytime I think about it. I am so grateful though. He is with me. I know it. I am grateful for my mission just because it has allowed me to get to know Him more.

I love you mommy!!!

Loves, hugs, and kisses,

Sister Bailey

Pictures of our favorite sister missionary!

Finally some pictures! She looks so beautiful and so happy. :) Missionary pictures (in my opinion) never fully capture a missionary's life. They show the fun times, the goofy times, but the spiritual times of a mission and the lessons can never be captured. One time on my mission we had a funny experience praying with a 90-year old Catholic Priest, holding hands in the middle of a busy street. It was a little weird, and I can just imagine what people were thinking as they passed by, seeing the two religions praying together in a crowded area. I wanted to have one of those "out-of-body" experiences where you could see us holding hands and praying together and my face trying to hold back laughter thinking about it! My trainer said, "Those memories are scrapbooked by Heavenly Mother." :) She was joking, but in a big way, I hope she is right. I know that we will have a "perfect remembrance" of our life on the other side, but I hope it comes with a picturebook. :) Think of all the other missionary moments Kiley is having that she would kill to have a picture of! Lessons, investigators crying when the feel the spirit, someone finally understanding that there is more, her investigator last week asking if she can have Kiley's Book of Mormon. All of these would be PRICELESS pictures and I hope Heavenly Mother is busy snapping those moments for us :)

Isn't this a gorgeous picture?! Fields as far as you can see?... oh, and the cute sister missionaries in it too. ;)

Texas Roadhouse anyone? ;)

She looks so happy! And beautiful, of course! This is her trainer, Sister Terry.

I wish I were somewhere where I needed ice-cream to cool off! I'm so tired of cold Utah weather! Isn't she funny?! I just love this girl. :)

In honor of Grandma Connie :)

Gotta love the cool "Waco" sign in the back :)

Kiley's Address

Thought I would let you all know Kiley's address in Waco:

Sister Kiley Bailey
1700 Breezy Dr. Apartment # 298
Waco, TX 76712

She would love letters and/or packages! All missionaries do! :)

March 21, 2011 Letter

I guess something happened with the church email system for a few days because Kiley didn't get any of our letters, even though there were quite a few of us who wrote her. I guess Linda said that a few of her friends' missionaries didn't get their letters either. Weird...? I can tell she is a good missionary by the spirit I feel just by reading her letters. :) I love it when she shares stories like the ones in this email. :)

March 21, 2011

Dear Momma,

I guess we must have come early today or something because there is no letter from you or anyone really. I hope something bad didn't happen. Are you all ok? That is a little worrisome. You are usually so good about doing it the day before. I understand your life is busy though. I just missed hearing from you.

Life here is good. We are still working hard and trying to find more people. This past week felt a little long. It is weird how time works here because it feels like forever, but it also goes super fast. I dont know how to explain it or how it works. We met some crazy people this past week. We knocked on their door and they were like, "Oh, y'all are Mormons. You believe in John Smith who translated that book out of a top hat right?" We laughed and were like, "Not exactly..." They started asking all these questions and were really interested. There was a guy and a girl, and me and Sister Terry ended up teaching them both seperatly. It was crazy! They just fired away questions so we had to divide and conquer. She was really neat and super interested. At the end she looked at me and was like, "Can I have that Book of Momon?" I said, "Yes, of course!" I never have people ask for them! It was a neat experience. We will go back by this week and see what happens. Who knows, maybe they are future members! Justin and his mom keep punching on us, but we are planning to go by tomorrow night. Hopefully they will keep this appointment. You never know with them.

The zone leaders called me this morning and asked me to write a paragraph about a success story we had with How to Begin Teaching. I was stressed out a little bit trying to get it to work. I will paste here what I wrote. Hopefully it was ok because I already sent it, so don't tell me if its super bad! Ok here it is:

We all encounter the "Texas Talker". Down here in Hewitt we run into them alot. One of these "Texas Talkers" is named Cyrinthia Rice. Missionaries have been teaching her son Justin for the past 5 months or so. Sister Rice really likes the message we share and the standards that our church has, but she has never really sat down and been very active in our discussions. She does, however, love to talk. It would seem that whenver we start to get the spirit going really strong in our lessons, Sister Rice comes in with some "interesting" story and wham the spirit is gone. She continues to talk and no matter how hard we try, we can never fully get the spirt back. So when she told us that she would really like to sit down and learn more, we were excited and nervous. We had no idea how to keep her on topic and keep the spirit strong throughout the lesson. When the night came for our lesson, we felt prepared, but we weren't sure if we would be able to share what we had prepared. As we sat down with Sister Rice, our fears were starting to become realities. She was already telling her stories, talking about her "baby" Justin, her hectic work schedule, and the struggles of raising her youngest son, Jordan. Everything and anything. We listened for a bit and then kinda stopped her and started using points from How to Begin Teaching. It was amazing what happened. You could see her mindset sort of shift. She focused in on what we were saying and forgot about all her stories. She still had a few comments here and there throughout the lesson, but there was never a struggle to get her back on subject. She understood the whole lesson and really loved it. We left her house that night with the spirit so strong. What we thought was going to be the hardest lesson ended up being one of the best lessons we have had. It doesn't just end there though, every lesson we have had with her since has gone more smoothly. She now understands what we are there to do and what we expect of her.

Hopefully it's ok. You know how I stress about writing things. I dont like other people to read it unless I feel like it's amazing. I never feel like anything is amazing though. Haha, I'm a writing perfectionist. Your lucky I don't erase and rewrite these emails a thousand times!

We taught Alita again this week. She still hasn't talked to her mom and dad. I dont know what to do about her. I want to smack her upside the head. Oh, here is a funny story: Yesterday we stopped by this white card and the lady had really massacred her bushes...like worse then Dad's totem pole!! They didnt answer the door and as we are walking away, I was looking at those bushes thinking not so nice things, and next thing I know I am on the ground! Hahaha, it was so funny! I hadn't realized that the sidewalk was steps and not straight. So I missed the step and fell hard! It hurt my foot a little bit, but its ok I promise. It was instant Karma!! Sister Terry and I were laughing so hard the rest of the day. It put a hole in my tights and I was a little upset about that. Oh well! It was still super funny...have I said that enough?

Well I love you too much mom and hope your week is good! I miss you lots!

Loves loves hugs kisses,

Sister Bailey

Transfer One Completed!

We are so glad she got to stay in her area with her trainer. They seem to be good for each other. 1 transfer down, 11 more to go!

March 14, 2011

Dear Wonderful, Beautiful, and Best Mom EVER!!!

I am good. The transfer is over this week and I am in shock. It went by so fast! I am seriously blown away! It is interesting how that happens. Me and Sister Terry are staying here in Hewitt. We are both excited. It is kind of crazy-- only one Sister moved and that is because she is killing her companion and training a new sister! Yay for new sister!! The area she was in has a hard time with sisters due to some very disobedient sisters that were there before. So they finally closed the area to us and I dont know if they sent elders in or just left it? Sad for the sisters. It always makes me sad to hear of disobedient sisters. I just wonder why on earth are they out here? They made the choice to do it, so they should be able to follow the rules! Oh well....We have 2 sisters now who will be in their areas for 9 months!! That is insane! Half of your mission in one area! That also blows my mind. Crazy stuff mom...crazy stuff!

Hewitt is a little slow but it is a new area. I realized the other day that I am the 4th missionary to serve in this area. So we lack some of the resources that the other areas have. Such as formers, and white cards. All of the formers are the ones that personally told me and Sister Terry not to come back! Ha ha, so that makes it a little tough. We are trying to think of new ideas to find people. We really want to start involving the ward. Get them super excited about missionary work! The best people to teach are the people who have a connection with the Church already.There is so much anti down here that if they dont have a support system already when the anti comes, they say "see ya" to us. Anti...it makes me so mad!!!!! Right now we have 3 investigators...and well that is 3 more than 0 so I am happy about that! Ask Dave, McKay, JaRelle, and Dad and Eric ways that they found people to teach. What was most effective for them? We need ideas! We are open to anything. We even thought about buying some ukuleles and learning to play them, making up a song about the restorartion and modern prophets and standing on the corner singing it! Do you think that sounds good....Yeah it might not be legal.

Bryce is doing super good. It was fun to hear from him! I wrote him back on Monday and I was so excited! I loved hearing from him. He sounds happy and he loves Brazil and the people. Not so much the constant beans and rice...haha. Did you ever find Jake's address? If not, that is ok. He will find out in a few months! Haha! I hope he doesn't get mad at me! I am sad I won't be able to see them for another year after they get home, but it is worth it. I will just pray they don't get married!!

Well I love hearing from you! I love to hear the stories about what is going on in the family. I miss y'all but I am happy here. And hey, if I can make it through one transfer, I can make it through 11 more! I am starting to realize how fast it is going to go and it kinda makes me nervous. That is ok though. I love, love, love Texas. I love being a missionary. I think being a missionary turns all the things you hated before and makes them into something you love or at least can stand... like waking up early. I hated that so much before, now I can carry on a conversation with Sister Terry. I mean I don't love it, but I don't mind it too much anymore. Mondays...who likes Mondays? Missionaries do because its P-day!! Plucking my eyebrows...I hate it, but I have to do it so I look pretty always, so I dont mind doing it. Cleaning the car and apartment...I can't stand it when they are dirty! There is such a different feeling when your car and apartment are clean I love it! EFY music...come on it was lame before you got out here, now its like the awesomest music in the world! (PS, if you ever find Saturdays Warrior, me and Sister Terry would love you for life if you sent it to us...:) I guess I already love you for life and eternity so...That doesn't work!

Well I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Loves, hugs, and kisses,

Sister Bailey

March 8, 2011

Sorry I am posting this so late! I actually didn't get it until last Friday, then I had some decisions to make as to whether or not I was going to post the whole letter or not. I hope you are not starting to feel betrayed, I have never left anything out before, but this letter got a little personal and told about a personal hardship of hers. Momma Linda told me to think about it and decide whether or not we should post it. After thinking about it for a few days, I decided to post the whole thing.

A mission is about learning, growing, and becoming closer to our Heavenly Father. You can see this in her letter. Missions are not all glamour and fun. They aren't just happy endings and baptisms. I am so proud of Kiley and all that she has overcome already. This letter ends her first transfer and reveals something she didn't tell us at first. But as you read it, listen to the last half of the paragraph and the great hope and determination she has already. She reminds us that we have to work to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. That He is there to help us when we seek Him. I don't have the letter she wrote to Dad this week, but it was beautiful. :) It talked about how Mom and Dad have seen this great potential in her and how her Heavenly Father does too. But she didn't see that in herself and not until now is she realizing that. Her full potential is in her reach and she just has to believe in herself and put her trust in Heavenly Father. She is such an amazing girl, growing and learning so much about herself and this beautiful gospel. Her relationship with Heavenly Father has grown so much already and I cannot wait to see what the rest of her mission holds for her. She is so inspirational to me and her letters encourage me to increase my faith in Him.

March 8, 2011

Dear Beautiful Amazing Best Mother in the World,

Well another week has gone by! I cannot believe it is already Monday! We get transfer calls on Saturday and transfers next Wednesday. I really hope I stay here! I love Waco; it is so great. We will see! I am excited to get my letter from Bryce! I will write him back next Wednesday! I feel sad for not being a better writer to them because now I realize how great getting mail is! It is the best. McKay sent me an email with a picture attached to it of him in the Fort Worth airport. That is crazy he was there! I wish I could have seen him, but that would have made me too sad! I miss him and the rest of y'all too much! I love hearing your stories and about your week. They might sound boring or just normal to you, but to me they are the best. I love knowing that things are going good around the house that everyone is still alive. How is David doing? I keep him in my prayers. I keep everyone in my prayers! Tell Lauren that Davis is great and that she will love it! She needs to quit stressing and just go! I loved my years at Davis. I had so much fun every year! I would not have wanted to go to any other high school. You need to quit changing the house so much or I won't know what house is ours when I get home!

I really can't believe that I survived a whole transfer! I know it doesn't sound like much, but I remember my first day or second day here I looked at this Calendar we had hanging up and I realized how much time we had til one transfer was over. I looked at the calendar and then I looked at our family picture and I just started crying. I thought to myself, "How on earth can I make it 18 months? I dont think I can make it another day!" I sat there and cried and cried and cried. During companion study we prayed and then I burst into tears again and Sister Terry spent the companion study trying to comfort me. I really didn't think I could make it. I just wanted to come home. It was hard. I did get a blessing and that helped alot. Then I went to work. We erased that big calendar so I didn't have to look at all the days, and I started taking it one day at a time. Now I finished that transfer. I am here at the day I thought looked so far away at the beginning! I think that is how the rest of it will go! I just really have to focus on taking it one day at a time, because if I start looking too crazy into the future I get a little stressed! But I know I can make it. The thing I have learned so much out here is what a relationship with the Lord is really like. I thought I had a great relationship with Him at home. I look back on it now and realize that I really didn't. He really is our Heavenly Father. There are nights when I have to get on my knees and plead with Him to help me either with homesickness or fear or anything. And the crazy thing is I can feel comfort almost immediately! I know that sometimes we have to wait for our answers, but I swear when we need comfort and we believe He will give it, He will. I know that for a fact. He loves us so much. He wants to be there for us, but He can't if we dont let Him. We need to do our part to develop that relationship with Him. He knows us. He knows us better than we know oursleves. So it's not him that builds a wall between us, it is us. We need to take the time out of our constantly busy lives to get to know Him. He will help us through anything if we ask and put our trust in Him.

We had a great week. We set a baptism date with Justin and his Mom on Wednesday. They are getting baptized on the 13th. We are so excited! I cannot wait!! It was the best feeling in the whole wide world. No feeling on earth can top that feeling. Well maybe when I see them actually get baptized! Sister Terry is still great. We have a lot of fun together. I really enjoy her. I am going on my first exchange tonight! I am nervous! It will be fun though and great to learn some things from another Sister!

Well I love you too much mom. You are an amazing example to me of all that is good. I want to be just like you! I miss you so much! But it's ok because I am where I should be. Missions are the most amazing thing in the world. They are hard and they are crazy but they are amazing! I love you!!!

Loves Loves hugs kisses,

Sister Bailey

P.S. I hope that letter wasn't too lame! If it was, say so in the next letter and I will be better I promise.