March 17

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it finally happened. I got transferred to a new area. And it's super weird. Haha. I was used to knowing everything and everyone, but now I feel super lost. It's ok though, I'll start to get familiar with the area quickly and will learn to love it.

So the past week has been super crazy. Last week we went shopping and I got some new clothes. It was great. Haha. And then I spent some time starting to pack up all my stuff. Let me tell you, that was a process. I have so much stuff that's accumulated over the past 9 months. And then that night we went out and I started saying my goodbyes to members and investigators.

And that's how we spent Tuesday as well. After our normal meetings in the morning, we went to visit lots of people. It was super emotionally exhausting. It was hard because I've really grown to love all of those people, but I also knew it was time for me to move on and experience something new. I think the hardest goodbye was to Linda. I've known her since August, so almost since I first got out here, and we've been visiting her ever since then. She was kind of upset to learn I was leaving. We explained how missions work to her, so she understands it though. She gave me an awesome gift before I left. It's a baby afghan. She loves to crochet them and give them away for gifts-so she made one and told me to keep it for when I have kids. It was super sweet of her and really special. I'll miss her a lot. But I'll come back to visit and will do my best to keep in touch with her.

That night was crazy too though, trying to finish packing and get all my stuff to fit into my suitcases and a few boxes. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I did. Haha. It really was a miracles.

Wednesday was transfer day, which is always crazy. We had to leave early to get there on time, and then we were there for what felt like forever, but I loved the meeting, so it was great. We didn't have any super crazy changes this transfer, but we did get a 3rd Assistant to the President which was unexpected. My new companion is Sister Bateman. She's from Sandy Utah. She's super sweet and we have a lot in common. I think we'll have a lot of fun together. And my area is in Gilbert somewhere. I know that's really vague, but that's all I really know. Haha. I know nothing about Gilbert and feel super lost, but I'm sure that'll change quickly. We don't have a car, which kinda sucks, but I really don't mind biking too much. I'm just not excited for the heat. We live in Mesa though, 2 miles outside of our area-it's in the tiny chunk of Mesa that's in our mission. And we live in apartments which is weird because I've lived in a house my whole mission so far. But it's pretty nice so far.

As far as my area goes, it's really nice. There are actually houses that have grass here instead of just rock, so that's pretty nice. And the people are great too. We have 3 wards, which is kind of overwhelming because it's a lot of people to meet, but I know it'll be great. The crazy thing is that it's still a tiny area-just over a square mile or so. And I've even met a few people so far that are somewhat familiar with Tennessee and know where Morristown is. And one of our Ward Mission Leaders used to live in Queen Creek in one of the wards I used to be in, so that's kind of cool too. Gilbert is definitely different than Queen Creek, it'll take some adjusting, but I think I'll really learn to love it here.

The next few days were a blur of trying to get to know more of the members and figure out the area. And I'm slowly starting to learn it. We also had planning meeting on Friday and a meeting for new missionaries that we went to for my companion.

And then on Saturday I woke up with the stomach flu. That was not fun. We ended up having to stay inside all day, which was not terribly fun. But I got a blessing Saturday morning from our zone leaders, and after that I felt better and was completely better by Sunday. The priesthood is amazing! Haha.

And then came Sunday. Well, I used to complain about 2 wards and 6 hours of church. But now we have 3 wards and 9 hours of church! And no, I am not kidding. It was quite a long day. I met a lot of people who were all super nice though. And I'll get used to all the church, it's very uplifiting, but it's also somewhat exhausting.

So yeah, that's been my crazy week. Full of trying to adjust to a new area and figure our what the heck is going on. It's definitely overwhelming, but I'm getting through it and learning a lot. I know I'll love it here, I'm just looking forward to when things get a little less crazy.

Well, I hope you all had great weeks as well. I love and miss you all, as usual, and would love to hear from all of you. (Hint, Hint). Have a great week!

My new address is
5332 E. Baseline Rd. #1051
Mesa, AZ 85206

Love Always,

Baylee