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.