If You Find It's Me Your Missing.......

My dearly Beloved Familia whom I love with all my heart!!

How are you? I continue to be amazed at how much and how quickly everyone is growing and changing. But it is a beautiful thing. Really, really beautiful :)

Anyway. I spent a lot of time reading emails and gawking at things today so I am going to hurry up and update about what happened this week :)

It was actually a very busy, spiritually uplifting week with not a ton of time in our area.  On Monday we traveled to Lima (I traveled with Hermana Santiago. She finishes this week... weird right?) and got there late at night.

On Tuesday was the last concilio of President and Sister Douglas.  It was such a tender, spiritual conference. It was all about the Doctrine of Christ, applying to us and our investigators and our lives and everything. It was an amazing conference, one of my favorite lines was that "God doesn't want perfect people, just people who are perfectly willing". That is what it means to be a missionary of excellence, a disciple of excellence, just to be willing to accept the Lord's will. The concilio actually ended pretty early, with President's final testimony being 2 Nephi 31:13. 

 

Then we went to the temple all together and Sister Rush and I were in the session with Hermana and President Douglas. It was a very tender session, and a very vivid reminder that all that matters in this life are the covenants we make and how well we live the Doctrine of Christ in order to qualify for the blessings that go with them. Fun fact, for the first time in almost 18 months, the four Peru Lima South girls (me, Rush, Bott, and Bond) where all in the temple together. It was very tender to be able to talk and share scriptures. I thought a lot about eternal relationships. Being in there with President and Hermana Douglas made me think of my parents and my family. I am so grateful for all of the people in my life, family and friends, mentors and companions, and for the amazing impact they have made on me. Nothing is coincidence. We were all together before and we will be together after if we can endure to the end and use the Atonement of Christ in our lives.

On Friday, I had my last interview with President Douglas. It was a pretty crazy 10 minutes, but it was amazing and I was really grateful for that interview. I truly love President and Sister Douglas, and will be forever grateful for their service and sacrifice and for the change they have made in my life. Not going to share all that was said in those precious ten minutes, but I feel impressed to share a couple little things....

 

Don't rush! Into anything, remember that the Spirit leads and guides in moments of peace and reverence. 

The Doctrine of Christ is absolutely everything-Marry a man that knows that and understand how that applies to the Atonement and to everything. Teach your children that. Marry someone who lifts you spiritually and makes you so happy you can't even breathe. Be a disciple of Christ in every moment and live a celestial life.

Just a few highlights. Also this week, we had a hugely successful activity with our district (planned by the missionaries). It was exhausting, but spiritually amazing. 130 people attended, and we talked about the Doctrine of Christ and being a covenant people. It was amazing.

Lisbeth and Enrique are doing amazingly. I am going to dedicate next week's email to just sharing their journey....  But it is sufficient to say that after all is said and done, I know without a doubt in my heart that each and every one of us is a beloved child of our Heavenly Father, and that He desperately wants each of us to return to him. 

I know this church is true, and I love this gospel with all of my heart. 

Remember always that I know this is true, and if anyone everyone is questioning it, lean on my testimony of these things. And the last of all is this- that there is no other way unto salvation save it be through our Savior Jesus Christ.

I love you all!!!

Hermana Lauren Bailey

The Church is True...

My Dearly Beloved Family Who I Love Dearly!!

How the heck are you? I miss and love you all....  

Anyway. This is probably going to be extra short and scattered, but the general message is that I love you dearly and that I love the mission and I love the gospel dearly.

So.... this week flew by even faster than usual. Seriously.

Also, I hate this keyboard and don't have a lot of time so I am just going to do a few topic summaries of what is going on in life in Nasca Peru.

This week we actually had to cut a lot of our days in half because the miners randomly decided to go on strike so it supposedly wasn't safe, but really all they did was argue and drink and everything closed for like 4 days. So on the numbers end, it was a pretty slow week. But it was a great week for getting a lot of other plans put in place for the last 2 weeks of this change and to talk with my companion.... Hermana Mendez has been my companion with who I am the closest since Hermana Rush. So it has been really a great transfer :)

We are planning an activity for our whole district in Nasca for this Saturday. we have been feeling like the branch and the district, like the members, just really need something to strengthen them. So we have been brainstorming and me and my comp had an idea for an activity. The whole zone jumped on it. We have been working like crazy to get that all worked out this week, the invitations and the announcements and everything. I think it is going to be great success :)

The other big happenings of the week all had to do with Lisbeth and Enrique and the literal hell of trying to get all of their docments together.... I have never spent so much time in a municipal building in my life. More on that next week :) I have lots to say, but the date is set for the 12th and they are progressing beautifully :)

Sorry the letter is so short. Tomorrow is President Douglas' last concilio, so everything is crazy.  I feel it is an honor to go and am very excited. 

I know that this church is true without a doubt in my mnd. As the end of my mission draws nearer, I feel myself being slowly more and more lost in it. I love these people and this work with all that I have, and I am so grateful for the chance to serve.

I love and miss you all dearly!

Alma 30:44 :)

Hermana Lauren Bailey

What Shalll We Give?

My beautiful beloved family whom I adore!!

How are you? Sounds like all is going well and you are now freed from the slavery of the school year.... now to enter the maybe more psychotic slavery of summer. Yay summer!!!

Anyway. Hope you know I love you all dearly :)

This week was pretty great!! It FLEW by, but they are all really starting to fly by to be honest. It is really crazy. ON Monday for Pday we made pizzas with the Fowlers which is always a fun Pday. Then we played a few really violent rounds of Uno (which is still called Uno in Spanish, fun fact, I was hoping it would be called One.....) Then that night the Fowlers had a Family Home Evening and we were able to bring CLEICI!!!!!!!!! I was beyond excited. I don't know if I have mentioned her lately, but she is a less active who we have been working with my whole time here in Nasca. She is amazing. She is 21 and about to have a baby, the end of this month!!!!! She hasn't come to church since she found out she was pregnant, but we have been able to have some amazing lessons with her and she really wants her baby to have a gospel foundation, so she is working really hard to get back to church. It was a perfect F.H.E. about seeing the hand of God in our lives and the Spirit was very strong. It was a great night!

On Tuesday I had exchanges with one of the other sisters in Nasca and it was really good. I think I learn more on the exchanges than the other sisters who I am supposedly helping. We had a lesson that afternoon with Lizbeth (Enrique is away in the mine on the weekdays) and she was a little discouraged. They are having a lot of opposition in getting the money together to get married (it is insanely expensive and complicated here) and their whole family is telling them they are making a mistake. We were able to talk about following the prophet and left a Liahona with a talk by President Monson for her to read. We have been praying and working super hard for them this week. They are seriously so special, and I know that is why they are being faced with so much opposition. Satan knows how great they are. 

On Wednesday we found a new less active named Gloria! She is really confused about church doctrine and what she believes, but she has a lot of desire to be able to be able to listen and work on gaining that testimony back. We were able to explain the importance of the restoration of the church and the doctrine of Christ. Ever since we had the last training with President Douglas, not a lesson has gone by that we haven't talked and testified of the doctrine of Christ. It is truly a daily pattern of life.  It is how we come to be disciples of Him and be worthy to return to Him :)

On Thursday we had a lesson with a recent convert from the other branch about family history and committed him to prepare to go to the temple on  the 13th of June. He is super prepared and has a really strong testimony of this gospel and of the Book of Mormon. We are getting a lot of people ready with hopes that we can take 15-20 people to Lima to go to the temple on the 13th of June, which is also the day of transfer calls. Pray for them!! That night Hermana Mendez and I ended up talking about the mission and what we had learned and the meaning of life. Haha, but really it is amazing, It just continues being amazing to me how much I have learned in such a short time. I thought I knew a lot before the mission.... but I didn't. 

On Friday I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants 59 verses 8 and 12.  In the footnote of verse 12  (it is 12a in Spanish, no se in English.) It talks about what Christ wants us to offer to him. The song "What Shall We Give?" from Christmas started running through my mind and I realized that all He really wants and all that we can really control and give to Him is ourselves and our will. Then, that night we taught Lizbeth about keeping the sabbath day holy and it was awesome. She had told us that Fernando had like a parade thing for school (there is ALWAYS school stuff on Sundays here.  It is terrible) and that they weren't going to be able to go. We were able to teach the doctrine of the sabbath day and how we would be blessed for observing it and why it was so vitally important.   She was like, Wow I understand now, I can't even miss one Sunday, one day of taking the sacrament. We will be there. There will be other parades, but not other opportunities to remember my Savior. She is seriously awesome. Their family is one of the most prepared families I have ever taught in my whole mission, maybe the most prepared.

On Saturday, we had a lesson with both Lizbeth and Enrique and we were super nervous because they were expressing a lot of doubts about getting married and other things we had taught. We went into the lesson praying for guidance and it was once again an amazing spiritual roller coaster. Their questions are directly from the Book of Mormon, and the Spirit is constantly guiding us to scriptures that answer their questions. They had to push back their wedding date, but they are now planning on being married on the 11th of June, and baptized on the 12th. They are even more determined to get to that goal, and they are working very hard to gain strong testimonies of the Gospel. In reality, they already have them, but they are just in the process of accepting it :)

Yesterday was a pretty great day in church! Lisbeth, Enrique, and Fernando came as well as Cleici and all her sisters. I know that this branch is ready to grow, and now we are just working on the members and helping them to be strong. It is a really young branch, but there is a lot of potential here:) I can't wait to see it in 30 years, seriously.

Every week I am continually amazed by the power of the atonement that I feel and see every single day. I know without a shadow of a doubt that Christ paid the price for each and every one of us, and that he suffered all our sufferings. That is real and literal, infinite and pure. I know that Christ lives, and that this is His church. I know that He loves us, and wants us to succeed and return to Him :) I love him, and I am so humbled to be a representative for Him for 18 months.

I love you all!!! Have a great week! Share the Good News!!!!!!

Hermana Lauren Bailey

Faith is Like a Little Seed

My beloved beautiful perfect HUGELY TALL AND GROWN UP family whom I love!!!!! 

It was so amazing to talk to you yesterday. I can't get over how much the boys have changed.... but it is good to know that the important things stay the same. I can't believe that was thae last skype call in my mission... but it was a great one!!

Anyway. I am going to hit a couple of highlights of the week, because it was seriously an amazing week. We were able to see lots of miracles and tender mercies, and have a lot of faith building experiences. 

One of them was on Thursday night. It was about 8 p.m. and we still hadnt found any new investigators or had any real success all day. We decided to say a prayer to be able to find somebody new in the last hour of the day. As we finished our prayer, we decided to go and contact a reference. Well, on the way we were going to swing by a members house and ask for more references, but she wasn't there. Then when we were walking down this like dark, dirt road, a guy comes out of nowhere and gives us a watermelon.... so we were like, "Oh, maybe this is God's gift of a new investigator."  So we started talking to him. He was really nice but mostly just really, really has a passion for watermelon and mother earth.... like he worships mother earth. Soooo... maybe false alarm. But we laughed pretty dang hard for about 10 minutes. Then, we finally got to the reference's house (with the watermelon hahahah) and the lady (the girlfriend of the reference) let us right in! So we found a new investigator and have an appointment tonight with their whole family. Whooo hooo!! Prayer, Watermelons, and Yesenia. Miracle 1 ;)

Then, On Friday we were in Marcona doing family history, and out of nowhere we get a text that says something like "Hermana Beiley, this is Lisbeth. I need to meet with you.... can you come to the plaza in Vista Alegre?" Backing up a little, on Thursday we walked past her house and heard her fighting with her husband/boyfriend (no one is married). We were sure she was going to tell us they were splitting and involve us in some strange drama that we can't actually participate in. But even though we were in Marcona an hour away, we really felt like we should go. So we tore out of the chapel running and jumped in a van to Marcona at like 7 pm. When we got to Vista Alegre it was about 8. We ran up to the plaza and started looking for her, and when we finally saw her we saw that she was there with her son (3) and husband as well. We were even more confused and nervous, but we walked up to them. Backing up more, her and her pareja came to church once.  The week that no one we had planned for came and they walked in. So I recognized him and he has had a little experience in the church.  When we got to the bench, Hermana Lisbeth started to hug me and to cry. We were so nervous. Then she just whispered in my ear, "We are ready".  Then they proceeded to tell us that they wanted to be bapitzed, fix their family, and change their lives. We were dumbfounded. It was a beautiful lesson about repentance and the process of it all. The next night they came to Family Home Evening. They couldn't come to church, but we are hoping this week to be able to put a baptismal date with them and a wedding date. They are truly amazing. It was an experience I will never, ever forget. Vans, texts, and prepared hearts. Miracle 2!

On Saturday, we had an appointment with a family we contacted and have never been able to find.... but all of our appointments fell through so we decided to give it another shot. When we got there, they were there! Drinking.... but not a lot. They are a super young family, a mom and dad and 2 daughters, and they are married! Unheard of, seriously. Anyway, we had an amazing lesson with them and they seem really interested! Another family! We have been praying for families all week, and I have been praying for families my whole mission. Seek, and ye shall find! Miracle 3 :)

Miracle and tender mercy number 4 was Sunday when I was able to talk to my amazing family. I am truly grateful for each and every one of you and love you dearly. I don't' know what I would do without you. I am quite convinced I have the best family in the whole world, and I think I could win any argument about it :) Thank you for your support, testimonies, and examples. Please, stop growing whenever you would like. Hahaha, but I love you so dearly and was so grateful to be able to see your faces and hear your voices :)

It was a really good, hard, beautiful, miraculous week. I can feel myself being shaped and molded, which isn't always easy, but is always necessary. I know that through the atonement of Christ, we can be better people and come to be what he wants us to be. I was reading Doctrine and Covenants 76:69 and in Mateo 5:48 (I think....) in the footnote it defines perfect as being complete, fully developed. The atonement is so that we can become complete, whole. Fix the bad things about us and be better in Him :) I testify of the truth of this gospel and the reality of his atonement. 

I love you all dearly :), more than mortal words can say. I miss you, and I am excited to work hard until I can see you for real :)

I love you!

Hermana Lauren Bailey

Carry On, Carry On, Carry On!

Hola my dearly beloved family whom  I love and cherish dearly!

Wow. This week flew by. This 6 weeks flew by in reality.... it just keeps on going faster and faster. It stresses me out. Hahaha, anyway I feel like a bajillion things happened this week, all of which weren't incredibly important, hahaha, so I am just going to hit on a few days and spiritual happenings of Vista Alegre in Nasca, Peru. 

Oh, first off Hermana Torres had transfers to Lima, and now my companion is Hermana Mendez from Mexico. We are actually finishing together, so that should be fun. She is an amazing missionary and has the fire that this branch needs to get working. I am really excited for this transfer :)

Anyway. This week was Concilio and it was amazing, a total focus on the Book of Mormon. We talked a lot about how it is the key, the base of everything. If the investigators can come to know that it is true by reading it with real intent and asking in prayer if it is true, they can progress through any doubt they have. That if they read it, and we use it to answer their questions and bear testimony of its truthfulness, the power of the gospel will enter more fully and quickly into their lives. It was super spiritual and a very powerful meeting. Also, I got to talk to Hermana Bott all the way their and all the way back. She is truly one of my best friends. She got transfered to Lima too... Gonna miss her. 

Then on Thursday we had the Zone Concilio and I have really gotten to be comfortable teaching in front of the zone. I feel like that is one skill I had to develop being a leader... being able to teach in front of big groups of people and not shake and look like I am going to die. That has lessened,  a little....

Wednesday was a really good day. We had an awesome lesson with an investigator named Lisbeth. She is the mom of the little family that came to church last Sunday. Teaching her is amazing, she is so prepared- We are really hoping to find her husband this week and help them to get married and progress in the gospel... Pray for them, and that we can find more families like them this week.

Sometimes I find myself wishing I could just video tape everything. Just to let you see what I see, feel, love.  Like a little barefoot boy carrying Inca cola on his head and kicking a soccerball as he runs down the dirt road as the sun sets in front of houses made of adobe, sticks, and tin.  And as we teach Hermana Lisbeth about the Book of Mormon and testify of the truthfulness and the power in prayer, inviting her to ask God and having her respond with tears in her eyes that she wants to ask. 

I know this is short, but I get to talk to your beautiful faces on Sunday :) Wow, that flew by. I never thought we would get to this point, hahaha and it flew..... I am so thankful for this time I have to serve a mission, to be an instrument in the hands of God.

I had a testimony when I got here, thanks to amazing parents and family, but I never imagined how much it would grow.

I know that this church is true. I know without a doubt in my mind that the Book of Mormon is true. 

I know that the Savior lives, and that he loves us. That through him, we can overcome our weaknesses. Ether 12:24-29

I love you so eternally much. Thank you for everything! See you Sunday :)

Hermana Bailey

Just a Sinner Who Keeps on Trying

My beautiful beautiful family whom I love dearly dearly! How are you?!?! I am great, I miss and love you all!

This week was really good, and it seriously flew by. I decided today that I am just going to relate a couple really spiritual experiences from the week. Bear with my scattermindedness :) I just made up that word I think :)

On Wednesday we went to read the Book of Mormon with Faviana (she is the recent convert who is 75 and can't read) and when we finished the chapter and asked if she had any questions or anything, she asked us what she had to do to go to the temple and receive her endowments. We just about fell over and died. We have been trying to encourage her for weeks to go, but she was nervous about this, that, and the other. Her health isn't great. She can't read. She doesn't always understand well. She can't remember for very long, and she was nervous to have to travel. But she had been praying a lot and some of the relief society came by to encourage her about it. When we came by she decided she wanted to go. Well we hopped right on that. She had an interview with President Galargaza (the Branch President) on Thursday and an interview with the mission counselor on Saturday, and she is all good to go. We were a little worried just because sometimes it is hard for her to understand and sometimes it is hard to understand her, but both interviews went perfectly. The thing is, even though she may not understand a lot of things or a lot of what will happen in the temple, her spirit and her faith make it impossible to deny that she is more than ready to go to the temple and a more than worthy candidate to be endowed from on high. She has had a very hard life, including an incredibly abusive husband, which is why she has so many issues. But the Lord blesses His followers and loves those who just keep on trying. It was a very happy few days with her :)

On Friday, we went down to Marcona to do family history and were very successful. The members down there are awesome. Me and my comp split up to be able to teach and create accounts online at once.  I ended up teaching a recent convert couple with an older lady who has a son on a mission (who I actually knew in Ica, but that is random info).  As we talked about the temple and vicarious work, their questions lead us to a higher focus on eternal marriage, enduring to the end, and repentance. They are an AMAZING couple, and they just really want to progress and do everything they should be doing. They were so cute and sincere, and the member with me bore a powerful testimony of eternal families and the sealing ordinance. I am so thankful for the priesthood and the temple. We are so blessed.

Then, yesterday, all of our investigators with baptismal dates fell through and couldn't come to church. I was devastated. None of them lost their date, but I just felt like we had explained everything; the why, the how, the blessings, the consequences and had made really good plans and it all just fizzled out. I was praying really hard and asking Heavenly Father to forgive us for whatever mistakes we had made to not help them get to church when one of the ladies we have been teaching walked in with the member (Mayi) we had committed to get her and HER HUSBAND AND LITTLE BOY. A family walked in to the church :) It has been my prayer for months to be able to teach and help a whole family. So when they walked in, I just started to cry. We had made really firm plans with the wife and she really gets everything we teach her. They are young and have a lot of questions about everything, and they are amazing. Their names are Lisbeth and Enrique, and their little boy Fernando. HUGE tender mercy, and we are way excited to start teaching them. 

 

I also had to speak in church yesterday, and spoke on praying, reading the scriptures, and attending church to receive personal revelation. I felt the spirit so strongly as I spoke, and had been feeling it all morning as I prepared the talk. I felt like it was really what Heavenly Father wanted me to speak about. Then, after the meeting, 9 different people came up to me and thanked me, saying that it was exactly what they needed and that they would never forget what I had said, but more they would never forget what they felt. All 9 of them said that. It was a huge testimony to me that God knows His children, and that He will prepare his servants to be instruments in His hands when we seek it and are worthy and listen. He knows every one of his children.  He orchestrates it so that an insufficient missionary can give a talk and 9 people with real problems in Vista Alegre Nasca Peru can feel His love. God is big, but He loves individually. I know that. Christ will walk with us every day if we let him and invite him. His atonement is real, and the love of God is infinite. 

I know this gospel is true, and that Heavenly Father loves us.

The blessings of the temple are priceless.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is REAL. And it happened. On a cross at Calvary, many years ago. And my life changed that day, and continues to change every day because of that day.

The Holy Ghost is real, and powerful.

I love my family dearly, and feel eternally blessed every day to have each and every one of you :)

I love you!! Have a great week :)

Hermana Lauren Bailey

Juan 3:16

Alma 7:11-12

Surrounded by Your Glory, What Will My Heart Feel?

Hola my beloved family whom I love dearly!!!

How are you? Can't believe how fast everyone is growing and changing and how busy everyone is. Just that time of year I suppose :) I love you all so much and am always so proud to hear about all you are doing and accomplishing. You are a very special group of very special people :) (and I that mean that in a sarcastic way, boys.)

Anyway. This was another crazy week that just cements further and further my absolute love for the gospel and my being enamored with being a missionary for the only true church. Faith is built on trials and triumphs, setbacks and heartbreaks, leaps and crashes. It is a beautiful thing, really. Ever molding and growing the seed of perfection that lies (deep) within us. 

Well, I will stop letting my mind meditation spill out and give a quick update on the week :)

On Monday in Lima after internet we went to the center of Lima! It was gorgeous and I got to spend P day with Hermana Rush so that was a huge tender mercy. Also, the office Elders saved all of my letters and packages from going to Nasca so I got them in Lima!! 4 letters from Grandma Judy and my Easter package!! Another perfectly timed tender mercy. The center of Lima was super pretty, and in the evening we went to the doctor and found out that my body had just finished pushing out the parasite, and now I just have to be careful because a string of parasites and bacterias during my mission have made my colon irritable (how rude) and so now I finally have my perfect excuse to not eat rice :)  I have been eating a bunch of chia seeds, enough that my output could easily grow a chia pet. Just a fun fact :)

Then, on Tuesday we had a district meeting (in chorrillos) and I remembered why I am grateful to be in the South... because in Lima president just randomly shows up sometimes. Tooooo much pressure hahaha, but it was great to see him and hear him. He told me to go back to Nasca and ignite and change, to be what the Lord needs me to be. So I am super pumped to be back in my area :) That day with the Hermanas, we found a nuevo who talked a lot but is really interested in finding out what is true. Then, we taught this little boy who is the son of some recent converts who is going to complete 8 years and he is hilarious.  I love little kids, they are so sincere and their concerns are tender. Then, we were walking to the next appointment and started contacting a guy with one leg in a wheelchair. He leaves work everyday at 4pm to get home by 830.... I would guess he pushes his wheelchair along super busy sidewalks for close to 8 miles, no exaggerating. So we pushed him and talked to him for like 18 blocks, and then we had to leave him because it was a dangerous area and he insisted. It was a humbling experience to know someone who has to sacrifice so much just to live, and a blessing to be able to serve him in a small way.

On Wednesday we had to go to a different doctor for Hermana Guzman (she has similar to what I have but worse) and it was in Miraflores and oh my gosh it is beautiful there. BEAUTIFUL. So nice. I just walked around with my mouth hanging open in a whole different kind of culture shock. And that is still in Peru! I am actually really nervous to go home now.... it has been a long time since I have seen normal things. Hahaha, I know that sounds weird but it is true. Then, that night we taught a less active and we were able to extend a really bold invitation to come to church and explain really clearly the consequences and blessings... I really think she understood and is going to go to church :)

On Thursday we taught some really amazing people as well, and the three people we taught really just got it. They taught is :) It was really spiritual and special to be able to see the level of progression and the speed of conversion that comes when the people really repent and begin to change their hearts. Now to find that kind of people in Nasca..... onward and upward!!!

On Friday I FINALLY got to come back down South :) They had to wait forever so there would be someone I could travel with.... I ended up traveling to Pisco with an elder and a new mini missionary.  I met up with Hermana Torres (POR FIN) in Pisco and went to Ica to stay overnight Then we got back to Nasca Saturday :) Yesterday, Susana came to church! She has a baptismal date for the 23 of May, so all may pray for her :) and also Belen!! Slowly but surely the area is starting to see its miracles. I know it is all possible with the Lord's help :)

Today, we are going to eat pizza with the zone at the Fowlers house! 

This morning I read 2 Nefi 2:13, one of my favorites :)

I love you all so much.

I know that this church is true :)

I know that the temple es lo mas importante para las familias. Que por medio de las ordenanzas y convenios que efectuamos alli, podemos ser familias eternas y gozar de las bendiciones de la eternidad.

Lo siento, a veces español me sale mas facilmente.

I love you all so much.

Have a great week!!

Hermana Lauren Bailey :)