11.18.13

 Hi

 So it has been another fantastic week as a missionary! It started out with sister Ketring and I both being sick with the colds directly from Lucifer himself, which is always exciting. I prayed really really hard that I would be better by wednesday so I could make pies, and God worked things out. We spent Tuesday in bed recovering so by Wednesday we were ready to go. Wednesday was quite possibly the most fun day of my entire mission so far. We rode to Nampa with Sister Real (one of our favorite missionary moms) and got lunch at Jimmy Johns (hallelujah for a delicious sandwich!) she is hilarious so that was great. Then we went to the mission home and Sister Cannon took us to WinCo to shop for pie ingredients. WinCo is the best grocery store on the face of the planet. I have probably mentioned that before, but it is just really awesome. Can you say bulk bins of EVERYTHING? It is great. So after almost forgetting the Crisco and running back through the isles while Sis. Cannon waited at the register, we headed back to the mission home to get baking. Apples and pumpkin filling were coming out of our ears! Every once in a while President would pop in to tell us how good it smelled and tell us a story.  About 7 hours an 19 pies later we were all exhausted, covered in flour/shorting, and starving. President took the three of us baking queens out for dinner at Olive Garden, which was extremely nice and delicious. We went back to the mission home and crashed. I just have to tell you haw amazing President and Sister Cannon are. I love them SO much. They really are like replacement parents while I am here in Idaho, and they really would do anything for us. Also, they are hilarious. I feel like we are best friends with them. I guess pie wins over everyone (thanks for teaching me that, President Clason!). Anyways, our zone conference on Thursday was phenomenal. It was a fast and feast (hence all of the pies). The theme was recognizing and understanding the spirit. President told a story about "The Box and the Pearl" and understanding that what we think is importand may just be a decorative box, but the most treasured things are hidden inside. Ie. A fun zone conference would be the box and the spiritual knowledge to be gained would be the pearl. I loved that as I feel it applies to pretty much everything in life. We also played some really fun team building games and had a fantastic training on washing our hands. It was lovely. Afterwards we had a really nice testimony meeting and then broke our fast with a beautiful Thanksgiving feast! It was delicious and everyone loved our pies. That night I went home with Sister Robinson and got to spend the next in night in Emmett. It was really fun, I love exchanges! Saturday was an amazing day as well. Two of my favorite people were baptized! WE headed down to Nyssa first thing for Glen Hunt's baptism. Remember Glen? No? Look back a few months and read my entry about all of the chewing tobacco. He is awesome. He had such a neat spirit about him and was pretty excited to be "water boarded" as he calls it. It was beautiful! It was also fun to see some old familiar faces. It felt like coming home. We sped back to Weiser after his baptism to make it to Malinda's baptism. SHe was absolutely exuberant and filled with the spirit. President and Sister Cannon came to her service and said they have never seen anyone so prepared to enter the waters of baptism. She is amazing! It has truely been one of the most rewarding weeks of my whole mission. This is a great work and I am so privileged to be part of it. I feel like my family is just growing and growing. I love and miss you all  every day but I would die if I weren't here. 
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> Love you!!
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> Sister Baker

11.11.13

Hi all,

Things here in Weiser are going well. We had Jamie, Rex, and Malinda at church yesterday which was wonderful. We are so excited for Malinda to be baptized this coming Saturday. She is very strong and has a beautiful testimony of the gospel. Her husband left her this past weekend and she is going through some really rough things at the moment. She has not lost one ounce of her faith through this trial and is more ready than ever to enter the waters of baptism. It is crazy how hard the adversary works on people when they are trying to do whats right. I am always so proud to see investigators withstand his firey darts and continue to stand on the Lord's side of the line. 

In other news, we held a fireside for new members last night, to which only 4 recent converts showed up. Luckily we had representation from each of the bishoprics (except for 1) and all od our ward mission leaders present so it made things look a little more full. We were excited to have Bailey there though. She is a recent convert/recently less-active member whom we have been having a hard time catching up with. She really felt the spirit and was touched by the speakers. Therefore, it was a success!  We are doing our best to increase member involvement and ward activities. We are making progress slowly but surely. Just in time for me to most likely be transferred in two weeks... We will see what the Lord has in store. 

Before I close I would like to give a shoutout to some people who need to be thanked for some unsung good deeds. First I would like to thank the two Elders who served in Roseburg, Oregon around 2001. You left a lasting impression on one of our investigators which helped prepare her to receive the restored gospel. Really this thank you is to all of the missionaries out there who feel like they have not had success with a particular person, or in a particular area, or on their mission at all. Every little thing you do makes a difference. Every person you talk/talked to leaves an impression. You are/were/will be successful. This is the Lord's work and we are His instruments. It matters. You matter. So, THANK YOU! I would also like to thank my mother for teaching me how to keep a house. I know I was a total pill about it growing up, but now I am really glad that I know how to scrub a bathroom and do dishes and vacuum. It is important. So, THANK YOU!! I am so grateful for each of the people who have made even the smallest impact on me-who have helped me to become the person/missionary/child of God that I am trying to become. I love you!

Your Sister,

Madison Baker

11.4.13

Dear Everyone,

This week has been good but not extremely eventful. Everyone is doing well. Malinda and Rex are still progressing towards baptism but Jamie is having a harder time. She did not make it to church this week which made us really sad. We are struggling to find new people to teach right now and are trying to help the ward members get involved. One thing we are trying to get going is an adult institute class once a week. What kinds of things are going on in your stake to help the members get involved in missionary work? 

Sorry I don't have much of anything exciting to report on this week. Most weeks are pretty much the same with subtle changes. This coming week should be interesting though. I will be attending my first Mission Leadership Council meeting tomorrow. I am excited to be involved in this! It is always neat to be involved in those kinds of things. I really love President Cannon and the other Zone Leaders are great, so it should be really fun/productive. We also have a zone training meeting and will be going on exchanges with the Enterprise sisters. We have Zone Conference next week and will be doing a fast and feast for thanksgiving. 

The work continues to progress and we continue to diligently serve (even when things are a little slow). I love serving my Savior and learning more how to be like Him each day. This Gospel is TRUE. 

Love,

Sister Baker

10.28.13

Dear Everyone,

This week has been an extremely rewarding week as a missionary. Sometimes we just keep going and wonder if we are really doing any good and every once in a while we are blessed to see the fruits of our labor. Anyways, I am really grateful to be doing the Lord's work in this part of his vineyard.

Last week started out a bit rough, but by Tuesday or Wednesday things started to look up. We went on Exchanges Wednesday night to Thursday with the Parma sisters. I got to go home for a day :). I was able to see Viola and hear of her continuing conversion. She never ceases to amaze me. I was able to spend the day with sister Dijkwel from the Netherlands. She is amazing! She has been in the field for two weeks and has a beautiful testimony and ability to teach and share the gospel. She is also super positive, which I love since I have been trying to improve my ability to be optimistic. She taught me so much in just 24 hours! 

When I returned to Weiser on Thursday I found that Sister Ketring and Sister Poynter had been able to commit one of the less active sisters we have been working with, Lacy, to come to the Relief Society activity that night. Score! She came and loved it. On Friday we got to go on a fun adventure with President and Sister Cannon. We had a mission leadership training in Baker city (kinda weird that I go to those now) so President offered to pick us up to save on miles. The sunrise/fog that morning was gorgeous so he and sister Cannon kept stopping to take pictures which made me laugh but was pretty cool. We had the meeting on helping other missionaries cope with stress (I wish I had someone to help me with that sometimes...) It was great and I learned a lot. After the meeting, President had to go up to La Grande for an interview, so we got to join him for the beautiful drive. Fall is a magical season! He took us to lunch and told us all kinds of stories. We really got to know He and Sister Cannon on a more personal level. He even told a few off color jokes. It was awesome. When we finally returned form our journey, we met up with Malinda Turner for her baptismal interview. She rocked it. She came out of the room and declared "I am never drinking coffee again!" She updated us on Sunday and had said she forgot and accidentally drank some on Saturday and was absolutely sick the rest of the day and she was done for good. We are so immensely proud of her and how far she has come. 

This weekend we also discovered that Bob Green (See emails from July) one of my favorite recent converts is staying in the rehabilitation center/rest home here in Weiser. He is not very old but suffers from a rare form of gout (hey mom, remember when that nurse asked me if I had gout? Lol it is really no laughing matter). We went to go see him and as soon as we walked into his room he began to cry. He bore his testimony of the Gospel and told me how much I mean to him. He told me that I have no Idea how perfect our timing was when we came to his door and offered to weed his yard. He bore powerful testimony of the Lord's timing. I love him so much. He is frail in body but grows ever stronger in spirit. 

After visiting with Brother Green, we went to see Jamie. Jamie has been wanting to be baptized but has not been able to keep any commitments, including coming to church. When we saw her this weekend her countenance had completely changed. She told us how after praying to be able to feed her family, a ward member showed up at her door with food. She received the witness that she needed to start acting on her faith. She was in church yesterday with her husband and son in  toe. They stayed all three hours and absolutely loved it! Malinda and Rex were also at church yesterday. We are so proud of each of these people who are preparing themselves for baptism. 

A quick update on Ian and Virginia: We have transferred Ian to the YSA elders in Ontario and from what we here he is doing well. Virginia has been out of town for the past week and a half visiting her daughter in Mexico where it is warm. We miss her like crazy! Life is going well. The Lord is ever mindful. I love you.

Love,

Sister Baker

10.14.13

Hi all!

Our investigators are all doing really well! We have been praying mightily for them to all start coming to church, and this week we had 4 of them there! It was wonderful! Virginia even came to Sacrament Meeting before attending to a family emergency. I was pretty jazzed, but sad she was having family troubles. Rex, Malinda, and Timmy came too.

 

We learned this week that Malinda is a recovering addict. She has been sober 7 years and has really turned her life around. She was telling us yesterday that she has stopped using swear words because she could feel that crude language and the spirit do not mix. It was a pretty tender experience. I want to write a book about her amazing conversion! 

Rex has also really been softening to the spirit and loved church! When the Stake President asked if he would be back next week he said "absolutely!". I am so thrilled for each of these sweet people. I am blessed beyond belief to be serving with and among them. 

Transfers happened today and I am thrilled to say that I get to spend another transfer here! Life is great!

10.7.13

This week has been good. Kinda crazy, but lots of fun! We had a sisters conference on Thursday which was interesting, but a good time. General Conference was awesome. I loved Elder Oaks' talk, and Elder Holland's talk, and President Monson's talks. And all of the talks. Conference is like Christmas for missionaries! Our investigators are all doing well and we even had two of them join us this weekend to watch conference! So, I thought this week I might just give you a run down/update of our current investigators. I am kinda wiped and can't really remember what all we did this week, so you will have to read this instead. Love you all!

Ian- 21 year old male, VERY Christian background. Showed up at church about a month ago wanting to know more about the Mormon church and has been meeting with us ever since. Ian is pretty skeptical, but also open to feeling the spirit. He puts on a tough front, but really knows that it is all true. He struggles coming to church because his family is super anti. But he always shows up to activities and we have lessons with him regularly. We are praying for his family to soften their hearts!

Virginia- 70 year old female, sweetest woman on the planet. Was searching for God in her life and was invited to meet with us by her LDS neighbor. She is sincerely seeking the truth and LOVES church. We ate dinner with her this week and she told us she is glad to have granddaughters in her house again. She loves the Book of Mormon and is working to rebuild a relationship with her Heavenly Father through prayer. I am so excited about her enthusiasm for the gospel.

Malinda- 40 year old Female, AMAZING. She and her husband, Bob (less-active member) were hit by a truck while on their motorcycle on the highway in June. In the hospital they both received priesthood blessings and have both miraculously reached almost complete recoveries. She says that after she received the blessing in the hospital that she knew that she was truly being blessed by the power of God and she knew that she had to have that in her life. She knows that The Father has kept her alive for a reason and is doing everything she can to fulfill that purpose. She is being baptized November 18th. I cannot wait!

Rex- 75 year old male, a little crazy/hilarious. Requested a copy of the Book of Mormon from mormon.org. He started to read it, but couldn't understand the language so he ordered the Living scripture DVDs online and is going to watch those instead. We have only had two lessons so far, but both have been filled with the spirit. He has committed to be baptized on October 26 and was very pleased that he would be invited to join the church and that God would want him to be part of his true church and that he could hold the priesthood. He is a big sweetheart. 

So, those are the main/ exciting ones. I am probably forgetting someone but will include them next week. I love this work and I love these people with all that I have. I guess I love all of you hooligans too.

Love,

Sister Baker

9.30.13

Hi!

We had a pretty good week this week. We did more missionary work. Surprise! We found 4 new investigators this week which was pretty cool. One in each ward. We have really been praying to build up the area and the Lord has been blessing us for our faith and hard work. I guess not blessing us as much as those people who have been searching for the gospel. One of the people we found this week is Virginia. She is an older lady and has spent much of her life believing in God but not being able to find a church that has felt comfortable to her. She has had a very interesting life and is very interested in the Book of Mormon and the gospel. She is really nice and cute, too! She came to church yesterday and loved it! She said that everything felt good and comfortable, which is what she has been searching for. We will begin the lessons with her this week. 

We also started visiting an older man named Rex. He requested a Book of Mormon from Mormon.org and hee is pretty interested in the gospel. He is a child of God, and I know that the gospel can help him to find the lasting happiness that he has not been able to find elsewhere. One of our favorite ward missionaries, Sister Milburn came with us to visit him and we have been laughing with her for days about some of his more colorful comments about having some nice looking young ladies in his home (for some reason old men seem to really like us...). Sister Milburn always seems to come with us on our more interesting visits and keeps us entertained. She is pretty awesome. 

 Well, besides the normal day to day, Sister Ketring ended up in the ER on Wednesday night for some abdominal pains...  That was fun. She is fine now. We also made some super cute conference notebooks with a member this week. We are having lots of fun in between lots of hard work! We stopped by the house one day to grab something we had forgotten and had a package with a "call me, maybe" note from the UPS guy. That was pretty funny. We are devising a plan to teach him the gospel. 

Our cute friend, Renee recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost at church yesterday. We weren't able to do it last week because of stake conference. It was a beautiful blessing. She doesn't have many church clothes and ha no modest skirts, so Sister Ketring and I each found something we could give her so that she could be comfortable and modest now that she is a member of the church. The joy in that girl's face was radiant and contagious. For as much opposition as she has, her commitment to be righteous and follow the example of our Savior is something special. In a lot of ways she reminds me of Jessi (I miss that girl!) in her determination and dedication to the gospel at such a young age. I know I say it every week, but I love seeing people change their lives to come closer to our Heavenly Father. 

We also attended a baptism for a man I helped teach in Parma on Saturday. He is so humble and converted. This is also where we were able to see Some Peterson folk... We had lunch and the official tour of Nyssa with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson before the baptism. It was so fun! Going back to Nyssa felt a little like going home and it was super fun getting to spend the day with (almost) family! All in all it was a pretty great week! Sorry this email was a little random, but hat is kinda how our week felt. 

To end on a spiritual note, Sister Ketring and I had a really great conversation in the car this morning about the worth of souls and what it means to be a daughter of God. It is a pretty spectacular thing, to have this divine birthright. I am so grateful to know who I am, to have a foundation in Christ that cannot be shaken, and to know that I can always be better through the Atonement of my Savior. I love this work and I love this gospel. Also, I love each of you! Have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Baker