April 7

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, once again I had a crazy week that flew by, but I loved all of it. It's just crazy how quickly the time actually goes. I hit my 10 months mark on Saturday, how crazy is that?! It doesn't feel like I've been gone that long, I feel like I just left. haha.

So last week was quite fun. We went to red robin to eat last Monday night with the sisters we live with, which was great. I've been craving their fries for awhile. haha. And then when we were about to pay for our food, our waiter told us that it had been paid for already. We have no idea who paid for it, but I'm super grateful to them.

And then Tuesday was April Fools day, so on Monday night we pulled a prank on our zone leaders. We got the idea to write on their car (with window paint of course). So we decided to write "Just Married" and all kinds of fun stuff like that on their car. It was super funny. And then the next day they had to drive it around like that until they could get to a car wash. It was quite entertaining. They thought it was pretty good too. And then to get us back they put vaseline on our door handles, which was pretty lame in comparison, but it was unexpected. Haha. We also found out they did it to our district leader. So then on Friday, our district leader wrote an epistle to them titled "A Declaration of Prankic War". It was based off one from the Book of Mormon and was actually quite hilarious. So we all signed it and then he gave it to the zone leaders. We also all got a copy of it, so that was fun.

And then since it was conference weekend, and a lot of families have fun conference traditions that include food, we got invited over several places for food. It was great! Haha. We got homemade cinnamon rolls, french toast, pancakes, and waffles. Plus dinner. I'm pretty sure I gained like 5 pounds, but it was definitely worth it. Haha.

Now for the spiritual part of the week. Well, on Tuesday we had zone meeting, which ended up being really great. We each had the chance to share something that we've learned since coming out on a mission. It was really neat to hear what everyone said. I talked about how there are hard times, a lot of them, but that it's all for our benefit. Heavenly Father gives us challenges so that we can learn to be better, stronger people. I know that's definitely true. Missions are hard, but they are so worth it. I have learned so much and strengthened my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ tremendously. I really am grateful for the hard times, because that's what took me to my knees and helped me learn to rely more fully on Jesus Christ and His Atonement. One of the elders said if you go home the same way you came out, you've wasted 18 months, and I absolutely believe that's true. There is so much potential to grow on a mission, but if you don't learn and grow, it really is a waste.

Thursday was another great day because we had interviews. Every other transfer we all meet as a zone and each have a personal interview with President Nattress. We also get training from the assistants and our zone leaders. So we talked a lot about inspiring the members and getting them motivated to do missionary work. This work cannot succeed unless we work together, so we focused a lot on how to do that. We also talked a lot about encouraging the youth. The youth in the church have so much more influence than they realize. They spend all day everyday surrounded by friends and people at school that could be prepared for the gospel. And they're so bold and good at inviting people to learn more! We're planning a special fireside in a few weeks for all the youth and the adults in the wards as well to help get them excited about the work as well. It was a really great meeting. I feel like I learned a lot and have some great ideas about how I can improve and how I can help motivate and inspire others. I always love any opportunity I have to learn how to be a better missionary and representative of Jesus Christ.

And then this weekend was general conference of course! It was so amazing! How blessed are we? Every 6 months we have to chance to hear from President Thomas S. Monson, a living prophet of God and many other great leaders as well. They help us know what we can do to become better people and closer to the Lord. They uplift us with their words and help us feel Heavenly Father's love for us. I especially loved Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard's talks. They were both very bold, but loving in delivering their message. I am so excited to get the Ensign next month and continue to study what they said and use it to learn and improve. I also loved that they mentioned the Gilbert Temple cultural celebration and dedication. The youth were truly incredible. It was absolutely pouring and so cold that night, but they kept going. And the temple has been such a great blessing here. Also, Elder William R. Walker who spoke in the afternoon session yesterday is the person in charge of all the temple open houses, so we got to meet him before the Gilbert Temple open house. It was cool to get to hear from him in conference.

Oh, we also found out on Saturday that the sisters in our mission have been asked to help work the Easter Pagent at the Mesa Temple. I feel so lucky and blessed to be in this mission. We've had so many amazing opportunities and I've really learned so much. I definitely have the best mission in the world. Haha.

Yeah, that was pretty much my week. We don't have a lot of people we're teaching right now, but we're working hard to find people. I feel like there are some great things coming and I am excited to see what happens in the next week. I hope that you're all doing well back home too and enjoying life. Have a great week!

Love always,

Baylee