Le-go and move forward 12/29/2014

Christmas was a very splendid day of gift giving and receiving.

I want to say how thankful I am for the gifts I've received from those I love dearly and those whom I probably met but completely forgotten their names. Still thankful for them though.

We had a wonderful time getting to spend time with some families here in Allen. I loved getting to talk to my family through Face Time and getting to express my love for them through video with no time delay :) Some of the things I got from the Allen 1st Ward: Legos and a Texas flag pillow case. Though that doesn't compare to the spirit I felt as we read with others the story of Jesus Christ's birth. Lots of people get caught up in the gift giving and the trees and the decorations but I loved most of all was truly understanding the importance of Jesus Christ and how he was a gift of love for all of us.

Also had some hard opposition this week while Sister Ricks and I were proselyting. Met a few people who were not very happy with the existence of Joseph Smith and they told us very bluntly, oh and that we were brain washed as well (rolls eyes and sighs deeply). Yeah, they think I didn't choose for myself to be giving up 18 months of time and dedication to be here (face palm). It saddened my heart to hear this and that they wouldn't try to understand but it did not stop me, in fact, I will never let it stop me. My testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ has never been more positive and sure. I'm grateful for the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible because it really has helped me understand what my role is in this life and the awesome future ahead for me and EVERYONE!

I'm hope that with a new year approaching that we can all shake off the things that are weighing us down and be able to start fresh and begin to create a more better you, because I know that's something I greatly desire for myself. May the New Year be with you to brighten your life. 

Loving to set goals, Sister Baker

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh this has been a joyous month of sharing the message of Jesus Christ's birth with everyone I meet.

How wonderful it is to know that we all had been given many gifts in our lives but that the one gift that was given to us through much love was the gift of The Savior Jesus Christ.

The "He Is The Gift" video has been a real smash here in Texas. Also, a new video came out featuring the MISSIONARIES OF THE TEXAS DALLAS MISSION:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNuP6D9DQVg

Enjoy! (Sister Baker can be seen from 4:54-5:02)

I want to share my testimony that I know He LIVES. I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much He sent His Son, for me and for you. That by the Redeemer and through him and of him we get to have peace and joy in this life. I love knowing that this eternal happiness we know of can give us hope for the future and benefit those whose hearts are heavy and sorrowful. It's my prayer that we share this glorious message with all we meet whether through a greeting and warm hugs to liking it on facebook.

I love you all of you even though I have hard times showing it, I really do love all of you...alphabetically (Grinch voice)
Love,
love,
love,
double love,

LOVE ENTIRELY!

I'll Stay Where you Want Me To Stay 12/15/14

I'm staying in the Allen 1st Ward area in Allen. Neither Sister Ricks or I got transferred.

On another cheery note- it's almost Christmas!  And in the words of some famous singer: "So this is Christmas and what have you done?"

Well I have done a bit this week. Tuesday we watched Mr. Krueger's Christmas with a elderly woman who is investigating the church. Her husband passed away last year and I was prompted to invite her to watch the video with us at a member's home. She loved watching it and said 'it was well made' along with many other positive things about it like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Jimmy Stewart. Yet, it seemed like she thought nothing more about it, which is why she is a constant joy to teach :[ 

She is firmly planted in her faith and is still only curious about learning. But I love her with every part of my soul and I'm beginning to understand "patience is a virtue".  We let her talk a while after that and eventually she asked us what our plans were for Christmas. We said we didn't have any yet, and that surprised her. She was like "What? You? You sisters always say you have an appointment every day of the week, but not on Christmas?" SO she said, "Well if you don't have anyone feeding you, you can have dinner with me, but if any of your 'church people' invite you over, just so ya know, I'm punting you over to them"(she has a Minnesota accent :P)  So I was like(in my mind) "WE ARE SPENDING CHRISTMAS WITH YOU IF ITS THE LAST THING WE DO". I ain't hav'in none of this "I'll spend it with my pets(she has 4), I'll be fine."  NOPE! I'm pretty sure she is why Sister Ricks and I are staying for 7 more weeks.

I'll keep you posted about her.

 

So normally I don't talk about negative experiences but this one I feel prompted to share.

Saturday, 2 people got angry at us. We were trying to reach a member that was in our ward directory but that we had never me,t so we knocked on the door and a lady opened up and we introduced ourselves and after we said 'latter day saints' she said 'not interested' and tried to shut the door which is a common response. I said "Wait, we're looking for Thomas" and she opened up the door said something along the lines of< "He's either dead or doesn't live here" and then shut the door.

So we brushed it off and decided he definitely didn't live there anymore. So we returned to the car (a return missionary was driving us around that night) and we were just deciding where we were going next, when an old man came to the driver's door.  We rolled down the window and he went off on us. He said "you Mormons are sick going through a person's mail and deciding 'oh we'll make a Mormon out of this man', whose dead, and I hope you feel bad about yourselves!" Plus much more. Yeah, we couldn't get a word in and we just pulled away very quickly once he left. Afterwards we joked a little about the hostility we had because it wasn't our fault that man accused us of things that we don't do. If he had been willing to listen, or even waned to know what it is that we were doing, he would of found out that the man we were looking for was already a member anyway and that we NEVER make anyone do anything that they don't want to do.

 

That's something else that I love about the Truths that we share. It's all our choice. Its always been about our choice. If we didn't have agency we would have never have been able to choose to come to earth.  If we didn't get to choose to make mistakes and good decisions we would never progress and then life would be meaningless. Think of how many people don't know that. That's crazy! We need to let everyone know what amazing joys we have and choose to share those with others.

 

So we need to share the gift of the Truth of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around us because “You never know. You never know whether you do any good. You never know how much good you do.” So do it!

 

I'm thankful for everyone that made a choices that helped me get where I am now.  Thanks to all of you for choosing to be amazing :)

Loving to choose,

 Sister Baker

 

Loving to choose, Sister Baker

I'M SIIIINGIIIIINNG IM IN A STORE AND IM SIINGIIIIIIING12/8/2014

This week was filled with fun and singing.  The missionaries in my zone got together and we went caroling in my area and in the Allen 6th area. We had a blast spending time together and merrily singing Christmas hymns. Many people were really receptive to us caroling and it seemed to brighten their eyes. Although one lady just came up to the door (it was glass) looked at us, shook her head while held up her hands, giving the impression of Seriously? Caroling? Right now?  Who are you people?' Then she walked away from the door to sit and watch TV. As she walked away we cheerfully sang and at a volume higher then we normally would so she would for sure hear us.

The Allen Nativity Exhibit was held at our church building and. It was amazing, all those nativities, some unique and foreign others not so much.  They were set up so beautifully and it was an uplifting sight. Sister Ricks and I sang Silent Night with a few other Sister Missionaries at the Nativity morning and that was pretty fun. Then there were many great performances during the rest of that day and then as well. My favorite was this Baptist Choir that came and sang a few songs and they were great!  It felt like I was in the movie 'The Fighting Temptations'. There were a ton of 'hallelujahs' and a whole lot of 'Thank you Jesus'. I couldn't stop smiling along with a few laughs here and there at the silly yet spiritual performance they gave. A member summed it up that it felt good to listen to but that it's still like "stadium faith"-like that feeling you get when your at a sports stadium and your all rooting for a certain team. I felt a little sad that if only they knew what Truths we have to share, then it would really bring that happiness to them that they felt when they sang, but ten times over.

Oh and I met someone that I'm related to at the nativity as well. A lady saw my name tag and introduced herself and her husband as (I cant remember their first names) Brother and Sister Empey from the Allen 3rd ward. When they said Empey I told them that is a name in my family history, that Empey is my Grandma's maiden name. So I asked if I could get my fan chart (which I always carry with me) and WHAT DO YOU KNOW we're related :D His Great-Grandpa is my Great-Great-Grandpa, Ephraim Shadrach Empey. So that was awesome. Definately one of my high lights for the week.

It turns out that Sister Rick's old Ward Missionary Leader is the illustrator for the Fablehaven Books and I got to meet him! He and his family had just walked into the Nativity right as we were about to leave. I got to shake his hand and get some great tips about becoming an illustrator, which is what I'm thinking about doing when I go back to BYU-I. Bonus he went there too and told me about the teachers he had and I 1000% know what classes I'm going to take now.

I love you all!  I hope you enjoyed the He Is The Gift video and are thinking of ways to share the gift with others

Bye!

Casey (behind me) is a member, a recent Convert, who is the best person ever for awesomeness. She got us the Christmas tree

A Side Note from The Mom

This is a photo sent to this morning from Sister Lemon in Allen, Texas, who was kind enough to send this along with a message that Sister Baker is darling and doing good things!

Sister Baker also sent along a letter, apologizing again for not being super detail oriented in her information output, but promises to keep trying.  She said, "I'm aware of how much I leave out at times and I'm trying to be better, but luckily I don't have to be perfect yet.  'Just be perfect at trying'." (Meet the Mormons)

Her Christmas gift wish list:
-a simple but nice headband
-any music that is uplifting, testifies of Christ and invites the Spirit, like the piano music played at home on Sundays.
-more music
-for everyone to put up a story on familysearch.org (if you already have, be sure to send her a link so she can read it, she doesn't have time to search on P-Days)
-"I would actually love to hear stories of mission experiences of those in our family who have served a mission."

Patchwork Chloe 12/1/2014

DO IT- GO SHARE THE GIFT! 

THE GIFT IS AMAZING I LOVE THE GIFT! ITS CHANGED MY LIFE AND PRETTY SURE IT HAS CHANGED YOURS WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT! 

WHAT IS THE GIFT YOU ASK?

GO HERE: Christmas.mormon.org

GO GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO

And MERRY CHRISTMAS! HOPE Y'ALL ENJOY THE FIRST GIFT OF CHRISTMAS!! 

SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE!!!

So yes I realize how little detail i put about getting stitches and how big a deal they are. So here are more details. I got stitches on my chin no where else. it was on the side walk no cars were involved. They are out now and I got a really nice scar from it.

and the actual stitches

Bonus:

"I Can't Put My Arms Down" 11/24/2014

This week was filled with many challenging experiences. I wish I was better in my storytelling but for now I feel prompted to put what I wrote to my Mission President as my letter this week. I hope it will convey my thoughts about the past week:

Dear President Taylor,

This has been the most continually challenging week I think so far of my mission, and yet I feel more motivated to do the work then ever before.

Sister Ricks and I were not able to have any lessons with our investigators or our recent convert this week. Wednesday we had a planned lesson with an investigator and a recent convert, then I crashed on my bike turning a corner too sharp. I spent the following hours getting stitches and canceling the appointments. 

Then I switched from the bike I usually ride to the one  my companion, Sister Ricks, rides after a Sister exchange and found out her bike is harder to pedal!  Previously I thought that her not being able to keep up with me was because I was just a really good biker- that proved me wrong. We then rode through pouring rain for a few miles on Saturday. 

I also never knew what fatigue was until Sunday when we did more then our usual amount of biking through 40 mph winds going, at what seemed, against us every way we rode. Yet I know now,without the shadow of a doubt, what my purpose is as a missionary. The message we share is one that is more valuable than all the worlds wealth and treasures combined. That this is the real truth of Salvation for EVERYONE.

I love Elder Holland's words when he said "Salvation is not a cheap experience.  So as we are the messengers for Jesus Christ, and with Him going through so much pain and sorrow for us to gain salvation, how can we not go through so much when we share it with others?

I can now tell you that I have definitely learned that: "missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him?"

I am grateful I get to understand that fully and irrevocably. I love this work I get to do and I love the experiences I get to gain. I hope that I can continue to share with others this beautiful light of Knowledge that we get to have.

I hope you are all doing well and that with what ever comes my advice would have to be "come what may, and love it."

Loving the work, 

Sister Baker

*mom's note-so she left out a few things...like where and how many stitches to name just a few!  i will update you as soon as I know!

"I Can't Put My Arms Down" 11/17/2014

This week was cold. Very cold.  But the people were warm.

 

I have an awesome new companion Sister Ricks. She is related to THE Ricks that stared Ricks Collage, now BYU-I, her dad is an artist Marty Ricks, and she is also a Potterhead so I get along with her very well :)

 

This week was very inspiring even though the weather was harsh!  We met many people that were at least willing to listen to our message. A teenage girl and her sister stood out in the cold to listen about the Restoration of the Gospel. A middle aged couple LET US IN because they had past experience with the church and we talked about the temple and why Family History is important to us. Then last night a dad and his teen daughter let us in and listened about the Restoration in a positive manner.

 

Life is good, life is so good.

 

To top it all IT SNOWED LAST NIGHT REAL FLUFFY FLAKES! It was very nice. I love snow.

 

Hope to be able to continue in the work! I am excited to find out more mysteries about Texas (Ex: it gets cold) and discover how the Holiday Season makes peoples hearts grow 3 times as large.

 

I love this Gospel and the knowledge I have of being able to find any answer that God needs me to know.

 

Loving the Snow, 

Sister Baker

Up and Down 11/10/2014

Had a busy week filled with many uplifting and some not so lifting things

 

Uplifting: Sisters Conference, service, and cookies.

Had an awesome time at Sisters Conference. Got to hear so many spiritual talks and presentations about self worth and ways to do that. Lots of tears and hugs, very girly stuff, but I pulled through.

Did a service project with all the other missionaries in my zone. We 'painted the town' by painting the fire hydrants in very bright colors I still have paint on my arms and legs :D It's been 3 days. Good thing its cold enough to wear long sleeves.

Made my mom's recipe for cookies with some members and they were delicious :)

 

Not so lifting: Biking in the rain, forgot my camera, and transfers.

We biked to the church in the pouring rain. Buckets of rain. Thank you mom and dad for the rain proof coat. Sister Aumua did not like it, She is used to warmer weather in Hawaii, but we survived.

Forgot my camera in the car of the Missionary Couple that gave us a ride from 'Paint the town' so I wont see that until next Zone Meeting or Zone Conference.

 

TRANSFERS ARE COMING.

 After 6 weeks of being with Sister Aumua I feel like she is going to be transferred to another area. She has been here for a total of 3 transfers now (18 weeks) With any missionary being in an area for 6-12 weeks I'm pretty positive she's going. The hard part is that we don't know until tonight. Usually we get a call Saturday with where we are going and who we will be with, but they changed it now so we get a call Monday night if we are leaving, then on Tuesday we find out who our new companion would be and where we are even going. It's different but I know it's what the Lord wants because I know President Taylor wouldn't do this to experiment, but that he was prompted by the Holy Ghost to make that change. So I completely trust that what ever happens will happen for the good of this area. I hear there will be many changes in the areas missionaries serve they may be combining areas. I will let you know more about the excitement and not so anticipated thrill of transfers.

 

Love y'all, remember Families ARE forever no matter what challenges come. Or in other words OHANA. Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind.

 

Love, Sister Baker

Planting Seeds

I'll be keeping it short, but this week was fun!  I don't know if I'll be able to write everything down, including enough about last week.

Had a baptism of a 11 year old boy named Trenton. He is one of a kind. He has a kind heart and a sweet spirit and a brain of a 11 yr old boy so he's pretty good.

Then we attended a baptism of a woman in my last area that had moved away before we could invite her to baptism. Thursday last week, when the Elders that were teaching her called and said she was getting baptized, I seriously let out a yell of joy. Good thing we were outside :)

Doing much better with tracting and contacting, but I'm learning that it's important to plan ahead even with small things like those, because if we want a testimony to grow we have to plant the seed right.

Its getting cold here! I'm happy and sad because I get to wear a jacket but I get a very cold breeze up my skirt so that's the con to biking in a skirt.

Got some great advice from a return missionary about how when she had hard times that reading the words of the apostles and prophets cheered her up.

And if I didn't mention before Meet the Mormons is AMAZING EVERYONE GO WATCH IT!!!!

I love y'all, bye!

 Love, Sister Baker

Short and Sweet

This will be very short I only have about five minutes ready set go!

Went to a baptism of an investigator I taught in my last area and they were all so happy! I loved seeing it!

 (Chloe was asked to speak at that baptism as well.)

Excited for NO tracting on Halloween :/

Wish you all the best!

Tracting is becoming a hobby now I get to do it so much.

Planted some trees...

and I'll keep you posted-BYE!

LOVE YOU ALL KEEP BEING GOOD.

Here are Photos of Sister Baker and her Companion from the Ward Halloween Party!

This is Halloween, everybody make a missionary moment!

Lots of fun at the Halloween Parties in our ward!

This weeks letter will be short due to time. I hope all is well with Y'all. I love to hear of your missionary moments, just as Elder Bednar said:"Devoted disciples of Jesus Christ always have been and always will be valiant missionaries. A missionary is a follower of Christ who testifies of Him as the Redeemer and proclaims the truths of His gospel." And that's something we all get to do one way or another. I love that we are fully devoted to the Lord, rather than being devoted to a certain religion. As in- we are converted more to the Lord then to just 'Mormonism".

 This week we experienced a few times of rude or frustrating comments and conversations with people my companion and I met going door to door. One person would not hear anything we had to say and would only bring up the things that they thought was wrong/weird with our beliefs. I'm not going to lie- I wanted to just turn and walk away from him, but his children were at the door and if its the last thing I do I want everyone to grow up with good memories of the missionaries.  So when he finished I nearly yelled in a cheerful choice as best I could muster, "THANKS SO MUCH FOR LETTING US COME!  I HOPE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE A GREAT DAY"!  I smiled and we turned as fast as we could and walked off. I fumed for a few seconds and we carried on to the next house.

Patience is something I'm learning as well as being aware of the impressions we leave.

I know that the things we share WILL bless the lives of those who listen. Every good thing comes from God. Just as Joseph Smith said concerning when people told him the things he knew to be true were crazy, "... I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it;" JSH 1:25

Let your light shine out to others, and if anyone (not likely) ever tells you are wrong, then you can just say "well- that just your opinion man".
I Love you, BYE!
Sister Baker

Yes, You, Could You Come Up Here?

It has been getting colder here, surprisingly. The storms here are amazing! The lightning storms are unlike any I have seen in Utah. Luckily nothing gets in the way of tracting. It's getting darker at night so people are getting put-off with us about knocking on there door. We get some fun reactions :)

This weekend was Stake conference and Elder Todd B Hansen, of the 70, came and spoke. The Saturday session was Spirit filled and inspiring. It was also thrilling because Elder Hansen invited us up to the pulpit in front of the 200+ members! 

So background to this, Sister Aumua and I had been at the church earlier that day preparing for a baptismal interview and some planning. We said a prayer and discussed our plans. Unbeknownst to us he had walked by on his way to a training meeting and had seen us through the door window and I guess the Spirit touched him in seeing this act because he told everyone what he saw and INVITED US UP. The funny part was that we had no idea what he was talking about us. You see missionaries have a long day and its easy to forget what you did in the morning. Then, prayers are so natural now that its easy to lose track of when and where you say them. So in my mind I'm thinking (as he talks about seeing the missionaries praying) "man, those are some great missionaries, I bet it was the Allen 5th sisters, they're awesome". Then he points in our direction and we even look behind us. Then it came back to me that we were in the building earlier and we had said a prayer. So after the members nudged us to go, we went up.  We got to shake hands with him and he asked us a few questions.  He asked us what was one of the most learning experiences of coming out on a mission so far, and for investigators who are in the congregation, what would you share with them?

So no pressure...

I shared what I could with a speeding heart and little time to think. I barley remember what I said, the Spirit was speaking through me the best It could. I shared my experience of something I had learned at the MTC and it tied in with my testimony. I then shared about prayer, of how my life has changed since gaining a testimony of it's glorious importance and how it can change the lives of any who use it. Then once we finished we sat down and the conference continued. I was so nice to meet Elder Hansen and I loved his talks and his love of the Gospel. We weren't the only ones to go up. He asked other 3 times during his talk for a select few to come and share their thoughts on a few subjects. The one I loved the most was: Are you establishing righteous habits in the home?

I'm grateful for my family and my parents for establishing righteous habits in our home while growing up. I definitely did not appreciate them then, but I whole-heartedly appreciate them now.  Thanks Mom and Dad. I see the faith you had in those habits of someday making an impact on me. It took a while but it worked.

 Allen 1st Ward is going above and beyond in their missionary work. We had the privileged to meet Tye Parker who is a friend to two youth in the ward. Yesterday, we had a discussion with him and the Bishop's family about the Plan of Happiness and he said he liked it, that it made sense to him. The crazy part is that his home was on the street we were about to go tract after our lesson. It made me realize the importance of member referrals and how if the family had not invited Tye to meet with us we may have never met him. If we had knocked on his family's door, someone else could have opened it and sent us on our way. And even if he had opened the door would he agree to meet with two strangers? I don't know what would of happened without the devotion of the members in taking action from the call of hastening the work.

As for me and my companion, Sister Aumua is still amazing and helping me strive to be exactly obedient and loving the work. I still love riding a bike and I'm grateful to be serving in the Allen 1st area. My struggles in contacting people are diminishing and my love towards sharing the gospel is getting stronger. I'm still struggling with my planning skills but I'm making it a goal this week to focus on being prepared and early to set appointments. I will update you on how it goes.

Hope this makes up for the past short emails.

Loving the work, Sister Baker.

1st Week in Allen 1st Ward 10/6/2014

All I can say about Allen 1st ward is WOW. This place is definitely a wealthy area. All the houses are ginormous! Their high school is even bigger. Its the size of a collage campus. Their football team is apparently the best in the state. Their football stadium is sunken into the ground because it would have been too tall if built above ground and kids get drafted into NFL sports teams or something like that. Its intense.

The Ward is amazing!  They are doing well in their missionary efforts from what I've gathered. My companion Sister Aumua is even more amazing! She is from Oahu, Hawaii, and she is just beautiful in her appearance and spirit. She has been helping me in break out of my awkward turtle shell and be loving towards everyone. She is awesome!

I have to go I will write more next week BYE!

Love, 

Sister Baker

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See you later Alli-garland 3rd

I"M GETTING TRANSFERRRRRRRED!!!!!!

Yes I am sad to leave the wonderful and unique land of the Garland 3rd Ward but I look forward to the memories and the new experiences I will gain in ALLEN 1ST Ward. My new Companion is Sister Amua (spelling?) and the best part I GET TO RIDE A BIKE! I probably will get tired of doing that eventually but UNTIL THEN I look forward to getting to ride a bike. 

Sister Wyss will be staying and will be training a new sister missionary in this area. I hope they continue to help the members in their missionary work even more then Sister Wyss and I did.

I am grateful I got to serve in this area I will miss the friendships I gained but I know that the Lord will watch over those in this ward as long as they strive to keep the covenants they made. I know good things are coming to this area.

Sorry to cut this short but Sister Wyss and I have made plans to go to the Dallas Zoo soon so I will write a longer email next week in my new area. I love you all!

Love, Sister Baker.

these guys are in the Spanish ward

yes he is missing a finger

awesome decorations in a different area.

Mine Angels Round About You 9/22/2014

Almost got hit by a baseball but I didn't so I'm thanking the angels for that :)

I had Specialized Training this week. They gave a talk/lesson on familysearch.org and family history. Which I was all like-'knew that, knew that, yep that too'. I am very grateful for everything my family has taught me concerning family history and I am in debt to my parents, grandparents, and great-grand parents for the names that they have found and have performed the saving ordinances in the Temple to have the same happiness we get when we are baptized and confirmed by the priesthood authority of God. 

President and Sister Taylor gave each of us rings half way through training that had the letters P. R. O. on them. They were to rimind us of the commitment we made from now and forever to Pray, Read the scriptures, and Obey. So I am going to be a PRO at praying reading and obeying everyday.

President Taylor is such an amazing person, he and Sister Taylor love all the missionaries here. Found out something very amazing he is a descendent of THE John Taylor so that was a cool fact to find out.

I have been doing better with reaching my goals. I learned throughout this week past week that there is more then one way to do something right. Just like missionary work, we should always look for more ways to get something accomplished and to not cease when plans fall through. With preparation all our plans and back up plans can be successful if we have the power and mind set to go all the way and beyond. I'm greatful for the tools I'm given and for the time now that I get to work better and do my best.

Last but not least I wanted to share my current testimony with y'all:

My testimony is that I know I have a loving Heavenly Father, who knows my name and knows my pains and sorrows. Jesus Christ suffered the same things we all suffer because he loves us too. God wants each of us to be the beautiful sons and daughters we are meant to and can become. I know that I will be with my family for all time and eternity. I am grateful for the temples that we have here on earth to help us ensure that we will never be separated from our loved ones again.

 I know that with the challenges I face, God will not let me go it alone. He makes it possible for me to overcome my trials, if I am not ready at the beginning then I will be by the end of it. We were with Him once and we will be with Him again. I love my family, I love my friends and every person I've met along the way in one form or another. I know that my ancestors are watching over me, keeping me safe. 

Angels Roud
Aa

I know the Holy Ghost is a true witness of God and all His eternal truths. I know this is the restored Church of Jesus Christ the same when Christ first established it. I believe in miracles and I believe we are the Lord's hands in His work, today. I know the Bible and The Book of Mormon are the word of God. I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet and I know President Thomas S. Monson is a Prophet of God. I'm thankful that I know My Savior lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Whew that was long.

I love you all and thank you for all your love!

Love, Sister Baker

Brrrrrr 9/15/14

It was actually in the 60's this week!

I keep forgetting that Texas isn't a completely different planet.

We helped out with an activity called Fabulous Friday for Relief Society and even with our busy week schedule, we had a blast at it! Oh I loved getting to do the activities with the sisters and just taking a breather and being able to help others out with simple things like setting decorations, chairs and tables up. 

I had completely forgotten it was Autumn until on Friday it was 69 degrees out and I was so cold. I thought "this is still t-shirt weather in Utah?" I forgot the humidity makes it feel colder so THANK YOU for a wonderful family of mine that sent me a sweatshirt in the mail.

 I wish I could tell you all more but another missionary is needing a computer. I love you all I'm sorry I can't email back to y'all individually but I will write to you this week. 

I truly love hearing how your lives are. Just know I read your letters, all, every, single, word.

I will try to write back when ever I can.  I loved the photos you all sent.  I love the things you say about your week, day, moment, and future. 

I love you all and the example you are to me.

loving your care, loving to share

Love, Sister Baker

Proof of Autumn in Texas. it was actually 58 degrees at one point.

Fabulous Friday was pinterest-worthy


This This kid will do great things.