Little Miracles 8/24/2015

Hello everyone! This week was filled with lots of little miracles.

On Saturday we got to go to the temple with one of our recent converts in the Frisco 6th ward. It was wonderful to have members there to help her through the process of doing baptisms for the dead. Overall she said she had a wonderful time and that it was a great spiritually uplifting experience for all of us.

I also got to go on exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders and I survived. During it we contacted 9 referrals and also established a stronger bond with Daniel our recent convert and his mom who is taking discussions, and attended one of his marching band practices and it was great!

Another miracle that happened was one of the young single adults brought their little sister who is not a member to church and she brought her friend who's also not a member to church! It was great to see that kind of love that friends have in sharing what they really love with each other.

I'm loving the Frisco area and it will be interesting to see whether or not I get transferred next week. I've been serving here in the Frisco zone since I got to Prosper in February. I look forward to finishing off the rest of my mission wherever the Lord would have me. I know that as long as I stay focused on my purpose and continue to be
obedient to God's commandments and mission standards I will be able to continue to "forget myself and get to work".

I love y'all and I hope y'all have a good week and that you get to see the daily miracles that God gives you!

Love, Sister Baker

When Ye Are In the Service...8/17/2015

This week I came tothe conclusion that service leads to happiness.  Yes
I did know that already but it was something I relearned this week.

About halfway through the week I became unmotivated while we were
planning because we were unsure which way to go with the missionary
efforts in our wards that we cover. My companion being new to the area,
and this also being her second area, was finding it difficult to help
me in my lack of motivation. Later that night, I looked back on all
the other times I ever was going through a hard time on my mission and
I realized that they all had a similar theme of me being in
"poor-me-land" as my mom has put it to me. So I needed to get the
train out of there. But I wasn't sure how? Not just to pick up my mood
but to help me regain my motivation. My companion and I continued the
week and I tried my best to have my thoughts center on the mission but
I still felt like I was missing the mark.

Then on Sunday one of our leaders in one of our Wards gave us a huge list of
Less Actives to find and meet. It was a blessing to receive this list
because it was just what we needed to distract ourselves from our rut
and to get to work. Then in Sacrament meeting right after our Ward
council meeting, someone brought up the fact that Jesus Christ put the
example forward for us to do service for others,  which
everything Jesus Christ did brought true happiness. The spirit then
hit me that that is what I need to focus on this up coming week. That
when you think outside yourself only then do you gain true joy. It
connected in my head, that's how we mere mortals do missionary work.
It's serving with all our heart, might, mind, strength, and soul
because we literally give our all when we don't think of ourselves. We
do the will of the Father when we think and act on the will of
Heavenly Father. Therefore when we are in the service of our fellow
beings we are only in the service of our God! Yes! That finally
clicked in my head! It only took my whole life and a mission to
understand, but I got it none the less!

So that was a good part of my week and I wanted to share that with y'all.

Also we helped some less active young single adults come to sacrament
meeting as week yesterday! We've met with them a few times and the
sister has a thing for animals (she works at Pet-mart). It's funny
when the sister came to church with her brother, she brought with her
one of her dogs....but hey it's still progress.

Loving Frisco and the seeing the little daily miracles and the funny moments.
I love each of you, you have no idea.

Love,

Sister Baker

A Tie or Two 8/10/2015

This week we were able to do a lot. Especially preparing for the two baptisms that we had on Saturday. We had to get everything organized, had to make sure everyone's schedules lined up, and everything was set in place so that nothing was forgotten about or would cause any problems later. Not going to lie it was a really stressful week. Both I and my companion we're doing the most we could but it still felt like we were falling behind. But with prayer and a lot of faith everything worked out. A lot of the members from the ward helped us in the setting up of the baptisms (they helped a ton) and it was great to know that we weren't in it alone. I can definitely testify that God sends his help through other people.

Andrea's baptism went great it was really touching to see how happy she was in getting baptized. Her husband, Ray, isn't a member and definitely isn't interested in becoming one anytime soon, but through meeting with them both a few times before the baptism he warmed up to us and to the church. We know that his heart is beginning to be softened from the love and the sincerity of the members that have and are befriending Andrea.

At Andrea's baptism it was really hot because the temperature outside was maybe around 106 so with the humidity it felt hotter than that. Andrea was sweating a lot mainly because she was nervous but the heat didn't help. After she was baptized she bore her testimony of how much she loves being able to feel the Spirit so much she even wished it upon everyone, non-members, members, families and kids that they get that chance or the opportunity to feel the Spirit so well and to appreciate it as much as she did the moment she stepped foot into the church. She was looking for this joy in her life for a long time and she found it.

I absolutely love the photos that you have sent me! They make me smile and I can't help but giggle when I see the pictures of Maeve and Damian. I LOVE ALL OF MY FAMILY! I'm glad all of you are having a wonderful time. I can't believe there will be 2 more added to the family. It will be exciting to see how Christmas goes this year :D  

Tell everyone I love them and that I think that they are all gorgeous. Even soba.

Love, Sister Baker

P.S. Tell Eli Jack and Alex that Auntie Chloe misses them and can't wait to play Legos with them.

Coming Together 8/3/2015

We have 2 baptisms on the 8th and we are very excited for them. The wards are coming together to help them out. In fact one of the baptisms is for a 16 year old boy named Daniel. He has only one suit and one tie. He is friends with a lot of the Young Men and they have planned to surprise Daniel at the end of the baptism to go up and each give Him the ties they are wearing! I just love the outreach the members have took to help theses baptisms come to be.

For our District meeting, all the missionary companionships had a competition to see who could memorize all of the 42 concepts in order and exact phrasing. And guess who won, Sister Klinkowski and I got the most out of everyone! And the prize was gummy worms :)

So here are all the missionaries in my District:

From left to right: Elder Orme, Elder Casperson, Elder Beus, Elder Fonua, Elder Christensen, and Elder Narviaz. Then there's me and my companion, Sister Christmas and Sister Stewart.

They are a great district and loads of fun. We should be having sports at 2:00 today so I'll send y'all the pictures!

A theme that came up a lot this week was families and how important they are. I just want to tell my family how much they mean to me. They mean more to me than I could ever tell them. I'm grateful for The Family: A Proclamation to the World and for the sure foundation it is to me and for the love I have for God. I'm grateful to be apart of His family and know that He love all of us. 

Have a miraculous week!

With Love! Sister Baker