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| Thanks for the picture Sister Cedeno!! |
March 10, 2014
A bad day at the internet café...
Time sucks... I am in the worst internet café ever!! It took me 30 minutes to open my email today. Anyway... I will share a little bit of what has happened in the last two weeks...First the Carnival, we studied a lot! I am so glad that I love my companion! I can´t imagine being stuck in the house for 3 days straight with a companion that you don´t get along with! We were obedient in all of the studies our Mission President asked us to do but we also made sure we had a lot of fun! We told stories and laughed ALOT! Haha! Sometimes it is really hard to tell stories in Spanish but... it also makes the stories more interesting! haha! We were given a list of suggestions for what we could do in our free time, one suggestion was to "make your favorite plate of food"... We decided to try popcorn, after all its popcorn.. what's the worst that can happen? Let´s just say we are now going to spend a p-day re painting our apartment...there are oil stains all over the walls. We are still finding popcorn around the apartment when we clean! It was really funny, until we realized that we will be paying for the paint with our own money! hahah WORTH IT! ;)We have a baptism lined up for this Saturday! it was supposed to be last Saturday but Stake Conference threw us for a loop. This kid is great! He is the brother of our first baptism and it is amazing to see the change in him! It is a testimony builder to see his excitement about becoming a member of this church! I will send pictures next P-day!
I would like to end with an experience that we had this week that really helped build my testimony! We were trying to find a house that was given to us as a reference and we couldn´t find the right house. It was pouring outside and we were walking up and down the streets to find this house. A boy that we know walked up to us and we asked him how he was doing. He starting crying and told us that he had lost the keys to his house and his dad had told him he had half an hour to find them or he was going to beat him. He was terrified. We told him that we were going to find those keys! I asked him if we could say a prayer to ask Heavenly father for help in finding these keys. He looked confused and asked what a prayer was. We quickly explained what a prayer was and offered one. We were searching the streets for 30 minutes straight in the pouring rain when I felt prompted to ask him to say a personal prayer and ask for help. He was a little bit nervous but did it anyway. We told him that anytime he felt like he was going to cry he should say a prayer and ask for help. We kept searching the streets and asked him to check his patio and the area right by his house. We told him to meet us at a tienda just up the street. We were walking when we heard "Elders! Elders! I found them!" He had the biggest smile on his face and looked at us and said, "Dios existe, no ve?!" (the literal translation doesn´t quite make sense but he basically said, I know God exists!) It was one of the most powerful moments I have had one my mission. I was overcome with the spirit and knew in that moment that God knows each one of us individually and is listening to our prayers. He told us that he now understood why we left our families to come to Bolivia and teach people about the Gospel. He asked if he could come to church with us and learn more. It was an experience I will never forget. I also had a great interview with the president and he told me something that has really helped me. He told me that Today is the best day of my life and that needs to be the mind set every day! I have really been working on that and have seen an amazing influence!
TODAY IS THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE!
Elder Bailey
March 3, 2014
No Nigil this week :(
FYI...next week (3-3-2014) is a crazy party week(Carnival) and we can´t leave the house for a couple of days! We aren´t going to have a P day next week! I will talk to you guys in two weeks! Love you!February 24, 2014
I am keeping my head up!! some weeks are tough and this week was a little bit tougher
than last! Our numbers were down this week and we really didn´t have much success. We visited the clinic twice this week but surprisingly enough it wasn´t for me this time! haha! My companion was in a lot of pain and we just recently found out he has gastritis. I really have no idea what it is or if it's something serious... all I know is that he is on the white foods diet for a while. haha poor guy!
Our investigators are doing well.. kind of.. haha! Sometimes life in the mission is so frustrating! People show so much excitement and we do everything we can to get them to the baptismal date but a lot of people just really struggle with commitments and doing their part! We have had to move a couple of dates back because of commitment problems but we are going to get it! We are working hard and I know that the Lord has prepared people for us to help!
I think I actually like this whole Spanish thing! I just have to keep telling myself that I love Spanish and more and more I am actually beginning to like it! haha it is really difficult when I try to study because there are so many rules and I get overwhelmed really easy but I just have to take a second to look at my progress and be appreciative for the Lords help up to this point!
The weather here is amazing. I never want to leave Tarija because everyone tells me I am going to die in other climates!
Life is good and the mission is great! Hardest thing I have ever done but also the most rewarding thing I have ever done! I am in good health and I think I am really starting to find myself and realize the path I want my life to take!
The gospel is true! I know that with all of my heart! Love you all!
Elder Bailey
February 17, 2014
The happiest I´ve been in 4 months!!
We had cambios this week.... AND I GOT SOOOOO LUCKY! I am still in Senac, Tarija, but I have the best companion ever! His name is Elder Alfaro and he is from Chile. Seriously, I couldn´t be happier. I was going to title this email "The happiest I´ve been in 4 months" but I honestly think this is the happiest I have been in a LONG time! My companion is so patient with the fact that I can´t speak fluently yet and he is completely willing to help me in anyway possible. I told him my desires to speak like one missionary in our missionary that speaks really well. He told me " you will speak better than him, I promise, I am going to do everything I can to help you get to that point." The first day he was here, I gave him the phone and the keys and he asked me, "Why?" I said "because you are the senior companion and I thought that is how it worked" He said, "we both wear the same plaque and we have both been set apart as servants of the Lord, in this companionship the title senor companion doesn´t mean anything because we are going to work together"
I can´t even express how much I have already learned. My companion has 17 months in the mission and I have learned so much by watching the way he teaches and does things. We set high goals and work our tails off to accomplish them. We have 3 baptisms lined up for the 8th of March and are doing everything possible to get some more people ready.
I know the Lord is watching over me. He sent me a companion that is changing my mission and the way I look at missionary work. I can honestly say now that there is no where I would rather be. My feelings of doubt have almost completely diminished. I am happy. No, I am more than happy. I don´t think there is a word in English or Spanish that expresses the amount of hope I now feel towards my mission. I am improving rapidly in the language and am realizing how much I actually know.
Heavenly father answers prayers. We just have to remember that it is in his time. "be patient in thine afflictions, for thou shall have many, but endure them for lo I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days" (D&C 24:8) I am beginning to see the fruits of patience. The blessings are flowing into my life in ways I didn´t know possible! Pray, Pray, Pray, the Lord is Listening and eager to help! 
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