Hey there family,
So this week has been another week of hard work. We've been working a ton with members, and have been receiving and contacting a ton of referrals. They've had results, and we had 2 investigators in church who were referrals. They're progressing well.
It's been hard in our area. There are a lot of evangelicals, and they pretty much track us down and visit and attack anyone who we visit. We've lost a lot of positive investigators for that, even when they already have a testimony, but it is helping a ton to work with the members. We're having a lot more success in the area because of that.
This week I got to go to Nahuizalco with Elder Gottchalk and Texical with Elder Cade Larsen. They are both very good missionaries. Elder Larsen is awesome. He's working very well in his area. I was impressed.
Well, we're just getting ready for Christmas here, sharing a lot of messages about Christ and seeing the "Joy to the World" video a lot.
Look, if you really want me to call you, that's fine. But honestly, I don't really see a point. I'm going home in like 3 weeks. Just let me know next Monday.
Well, hope it's all smooooth back home. Love you all and love this work.
Take care,
Elder Bailey
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
99: Juayua 7
Hey there!
So this week was.....CHANGES WEEK. I received my last companion,
Elder Meza. He's from Cali [California], and his parents are both
from Nicaragua, so he speaks perfect English and Spanish. We've had a
lot of meetings this week, so we haven't had a lot of lessons, but
we've been running around asking for referrals from everyone and have
received a ton. Also, the familia M. is progressing really well.
That's the family where the dad lives in LA and is a member. He
already went back to the states, but his family is progressing. His
daughters are way smart, so we'll probably baptize them at the end of
December.
G. is sweet. He got confirmed on Sunday, and is echadno penca.
Seriously, he is a sweet convert. His family is bugging him a lot,
but he has a good testimony. We saw the video of Joseph Smith in the
gospel principles class this Sunday, and he loved it. Then we went to
priesthood meeting and had a really cool lesson as well. So he is in
con todo.
We are trying really hard to work well with the members. And it's
working. To be completely honest, this ward works more than any other
ward I've had. The bishop is awesome, and works a ton, as well as the
members; everyone is giving referrals right now.
Well, thank you for everything, and I hope all is well.
Merry Christmas.
Elder Bailey
So this week was.....CHANGES WEEK. I received my last companion,
Elder Meza. He's from Cali [California], and his parents are both
from Nicaragua, so he speaks perfect English and Spanish. We've had a
lot of meetings this week, so we haven't had a lot of lessons, but
we've been running around asking for referrals from everyone and have
received a ton. Also, the familia M. is progressing really well.
That's the family where the dad lives in LA and is a member. He
already went back to the states, but his family is progressing. His
daughters are way smart, so we'll probably baptize them at the end of
December.
G. is sweet. He got confirmed on Sunday, and is echadno penca.
Seriously, he is a sweet convert. His family is bugging him a lot,
but he has a good testimony. We saw the video of Joseph Smith in the
gospel principles class this Sunday, and he loved it. Then we went to
priesthood meeting and had a really cool lesson as well. So he is in
con todo.
We are trying really hard to work well with the members. And it's
working. To be completely honest, this ward works more than any other
ward I've had. The bishop is awesome, and works a ton, as well as the
members; everyone is giving referrals right now.
Well, thank you for everything, and I hope all is well.
Merry Christmas.
Elder Bailey
Monday, December 3, 2012
98: Juayua 6
Hola familia!
So, I don't have a lot of time, but this week was cool! We had a baptism. G. We had been teaching him for a very long time, but had been progressing slowly. Once he finished his studies at the university, he started really reading the BOM and started progressing. Then we taught him repentance, and he started really thinking about baptism. That was a cool lesson. One week later (last Wednesday), he accepted a date, then got baptized on Sunday. He's 21, he's really smart, and a really good guy. Definitely a powerful convert.
S M is progressing well. He accepted a date for this Sunday, and said that he wants me to baptize him. So, I'm pretty stoked for that.
We also found a new family that is way sweet. The husband is an inactive member and still has a sweet testimony. The only problem is that he lives in the states and only comes to El Salvador 3 weeks each year, and today he is returning to LA. They aren't married, so she's not going to get baptized anytime soon, but wants to keep going in the church. Her kids are awesome—seriously, they are way smart. So they can get baptized, and they want to.
Well, to be honest, I don't have a lot of time, so I'll see you later.
Elder Bailey
So, I don't have a lot of time, but this week was cool! We had a baptism. G. We had been teaching him for a very long time, but had been progressing slowly. Once he finished his studies at the university, he started really reading the BOM and started progressing. Then we taught him repentance, and he started really thinking about baptism. That was a cool lesson. One week later (last Wednesday), he accepted a date, then got baptized on Sunday. He's 21, he's really smart, and a really good guy. Definitely a powerful convert.
S M is progressing well. He accepted a date for this Sunday, and said that he wants me to baptize him. So, I'm pretty stoked for that.
We also found a new family that is way sweet. The husband is an inactive member and still has a sweet testimony. The only problem is that he lives in the states and only comes to El Salvador 3 weeks each year, and today he is returning to LA. They aren't married, so she's not going to get baptized anytime soon, but wants to keep going in the church. Her kids are awesome—seriously, they are way smart. So they can get baptized, and they want to.
Well, to be honest, I don't have a lot of time, so I'll see you later.
Elder Bailey
Monday, November 26, 2012
97: Juayua 5
Hello Everyone.
This week has been sweet.
Monday after writing we went and played soccer. I scored 3...which was honestly a miracle, because I can't play soccer at all. Don't really know how that worked out, but cool. I also taught all the Salvadoreños how to play frisbee, and we played that for a while as well. THAT WAS FUN. Seriously, I haven't played some good frisbee for some time now.
I, then, for the next three days, sent my comp on interchanges in various areas because he's been in this area for 6 months and is kind of baggy when working here. So I sent him out, and worked in my area. Wow. It was cool. I found some cool investigators.
On Tuesday, we went with the elders quorum president, Presidente S. He's this older guy who was bishop of this ward for 15 years not long ago. So we went with him to contact some inactive members. While we were on the way, he felt the impression to stop and contact at the house of one of his old friends. So we contacted him. It's another older guy named SJ. The day before, he told us he had had a vision where, basically, he realized his church was wrong, and saw two men that he had to follow. Then, the day later, we showed up. Yeah, the guy is way positive. He went to church and has basically accepted a date. We just need to help him a little with coffee.
Then we have G. We've been teaching him for a while. He has changed a ton. He is just about to accept a date.
On Thursday, we had a sweet multi zone for Thanksgiving. We taught about the BOM. The only problem is I got way sick from the Thanksgiving lunch.
Well, I hope everyone is well, I just ran out of time,
Elder Bailey
This week has been sweet.
Monday after writing we went and played soccer. I scored 3...which was honestly a miracle, because I can't play soccer at all. Don't really know how that worked out, but cool. I also taught all the Salvadoreños how to play frisbee, and we played that for a while as well. THAT WAS FUN. Seriously, I haven't played some good frisbee for some time now.
I, then, for the next three days, sent my comp on interchanges in various areas because he's been in this area for 6 months and is kind of baggy when working here. So I sent him out, and worked in my area. Wow. It was cool. I found some cool investigators.
On Tuesday, we went with the elders quorum president, Presidente S. He's this older guy who was bishop of this ward for 15 years not long ago. So we went with him to contact some inactive members. While we were on the way, he felt the impression to stop and contact at the house of one of his old friends. So we contacted him. It's another older guy named SJ. The day before, he told us he had had a vision where, basically, he realized his church was wrong, and saw two men that he had to follow. Then, the day later, we showed up. Yeah, the guy is way positive. He went to church and has basically accepted a date. We just need to help him a little with coffee.
Then we have G. We've been teaching him for a while. He has changed a ton. He is just about to accept a date.
On Thursday, we had a sweet multi zone for Thanksgiving. We taught about the BOM. The only problem is I got way sick from the Thanksgiving lunch.
Well, I hope everyone is well, I just ran out of time,
Elder Bailey
Monday, November 19, 2012
96: Juayua 4
Hey family,
So I'm kind of short on time right now, but it's all going well. This week we got to work with Elder Malmgren, the assistant. We drove around to all the areas and put dates. That was fun. Also, this was his last week, so...he's "dead" now.
On Thursday, we went to contact a referral. Man, it took like 2 hours to get there. We were hiking through pure jungle. It took a lot of time, but was way cool.
Saturday we found some way awesome investigators. Man, they basically came to the conclusion for themselves that our church is true. Very smart. They've read the scriptures a lot, and realized that the true church needs to have a prophet, 12 apostles, etc. So that was cool.
Well, it's all going well. I hope everything is cool back home. Take care, and have a happy thanksgiving. Eat a turkey for me.
Elder Bailey
So I'm kind of short on time right now, but it's all going well. This week we got to work with Elder Malmgren, the assistant. We drove around to all the areas and put dates. That was fun. Also, this was his last week, so...he's "dead" now.
On Thursday, we went to contact a referral. Man, it took like 2 hours to get there. We were hiking through pure jungle. It took a lot of time, but was way cool.
Saturday we found some way awesome investigators. Man, they basically came to the conclusion for themselves that our church is true. Very smart. They've read the scriptures a lot, and realized that the true church needs to have a prophet, 12 apostles, etc. So that was cool.
Well, it's all going well. I hope everything is cool back home. Take care, and have a happy thanksgiving. Eat a turkey for me.
Elder Bailey
Monday, November 12, 2012
95: Juayùa 3
Hey family:
Okay. So I continue with the life of not sleeping very much. The truth is that this week has been better than the last as far as that goes. So we've been working hard, getting a lot done. We've been finding a lot of investigators. Unfortunately, NONE of them went to church, which was a big bummer, because a lot of them are really positive. So we're just going to keep teaching and committing them.
Okay. So I continue with the life of not sleeping very much. The truth is that this week has been better than the last as far as that goes. So we've been working hard, getting a lot done. We've been finding a lot of investigators. Unfortunately, NONE of them went to church, which was a big bummer, because a lot of them are really positive. So we're just going to keep teaching and committing them.
My companion introduced me to a really good pupuserìa. They make what is called Pupusas Locas. Basically, they put EVERYTHING in them, and make the pupusas the size of your plate. MAN, they are SO GOOD. I was addicted the first time I tried it. Wow, it's good. And they gave me some jalapeño peppers too. So, it was really hot, but delicious.
I think the highlight of this week wasSaturday morning. We decided to cook breakfast for the auxiliary leaders in our ward. Not everyone showed up, but it was really good. We cooked them eggs and french toast. They don't have french toast here, so the leaders were pretty stoked. At the end, we asked them for referrals, and we got like 12. So I would say that the activity was a success. Not only did we get a bunch of referrals, but we got to eat french toast too.
On Sunday we had the Stake Correlation Meeting with President Cordon and the bishops and ward mission leaders from the stake. It was way good. Man, President never ceases to amaze me. He is so smart. So I'm still learning a lot from him.
Christmas is coming, so we've started planning activities for Christmas. I hope we can get a lot of referrals and baptisms out of these.
I hope everything is going well back home. Take care!
Elder Christopher Ren Bailey
Monday, November 5, 2012
94: Juayùa 2
Well, hello family! First off, I am getting bombarded from all sides with information about going home. I just got my itinerary. I STILL HAVE TWO MONTHS LEFT. I have no idea why they send that so soon. I don't want it yet. Puchica.
So this week has been the most sleep deprived week of my whole mission. Seriously, it was rough.
Monday I took numbers. I had to take all the goals and stuff, and the DLs took forever, so I got to bed at 12:30. Woke upat 6:30.
Tuesday I went on interchanges to Las Colinas. Man, we seriously climbed straight up a mountain. It was kind of rough. I was with Elder Dzul, a little Mexican. We were seriously hiking in the middle of nowhere for 2 hours. It was not very efficient. But...I'm not gonna lie, the view as beautiful. Seriously, this country is so beautiful. Everything is so green. Also, we got to one part of the trail when Elder Dzul turned around and told me to pick up a stick and walk fast, and no matter what happened, do not stop. Man, that was really weird. Then he, well, despite that, we still got a lot done that day. We put a date, and found some cool news.
Wednesday we had our zone meeting. It was good. We talked about miracles and faith, and really helped our zone get more pumped up and have more faith. A lot of people told me they liked the meeting after, so I just hope it helps them. We got to bed at 11:30 that night, and had to get up at 4:30 to catch the bus to Santa Ana. Thursday morning we had the monthly leaders' meeting with President and the other zone leaders. It was sweet. President told us his own conversion story. Man, that guy is amazing. I respect him and look up to him a lot.
Elder Larson says hi.
On Friday, we went to the temple, so we got to bed at 11 and woke up again at 4:30to invite people to the temple. It was an excursion to bring investigators to the temple. There we gave them a tour, and President taught them a little bit in the chapel next to the temple. I sang a special number with some other missionaries, Mas Cerca Dios de Ti [Nearer My God to Thee], which was cool. The investigators loved it. Just talking to them on the bus ride home, I put 3 baptismal dates, which was way cool. Sweet! It was kind of stressful planning everything, but it all turned out all right in the end.
Friday night I got to bed at 11 and woke upat 6:30. I finally got sleep. That was way hard. My comp and I were so sleep deprived. Friday night we got to our last appointment with our recent converts, and Elder Martillo just fell into a coma on their couch. We didn't end up teaching them, I knew how he felt and didn't want to wake him. It was really rough.
So that's the week in a nutshell. Juayùa is awesome. It's the safest area in the mission. We have the main park in our area. Saturday night we passed by at 9 as we returned to the house. There were children playing, a movie in the park. It was so cool. I have not seen that my whole mission. Usually everyone is in their houses by 8:30. SO COOL.
Alright. Well, I hope everything is going well back home.
Take care,
Elder Bailey
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