This Week Went By So Fast I Don't Remember What Happened!!!

This is water that went through 2 coats and a sweatshirt!!!

Well family!!

I am glad you liked Elder Cook's talk!! It is so great!!! I am sooo lucky to work with my mission president. He is truly amazing.   

Sounds like you're always up for another adventure. Dad or someone write me next week when Mom is gone hahaha. 

So everything here is good. Mom, I have to say that the boots  we bought in Cabelas are the best thing I brought on my mission. hahaha There is soooo much snow here. 3 days last week my companion and I did not have power. We did our studies in the dark with flashlights. Soooo crazy. Then on Friday we went out to work and it had rained and snowed and rained and then snowed again. It was like 4 feet of slush!!! It was ridiculous. My comp-her shoes soaked all the water way fast. Poor thing. She was freezing. But my boots lasted just fine!! They are sooo warm comfy and light so I can walk a long period of time without getting tired. hahaha I need to write that companion thanks hahaha. Then Friday we went to lunch with members and then we got a text from the assistants that said we should go in our apt for the day because it was sooo cold!!! yeah super crazy. So we went home around 5 and got to sleep. It was the best!!!! Sunday I gave a talk to the ward about faith and how as a ward we need to have faith and then we will see miracles. It was good but I didn't really feel like it was the best talk I have ever given.... hahaha Maybe because I didn't really prepare anything... That is my problem.  I just teach. I don't prepare... hahaha But it works every time.  Kinda cool hahaha Being a missionary is the best! But after church the members came up and told me "hermana cual quer cosa necesita diga me!!!" Yeah that was huge. The members are open and willing to work now. We can be instruments in the Lord's hands because we are willing. This week just flew by... I can't even remember what happened. We put 5 baptismal dates!! That was huge!! I just need to have the faith that we will have 5 baptism in 2 weeks. We are having the first baptism of the 5 this Saturday!! Super excited!! We are teaching the word of wisdom tonight sooo hopefully everything will go well. 

Hows Dallas?  Is he putting in his mission papers? Congratulations Karina!!! That is soooo awesome! Yes I know the boy! He is a genius!! Noooo but really. He got accepted into Harvard!! Wow how exciting! That is too bad you will miss Hannah's wedding. Is Shelly mad??? But Mom go enjoy your time in Virginia. Don't worry about the wedding. Hows Zack? Is Johnathan putting his papers in??? Tell the boys that Bethany said that missions are the MOST IMPORTANT thing to be doing with your life right now and if they disagree to email me. hahahaha Anyways, love you all. I will keep you in my prayers!!

Oh yeah and I am completing 9 months in the mission this week!!! Crazy!!! Only 9 more Fast Sundays!!! Ugh That makes me want to throw up!! It is going too fast. Anyways love you all. 

Hermana Bailey 

Nuevo Presidente!!!

Snow!!!!

Dear Family!!!! 

Wow, this week was incredible!!! So we went to Neuquen and the new mission president has so much animo (energy). He is just ready to work and change the mission. Soooo pretty much the conference was beautiful. The Spirit was so strong. The missionaries were so strong. Soooo pretty much you HAVE TO READ  Gene R Cook Liahona from 83 May. 

(https://www.lds.org/liahona/1983/04/faith-in-the-lord-jesus-christ?lang=eng) 

It is about this missionary who has 25 bautismos in 1 month in an area that did not have any success for years. This missionary goes in there and changes everything because of his faith.  He ended up having 18 baptisms. Then we were all talking about how awesome this missionary is and how we want to be like him. Then President gets quiet and says, "This missionary was me!!!" Oh my gosh we were all in awe!!! We stopped and no one said anything. Then a missionary yells "Thanks for your example President!" It was soooo powerful.  I was soooo happy to be a Hermana Lider this transfer so that I had the honor to be in the conference.  Then we planned our conference with the zone. My compnaion and I had to give a talk, and I talked about hunting and how it is kinda like missionary work hahahaha. It went all right but when the elders got up,  that was when the Spirit was really strong and every missionary had tons of animo. We put goals that we want to have happen in the next 4 weeks.  My companion and I put the goal of 5 baptisms before the end of this transfer 8 August. The whole zone was 136 baptisms!!!! Soooo crazy. The Spirit was so strong Mom!!! We cried and we just had soooooooooo much Spirit!!!  136 baptisms sounds impossible but you would not believe the miracles that we are seeing in the zone! We are going to see a huge miracle and have 136 baptisms. The thing we were faulta was energy and faith! Then we had interviews with the new president. They were so good. He is so laid back and his wife is a little more strict. The new president came and changed rules and we can can drink Coke! And we can play futbol with the members! 

So after all these meetings we finally got to go out and work with all our animo that we had. It was incredible!!!!! We started contacting and we were getting directions and then...!!!- Mom we saw this woman who had red hair!!! I hope you remember that I was looking for the lady with red hair that I pictured that day we were fasting for more success. I told my comp we have to talk to her. We talked to her and at first she was kinda closed then she started telling us that she came to Bariloche looking for something. She needs more peace in her life! Then my companion explained that we are missionaries and we share a message of peace. Then I looked at her and told her that the peace she was looking for is the gospe of Jesus Christ!! The Spirit was soooooo strong. Then she started to cry and then I told her that I had a dream with a woman with red hair that was looking the gospel.  It was sooooo crazy. Then my companion and I started to cry. We all hugged each other!!! What!!!!! So crazy. Here we are in what is supposed to be the hardest area in the mission and we found a lady who is soooo ready!!! We put a cita (meeting) with her and she ended up not being able to listen to us the next day... Yeah a little bummed but we are still in contact. Pray that we will be able to teach her! Because it was incredible!! This is my favorite story but we saw sooo many miracles.  I wish I could just call you and tell you all of them!! Then we went to a members home who usually doesn't want us to teach her family. She always says they aren't ready and we told her our miracles and then we told her that we felt the strong impression that her Mom was ready!! She said "I think so too Hermanas.  I can feel it is time for my family." So now we have a lesson with her Mom tomorrow!!! We were sooo happy! This is how you work with the members. Show them your animo and your hope and faith and then they believe it is time for their family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was soooo awesome! I just want every missionary to understand that it is the energy that we carry that draws people because then they can feel the Spirit!!!! Then yesterday we found a woman, took her to the church and she accepted a date for 8 Agosto to be baptised!!! What!!! So crazy. Yeah this area that is super hard just needs faith!!!!!!! I am so grateful for the new president! He seriously is giving so much animo to the missionaries! 

I do have a washer - the best thing ever Mom!!!!!!!  My companion and I are good.  I don't know I just miss Hermana Miller from Canada!  hahaha but other than that I am doing great! Thanks for the letter. You have a way of helping me feel good about my situation and that I am not missing out on what is going on at home. Thanks love you sooooo much. 

Serenity, have a happy birthday!! I can't believe Serenity will be 11!!! Ahhhh soooo old! And tell Grandma and Grandpa Bailey happy birthday for me too! I love you all and hope you know there is soooo much snow here. Awe it is crazy!!!

Today for p-day we are going on a hike in the snow!

Love you all 

Hermana Bailey

P.S. Hey and if you could send the letters from other missionaries in through dear elder it is so much easier. And hey I can recieve packages!!! Some peanut butter would be fun!!  Hey and what does it mean if your eye wont stop twitching!!! hahahah soooo annoying

Miracles!!!

This is in my apt. It is like a little cabin. I live in the moutains;)

Well family, 

Happy late 4th of July!  My companion and I wore red white and blue and were so happy to celebrate our country even though they just accepted that gays can get married.... Ugh I am very disappointed with the people of America.  I was reading in Moses when Eve took of the forbidden fruit and it talks about how God knew all along that Eve would do that and it was NECESSARY.  And I came to the conclusion that gays in America is not a surprise to Gods' plan and that he is just making it so the 2nd coming will come sooner.  So family, stay on the straight and narrow path. Remember that we have soo much progression to do. Even if you think you are holding onto the rod. One thing I am learning as a missionary is that we can always improve and hold on to the rod even tighter!!! hahaha I don't know if that makes sense.

So on the  4th of July, Argentina and Chile played football against each other and Chile won... ugh Then my companion and I realized that some of Chile's colors are red and blue which we were wearing.... ughhhh Yeah we ran to the pension because we didn't want to die... hahhaa I guess silly stuff happens when you have 2 tall blondes together. :) 

So Monday last week I was soooo down with this area... And after p-day we went to this lesson with an  investigator... (the old lady maria).  Yeah her grandson who is 16 lives with her and never wants to listen to us. We started to talk to him and he is taking the lessons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And has a baptismal date for 1 agosto!! I am and was soooo happy. I learned to stop being selfish because this is God's work and He will give us the people He is preparing in His time!! hahahaha but I am soooo happy that we finally have another investigator. It is easy to be grateful and happy when things are going good so I am trying to always be positive and see the Lord's reasoning even in hard times. 

Hey is Kennedi home??? I have not gotten any of her letters. Mckinzie comes home soon, no?? So crazy.  Cameron Smith comes home this month. And Spencer (orange slug bug guy) came home I think. Everyone is coming home!! So crazy.

Thanks for your prayers.  I can feel the help everyday to be more positive and love every minute I have to be here in Argentina.  

I saw some of the pictures of Hannah! So pretty. That is so fun. So many weddings!!! 

Tonight I am going to Neuquen for a reunion with President and all the zone leaders and hermana lideres. I am super excited I get to be there for the 1st meeting with the new president! I will try and send a picture. 

Sorry I have not sent pictures of my apt. but look how fat I am getting!!!! hahahaha I really hope when I get home I am going to be able to lose this weight or I am going to have to buy all new clothes. hahaha

Love you all. Thanks for the email Brayden. Thanks for the talk Jimmy! I was looking for that talk because I had a copy of it from a member who was an ex-missionary and I couldn't find it. But you sent it just in time. (inspired!!!!) Dad, thanks for the advise. We have a service project this week and we will use those menos activos.  I love the idea! Mom thanks for the scripture!! Wow God is soooo in the details of our lives. That was exactly what I needed!!! I love you all so much. Hope you have a good summer! 

Hermana Bailey 

Crazy Week!!!

All the pictures in this post are older pictures taken in Bethany's last area and pulled from the mission's blog.

Everybody pray for my area. As of right now we have 1 investigator who is going to Buenos Aires on Friday which means we are contacting all day in the freezing cold!! Yeah kinda stinks.... Dad any ideas how we can find new investigators?!! Anything that the missionaries are doing with the members that helps?... hahaha Please just don't tell me to work with the members because I am trying and I don't know how. Tell me how to work with the members better.

My companion has lice!!! So yeah that means I probably will have it!!! Ugh pray for us to find a way to get rid of it. I didnt know my companion had it until today and we have been sharing clothes and eveything... So I probably will get it. 

This week I had my first exchange with the other Hermanas in the zone. It was really fun! I went to Bolson which is another way pretty area. Because I am a Hermana Lider I get to see pretty much all south of Argentina!! Lucky huh???  It is so pretty. I was with a Hermana that got in the mission with me. I didn't like to be her Hermana Lider because we have the same amount of time in the mission. But it was way fun to be with her for one day. 

Last week we fasted a ton!! We need to have some more success and Sunday I was discouraged because our investigator didn't want to come to church. But then we got to church and 57 members came which is pretty big!  And we had an  investigator who is an old lady come without us even doing anything. We want her to get baptized but it is just hard to know if we should spend a ton of time on her because she is really stubborn and she has been investigating the church for a really long time. So I don't know what to do.  I just keep thinking, in PMG it says to look for future leaders in the church.  But at the same time If someone is ready when they are 75 maybe we should focus on them... Ugh I am torn.  I don't know what to do. 

This last week I fasted for help and we went out contacting with a member who is putting her mission papers in right now. I loved to be around her positive energy and remember how I was when I was putting my papers in. That helped me to see the bigger picture. I was then reading in Alma 26 when Alma and Amulek were teaching. The people were really rude and they didn't have any success. They had patience in their afflictions that one soul might come to the knowledge of the gospel.

Another day my companion and I were fasting and we were talking to a member. She was telling us her conversion story and I just was so sad that I haven't been able to teach very much lately and that I was feeling like I wasn't doing my job here in Argentina. Then I had this image pop in my head- a woman with red curly hair getting baptized.  I thought it was a sign or something so I told my comp later and we decided that we would keep our eyes out for a redhead. Well the next day we found a red curl head!! We were sooo excited. We ran as fast as we could to catch her in another block without her knowing that we were trying to contact her... We ran up this huge hill. We were exhausted and we finally made it to the place and we offered her a tarjeta. She started yelling at us and telling us to go to our country and to leave Argentina!! Hahahah hahahah what the heck!! Me and my comp just looked at each other and laughed!!! So funny. It sounds awful but one thing I am learning to do is just laugh at the crazy things I am going through. 

 Sounds like Lake Powell was fun! What the?! Your lives are so crazy. Dad won a 4 wheeler?!! What the?!! hahahaha I love it! 

Miss you guys sooooooo much but I know that this church is true and I know that the gospel blesses my life and I can't be selfish and not share it so I am here trying my very best and doing whatever God wants me to do! Love you all sooooo much. Don't worry about me.

Hermana Bailey