Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Coming home from the mission was a surreal experience. I remember when we were flying in to the valley, the sun was peaking through the clouds and it was just gorgeous and welcoming. We waited for all the missionaries to get off the airplane so that we could make our way through the airport towards the greeting area. I was near the front so I was able to peek my head around the corner and there was a giant mob of people ready to greet all the missionaries. As we descended the escalator, the missionary in front of me was just standing on the escalator (on purpose to build up suspense or something) so I urged him to move and thankfully he did. 

Anyway, I rushed to my moms arms and hugged her for dear life. I was crying and I didn’t even notice the sign she made or what it said. I then hugged my Dad and made sure to hug all the members of my family.

  

I got to reacquaint myself with Maeve and Damian 

and meet Clara and Rowan for the first time. 

It felt odd to leave the other missionaries that I served with behind but I knew they would go out into the world and start the next part of their journeys like I was about to start mine.  

I’m grateful for my mission!  

Serving the Lord helped me gain a better understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ

 and gain a testimony of it's truthfulness. I gained the experience and the skills I know I’ll need for the future. All in all, my mission changed my life.

 I will forever love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ

 for the blessings I received while serving.

the Last Monday 11/23/15

I'm completing my mission!!!!!!!!!! My home coming talk will be this Sunday November the 29th at 1:00 and it will be at 4176 South Adonis Dr 3950 East SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH.

 

As my mission comes to a close I'm continually grateful for the experiences I've gained, the people I've met, and the closer I've come to my Savior Jesus Christ and my Father in Heaven.

This week we had a miraculous event happen. We helped a part-member family have scripture study. That may not sound miraculous to y'all but what makes it exciting is the fact that the husband had never read the Book of Mormon with his family before. 

We were coming back from dinner with Andrea and Victoria and after some conversation we asked if we could read the Book of Mormon with them and Sergio said yes. We each took turns reading 1 Nephi 1.  He said the Book is good. Victoria said that was the first time they read the Book of Mormon all together.

I want to bear my testimony that there is power in the Book of Mormon that when we read it miracles happen. I know that God lives, that Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer and the Holy Ghost really is there to guide us as we have a desire to listen. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the Lord's Kingdom once again established on the earth.

Special thanks to everyone that has helped me grow and supported me during my mission and that is something I am truly grateful for :)  

Loved to serve and will continue to serve,
Sister Baker

Here I am with some of the missionaries in our zone today...

Of Missionaries & Texans 11/16/2015

Hello Everyone!

This last week had a constant theme of missionaries and members working together. We have been making a huge push to have members get to be a part of the missionary work here in Plano and it's been great to see the progress. 

A wonderful experience just yesterday was at our Mission President's Fireside. It's a testimony meeting with speakers who just joined the Church, a select few musical numbers, and President Taylor sharing a message with the congregation. It was an amazing opportunity for people to learn more about what we believe. We had a few investigators come and listen! I also got to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in a long time. All and all it was an amazing experience! I loved getting to hear testimonies from recent converts, it always picks up my spirit.  It was funny when President Taylor was saying "wouldn't we want to have a prophet like Moses on the earth today" and someone yells out "AMEN" and that made everyone laugh.  Sister McBride and I got to be a part of of the fireside too.   We were able to perform a musical number with some other sister missionaries, Sister McBride was playing the piano and I had the opportunity to solo 2 parts during the song "Come unto Christ".

I hope I can continue to live in the blessing of doing the Lord's work and I'm going to give my all this next week because I know I won't regret a single moment as I focus on bringing others closer to Christ.

Loving this gospel,

Sister Baker

Members and Missionaries 11/9/2015

This week we had wonderful opportunities to be able to have more members come with us to lessons. It makes our lives easier to have members with us at lessons because it can make a huge difference to the investigator or the recent convert or the less active because they can relate to that member that comes. Also that member would be able to stay in the area which makes the person being taught feel more comfortable when ever they come over or so they know they have a friend and someone they can rely on.

The highlight of this week and a grand learning experience was helping a member move. We and the other missionaries were able to get together to help with this member move out of the house by certain day we came
over a few times to help her pack and it was a lot of hard work. The most challenging experience of it all was when the moving truck got stuck.

 The member accidentally got the back end caught on the curve of cement behind her house. We tried many different ways to get it unstuck like trying to prop the wheels up and other failed attempts. We finally decided after all the missionaries arrived from our Zone to help to have one last go and just push the truck as hard as we could. Missionaries lifted one side and the others pushed and with one or two tries it came up off the cement and we were able to back it out of there. We felt very blessed and felt that God was watching out for us.

Something else exciting that happened just yesterday was the Regional Conference Broadcast that we got to attend. I loved Elder Robbins talk and Elder Oaks talk especially when he talked about the Ward councils and the missionaries working together.

I have 2 full two weeks to be able to finish my mission and I'm excited to work as hard as I can and be able to follow the Spirit and know how we can best bless the lives of people here in Plano, Texas.

Sister Baker

P.S. I will be returning on November 25th and I will most likely be giving my Homecoming talk on the 29th. I believe it will be at 1:00 

Cooling Off 11/2/2015

Sister McBride and I enjoyed the cooler weather, but it still isn't keeping the mosquitoes away yet, oh well. Our highlight of the week was when we went to a trunk or treat on Saturday Night. Sister McBride and I dressed up as Mary Poppins and a chimney sweep and everyone loved our costumes.

Sunday night our Mission President invited us to bear our testimonies and talk about the upcoming fireside that is meant for members to bring their non member friends to. The first time I went up to bear my testimony, it was hard because I realized that it was my last Fast Sunday on my mission. That was a bittersweet moment for the week.

I'm constantly in awe over how much my mission has helped we grow and develop and has helped others as well. I hope I can keep progressing along side our investigators and the members in participating in  missionary work.

I'm loving Texas and I know I forever will. I'm grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me enough to send people to help.

I love y'all and I hope you've been ponderizing!
Love, Sister Baker

P.S. Next week I will have the information about my Homecoming so stay tuned.
P.s.s BLUEBELL ICE CREAM IS BACK ON THE SHELF

Patience is a Virtue 10/27/2015

I had some difficult times this past week trying to make sure I make every second count on my mission, but it led to a lot of dissatisfaction and stress. By Sunday I was feeling pretty low, but during a Young Women's lesson that we sat in on, the teacher went over the differences between patience and impatience. Everything listed under impatience was exactly what I was feeling. That helped me understand that even with what little time I have left that doesn't mean I have to be rushing everywhere. Which reminded me of something one of my past companions told me. "Jesus didn't run everywhere he went, he walked." I learned the importance of patience and relying on the Savior to fill in the gaps that are impossible for us to fill. Jesus Christ helps when we're trying our best. I'm glad I learned that lesson and learned it during my mission. Better late than never.

Working with the members has been great as well. We invited our new investigator to be baptized and he accepted! The members that are his friends have been very helpful and supportive of him. We're still nailing down the exact information of when his baptism will be but we are looking forward to helping him come unto Christ. Our investigator and his fellow-shippers actually attended the Plano 1st Elder's baptism which was an amazing experience because it was in both Chinese and English. You could feel the Spirit there as testimonies were born
in 2 languages.

I pray that I can use my time as wisely as I can and I know what the Lord would have me do to be a blessing to others and not a burden. I'm grateful for the Gospel and I know that it blesses lives.

Constantly loving to serve,
Sister Baker

Helped out with Activity Days in one of the Wards and it was a lot of
fun. The girls were hilarious.

My desk

Brad and Holly received this:

"Loved having your sweet missionary in our home for dinner"

Wonderful

From time to time wonderful people feed our Sister Baker and sent us a text with a photo of her included.  Here is the most recent...