Ahhhhh I Am Training!!!!!!!!!!

Well I was hoping that after this transfer I would receive a comp that had lots of time in the mission that could help me strengthen the ward... But I guess God has a different plan.  Saturday we had transfers. And I am going to be TRAINING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooot Wooot I am sooooooo excited and super nervous. I sure hope it is a Latina. Hahaha my two weeks with the mini missionary were great and I am going to miss her.  She told me that I don't need to be nervous to train because I trained her! Oh cute huh?!  Hahaha but I am still a little nervous. I was talking to the Assistant to the President and he said that they were working with President to try and find who should be my companion and they all looked and just couldn't find anyone that seemed good to be my companion and they knew that I needed to train. hahahahah Crazy huh?
 
This week was good.  But Ugh we had a dedication of a temple in Cordoba and all the missionaries could go.  I was so excited and our 2 investigators that were recently baptized had a recommendation to go and we were all so excited.  But our new members couldn't go until the last session at 3. So we waited for the bus at 1:30 but it came late and we got to the stake center at 3 exactly and they closed the doors on us and they didn't let us in... I was sooooooooo sad and soooooo mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ugh I just wanted to throw up. It was my responsibility to get everyone there and we didn't make it.  I thought of the story of the 10 virgins and how 5 didn't get to go to the party. Ugh and I was one of the 5 that didn't get to go to the party. ..... It was a horrible feeling. I can just imagine what a horrible feeling it would be in the last day when we can't go to the Celestial kingdom because we didn't live to the best we knew.... uhhhh what a horrible thought.  After that experience I am more determined to live and work my very best so that I can live with my Father in Heaven again.  I would hate to have the doors close and not have the opportunity. Just a thought for all of you. This life is sooo short. Give it your all so that you don't have regrets in the end.

Anyways I love you all.  I will let you know next week how my first week of training goes. I will be in the area of the Hermana Leaders and then I go to the mission home to receive a little training to train my newbie!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How awesome. I get to have a reunion with President right before he leaves and we receive a new President.

I loved the pictures. Brittani has a way cute baby!!!! Serenity, you look gorgeous. Hope, what are all those stuffed animals for?  Have a good summer break. This weekend was so warm! Ahhh sooo fun to finally not be cold hahahah I hate winter. You lucky ducks are in summer right now.

Big hug and a kiss and lots of prayers.

Hermana Bailey

Reply to Mom's letter (and info from Skype call)

I had 2 baptisms in the last 2 weeks. So great. I loved it. The cute couple got baptized and they have a cute little girl. I love them sooo much. 

Oh yesterday in church.... you would not believe what happened.  We were in Sunday School and our investigator started yelling at a less active.  They both left the church early and don't want to come back to church so bad... Ugh-- SO sad too because they were going to get baptized the next week!  So frustrating. But hey, God is aware and I can't control what happened so I am just trying to help them forgive and forget right now... So extra prayers might be nice.  

Thanks Mom! 

I learned so much form you and Dad on Skype. Wow you guys are awesome.  I have so much to learn and do before I am even close to what amazing people you are.   I am sooo grateful for the gospel in my life.  It just breaks my heart when people don't use this awesome gift that we have.  Anyway that is my little splurge. Thanks for your letter.  I love you all so much and I am going to use the members and give this ward the love that I can give. I hope you have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!!!  Yay

I just want you guys to know that I really love the mission sooooooo much and when I think about leaving my area to go to a different one, it just breaks my heart because I love the people here soooo much. Anyways love you all. 

Hermana Bailey 

The following is from Cindy, Bethany's mom:

Bethany was happy and funny on Skype.  It was so amazing to see her speaking Spanish to the people in the room and to hear them laugh with her.  She is so confident and joyful.  Lots of laughing going on!  She is a light wherever she goes.  

It was so funny to watch her try to speak English while she kept forgetting many of our words.  It made us all laugh. 

We miss her brightness and energy but we are so impressed with who she is. 

She wanted me to tell everyone not to be afraid that she won't have time to read letters.   She said she always has time for letters and loves them!  So send her letters.  

Wow!- What a Week (May 4th letter)

Okay so this week was the craziest week ever!!!!! 

My companion got sent home!!! So I had to spend the week with the Hermana Lideres (Sister Leaders) in a different city and I had to get 3 baptisms ready for this weekend!!! Ugh.  All without my companion!  I swear my companion could not have left at a worse time. But it all worked out. 2 of the 3 baptisms didn't happen yet.-... long story but hopefully it will happen this week. I can explain everything on skype on Mother's Day. 

But we had one baptism on Saturday. It was sooooooo great!!!! I was so happy and I felt the Spirit so strong. 

I have a mini missionary now. She is 18 and is from Zapala, Argentina. She is going to be in the mission for 2 weeks and no more.  Then I will get a new companion again. She just got in the mission today and so I feel bad spending time writing you guys cause she is just sittting here. So I will tell you everything over Skype.  Pray that I can do the work with a little newbie. It is like I am training right now and I feel so unqualified and have no idea what I am doing so pray extra for me this week please!!! Write down all your questions so I can answer them on Skype. 

BRayyyyyden, Happpppppppyyyyy BIRRRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOT 16! You ARE SOOOOOOO OLD°! I feel like I am 16 -um weird.  Anyway, sorry so short but I can't wait to see you all on Skype on the weekend.  Love you all.

Hermana Bailey 

6 Months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (April 27th letter)

Wow! Okay so the time is just flying by way too fast.  I have one year left and I am freaking out. (Dad you were right again.)  Hey so if you all want to come get me in 1 year, start saving your money because it will be here.... like tomorrow! Ugh pray the time slows down. There is so much I want to do here and I don't have enough time to do it all. 

So yes, a volcano erupted in Chile and we had to stay in our pensions for 2 days because of the ash. It was such a blessing because I was so sick on Wednesday morning but I hate staying in when I should be out working so we were out working. Then we received a text that said we had to go and stay in our pensions and I just like slept for 2 days! hahaha so great. It has been a long time since I could do nothing all day! 

My companion is so awesome. She played basketball in high school too. She is from Illinois and is tall like me and when she teaches she just says it how it is! I love it. For example, see if our investigators are sad or our less actives,  she just says "well  are you reading and saying your prayers?" And when they say no then she is like "well do it!!!!!! hahaha that is your problem."  I love it!!!!! But she does it with the Spirit and it is sooo great. 

We invited Joy 1000 times to get baptized and she always says no. Then 2 days ago the Zone Leader called us and said invite her again. So we did and this time we brought her sister and she said yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But she is going to read and pray everyday so she can feel segura (sure) so pray that she reads and prays everyday!!! I want this baptism so bad and I know how hard satan is going to work on her to not get baptized so all the extra prayers the better. After the lesson my companion and her sister and I were so happy we were jumping and laughing in the streets-such a happy moment! 

So all is well. Sorry I didn't have time to write Hope but tell her I love her. I did write Serenity though!!! 

Love you all-  Mom and Dad, your pictures are awesome. 

Crazy Week!!! (April 20)

Alright so this week was probably the most eventful week of my whole mission and I am dying that I can't write mom about it!!! but whatever.

We got a call on Thursday from the mission president. (Yeah that never happens).  And he said emergency transfer!!!! So my companion left to an area like 10 minutes away and the other Hermana that was in Fernandez Oro came to be my companion.  Seriously so weird! We had noooo idea why we had an emergency transfer because she has  been out here the same amount of time in the mission as my other comp and she is from the USA.  Super weird but I freekin love her.  She was exactly what I needed. She is super funny and up beat and when she teaches she always has the Spirit. She is such a spiritual giant.  I am learning so much from her. She is from Illinois and played basketball in high school. She is soooo fun. Anyways, we have a baptism this Saturday!!!!!!!! We are super excited. Still confused why we had the emergency transfer right before our investigator's baptism.  My last companion was so sad to leave she cried!!!! But that is okay hard things make you stronger.

Then last night a straight up miracle happened. Well lots of miracles-we see so many miracles everyday. So we were visiting people and I had a feeling to go to this one less active and we went there and they were waiting for us!!!! The less active told her friend to come to her house Sunday night at 7 and visit with us because she was going through a really hard time. The less active told her friend we come to her house every Sunday at 7 which is weird because I have never gone to her house at 7. Anyways so we started talking to this lady and she just burst out in tears and told us her sad sad sad life story and then  she looked at us and said, "help me!!"    Um yeah!!! Nothing like being a missionary. So many people in this world. And you think they are happy and then once you get talking to them they just break down in tears because they are missing something in their life and that is the gospel. So we taught this lady and she wants to meet with us again!!! Super great. God totally is part of each one of our lives. He knows who is ready to listen to him. It is soooo amazing. Go out and be examples of Christ and strengthen the ward!!!!

Zone Pictures from Sister Lovell

Thrown into the Fire

The stake made the missionaries a huge chocolate egg. This is a picture with my district.

 This is the members in my ward that came to conference--so great. They are like one big familia 

Okay so this week was sooooo eventful. So Friday was our baptism for Fl____... um yeah it turned out way bad. We woke up that morning and we were super excited. We went over to her house that morning the day of the baptism to drop off the baptism dress. So the mom is the less active who had started coming to church again with her other daughter. We were so happy these people were progressing and it all seemed like it was too perfect to be true. So we passed by the house Friday morning and the mom came out and said Fl___ (the 15 year old) doesn't want to talk to us and she doesn't want to get baptized. My companion started crying and started getting a little angry and flustered. I was just trying to be calm and I was just praying so hard to have God help me know what I needed to say. I just said "oh this is normal. People always get a little nervous before a baptism. We don't want to force Fl____ if she doesn't want to but we would like to talk to her and see what she is worried about." Well the mom just got more and more angry and we weren't saying anything. She just started to go off about things that we had done and how she hates the members in the ward and how she is mad at the elders for teaching her son because he is not interested in religion even though he is a member and the elders only taught him one time. Fl____ had talked to her dad on Thursday night and he was a counselor in the bishopric but now inactive and he asked her all these really hard questions about the gospel and she didn't know the answers so the mom started to yell at us and say that we didn't teach the daughter and that we basically just wanted a baptism... Seriously soooo dumb and they said we can't pass by anymore! We seriously felt like crap. I just told her sorry for whatever we did because when I would try to explain she would just get more mad. So I just apologized and I cried and my companion gave them a hug. I bore a short testimony and then we left..... Yeah that whole day we just cried all day long. Seriously one of the hardest things that has ever happened in the mission. We worked sooo hard and they were finally progressing and we were so happy and then it all just ended like that. And I couldn't help but blame myself and think "well if I would have done this or this.... maybe things would be different" and then I felt that I ruined their future. But in conference I learned a lot about agency and how they have their free agency and how I can't do anything about it.  Just show love love love!!!! 

Conference was amazing I loved every second of it.  I went to the stake center in Roca and there were a ton of missionaries and guess who I saw?!  MY trainer!!!!!!! Yeah we talked and I understood her perfectly and she understood me perfectly (tell Uncle Ron he was right).  It came to pass -everything he wrote me back in December when I felt like there was no hope for the language. 

Normally at home during conference I look at the clock or fall asleep but not this conference.  I felt the Spirit so strong.  I cried and I took so many notes and had all my questions answered. I liked the talk for the parents about their children.  I related it to me and my investigators and how I need to help them(my children). hahahah.  I just had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude for you and Dad for raising me in the gospel and what awesome missionaries you guys were for me and your other kids! I am going to use your example to be a better missionary. Thanks, I love you guys sooooo much. When people ask you why all your kids are so great, tell them it is because you and Dad put God first in your life and that is why your kids and family are so happy! My testimony of this gospel is growing so much and I am now seeing that it is ONLY  through this gospel that we can experience joy! And it just breaks my heart when people reject this wonderful message. 

Transfers came but I am with Hermana Bitton one more transfer.  It is a good thing.  We get along and everything. 

Oh and for conference all the English missionaries were in a separate room and we watched it in English! But when the Spanish speaker spoke we watched it in Spanish and I understood him!!!!!!!!!!! Such a miracle.  Conference was sooo amazing and we had 4 investigators come-sooo cool! And a menos activo. Wow after what happened Friday it was seriously the best weekend ever!!!!!!! Anyways, I'm out of time. There are still so many things I want to tell you but oh well. I will on Skype because we get to Skype in 1 month!!! Yay! 

Love Hermana Bailey