Monday, March 18, 2013

March 18, 2013

Hi everyone :)

I'm doing pretty good myself here. Salida is crazy! It's hippie-ville haha and I LOVE IT. Like, it's unreal how hippie this town is. But everyone here is super friendly.

My new girls name is SIster Hansen. She is 19! Super crazy. She is from Pleasant Grove, Utah.  Yesterday we were both sick.. I think the elevation and weather change is killing us. She has a great testimony and talks a ton for being a new missionary. 

We live in an apt. It's pretty nice, but freezing!!! Like we woke up and our place was 50 degrees even though I had it set to 70. So we need to figure that out haha.

Salida is super small with tons of antique stores and little downtown shops. The branch is crazy haha the average age in the branch is 60.. and there are only 3 active youth. It's weird hah.  But I already love it here. :)

I'm kind of struggling. Opening a new area has been rough. But the branch has been really nice to us! We are super far away from everyone, too, which is hard. THe closest elders to us are about an hour away. Our district meeetings are an hour and 15 minutes away haha. It's crazy! So I just feel kind of lost right now, but I know in due time it will all get better! I know I am supposed to be here, so that is comforting. We also have a senior couple here with us, they are Elder and SIster Chandler.. and they are great! They have helped me not feel so alone.

As for the ------'s baptism.. IT was wonderful :)  When they got baptized, we walked behind the doors with them to put their hair up and stuff before they went into the water, so we got to be watching from the side when they got baptized. -------- went first and when she came out of the water, her and her dad embraced and she started to cry. The spirit was so strong! Then she came and stood by us as -------- went down to the font. When she came out of the water, same thing, her dad and her embraced and she began to cry. It was so wonderful. It was amazing to see it finally happen.  I know that our fast. It was great.  I am so happy I got to witness them finally be baptized. What a great way to leave the area.

I miss Sister Kartchner a lot! We got along so well, it's sad that it only lasted for 5 weeks!

I also got to see Toi which was fun! I love her! It was good to see some people from Pueblo that I love so much. We have a meeting in Pueblo tomorrow and the ------s are coming to see me in town! I'm so excited! They have been baptized for almost a year! It's crazy!!! They can get sealed in May! LOVE IT!

So, that is all the updates. I can't believe how fast my mission is flying by. It makes me want to cry!! I hit my year mark on the 28th. Unreal. What a blessing it has been to serve.

Also, I was reading the other day in Ether about the Brother of Jared. I love that he asks the Lord how to get light and how to breathe. The Lord answers how to breathe in the barges. So, then the Brother of Jared takes the question of how to get light a second time to Lord and the Lord asks him what he thinks he should do. I was thinking about my mission and how I got an answer that I needed to be out here, and now the Lord puts a lot of faith in me to know what to do! I was thinking about how important prayer is and that when we really pray, that is when we build that relationship with Heavenly Father. Then when we follow the revelation He gives us, He puts more faith in us. I just love the scriptures. I am just about done reading the Book of Mormon a second time through out here. I'm learning so much from it.

I LOVE YOU ALL :)
there are signs like this all over town


Monday, March 11, 2013

March 11, 2013

Hi everyone :)

I'm doing so good right now :)

I"M GOING TO SALIDA :) I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!! It just feels right, ya know? Sister K is staying here in both wards and training two new girls. I will go to Salida and have one new girl. We are opening up the area, too. No missionaries were there this last transfer, so should be exciting. Training, flushing, and opening the area. Too crazy! It is kind of stressful, but pretty exciting. We looked up pictures of it and it looks so pretty. Looks like my kind of town. I hear it's kind of a hippie-ville. Can't wait. :) Hahaha. Salida has been requesting sisters for awhile now so I know the branch is really excited for us to come. I pray my new girl is great and that we find success there.

-----'s baptism was AMAZING. So amazing. SO MANY PEOPLE CAME. We have a huge relief society room and it was FULL. When he was baptized the spirit was so dang strong. After, while he was changing, I got to share the first lesson with everyone in the room. I was crying the whole time. I was just so overcome with the spirit. It was such a great moment for me to talk at his baptism.  He told his conversion story and the whole room was just silent. The spirit was so strong. Then, a member in the ward got up and started to cry as he presented the LDS artwork of "fishers of men." The ward pitched in to get it for him. The member read from the talk by Elder Holland called "the first great commandment".. He told ------ that he was now a disciple. It was truly amazing. The spirit was so strong.

The best part of the whole baptism, was seeing how happy he was. He looked different. He looked happy. I asked him if he was happy afterwards, he smiled, and said he was so happy.

I just can't get over how much the Lord is truly blessing me. We are seeing so much less active work done, investigators baptized, the ward becoming more unified, etc. It's just so great.

I have such a testimony of this gospel. I have a testimony of the power of prayer. I've truly come to understand that Heavenly Father is my Father. I know Jesus Christ died so that each one of us could live again. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that obedience is so important in this work. I love that each one of us have different personalities. Through our different personalities we can change peoples lives. What a blessing.

I love this gospel.

LOVE YOU ALL :)
MISS YOU, TOO.

-Sister Baker :)