Three Months!

Dear family and friends,

Well this has been a super busy but super amazing week. I have had a lot of meetings and learned so much about how to be a better missionary and teacher. I have loved every second of it.

Tuesday we had our zone meeting and we talked a lot about planning, which to be honest is not my favorite thing. But we talked about how important it is to plan and set goals because it gives us something to work towards. It keeps us working hard and focused on what we're here to do. It definitely motivated me to do a better job planning every day. My zone leaders also found out that I play piano that day, which means I'll be playing a lot for our meetings.

Wednesday we had zone conference, which was super fun. We were combined with 2 other zones, which was really fun, and there were about 50 of us total. We did a lot of training on how to teach better and I learned a lot. For lunch there were several women from the wards in this area that helped make it for us. They all have sons or daughters that are out serving, which was really cool. We sang "Called to Serve" to thank them and they all sang with us. It was really cool. I also ended up playing piano for the meeting because someone told the APs that I play. I suspect it was my zone leaders. I really don't mind too much though becuase I do enjoy playing.

Saturday was definitely the highlight of my week though. That was when we got to have our meeting with Elder Neil L. Anderson. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had.
For those of you who don't know who that is, let me tell you a little bit about him. Elder Anderson is an apostle of the Lord. Just like He did in biblical times, the Lord has called a prophet and apostles on the earth again today to teach about and bear special witness that Jesus is the Christ. Elder Anderson is one of these apostles, just as Peter, James, and John were.

Elder Anderson took the time to meet with our mission for a few hours to give us some advice. We got a group picture of all the missionaries with him, and while we were waiting for Him to get there, we all sang hymns. When Elder Anderson walked into the room, the Spirit hit me like a wall. I knew, without a doubt, that he truly is an apostle of the Lord. We all got to shake his hand, and then he talked to us for a few hours. I learned a lot from him, but one of the coolest things he told us is that the Gilbert Arizona Mission is an experiment. It's one of the smallest missions outside of Utah, but in Utah the missionaries cover stakes. We will eventually be covering one ward per companionship. Elder Anderson told us that the success of this mission depends on the faith of the missionaries and the members. He told us that this means we'll have to get to know the members a lot better and work through them a lot more to find people to teach. He also told us that we'll need to stay in our areas longer so that we can build relationships with the members. (That means, theoretically anyways, that I won't be transferred too often). I don't have time to write about everything, but I learned so much in those 2 hours.

I want you all to know that I know that this church is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth again today. I know that Joseph Smith was the prophet than helped restore the gospel to the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book of scripture and that by reading it you can come closer to Christ. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet who leads and directs the church today, under the direction of Heavenly Father. I know His gospel has brought
me more happiness than anything else ever will and I know that can be the same for all of you.

I love being a missionary and sharing these things that I know to be true. I love that I get to help other people come closer to Christ. And I love that Heavenly Father trusted me enough to be His representative in the Gilbert mission. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that through His Atonement I can return to live with Him again. After all that He has done for me, I'm glad that I have the chance to give him 18 months of my life to teach others about His gospel.

I hope you're all doing well and that things are going great back home. I love and miss you all!

Love always,

Baylee



(Here's the picture feeding the cow that was mentioned in last week's letter):