January 6

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I know I say this every week, but this past week was so great! We had a lot of stuff going on and our investigator was baptized which was amazing!

Last Monday I played softball with our zone. That was super fun. I even participated. I hit the ball all 3 times I batted. But the fist time I was so shocked I forgot to run. Haha. And I was useless in outfield, even when the ball came right to me. But it's ok, I still had fun. And then that night we went to visit Linda again. She said we had perfect timing again and that she loves when we come over and loves what we have to say. We talked about how God has a plan for each of us, and she wants us to come back and teach her more. And she gave us 3 grapefruit from her very own grapefruit tree. They were really good. Haha.

Tuesday was New Year's Eve and was pretty normal. We had zone meeting in the morning and went out to eat with the zone afterwards. And then we went out and did normal missionary stuff until 6 PM. Then we came in and studied Preach My Gospel for 3 hours, which was actually really cool. I learned a lot and really enjoyed it. And then Sister Ball and I stayed up until midnight. We had to make our only New Years on our missions memorable. Haha. It was definitely worth being tired the next day. And there were lots of fireworks, so that was fun.

Wednesday was pretty normal. We met with Bethany for the last time before her baptism Saturday to make sure everything was worked out. She was still super excited and so were we. Haha.

Thursday we had exchanges, which was super awesome. In the morning we went to one of the church buildings for a little devotional for our district. It was seriously one of the most amazing meetings I've ever been to. Brother Allen, a seminary and institute teacher in the stake, came and talked about the Atonement and its power in our lives if we really understand it and take it to heart. I learned SO much and hope we get to hear from him again.

Saturday was one of the best days of my mission so far. Bethany was baptized, and that was so cool! We got to the church early to make sure everything was ready and she got there a little bit after us. She was super excited. We made sure we had everything and then the baptism started. It was so amazing! The spirit was super strong, and even her nonmember friends could feel it. The talks were great and Bethany was so full of joy. You could see how happy she was to be baptized. She's starting a new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I was so grateful to witness the beginning of it. Our mission president and one of his counselors came too, and they spoke for a few minutes. President Nattress pointed out that everyone there (and the room was packed) was there to support her. It was really cool. Her family wasn't very supportive of her decision to join the church, but she does have a great support system. She knows she's making the right choice and even though it won't be easy, it will be worth it. She is such an amazing example to me. It was just a great reminder of why I came on a mission. I'm not here for myself. I'm here to help other people find the joy I already have from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Saturday evening was interesting to say the least. We went home at 7 to grab something and found our garage door open. We never leave it open so we called our roommates to see if they left it open. They didn't answer so then we called a few different people to try and get ahold of someone. No one answered so I was about to just go in myself, but decided against it. And then our zone leaders called back. We told them what was going on and they told us to not go in and wait for them to get to our house. So they called President Nattress and our housing coordinators and let them know what was going on, and then when they got to our house they went inside and looked around. Our front door was unlocked too, which we also never leave unlocked. They didn't find anyone or anything out of the ordinary and when we looked around we didn't see anything missing. So then we sat in our garage and waited for the Vanderpools (the housing coordinators) to get there. Once they got there and we got ahold of our roommates, who said they didn't leave the doors open, Elder Vanderpool called the police. And we went through the house to make sure all the doors and windows were locked. Oddly enough I wasn't freaked out by it at all, which was good because my roommates were all freaked out. But it was definitely a weird experience. And as one of my zone leaders pointed out, it's something to write home about. Although I think I would've preferred it if it hadn't happened at all. Haha.

And then on Sunday Bethany was confirmed in Sacrament Meeting. It was such a great testimony meeting. Again, the spirit was so strong and she was so full of joy. I really am so grateful that I got to play a small part in helping her join the church and find the Gospel. She even got up to bear her testimony, which was amazing.

The rest of the day was pretty normal, but last night we all got freaked out and all slept in the same room. The other two sisters dragged their mattresses into our room and we locked the door. Haha. We were all just freaked out by the idea that someone had been in our house and we don't know how they got in or what they wanted. But we all calmed down and managed to get some sleep. haha.

And that was my week, crazy but also amazing. I've definitely had a lot of experiences on my mission that I didn't expect. Haha. But I love every single one of them. I am still so grateful to be out here serving the Lord in Arizona. I have truly learned to love the people. I am so grateful that we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth again today and that we have a living prophet to lead us. I'm grateful for Joseph Smith and all that he did. And I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon to give me guidance in my life. And most importantly, I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered the Atonement, for me and for everyone that ever has lived or will live on the earth. Because of his sacrifice, I never have to be alone in this life, He is always there with me, and I will be able to make it back to live with Heavenly Father again.

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

Love always,

Baylee