A Week of Highs and Lows

Hey Family!

So don't be to worried about the subject line. I am now basically back to my usual happy, healthy self aka back to a high.

So this week was by far a role coaster. So here is a quick run down then I will explain

Monday- Pday so always good

Tuesday- One of the most amazing days of my mission

Wednesday- Pretty good

Thursday- Stomach flu

Friday-Stomach Flu

Saturday- Investigator got hit by a car so that was a low but we gave her a blessing.

Sunday- Pretty Good.

So we will start with the lows. Well Elder Tolley and I had the stomach flue for like 2 days straight and then had awesome effects from it on Saturday. But we are all better now and happy. I don't think I have been that sick for years (This did not even compare to last Christmas) Thursday I slept all day so I slept probably for 36 to 40 hours from Wednesday night to Friday morning. You think being sick is not fun at home. But believe you me being sick at home is fun compared to being sick on a mission for a few reasons. One reason is that on a mission you know you are on the Lord's time and you feel like you are wasting it by being sick. Therefore you try to push through it when sometimes you just can't and your body needs a break. The other reason is when you are sick at home you all the Lost, Chuck, movies, and Netflix you want to watch. The only thing you have to comfort you while you are sick on a mission is James E Talmage's Jesus the Christ. Which is a great book. On Saturday our investigator who is a little 9 year old deaf girl was hit by a car on Saturday. But we were able to run over to the hospital and give her a blessing. As of now she is all fine just some bumps and bruise and a lot of road rash. She was scheduled to be baptized on Saturday and her dad sounded like it was still happening as of yesterday. I have never seen someone so excited for baptism like her! She starts jumping and screaming and she gets a big smile on her face at even the mention of her baptism.

Now the good days. Were were able to meet with many of our investigators. We have 2 investigators that are very close to being on date! We invite them to be baptized every lesson and every lesson they say they are willing. We have been heavily stressing the importance of church, praying and reading or what we call the spiritual CPR. Well finally they are grasping on to reading. One of them said as I read I can actually feel and change within me. This past week we discussed the tree of life. The Book of Mormon truly does change lives! I have seen it on my mission. I absolutely love teaching! It brings me so much joy and happiness when I see others feeling the Spirit. As a missionary I try to truly make sure those I am having enter into a covenant with the Lord  through baptism understand the covenant and are at some point of conversion. For me I want my investigators to know the Book of Mormon is true. There are many missionaries that just baptize for numbers and frankly that is so easy! Just by the way you word and talk to people you can get them to want to be baptized BUT are they converted? Do they have a testimony? Are they ready? If not, then why would I want to allow them to enter into a promise with God I know that they will break because they don't understand it?

Now for one of the most amazing days of my mission and my life. I absolutely love being a Zone Leader. Just one of the many reasons is the opportunity to go to Leadership Council (when all the Assistants, Zone Leaders, Sister Training Leaders, and President and Sister Nilsen get together and discuss the mission and we are trained). Well this past Tuesday was Leadership Council and it was being held a secret on where we were going. So we showed up at the church near the temple at 6:30am and took an hour or so car ride to Amish Country! We went to the homes of 3 Amish families that joined the church around a year and half ago. All of the families have now been sealed in the temple. Now these 3 families are your modern-day pioneer saints. I could not help but cry (as did many missionaries) as they shared their stories. The first one to join the church was Raymond. He came in contact with the church through a member who bought from the two businesses he owned. He read the Book of Mormon in 3 weeks and about 100 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants in 3 weeks. But it was not till the member felt inspired to share with him that one day he will need to preach the gospel to his family just like Paul did. That hit him hard. He had many different spiritual experiences following that. But in the Amish country they do not share those types of experiences. At the time he was running 2 businesses so he would do all the work he needed to then meet with the missionaries till 12 30 or 1 in the morning then do it all over again. He soon did some missionary work of his own and invited his friends and neighbors to hear. Well Levi and Paul (his friends) were at first very hesitant but they listened and become converted as well as majority of there children. All of them KNEW that the gospel was true and that is all that mattered to them. All 3 families have been shunned by the whole Amish nation. This includes there families. Levi has not seen nor heard from his mother in over a year and he has only seen his dad on buggy passing by. Paul has been shunned by some of his older children. Why would someone go through all of this? There businesses have been hurt, threats have been made, and lives have been unchangeably altered. Yet they know the gospel is true and that is what matters. All of them had all sorts of stories concerning the powers of heaven helping and lifting them in their times of need. They are a fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the spreading of the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. Their sacrifice amazed me! Their were some of the most amazing people I have ever met on my mission.

Well that is my week in a nut shell. Hope you all had a consist good week!

Love you!

Elder Baird

PS We just got transfer calls and for the first time ever I am actually staying.