Miracle de Salud!!!!

Huge pizza from our investigator for free!!!!! SO nice. Food all the time. God is watching out for his missionaries. 

Well, Mom and Dad,  do not worry about my salud (health) because God keeps sending me miracles. I am so amazed at how many I keep seeing. So last week was a little harder because I was so sick and being sick in the mission is the worst thing ever!!!! So, after fasting for salud and your wonderful prayers, I was magically better the next day!!! Like completely better. Now that was not just any regular way to be healed.  I was sick I think from the water here or something and I know God answered our prayers and helped me receive the energy I needed to get through another week. I can't even explain what a huge miracle it was!!!!! So thanks for praying for me. Super nice. My testimony of prayer and fasting has grown like 10 times in the mission. 

Dad, your business is having some bumps huh???? But you know what? That is okay. Don't even spend one minute worrying about it. Obviously God had all these things happen at once for a reason and your job now is to try and see what God wants you to do with it!!! (Hope that makes sense) 

This week was so great I can't even explain.  I love being healthy!!! Things are just so much better if I am healthy. hahaha. So I will pray for all your health as well!!! So last week I forgot to write about our zone conference. So we had a conference with the zone and the zone president called me at 10 at night to ask me to give a talk about obedience in the conference the next day.  I, being sick that day, was bothered that I had to give the talk. So dumb. So I of course didn't have time to prepare anything because as a missionary do you really have time to prepare anything? nooo.. hahaha So I of course just went with the Spirit.  The 2 Latinos that gave talks before me gave them in English so they had it all written out and prepared because obviously they were speaking a language that they don't really know.  I started to get nervous but then I went up there and words were coming to my mind and people could understand me!!!!! And I felt the Spirit tell me what to say. After I sat down a cute Latina that entered the mission the same day as me (she remembers I couldn't say anything when I entered the mission)  she said, "wow your Spanish is sooooo good!!!" The gift of tongues is reall!!!!! And being a missionary is so awesome because you can teach just about anything on the spot!!! 

Dad don't worry about my salud! The blister/boil that I had before, yeah freak I got a blessing and it went away completely!!! ( I don't remember how to spell- sorry guys) I ended up talking the other day to the nurse that had worked with me and she told me that was a straight miracle and that I need to write that down because I was going to have to go to the doctors here and get it cut off! And I will you tell you what-the hospitals here are awful.  I wouldn't be surprised if a rat ran across the floor;) We have an investigator that was in the hospital this week so we went and visited her like 3 times and there are so many flies everywhere and there are holes in the walls. They clean the surgery supplies with soap and water no mas!!!! So gross. Then when we were there,  a pastor from the Evangélicos came and gave a lady a blessing. He was like telling us we were lost and that we are still trying to find the truth. We just nicely smiled and didn't say anything even though we were so mad!  

Our investigators are doing great.  I have a baptism 28 de marzo!!!! So excited. Has Kinz and Zack had baptisms yet? My mission is like on fire. Our goal is to have a baptism date every Saturday! My area is great. The weather is starting to cool down- sooo great. In the mornings we wake up and play basketball with the elders and on the other morning we wake up and go running with a girl who just got home from her mission. 

My area is so pretty.  I will send some pictures of the orchards that we get to go visit!!! So much fruit here I can't handle it. People give us fruit all the time. I tried a melon that tasted like cantaloupe and coconut- so good. It was just called melon. hahaha

Anyways, don't worry about me. I'm doing great and I am so amazed.

Yesterday at church I was feeling so stressed because people always ask the missionaries questions and so the entire lesson I have to be 100% focused. It is hard because to understand Spanish I have to be really really focused!!!! 

Hahaha So in our sacrament meeting the kids are super loud and the investigators that come get really mad because they say we don't have respect for our church. The kids are the bishop's kids--so frustrating.  Any ideas to help kids be quieter? 

Anyways all is well.  l love you all.  Kami thanks for the photos and videos. I loved them!!!! 

Hermana Bailey

Feliz Dia de las Mujeres

 Dear family! 

Thanks for the videos. Mom I got your 2 videos. The ones from your Dad's phone I couldn't see because you have to go on youtube or something and I can't do that:( But Hope looked so cute and cute little Jackson- sooooo cute- I can't handle it! haha.  Dad I love your antlers. So great! It made me laugh when you showed me them in the video!

So the good things this week- because there are a ton:

So yesterday was Day for Women. So everywhere we went yesterday people would say feliz dia!! And give us cake and chocolates! Then yesterday we were in church and this investigator came and I thought she was an investigator of los elderles! But no she lives in our area and she just came to church because her 5 year old niece wanted to come. Sooo we took down her direction and we are going to visit her tonight! So great how God puts those people in our path. 

Then another day we were contacting. This lady we contacted didn't seem too  interested. We left her with a tarjeta that had a video on it. Didn't think she would look up the video. Well lo and behold, later that day we were walking and we ran into her and she said that she watched the video and really liked it. For some reason we didn't ask her name but long story short we visited her the other day and she let us in her house and it turns out she was a missionary for the Catholic church. Sooo we will see where that goes! Interesting, right? 

OH okay so my favorite family the less actives that we found last week -the ones I told you about ( I think) well we had a family night with them. Seriously so  fun! The Spirit was so strong and I was laughing so hard when we were playing the game. I just love them soooooooo much! Words cannot explain how much I love them.  I just connected with them instantly.  I am convinced I am supposed to be here in Allen for that family!   But they didn't come to church yesterday! So sad! But we will work really hard with them and hopefully God will change their hearts. 

Yesterday was a good day. We worked with a sister in the ward who just got home from her mission. She was so full of light and energy. It was exactly what I needed to help me give the mission my all again. I am really trying. It is just hard because I am feeling sick all the time. My comp said that she was sick when she got here and so it has to be something with the water or something. Me and my companion are getting along great.  I laugh so hard with her, and the elders in our district say we are a great companionship! My comp said that this is her favorite companionship she has had her whole mission. That made me really happy. 

Oh yeah the other night we were sleeping and at 3 in the morning there was a huge rain storm and there was hail the size of golf balls and it was so awesome!!! Hahaha crazy crazy! There are no drains in the streets here so when it rains the streets turn into rivers!

Mom thanks for the advice to enjoy the mission. You are always so inspired to say what I need. Love you so much and please pray that I can forget myself and that I will have the energy to work like a Bailey! I need to show Argentina what a Bailey is all about! 

Love you all Besitos!!!!!

Hermana Bailey

A Full Heart

Dear family! 

So this week just flew by. My companion Hermana Bitton does not have a blog. Sorry, that is too bad. She is from Ogden, Utah. The first couple of days I was just so sad about leaving Hermana Miller I couldn't let myself love her, but through prayer I have learned to and I am learning to love her more and more. She is super obedient which is so good for me and she is willing to work at the speedy pace I like. I have a little bit of a hard time with learning to be humble. She only has one more transfer than me and I hate it when she corrects me! hahha Isn't that awful? 

Yep so I just love my area more and more. The Spanish is a challenge at times but I am learning I can still be an instrument in the Lord's hands even if I can't speak or understand everything perfectly. 

The first couple of days here were great. I got a guy to accept a baptismal date for 28 March! So great. He came to church yesterday and he bore his testimony and he like remembered my name - no one ever remembers my name.  Then he thanked me for helping him in Sacrament Meeting - so great!! hahaha kinda selfish but it made me feel like I was making a difference. 

We saw an awesome miracle yesterday. We had 2 menos activos who said they we were going to come to church. We found a ride to bring them to church and everything. We were so 100 percent sure they were going to come to church. Then they didn't come! Ugh so dumb. So we went by their house Sunday night to see why they didn't come. These 2 are kinda old and have a bad memory so I don't like spending a lot of time with them because they don't remember things we tell them. But when we were there I remembered seeing their granddaughter and she is a menos activo too. I had a feeling to see if she was home and ask if we could talk to her and just see how she was doing. We asked and they were like yeah she is in the back yard. So it turns out her whole family lives back there and they are all menos activo!! What the? We started talking to them and they said that just the other day they were thinking about the church and how they should start going to church and then we came by! The Dad told us he wants to go. The Spirit was so strong and they want us to come back and do family home evening with them and they are going to come to church Sunday!!! SO amazing how God is totally preparing people right now. I am always reminded I am not the one preparing people.  I am simply here to show them the way! 

My new district is kinda small and they are all kinda reserved which is kinda hard for me because my last district was all way good friends. But I am determined to change it so we are all way good friends.  My comp can play the piano really good so I got out of that - thank goodness. The ward is about 50 people. We work with the young women. There are like 3 girls and the leader has been a member for 2 years so she is just learning. They don't have activities or anything so I hope I can help fix the program here and get all the menos activos involved. Because here people get baptized and then just stop coming to church so then we have a ton of menos activos to visit. But the ward is good. 
Yesterday we had 2 menos activos come to church and 2 investigators. So after I was done conducting in sacrament meeting I went to go sit down by the menos activos.  I started to talk to her quietly like how are you and all of a sudden the whole ward was looking at me and all of a sudden a missionary sitting behind me said I needed to go bare my testimony. So I just stood up having no idea what the bishop just said. As I am walking up I look at my comp and I'm like "I just need to share my testimony?" hahaha my comp is like yeah. So I went up there and I just started talking. Man the gift of tongues is real. I get complemented on my Spanish all the time! I think it is a little hard for my comp because people say my Spanish is better than hers. But that doesn't happen very often. 

Nope we don't walk less here. If anything we walk more because I am done with the 12 week program so I walk 1 hour more everyday!! But I love it. Yeah the weather is cooling down but still super hot. It just gets cold at nights and mornings. Here it is higher than my last area so it is warmer and it is pretty humid. 

 That is all I have time for. Hope, have a happy birthday.  I love you and miss your cute little laugh. I hope you have a good day this Saturday at your baptism. You are doing the best thing you could be doing and I know God is so happy about your decision!

Love Hermana Bailey

Oh yeah, Mom thanks for telling me about how God puts you where he wants you because I have been struggling with that this week. So inspired you are! Tell Marissa to write me, because I can still understand even though she is millions of miles away! 

Pictures from Hermana Miller's blog

Here are some pictures and quotes from Bethany's last companion's blog.

From Feb 23:
Ok so transferssssssssssss =( Hermana Bailey se fui! =((((((((((((((  I was seriously just the saddest little girl! We both just bawled when people heard about it! It was so hard. Idk why, because man I've said goodbye to how many people? But with Bailey it just hit me. Maybe because she's my hija, no se. But man I'm just really really gonna miss her. =(

From Feb 18:

Also this Sunday we had 3 inactives in church! We were feeling really down Sunday morning because we had worked so hard to get the investigadores to come to church, but once we got to church we just saw all these inactives coming in and it was seriously so overwhelming. Hermana Bailey said something I really liked, something like "when I was in the church and saw them come in, this may sound silly, but it was like the happiest I've ever been. Maybe not the happiest, but just to see all the work we did come together." I loved that because it's true! It's like the happiest you really can feel throughout the week. Just to see those people you love so much act on the little particle of faith they have and come to church.

Wow, I love the work. Cultral Co really is growing and making little changes. I love it. 

Hermana Bailey is so great! Honestly, I've loved the opportunity I have to train her and watch her grow. I keep telling her she's training me because she is such an amazing missionary and has so much potential!!! I always forget she's new because she just goes out and does everything without fear. She teaches, invites, talks, shares, laughs, everything that took me like 5 months to do, she's just doing it like her first 3 months. I get jealous sometimes because I'm like why couldn't I have been like you when I was new. Haha, she's amazing and I'm so grateful we've been together these 6 weeks! Such a blessing!!

From Jan 19th:

My companion, Hermana Bailey seriously is so awesome and such a huge example. I'm so tired, I've never worked this hard before hahaha no but she's just so obedient and such an example and reminding me how important it is to give the mission your everything. It's awesome, I feel like I've started the mission over again, because I was kinda dying and getting tired. Every day was the same and I was so tired of doing the same thing but I got here and I'm like alright, "let's get to work". It's awesome, I love it. It's like I'm making my mission what I wanted from it.  I felt like my last transfer was super hard and I felt like I was doing nothing. So this is really good. It's seriously awesome. I love her.

Seriously, you know when I laugh really hard like cry laugh. I've done that twice a day, every day, this week with Hermana Bailey. Seriously she kills me.

Transfers!

Well! So I am in the new area!  My new companion is named Hermana Bitton. She is from Ogden Utah! She is a tall blonde.

When I left Cultral Co I was so sad. I was so scared and I felt like I was in a dream and now I am here and I just miss my other comp a ton. Hermana Miller was so fun and we just laughed all the time. She was my best friend and I could be my fun self with her. The first 6 weeks in the mission I missed home but now I just miss my old comp. I obviously miss you guys too but my heart just hurts when I think about my old comp. Like right now as I am writing this I am like trying not to cry hahaha. SOOO dumb I hate transfers!!!!! Whatever. My new companion is super nice and I don't have anything bad to say about her. It just might take a little time before I have that same friendship with her.

Sooooo ummm yeah she has 6 more weeks than me in the mission., UMMM Yep she knows just about as much in the mission as I do. I don't know exactly what President was thinking putting 2 newbies from the states together!  If God wants me to learn to be a good missionary with another newbie, so be it because I know God knows best. I probably would not have picked this for myself but oh well I guess this is going to help me the most. 

So my new area is soooooooo pretty. It has rivers and tons and tons of trees. You will see pine trees and palm trees right next to each other. I have only had one lesson today so I don't know the people yet but I have a way good feeling about this area. IT IS SO PRETTY! I am so happy to be here. And it is a smaller town. Not super small because we serve in the central part because that is the safest area for the sisters. hahaha But people say you will see people ride around on their horse carriages! Hhahahah And because there are so many orchards here, the fruit is wayyyyyy cheap!! Yeah so everyone says that I will eat a tonnnnnn of fruit here.  How perfect because I wanted to eat healthy. Oh and our pension is soooooooooo nice.  It is 2 stories and ummmm huge! It is like new! I love love love love it! hahahah I feel so spoiled but whatever-just blessed. hahahah But our washing machine doesn't work putcha! Hahahah I have to keep washing my clothes in a sink ugh! Hahaha oh well. 

So,  before I left Cultral Co, the Bishop in Sacrament Meeting asked me to come bear my testimony! It was AWESOME!!!! I was able to say what I wanted and people in the ward were crying because they were going to miss me - soooo cute!  I cried of course!  And all day Sunday we spent all day running around taking pictures with all the people I knew in Cultral Co... And yeah I forgot my camera today. Sorry- I will send more pictures later. 

I am out of time. Ugh. There is so much I still want to tell you but my comp is really picky with rules I think hahaha. I got just what I wanted- someone who was a hard worker. But now I'm wondering if that is what I really wanted. hahahah No it is!!!  Anyways, love you all. Pray for our Spanish and the ability so we can teach because we both kinda feel like what the heck are we doing!!!! So crazy. Keep being the cute family you are.

Love Hermana Bailey

Oh yeah,  after I bore my testimony so many people asked me if I finished my mission and if I was going home and others said that my Spanish was perfect and they laughed and said, "remember the first time you bore your testimony your Spanish was so bad?" They were like"your Spanish was a gift from Cultral Co."   So many people keep telling me my Spanish is perfect. I know it isn't even close but I like to think it is God's way of telling me that I can do this!!!!!!! Yeah gift of tongues :) 

Transfer

Yeah sooo I got transferred! I am leaving in 2 hours !! I think I heard my new companion is another gringa!!! And I heard she only has 6 months in the mission. That means that we are both kinda new! Oh gosh pray for our Spanish hahaha! But maybe she can speak really good. Anyway I will write more a little later this week. But pray for me hahaha super nervous. I am going to an area new. It all seems so foreign soooo I know I can do it!! Hahaha Dad remember you said you had to find your trainer all by yourself the first time hahaha and the mission president put a paper on your suit that said where you were going so you could remember? hahaha yeah now its my turn to go all by myself but it is really scary because everything is in Spanish. Hopefully I know enough Spanish to figure this out. Haahaha Love you all.  I will write you later this week when I get to my new area.  Oh by the way, I was super sad to leave Hermana Miller. Uhh Anyway I can write you more details later. I only have 2 hours left and I still have a ton of stuff to do.

Hermana Bailey

Holidays

Wow so crazy!! Argentina has so many holidays. That is why I couldn't write you guys on Monday. Sorry about that.  I kind of wish it was always like this  because it kinda helps breaks up the week if we get to write on Wednesdays.  When there is a holiday here in Argentina, the whole town shuts down. Nothing, I mean nothing is open! The whole town is sleeping and then around 9 people wake up and then they have fireworks and then they go to the Plaza which is a big park and they dance and hang out. Honestly, their ways of life are sooooo different. Their holidays last for 2 days.  So for 2 days no one was in the streets and nothing was open. But now today the Ciber was open so I could write home. 

So this Saturday we have traslados!  Ugh I think I am going to leave because my companion only has 3 transfers left and she thinks she is going to have one more area after Cultral co. So I will probably be leaving in 3 days! Ugh I'm sooo scared.  I hear you have to leave all by yourself sometimes and I don't know if I feel good enough with my language yet to have to travel to an area I don't even know all by myself. Yeah I am way worried, but maybe I won't leave and I will get to be with Hermana Miller one more transfer- which would be AWESOME!!! She is so fun.

Valentines day we had a heart shape pizza that night that we made and then we bought candles and had a candlelight dinner- sooooo funny. We are always doing fun random things. But yes of course we still work a ton. 

Ugh- super sad- the guy who was supposed to get baptized is not coming to church!  We have a good relationship with the family but the parents just don't want to progress. We had a lesson about the importancia of marriage because the parents are not married and we explained that the family can live together forever. Then we asked them if they wanted to make a goal to attend the temple. We told the parents that they should get marrried.... yeah super awkward. They like did not want to hear that. They said they will talk about it.  Argentina... the culture is like, get pregnant around 18 or younger, then you can have like two other kids with another guy, and then you like settle down with a guy you want to spend a long time with but they don't want to get married even though they live just like a married couple. So frustrating!

This week we have seen so many miracles with finding new investigators. We had a ton of investigators that weren't progressing, but after we stopped visiting them we have been praying a ton to find those people who are ready for the gospel. God has made us find so many new investigators. But not just that- whenever we are walking we like run into them all the time! It is so crazy. It is like God is saying "teach them, teach them."

Last Saturday, we were walking to our pension and we saw one of our investigators who lives in Filli Dei, the really small town that takes forever to walk to.... (When we went to Filli Dei, they weren't there, so we were super bummed) but then that night we were walking to our pension and we saw them in the city and their car broke down right in front of us and we helped them push it to get started and we invited them to come to church... They didn't end up coming- sooo dumb- but kinda cool how we found them really close to our pension and their car broke down right in front of us!!!

So this week I have been a little sad and feeling like I am not the missionary that our investigators need to help in their conversion. But I am learning that all I can do is my best and then God can use me when I do my best. 

Sooo you guys want to know more about Argentina.  Okay soooo they have paved roads in my area but they are way cracked and not very well taken care of. The food that is really good is the facturas! Google facturas from Argentina and hopefully you can see the really good food that I am eating. I am gaining weight!!!! Ugh I am like stressing about it! I am gettting a double chin. I thought it was just in my head but then a stupid elder said, "Hermana Bailey, you have gained weight." and I said noooo and he was like, "yeah in your neck!!!!" Ughhh yeah so now I am all paranoid to eat!!!  SO stupid!!!!  But whatever. If I come home a fatty at least I liked the food. hahaha  In Argentina the people live in the most different circumstances. For example, we have an investigator who lives in a house that kinda reminds me of those little beach houses in California and then we have investigators whose houses are made out of tin and the 28 year old girl is dating a 73 year old man.... yeah soooo gross! 

Anyways,  I am out of time. But I don't really know what to tell you more about Argentina beside they drink mate allll the time. So if you have questions ask and I will try to answer. OH yeah hahaha my comp and I were watching a video of some other missionaries and they were sitting on a couch teaching.  I looked at my companion and asked, "when would you ever see a couch like that here?"  She laughed and said, "never!!!"  We get to sit on bent rusty old buckets when we teach!! 

Hope, I am so excited for your bautismo. Send me lots of pictures.  Girls, don't be sad when I am not home because you can make things fun tooo! I miss you tons. Thanks for writing me. I got your picture in the mail that you sent a while ago of my companion and I. We loved it and hung it in our apt!!! So cute. 

Mom, don't worry about calling the doctor.  I got a blessing and yeah it is going away!!!!! A MIRACLE!!!  The Priesthood is real!!  Kinda crazy, the doctor in the mission never called me back either!! Um yeah weird. But it is okay cause it doesn't bother me at all!! One of the many many miracles.

Les Amo!!!

Hermana Bailey