August 4

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I'm almost out of time, so I'll try and make this quick so I can get everything in.

This past week has been awesome. We're working hard and seeing a ton of miracles.

We met with the stake president last week as a district to talk about missionary work in the stake, that was neat. There was a young man there from one of our wards about to leave on his mission so we gave him some advice and answered questions. It's so weird to see someone before they leave and remember when that was me. I've learned and grown a lot since then. Missions are really amazing.

Wednesday we met with Matt and Montana, who are awesome. Matt's not a member but is super willing to listen and talk to us. And Montana is coming back to church. They're getting married in a few weeks. We're hoping that as we keep meeting with them, Matt will see how much the gospel can bless his family. He already has such a strong belief in God, we just want to help make it stronger.

We've also been meeting with a lot of members and encouraging them to do missionary work. It's awesome to see how much they want to help, they're just not sure how. So we're trying to help them know how. We're already starting to see how it's bringing miracles and giving the members courage.

We had a former investigator come to church yesterday, which was pretty awesome. She feels comfortable with the ward and we're hoping she'll want to start meeting with us again. I'll keep you posted about that.

I know there were a lot of other small miracles we saw this week, but I don't have time to write them all. But I am learning that when we are working our hardest, Heavenly Father will bless us. I love the gospel. I love helping other people learn more about their Savior Jesus Christ. We don't have to go through this life alone, and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ don't want us to. They want us to turn to the Savior for help. He's already been through our hardships and trials, He want to help us through them. We just have to turn to Him and live his teachings. And then He'll be there to help us. I am so grateful to know that and to be able to share it with others.

Well, I gotta get going, but I love and miss you all. Have a wonderful week! I'll send pictures next week.

Love Always,

Baylee

July 28

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it's been another crazy, fun, busy, and hot week! It got up to 116 this week-that was fun. It really wasn't too bad actually. I was very sweaty and probably smelled horrible, but people feel bad for us so they're usually nice. Even if they're not interested in learning more about the church. And every time we stop somewhere to get more water, we usually get popsicles/ice cream too. Haha. It's pretty awesome.

Last Monday was busy getting all of Sister Sanders' last minute stuff done before she went home. And then Tuesday morning we dropped her off at the mission office at 5:30 AM. It was sad to see her go. I already miss her a lot, but I'll keep in touch and see her again post mission. The rest of the day I was in a trio with Sister Russell and Sister Bryant. It was a pretty eventful day. We had dinner with a family and the son served his mission in Africa. He was telling us some crazy and hilarious stories about his mission, which was completely different than Gilbert Arizona. It was really entertaining. And then after dinner, Sister Russell's bike tire had deflated so we had to get that fixed. And we went to an activity for their relief society that night. We got ice cream and took some fun pictures.

And then Wednesday we had transfer meeting! My new companion is Sister Dexter, she is from Rexburg, Idaho. She's pretty great. We're pretty similar in a lot of ways and I think we'll get along well. I'm already learning from her and I think it'll be a great transfer.

We're already seeing miracles in the area. We got in touch with a less active family that I haven't been able to talk to since I've been here. And we're teaching a less active lady and her fiancé who's not a member. He's not super interested right now, but he's super nice and is more than willing to participate in our lessons. So hopefully with time, he'll be more interested.

We also got to have dinner with a super nice nonmember and her daughter in the area. They're incredible. They already have such strong faith in God and would be awesome members! We're hoping to start teaching them soon. They've come to church a few times and know a lot of members around, which helps a lot. The members have been great about inviting them to activities and ward events.

And then last night we had a new member fireside, which was really amazing. There were 4 recent converts that shared their testimonies, and that was pretty incredible. It's so neat to hear how the gospel has changed their lives. They understand so much better now who they are-children of God. There was one couple that will be sealed in the temple next year for time and eternity, how amazing is that? We have the proper priesthood authority from God on the earth today that can bind our families together forever. It really is a huge blessing to know that.

And President Hale, from the mission presidency, spoke yesterday at the fireside. He talked about the power of the Holy Ghost and how when we recognize it and act on it, it changes our lives and the lives of those around us. He reminded us that the Holy Ghost is an amazing gift from Heavenly Father so that we never have to be alone. And I love the promise in 2nd Nephi 32:5: "For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." Once we are baptized by the priesthood authority of God, we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and can always have His guidance if we live worthily of it. I know that's true, because I've felt it. Heavenly Father has helped me time after time throughout my life and on my mission. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, that Thomas S. Monson is our living prophet and that this is Christ's church restored to the earth again today through the power of the Holy Ghost. I asked Heavenly Father if it was true, and he told me through my thoughts and my feelings that it is. This church has blessed my life so much and it can do the same for everyone. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to share my knowledge with others.

Well, I'm out of time so I gotta get going. I love and miss you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love Always,

Baylee

Also here are some pictures from the past week.

There's one of me and Sister Dexter, Me and sister Russell and sister Bryant at the activity, one of me and my awful sweat stains that made a smiley face-you gotta love the Arizona heat! And one of our car ziptied to another one, courtesy of my new district leader. Ours is the one on the left.

(I can't get the computer to turn this - in iPhoto it's the correct orientation, but it's uploading sideways. Sorry!)

July 21

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, as usual my time is kind of short, so this email won't be too long either. It's been a pretty good week. Nothing too crazy happened. Just normal missionary stuff.

We got to go to the Gilbert Temple on Tuesday, which is always amazing. I love it there so much and am grateful we have the chance to go so often. I'll send some pictures from that.

We did have a sisters meeting on Tuesday that was pretty fun. There are 60 of us now, which is pretty crazy. It was fun to see everyone and learn from President and Sister Nattress. They talked about the first Sister missionaries and how it's grown so there are thousands of us now. It was really neat.

We had exchanges on Thursday, I got to spend the day with Sister Stanley. That was pretty fun. I didn't know her very well before, but we had a good time and I learned a lot from her.

And the rest of the week we spent working on finding more people to teach. It's a continual process. We're teaching some less active families right now though, which is really neat. And even though there's not a ton of work going on in this area at the moment, I know that it's all in the Lord's hand. This is His work, not mine. So I'm just trying to work hard and trust that things will work out in His time.

And then last night we got transfer calls, that was fun. We were both asleep and so the call woke us up. I'm staying here again, and Sister Sanders is going home (we already knew that though). I'll miss her a lot. She's a really great friend and I've gotten really close to her. But I know change is good and it's her time to go. It'll be good for when I get home though, I'll call her and have her help me become normal again. haha.

Well, that's about all that I have to say about this week. It was a good week. I want to share one last thing though. President Nattress said this at our meeting on Tuesday,

"Keep your eyes fixed on the Savior and you'll never go wrong."

I've been thinking a lot about it throughout the week. It's definitely true. The Savior will never lead us astray, and when we put Him first in our lives, everything else will work out. I know that He truly does live and love each one of us. I know that He will never fail us. I am grateful for His atoning sacrifice for each one of us.

I love and miss you all, have a great week!

Love Always,

Baylee

So one more picture I wanted to send, it's kind of hilarious and requires an explanation. Sister Sanders sent her bike home so we were borrowing a member's bike this week. I was riding it the other day, and the seat is plastic and absorbs absolutely no sweat, so I ended up getting a nice sweat mark on my butt from the seat-I thought it was funny, and thought you might too. haha. Love you!

July 14

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it was another great week. Tuesday and Wednesday were relatively normal missionary days-trying to contact people and find new people to teach. It's still super hot and monsoons have started so it's also super humid. That's definitely worse than just the heat. But it is super cool to see the rain come out of nowhere. And the dust storms are pretty cool too-as long as you don't get caught in it. Haha.

Thursday our zone had interviews with President Nattress-that was pretty great. We learned a lot from our zone leaders and the assistants. And it's always great to talk to President. We've got transfers coming up next week and I know I'll definitely be getting a new companion. He said I'll probably stay in the area but no guarantees. I'll let you know for sure when I find out next week.

Friday was another interesting day. In the morning we got up and went to decorate the zone leader's car. It was funny. It was a lot like last time with "Just Married" written on it and we put cans on the back. They washed it before coming to planning, which was lame, but they thought it was funny. And then we had weekly planning and our zone was a little crazy. There was just a lot of elders running around and distracting the rest of us. It was definitely entertaining though.

And then Sunday was an interesting day too. We went to the singles ward with a recent convert in our area. That was super weird. There was a lot of awkwardness and flirting. It was super small. And I felt super out of place. So basically, I'm just a super awkward missionary now-so don't be shocked when I get home and I'm super weird. Haha.

And that was pretty much my exciting week. Nothing too exciting ever happens, so sorry my emails aren't terribly exciting.

There is one more thing I want to talk about though. So we've been having a rough past few days as a companionship and as a zone. But I remembered something that President Nattress has said, "Before any great blessing there is a great trial." So we've been dealing with a lot, but that's part of life in general. But I've been remembering that advice. If we want to see blessing we have to go through trials-so that we can learn and become stronger and better individuals. So I want to share one of my favorite scriptures with you-it's Mosiah 24:15 in the Book of Mormon.

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

The Lord doesn't take our problems away. We have trials and hardships so we can learn to turn to Him and trust Him to help us through them. And that's the amazing thing-we never have to go through trials alone. We always have Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ there to help us through them. They don't take our problems away, but they help us so they're not so hard. I know that's true-I know I wouldn't be able to make it through a single day without Jesus Christ and His constant love and care. And I'm so grateful for that knowledge and the chance to share it with others.

I love and miss you all a ton and hope you have a great week! Remember that Jesus Christ truly loves each one of you.

Love Always,

Baylee

P.S. I'll send pictures next week-I'm out of time today.

July 7

Dear Family and Friends,

This past week has been pretty normal as far as missionary work goes. But since it was the 4th of July, it was kind of deserted. It was weird. And since it's July in Arizona and it's freaking hot, everyone goes out of town for the whole month anyways, so it's even more of a ghost town than it was a week ago.

But it was a good week. We had our 1 year mission anniversary party last Tuesday which was amazing. We all went to the Gilbert Temple in the morning. That was super neat. And then we ha d a great devotional with President and Sister Nattress and the temple president and his wife. We also all got a small rock from the temple. It's from the rock that wasn't quite good enough quality for the actual temple, but it's still pretty cool to have. I'll send a picture of it next week if I remember.

We started to read the Book of Mormon as a mission that day too, which was pretty cool. I'm through 1 Nephi now, and it's been really cool to read it so quickly. I feel like it all flows a little bit better. I really love the Book of Mormon. It's crazy to think that the stories of people who lived thousands of years ago could help me, but it really does. It gives the guidance and direction I need and I'm grateful that Heavenly Father has give it to us.

I was on exchanges on Wednesday with Sister Bryant, that was fun. Nothing too exciting happened, but we did got to sonic and get balloons. We were super excited about that, so we took a fun picture. Haha.

And then Friday was the 4th of course. We had weekly planning the morning and then we had a normal afternoon. We came in at 7 to avoid any drunk drivers and studied for a few hours. It was actually really great. And we watched a few fireworks from our apartment. But they were pretty far away, so it wasn't too great. It didn't feel much like a holiday, but it was still a good day.

And then yesterday was weird because church was super empty. Everyone's out of town. We went to young womens for one of our wards, and there were only like 3 girls, it felt like I was back in Morristown. Haha.

And that was basically my week. Pretty average, but still great. I hope all is well back home. I love and miss you all.

love always,

Baylee

P.S. I'll send pictures next week, the computer won't read my card reader for some reason.

June 30

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of the Arizona Gilbert Mission! How insane is that?! I can't believe I've been out for that long, the time has flown by. We had a fun mission breakfast this morning and then played some water games to celebrate. It was super hot but really fun to see everyone.

Tomorrow we're going to the Gilbert Temple as a mission too, which will be really neat. And then President LeSeour, the temple president, is going to do a devotional for us. It'll be a really neat opportunity. I love the temple, and we're really lucky to live so close to it.

Other than that this week was pretty normal. Nothing too crazy happening here. It's super hot, but that's not really shocking. I'm handling the heat better than expected. I just have to constantly drink water.

We had exchanges this week, so I got to spend the day with Sister Ball. That was super fun! We lived together for 3 transfers awhile ago, and I loved being with her again. We got to talk to quite a few people and had a lot of fun together.

And then the next day I was in a trio with Sister Russell and Sister Bryant, our roommates, since Sister Sanders had to go to a meeting for all the mission leaders. We had a lot of fun too. We taught a few lessons and got to help pick some grapefruit for a less active lady. It was fun.

And those are the highlights of my week. Sad I know, but not too much is going on here. It's almost July and everyone leaves in July because it's so freaking hot! So it's kind of like a Ghost Town for awhile, but it's kinda fun. We're still working super hard trying to find new people to teach and getting to know the members. I really love missionary work, but there are times when it's not as glamorous as others. But we keep working hard anyways, because the Lord can only bless us if we continue to work hard. And even when there aren't big miracles, the Lord still blesses us each day with small miracles. I am grateful for His continued love and support.

There's one last thing I wanted to tell you all about before I finish this email. Our mission is starting to read the Book of Mormon from the beginning again tomorrow. We're going to read the entire thing in 65 days, which is how long it took to publish The Book of Mormon. It's going to be pretty cool. It'll be about 10 pages a day. And President Nattress asked us to invite our friends and family to do the same. So I'm inviting you all to read The Book of Mormon with me in the next 65 days. Even if you don't finish it, it will be a really neat experience. The Book of Mormon is such an incredible book. It is truly another testimony of Jesus Christ. That he lives and loves us. I have found so much comfort in reading the Book of Mormon and answers to prayers. I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the chance I have to share it with others. It truly has the power to change lives. And it's all possible because of Jesus Christ and His love for each one of us. He came to earth and died for us so that we could all live again. I love sharing that message with others every day.

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love and miss you all!

Love Always,

Baylee

So the pictures: Me and sister sanders after riding through sprinklers, me and sister Ball, picking grapefruit, a giant cactus, and the activity this morning

June 23

Dear Family and Friends,

It has been another great week here in Gilbert Arizona. The average temperature this week was about 106, nice and toasty. Even though it's hot though, I really love it here.
Last Monday for a zone activity we played bucket categories. Basically it included a lot of guessing and getting wet. It felt great since it was so hot outside though.

Wednesday was super fun. We had family home afternoon with Elder and Sister Esplin again. They're a senior couple in the mission and are so sweet. We had a lesson from some missionaries in the zone, and then we played charades. It was really fun and also somewhat embarrassing because I'm horrible at acting things out. Haha. And then that night all the missionaries in this stake met with the stake president to discuss missionary work in the area. It was a lot of fun. They gave us some good dessert and we came up with some ideas of how we can help the work progress in this stake. We want to work really closely with the youth, so we're trying to organize some kind of weekly activity that would be fun for them to come to and invite their friends to.

Thursday was another great day. Mostly because we got to teach our investigator Robin again. He's super sincere and genuine in his desires to learn. We talked a lot about the Atonement and how Jesus Christ is at the center of everything we teach. He really enjoyed the lesson and he even said the prayer at the end. And he agreed to be baptized when he knows for himself that it's true. It was a really amazing lesson. It's so humbling to think that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to let me help teach His children the gospel.

Friday was great as well. We had weekly planning in the morning (probably my least favorite part of missionary work. Haha. I know it's important, I just don't like it). That was quite entertaining. We got somewhat distracted because some of the Elders locked us into the room where we were planning by wedging chairs against the door. We ignored it for the most part, except for when we had to get out since it was time to leave. I've got some fun pictures of that I'll send with this email.

The rest of Friday was great too though. We got to teach Michelle that night. She's doing so amazing. She's working on getting a temple recommend so she can go an do baptisms for her ancestors. The gospel has really changed her life, and it's amazing to hear about her different experiences every time we talk to her.

That was pretty much the highlights of my week. It was a lot of fun. I love being a missionary. I love sharing the gospel. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and because of Him we have hope. I love being able to share that knowledge with others.

I love and miss you all and hope you're doing well!

Love Always,
Baylee

Here are some pictures from planning and one where Sister Sanders and I unintentionally matched.