Happy New Year!

So this week for my email I wanted to share another video with you. In honor of the new year, here is a video about how we can't live in the past. We must look forward with faith because God has already blessed us so much, that what he has in store for the future can only be better! :)

 

"Look Not Behind Thee"

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=910930409001

 

(The scripture this video is based off of. Gen. 19:26)

http://www.lds.org/scriptures/ot/gen/19.26?lang=eng#25

 

 

 

The past is to be learned from but not lived in.

(Words that I need to live by as well.)

 

 

 

Another Good talk by my good friend Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. READ IT!

 

 

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1819

 

 

Ok... That's all folks! Have a Happy New Year! I will talk to you all later!!!! Love you!!

 

Love Sister Bauer

Merry Christmas!!!!!

Merry Christmas to my friends and family!!!

I don't have a TON of time to write, but I wanted to leave you with some Christmas cheer!

Watch this video. I love it.

"What Shall We Give"

http://www.mormonchannel.org/christmas-videos?v=2919740155001

Also Watch this one:

"The Nativity"

http://www.mormonchannel.org/christmas-videos?v=2893093383001

And Watch this one:

"O Come O Come Emmanuel"

http://www.mormonchannel.org/more-videos?v=2008190983001

And read this:

LUKE 2:7-30

7 And she brought forth her ^afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the ^binn.

 8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the ^aglory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

 11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a ^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

 12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men.

 15 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 16 And they came with ^ahaste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 17 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 18 And all they that heard it ^awondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 19 But Mary kept all these things, and ^apondered them in her heart.

 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them

May you Keep Christ in Christmas this year and remember to keep the spirit of Christmas in your hearts!

Merry Christmas from the Norwalk ward Missionaries!!! (and Santa!)

Love,
Sister Bauer

There Must Needs be Opposition in ALL Things.

Oh Boy did that scripture ring true this week. It was the hardest, but best week I have had in a while.

On the one hand, Sherry Got baptized. Sherry was my investigator in my last area. She was the one who just waltzed right into church by herself! Knowing her now... that doesn't surprise me one bit! It's just like her.

It was the best baptism I have been too on my mission! The spirit was so strong and everything was just so..... right! The timing, the people there, the missionaries who came. It was how a baptism SHOULD feel. I love her so much and I am so glad that she was able to make this covenant with God. She is an amazing example and I could literally go on for hours about how much I love her.

Next week she will be confirmed and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. And then she will be a member of Jesus Christ's restored church on the earth! I cried so much at the baptism. I sang and the whole time I was on the verge of tears. It was the best feeling ever. To see someone you love so much make that promise. It was a day I won't soon forget.

On the flip side of things, this was a REALLY tough week. Every appointment we scheduled cancelled on us. And to top that off, we got dropped by one of our investigators, we got rejected in every single contact and yelled at and called crazy a few different times. It was definitely a tough few days. But Like President Uchtdorf says, "Life is not measured by the number of times we stumble, but by the number of times we stand up, dust ourselves off, and stride forward."

Currently working on that!

WELL, that's it for this week! I love you all and will talk to you next week!!!!

I LOVE YOU!

Have a good week!

Love, Sister Bauer

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.

But 2 pictures is just priceless!!!

****Scenario***

Phone Ringing

Me: Hello this is Sister Bauer!

Other Voice: Hi Sister Bauer, do you know who this is?

Me: Uhhh.... Sherry? (She called on the Woodruff Sisters phone.)

Sherry: Yes. I was wondering what you were doing this Sunday at 4?

Me: Why....

Sherry: Because I need your vocal Chords.

Me: WHY????? (the anxiousness in my voice rising.)

Sherry: For a Baptism.

Me: WHOS????????

Sherry: Mine.

Me: Screams!!!! WHAT?????????????

Sobs

Sobs

Sobs

Me: Yes I will be there!!!

And I was!!!

And it was the BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

A week of Ups and Downs.

Hello Family and friends! I hope this past week was so great for all of you.

Like the title of this email states, this week was a week of ups and downs.

Lets first talk about the downs....

This week was a week of discouragement. When sister Lindsey and I first got to this area, we both had really good feelings about it. We felt like God was just waiting to pour out blessings upon us, but we also felt like we would really have to work hard if we wanted them. Well, anyways... other missionaries have been witnessing miracles upon miracles and Sister Lindsey and I were getting so discouraged because we felt like we weren't the recipients of any miracles. I was getting really frusterated. but then I realized how we felt at the beginning. I realized we haven't been working as hard as we could, I also feel like we haven't been as obedient as we could. It's not like we are DISobedient, but there is always room to improve right?

I also made a realization this week. I was so mad at myself because I felt like I didn't love my mission. I want to so badly, but I couldn't help but find myself envying those who had already gone home, or who were preparing to leave. I would sit and think about how life will be when I get home. I would imagine seeing my family and what I will do with them when I am done. And I realized that my life is one big countdown. And that's not what I want! I want to LOVE my mission and my investigators.

So this week as I had those few things working against me, you can imagine how down I was feeling. Then, (cue the ups) like always, my mom seemed to be an answer to my prayers. She sent me a letter of encouragement and told me that she knew I was doing great things and that I never needed to fear that I was alone. She always knows what to say...

So I had a nice chat with Heavenly Father. I told Him that I wanted to love my mission. I didn't want to wake up and dread knocking on the doors that I knew were gong to be slammed in my face. I didn't want to feel like it was a burden to talk to everyone. And I made a promise to Heavenly Father that I would be dilligent and work hard if he would bless me with the miracles to keep me going.

And guess what!?

He did!

This week we were finally able to meet with Cecilia! She is a woman we found contacting a few weeks ago. She was really sweet and said we could come back but cancelled twice. We were finally able to meet with her Sunday morning and she is SO PREPARED! She told us about how the only reason she let us come back was because she felt bad for us. But we visited her Friday night just on a whim and went in for just a minute. She said she felt like what we had to say was important and at that point really wanted to hear what we had to say. She told us that she had been to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, and that when she went she felt something "different" She said, "I felt something completely different there than at the Catholic Chuch. It was a feeling of peace, and a place where she could feel the spirit of God." She then proceeded to tell us about her friend that had recenlty joined our church who had a hard life. She said that afer she "became Mormon" she seemed so much happier and that it was probably because of the church. We testified to her that the peace she felt WAS indeed the spirit and that she could feel that all the time. We are meeting with her again this week and giving her a church tour!

I know that God does indeed place prepared people in our paths!!! That we have to talk to everyone in order to find the prepared few.

Also, another funny/cool story that happened. Last night, Sunday night, we were visiting some Less Active's in our ward and there was no answer. I felt prompted to diverge from our plans that we had and to try to visit some Part Member Familes in our area. So we looked to see who we could visit and we came across the name Jose and Lisa Garcia. Jose was the member and Lisa was not. So we decided to stop by. As we knocked on the door, Jose answered and had a look of confusion on his face and said, "Uhh... not who I was expecting..." And so me and Sis. Lindsey looked at each other and asked who he was expecting? He told us the male missionaries were coming at 8:00pm (it was 7:30). We were really confused because we were in OUR area, and the elders wouldn't just come into our area and teach a Part Member Family without telling us... would they???

*Side note*

We share a ward with 2 other sets of missionares, a set of Elders and a set of sisters. So the ward is split into 3 areas. We don't cross boundaries unless we are visiting an active member, and we always tell the missionaries whos area we are in when we are there so that we don't both show up to the same house... awkward.

*Side note #2*

We also share ward boundaries with the Spanish ward because there are SOOO many spanish speaking people in our area. So a lot of the time we run into the spanish elders. Because sometimes people who speak Spanish come to the English ward, then switch or vice versa, so we have repeats.

So anyways! We were thinking maybe the spanish elders are coming by? But when we asked the names of the elders, He said, "Sturgell and Bengtzon". They are the elders in our ward. We were SO confused. Then the elders call us and they realize where we are and that they will be there at 8. Then they show up, and it was just awkward.

BUT this is where the miracle happens.

Apparently sisters have never been able to get into thier house, so the elders tried. They were able to get in and have success in coming back. So they established with the last sisters that they would teach this family. Well then Sis. Lindsey and I white washed in and didn't know about this little arrangement. But as we left thier house, we were able to set a return appointment.

It was awkward, but I know that I was promted to go visit this family because they were already expecting missionaries.

I know that God blesses those who work hard and follow the spirit. I'm so grateful to be a missionary at this time.

I love this Gospel and I know that it is led by Jesus Christ!

I love you all and wish you all a happy week!!!!!

Love, Sister Bauer

I'm Thankful for a LOT!!!

Friends and Family!!!

Oh, I love to write to you all!! I miss and love you all so much!!!

This past week was Thanksgiving. It was full of thankfulness and reflection.

We went to the ward mission leaders house for Thanksgiving and it was good! His wife's family is huge and half of them are in our ward. So they have really big holidays and all the sister missionaries in the ward went there for dinner. It was a good time.

The kid sitting next to me... his name is Ammon and he served his mission in the Boise Idaho Mission. So we had a good time talking about Idaho and how great it is. He served in Nampa and his area was ALL FOUR STAKES!!!!! That's a big area. I asked him if he knew where the birch building was and he said yeah and then told him that used to be my church building. It was fun to talk about Idaho!! Any chance I get to talk about it, I take!!! :) haha you can take the girl out of Idaho, but you can't take the Idaho out of the girl!!!


Next to me is my companion sister Lindsey and next to her is sister Afualo... one of the other sister missionaries in our ward. These were all the "cousins". They are a giant Filipino family.

So I can't believe that it's December here... its literally still like 75*-80* everyday! It's super weird! But This is a cool picture that I took and really like.... so I thought I would send it to you!! Happy December from Sunny California!!! :)



This ward is a lot more missionary minded than the last ward that I was in. They seem to really care about doing missionary work and people actually sign up to come on splits with us. So that's good. The ward is just split up into 3 areas. Our area is only about 3 blocks. It's pretty small. The elders have the sketchy part of town. They don't let the sisters go over there much. We ARE teaching one lady. Her name is Patricia. She is the brother of a Less Active member of the ward. But I don't really know if she has real intent or not. I suppose we will find out this week. We have to schedule another lesson with her.

Well, I know Thanksgiving is over, but I wanted to share a little video with you that has to do with thanksgiving! Click on the link.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=911161818001

Well, I don't really know what else to say except that Next month I hit 9 months!!! Where does the time go? I will be halfway done with the journey of serving the Lord for 18 months! It's crazy to think about what has transpired in a year's time.

-Friends returning from missions

-Marriages

-A Year since I turned in my mission papers.

And a lot more.

Time never stops and precious moments don't last very long. So I'm trying to savor every last second of this beautiful 18 months that in reality isn't that long. It's really hard, and at times I find myself wishing that it could just be over, but then I realize that this time is short and there will be a time when I am wishing that I could go back. So, every night and morning in my prayers, I say to Heavenly Father, "Thank-you for this opportunity to serve Thee Lord, even though it's hard and I sometimes complain. Thank-you for the growth and change I am experiencing, and that I get to serve you with all my "Might, mind, and strength" (D&C 4) Help me reap the blessings."

I'm thankful to be a missionary.

I'm thankful for all of you.

And I'm thankful for the knowledge that this gospel brings me.

Love you all!! Have a good week!!

Love, Sister Bauer

A Week of New Things!!!

A new area, a new companion, a new place to live, new members, new investigators, and a new attitude!!! It's so awesome!

This week was my first week in Norwalk and it was so good! My new companion's name is Sister Lindsey. She is 19 and is from North Carolina. We are White-Washing, which means that we are both new to the area and neither of us know what we are doing! haha

This week was spent getting to know the area a little bit and trying to get to know some of the members. The members are cool but there are NOT very many active ones. There were only about 50-75 people at church on Sunday... Yikes! And that's pretty normal. The chapel wasn't even halfway filled. Everyone could have had their own bench!!! I guess you could say that we hae our work cut out for us!

The area is not as nice as my last area. But like it that way because that means the people are a little more humble.. well there are nice "pockets" in random places.... but for the most part it's pretty ghetto. I love it!

BREAK

I just had an interesting experience just 5 seconds ago.... a man named james who is sitting next to me in the Library just started arguing with me about the Book of Mormon. I was kind of nervous at first, because he took me off guard, but I realized that I needed to be convicted and so I was. All the missionaries around me were smiling and giggling. It was weird but good. Oh the life of a missionary.

BREAK

Well, I don't know what else to say except that I am super happy to be a missionary. I really am. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now.

Have a good week I love you all!!

Love Sister Bauer

TRANSFER FACTS!

Oh hello my dear friends!

This email is going to be full this week! And 3 parts. Stories... then pictures to follow!  So buckle up! :)

This week has been good! We found a new Investigator named Jesse. He is SUPER Hispanic Catholic and has visions all the time. But he is constantly telling us that we are angels that have brought him the truth. He's super intense and Kinda creepy... but He's got a desire to learn. So that's good. He came to church and also came to the Departing fireside. He brought his 22 year old son as well. Which was really cool. Hopefully he will be baptized.

I am getting transferred to an area called Norwalk! It's a bittersweet change, but I will live right by where Sis. Brown is because they are in a singles ward and their boundaries are HUGE! so they live in Norwalk, but go to the Woodruff building. My new companion's name is Sister Lindsey. She is from Texas! She was actually sister Brown's companion in the MTC. She told me the first day she was here... "Take care of my companion" I think I did my best! We are WHITE-WASHING! Which means that both of us are new coming into the area. I'm am really nervous... but excited at the same time. We live with a member which also stresses me out a bit, but I think it will be ok. Weird and random...

When I was at church on Sunday, I talked a little to the APs about transfers. They said, "Yeah sister Lindsey has been struggling a bit, so we think you two will be awesome together." I guess I'm the resident Buoy... Should have known. Also... Random!!!!!!! Julie Carr's (a member in my current ward)  in-laws live in the Norwalk ward!!! And we will be having thanksgiving with them! I am sad to leave the Woodruff ward but I am getting more and more excited. Sometimes i feel like I have a "Way" of doing things, and as I enter a new ward, I can be whoever I want. I can be that BOLD and LOVING missionary. I can be the "exact obedient" one. I'm excited!

Yesterday was the departing fireside for the missionaries leaving. I am not super close with any of the missionaries who are leaving, except one of my previous zone leaders I knew pretty well, Elder Belloli. I didn't get a picture with him (Which I am really pretty bummed about) but he was so awesome! One of my most favorite zone leaders ever. 

Also, Sister Luft and Elder Frost decided to show up and make appearances. It was super fun to see them both!

Sister Brown, Noah (Elder Frost), and Me.  Look at his cute lil' Bow tie!!

I love being so close to Sister Brown. Even though I'm not her companion anymore, I get to see her super often and it makes me really happy. I really love her.

Part 2

In the Atherton ward (a ward in the Long Beach Stake that I am serving in right now) they have a place called Naples. It's a little island off the coast and there are canals that run all the way throughout the island! So the canals are what is behind me. People just dock their boats and such in their backyard! It's crazy! And the houses are HUGE!

Big Houses...

Part 3

Me and Sister Johnson. I love her! Sad that we only were able to spend one transfer together.

Haha... funny sign that I laughed way to hard at. hahaha!!

Alright! I told you that this one was gonna be long! I love you all to pieces! Wish me luck this week as we white-wash in my new area! 

I'm so grateful to be a missionary! Everyday I tell Heavenly Father that "I am grateful to be a missionary even though it's hard." 

I love you all A TOOOOOOON!!!!!!!!

Have a happy week!!!!

Love, Your FAVORITE MISSIONARY!

Sister Bauer<3

Short but Sweet!

So... I'm sorry that my emails have been getting shorter and shorter.... But there is so much to do in so little time!!!

But Here is a quick update!

This week we found a new investigator. Her name is Jonelle. She is a single adult so we will have to pass her off soon, but She is really cool. We have another lesson with her on Tuesday. and hopefully she is coming to church with us this Sunday and also to the dept. fireside.

Sherry is still being resilient. She is just too comfortable. We are going to have a lesson with her on Tuesday and tell her (With a lot of love) That she is ready to be baptized that that it's all on her now.  We have done our part as missionaries and there isn't really much more that we can teach her. ( I mean we are always learning... but)

Anyways. This week I am really working on my confidence to talk to people. I met with president and told him that I felt really overwhelmed, and that I am just doggie paddling through my mission. I said I didn't know how to apply the things that I was learning and was having a hard time with myself.

He said he wasn't worried about me. It was actually really comforting. He said, "Sister Bauer, There are a lot of missionary that I worry about. You are not one of them... I care about you. But I don't worry about you. You are doing wonderful things. And even IF you left your mission tomorrow... having accomplished the things you have accomplished.... I would say that your mission has been a success simply because of the good you have done for sister Brown." 

So, I took that as "I am doing good and I just need to keep it up."

Well... That's it for this week! I love you all and I will talk to you again! Can't promise that next week's email will be very good either.... but we shall see!!!

Love you all! 

Have a happy week!!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Love, Sister Bauer

It's PDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello all!

I hope everything is going swell for you all. I don't have a lot of time to email with you all this week but I  just wanted to say that I love you and I hope all is going well!

I have been pretty sick for the past week and a half and not gotten a lot done.

I love all of you so much and I hope you all have a happy week!!

This week I have learned a lot about patience. Mostly about patience with myself.  And I read a talk by President Uchtdorf called "Continue in Patience" It really helped me and I want to share the Mormon Message with you... but read the whole talk because it is amazing!

"Continue In Patience"

Watch it then apply it. 

I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week! Sorry about the short email!

Next week will be better.... maybe. It's going to be a weird few weeks.

I love you all! Have a happy week!

Love, Sister Bauer

Temple Tuesday! :)

Hello dear family and friends! Today I got to go to the House of the Lord for a few hours! It was marvelous!!! :) I loved every minute of it.

However...

I did NOT love every minute of this week! :( Why you ask??? Because this past weekend was full of chills and fevers and sore throats and sleep.

Boo for being sick.

I'm still getting over my cold and now I sound like a raspy Rudolph... so that scares EVERYONE away from us on the street. Sheesh you would think I had leprosy! :) jk! but really.....

Anyways, besides that this week was pretty good!!!

We picked up 2 new Investigators!!!! YEAHHH! there names are Hailey and Taylor. They are sisters and they are Perla's (refer to last email) neighbors and friends. We taught them the Restoration and the spirit was strong.  They told us that they wouldn't "become Mormon" because their family would be really upset with them, especially their grandma, but they don't know it's true yet. Once they do... things might change. We told them to pray about what we had told them and then gave them a Book of Mormon and told them to start reading it. We have another appt. with them on Thursday. Hailey seems a little bit more into than Taylor. So we shall see how things progress.

Sherry is doing good. She was a live investigator at a zone conference in Huntington Beach. Sister Luft and Sister Andelin Taught her. They focused on her concerns which is prophets. We are going to have to start seeing her less and less. Because she isn't really progressing anymore... which is so sad... she knows it's true. She's just waiting for a SIGN!!!! Sis Johnson and I are studying and praying about what we can teach her next to help her progress to baptism. She is so ready!

Our ward had their Harvest Festival this weekend and we got to go! We got a member referral out of it and everything! Wooo!!! However, we aren't sure if she even lives in our area yet. So we will teach her the Restoration and find out where she lives... haha.

This is me and Ellie Carr!!! My favorite little 3 year old!!! I love her so much!!! She is the daughter of one of the members that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

The temple today was AMAZING! I felt so much peace as I sat and pondered on things in the Celestial room. There is no feeling that is better than complete peace.

Sister Johnson, Sister Jan Adams( member that took us), and Me! (It was super bright...)

Lately I have really been doing some soul searching. I want to be the best missionary that I can be. I want to be the Missionary that God knows I can be. And I feel like I'm not there yet. Granted I'm only 7 months out... but this next portion of my mission is going to be dedicated to becoming even MORE converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and really internalizing the Christlike Attributes that are in Ch. 6 of Preach my Gospel. There's a quote in Preach my Gospel that I put on my wall that I love. It says, " Just as vital as what you do, however, is who you are." I so love that!!!! Because I can preach the gospel all day long, but if I am not as Christlike as possible while doing it, then what's the point?

So that's what I am working on as of late. Standby.

That's it for this week folks!! Love you all and hope your week is a good one! Talk to you next week!!! :)

Much love!!!

Love, Sister Bauer

Fwd: Miracles upon Miracles!

Hello again dear family and friends!

Today I miss all of you a lot more than normal. Not sure why... but today is a "Missing my family and friends" Kind of day.  I hope you are all doing well.

Well Lets talk about what happened this week! Ahh! So many miracles!!!

So last week we were contacting around LBCC (the college we live by) and a girl who was pierced up and down, ripped jeans, crazy hair stopped us and said, "Hey sisters! What ward are you in?" So we told her and she said, "I'm a member but I haven't been to church in like a year. I just moved in around the corner and I want to come back to church. I need Jesus Back in my life!" So we got her info and let the singles ward sisters know who she was and told them to get her to church.

Flash forward to Saturday. We were having a really crappy day. Neither of us could contact anyone and we just were feeling really sorry for ourselves. We were walking back to our apartment and there was Perla again! She said, "sisters!!! What are you doing right now? Can we have a lesson?" So we said sure and she said, "I'll go get my Bible!" So she did and we started talking. She told us about how she is a convert to the church and about how she kinda fell away but she knows the church is true and how she knows that she needs it in her life. 

But that's not the Miracle.

She lives with her sister and her sister's boyfriend, who are both not members. And I think if we can get over there, we could start teaching them! PLUS she has a best friend named Hailey who is 13 and is her next door neighbor who we are going to start teaching.

Another thing that happened was that it was the end of the night and we had been visiting less active/Do Not Contact/members we have no clue who they are and time after time we had doors slammed in our face telling us to not bother them again. It was.... sad. 

So we were going to the last house of the night and kinda sad. We knocked on the door and this Hispanic guy came. We asked for Leona, because that is who we thought lived there, and he said no one by that name lived there. Then he asked who we were, when we told him his face softened and he said, "Oh my goodness you girls are an answer to my prayers. I have been praying for someone to come and talk to me about the word of God." So we talked to Him a bit on His front porch about things, but couldn't stay long because it was right at the end of the night.

We gave him a Book of Mormon and said we were going to come back and teach him when we had another person with us because he was a single guy. But we couldn't set a return appointment because he has a weird schedule. He said just to drop by.

Also this week Sister Luft and Sister Andelin came to do a mini exchange with us in our area. We just contacted and sister Andelin and Sister Johnson were able to find 3 awesome potentials!!!

Sometimes it is so easy to get discouraged. You get in hard situations and tight spots and it feels like nothing is ever going to get better, but then a shining light comes through and you realized that God opened a window.

Ok, that was a long email! But thanks for reading it all!

I love you all so much! Make this week an awesome one! Next week I get to go to the LA Temple, so Pday will be on Tuesday!! Holla!!!!

Alright love you all!!

Love Sister Bauer

Week uno with my new Compañera!

It's true! I have now had a new companion for a week! It's been weird! But good! I miss sister Brown like crazy and we will always be friends, but change is always a good thing... Even when it's not really wanted.

My new companion's name is Sister Johnson. She is from Riverton Utah and is 19 years old. She has been out 3 months and she is awesome! She's super happy and positive and just glad to be a missionary. She has always wanted to serve a mission, so when they made the age change she hopped on board. She is really awesome and I am sure that this transfer will be great!

I can't believe that October is half over. It seems like time just keeps moving right along... probably because it is. 

This week we ran into this guy who basically was arguing with us about the fact that what we believed was crazy. It was the closest I have ever come to bible bashing.... but I didn't physically have my Bible with me... so I couldn't really. But it was really frustrating. We meet some pretty crazy people.

Haha! There was another lady we ran into this week who was walking behind us, so we said hello and asked her name. She sketchily told us and then asked if we were students. When we said we were missionaries she quickly said, "Oh no no..." and then looked at the ground and walked off super quick. It was crazy... haha.

Sherry set a Baptismal date with us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is now on track for Dec 15! Wooo!!!!! She said... "Maybe" but that's farther than we have ever got before. She set that specific date herself and is praying about it. I really hope she will stay on track.

Pat.... oh Pat. Pat is awesome.... but she is so lost and confused. I think I have talked about her before a little bit. She is Catholic and is very involved in her church, but everytime we come over to her house she tells us that she feels a void and that she isn't spiritually fed at her church. She loves the feeling she gets when we are there and then asks us to come back. But ALWAYS finds excuses not to meet with us. She is fighting so hard the spirit that she feels when she comes. We try to keep daily contact with her, but she is rarely home and never answers her phone. But we are NOT giving up on her because she NEEDS the gospel.

Well anyways! That's it for this week! I love you all and will post pictures next week!!! 

Have a happy day and a happy week! Don't for get to Smile!!!

Love, Sister Bauer

A Little Spiritual Upliftment...

My Mom has told me that this is all over facebook and pinterest... But it is a really good principles, so I thought I would share it anyways!

Help Us Out!

Pictures #2!

Elder FROST!!!! Love this kid! He was our district leader my second transfer and sister brown's first. He is an amazing missionary and goes home tomorrow! :( I will miss his throw-down missionary ways! I'm telling you... He is the next Elder Holland!

Elder HOWELL! So me and Elder Howell grew up together in Meridian! What are the chances right? Anyways, he is leaving this transfer! Back to normal life her goes!

So... this is a bathroom in a nearby park. Sis brown is sitting... and there are no doors. I had to stand watch. haha.

Well... Nothing much else to say. Except I love you all and miss you all. God is changing me!

6 months this week... where does the time go?

Much love!

Sister Bauer

Fwd: Pictures!

Sherry! Our investigator. Love her more than words can describe!

The APs! We love them! They are great missionaries and put up with our shenanigans! :) Elder walker and Elder Dixon (Walker just got released)

SISTER LUFT!!!!!! She is leaving this transfer... and I have already shed my fair share of tears. So thats sad. I will miss her super badly. She is amazing and I owe a lot of my mission to her. 

After Conference Hang-Over! :)

Oh man! It's been a really good week! Wasn't conference AWESOME??? I am soooo grateful that we have a prophet on the earth who can give us modern day revelation and comfort our souls with the words that only Christ could be speaking. 

After all, the Lord says, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (D&C 1:38)

The things that were said at conference were things that Jesus Christ Himself would have said if He were here on this earth.

Think about that for a second.

Can you remember what a BIG portion of conference was about?

MISSIONARY WORK!!!! :D

Yay! I loved President Uchdorf's talk about WHY anyone would join our church? Why would they?

Because of the feeling that comes in knowing the things that we know. And in knowing that we have the RESTORED gospel of JESUS CHRIST on the earth today.

Sister Brown (My companion) gave a talk in church last week and said this,"Members of the church have never had to ask themselves the soul searching questions: Who am I? Where did I come from? and Who am I? But for those not of our faith these are real, and they can be very frightening questions.

We are lucky enough to know that through the gospel of JESUS CHRIST we can be happy not only for this life, but for the rest of ETERNITY! :)

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." (Mosiah 2:41)

So, I encourage you to all heed President Uchdorf's talk and also take take the challenge that Elder Ballard gave in finding one person from now until Christmas for the missionaries to teach.

I know as you PRAY for opportunities to share the gospel, they will come. And that as you stand for truth and righteousness you will be blessed. The missionary moments will come in ways that you can do. God is not going to ask you to go knock a street of doors if you are uncomfortable with it! but He might give you a prompting to tell your friends about general conference when they ask you what you did this weekend.

God LOVES us! So the least we can do is help the rest of his children come to that knowledge! Because he loves them too!

Ok... Now that I am off my soap box. :) 

Sherry came to all four sessions of conference with us at the stake center. She really liked a lot of the talks but said that President Monson makes her sleepy. We told her that as she continues to heed His counsel that a witness will come and we testified that he truly is a prophet of God. I really know that he is and I am grateful for him and the revelation he receives.

This week we drew out the Plan of Salvation with chalk in the park! I don't know if we found anyone because of it, but I know that it will plant lots of little seeds.

It's kind of hard to see because of the lighting... but it's there! It was really fun! 

Well That's basically it for this week! Nothing much more to say!

Oh! Transfers are tomorrow and I'm staying in my area another transfer! CRAZY! By the time the transfer ends, I will have been in this area for 7&1/2 months! Sister Brown got transferred to the singles ward who meets in our same building. She will be in a trio and we will probably still see each other every Sunday. So that will be good!

Well I love you all soooo much! If you didn't watch conference please watch it! or listen to it! or read it! or whatever!!!!! It was so good!

Have a great week and I will talk to you all next week!

Pictures to come in a separate email!

It's General Conference week! :)

Yes! It's General Conference this weekend and I am so excited!!! We kicked this week off with the General Relief Society Broadcast and it was awesome! It is amazing how our Heaven;y Father knows just what we need to hear! I loved it so much! If you haven't had a chance to watch it... DO! It's so good. The new General Relief Society Presidency spoke along with our beloved prpphet: Thomas S. Monson. (Love him!) With a guest appearance by the one and only....

Hermana Kailey Woodruff!

I was super stoked to see a familiar face and everyone around me knew it! :) What can I say? I just really love her!!! It was super cool and I loved it!

So it was a nice little appetizer to the main course of General Conference this week! I encourage all of you to watch it and be spiritually uplifted and edified! I will be taking copious notes! ;)

Well. I don't have much else to say about this week other than it was a week of ups and downs!

This week we find out what will happen with transfers. (They are a week from Tuesday.) I am pretty sure I will be transferred out of the Woodruff ward (sad day) and away from Sister Brown (Sadder day). I guess you will all have to wait and see until next week! I know that you will all be anxiously awaiting the moment my weekly email arrives. ;) 

Love you all lots and lots and lots! Talk to you soon!!

Love, Sister Bauer

Ether 12:27 (One of my new favs!)

"27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I  give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

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Fwd: Yo Ho!!!

Family and Friends of mine! How is everyone this fine week??? Hopefully good! It's been a bit of a stressful week for me! But things are good. I am grateful for the blessings that I do have and I try to recognize the blessings in the trials.

This week was really low on member present lessons, but we met with Sherry almost everyday. We had a family home evening with her on Sunday and she told us she had gotten to Alma 32 in her Book of Mormon Reading. She told us she had read verses 16-18 and told us she knew it was just for her. It says,

"16 Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe.

 17 Yea, there are many who do say: If thou wilt show unto us aasign from heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe.

 18 Now I ask, is this faith? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for if a man knoweth a thing he hath no cause to believe, for he knoweth it."

She is well on her way to baptism and I love it! I so love Sherry!!!! She has been an angel sent to Sister Brown and I and I love her so much!!

This week I have shared this scripture on multiple occasions. It one of my new favorites. It's in
Mormon 9:19. 

19 And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles.

God is the same yesterday, today and forever! He is unchanging. And just like Christ performed Miracles when He was on the earth, that priesthood authority (or the power to act in the name of Jesus Christ) has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith and we witness those same miracles today. God Loves all of his children enough to give them a prophet. Just like he gave them prophets in the old testament times. I know that prophet is a man of God and he really does receive revelation from our Father in Heaven. I know that as we heed the words of the Prophet, we will see the miracles occur and the blessings will come. 

I love the Lord.

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ!

I love you all!!

Have a happy week! :)

Love, Sister Bauer

Pics for this week!

Elder Bledsoe (Left) and Elder Walker, one of the APs (Right) Thumb wrestling with tissues on their thumbs because they were getting sweaty. This match lasted a good 15 minutes... it was ridiculous! Elders are so weird!

This was alllll over our floor (Thanks to the APs for grinding it in the floor with their shoes...)

My cool California shirt!

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Trials are Blessings!

This has been my mantra since I've started my mission. Going into this mission I thought, "I want to come out of this someone totally different. I still want to be Jacqueline, but a new and improved Jacqueline"

To achieve this, we must go through trials. There is no other way to achieve it. Something I have come to learn is that growing is painful. No matter what kind of growing we do, whether it's physically, mentally, spiritually, or emotionally. It's an uncomfortable process. But I know that after we go thought it, we are thankful that we did. We are thankful because we change from what we were to what we have become. 

There are times when I pray to my Heavenly Father and ask Him why I have to go through the things I do. But then I remember what I told Him as I started my mission. That I wanted to change. I am grateful for trials because they are shaping me and molding me into the person that I want to become. 

One of my favorite sections of the Doctrine and Covenants is section 121, when Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail and is asking God why he has to go through these trials and I love what God says to him.

Joesph says,

"1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?

 2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?

 3 Yea, O Lord, ahow long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful boppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with ccompassion toward them?"

Then the lord answers and I love what he says,

"7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 9 Thy afriends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job."

The Lord is right! I am not as Job!!! I have it much easier than him! And I am grateful for that. But I am also grateful for trials that I know how to endure.

I love you all and I'm sorry this email is a little short this week! Peace be unto your souls!

God be with you all!

Love, 

Sister Bauer

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Week 3 of Transfer 4!

Welcome to the third week of the transfer everyone! Week three is crazy because it means the transfer is half over. It's crazy how fast 6 weeks goes by! 

Well, all is going good here in Southern California! Just another day in the great and spacious building! But really. We live way to close to Hollywood and LA for our own good. The filth seeps over to Long Beach. I think the hardest thing about being a missionary in California is the Pride of the world. Because Southern California is so expensive to live in, people have to be a little more well off than your average Utahan. So naturally, "they don't need God." Humility is definitely lacking here in the Golden State.

We have really been struggling to find more people to teach. It's been so freakin hot that nobody wants to go outside! (I don't blame them!) So street contacts this past week have been something that haven't been really an option. Lately, we have started to "Chalk" bus stops. We write a random person's name and then tell them to call the missionaries! And then we write our number... no success yet! But we'll see! This week we are going to go to a park and draw out the Plan of Salvation and write some inspired questions and then our number. You never know right?

So, the Woodruff ward has always had a bad rep. for the missionary work being slow. You can ask any previous missionary who has served in the ward. So Sister Brown and I decided that something needed to change because what has been happening has not bee working. So we purposed a 40 day fast for our ward. It's basically when different families or individuals sign up for different time periods to fast so that there is always someone fasting during the 40 days. It's actually pretty cool. There have been other wards around us that have done it and seen a lot of miracles happen. We want to do some sort of activity each week where members can invite their friends. Like watch the Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration Film, Have an Ice-Cream Social, watch the testaments, that kind of stuff! I think it will be a great opportunity for the members to be more involved in the missionary work that happens!

Sherry is just fantastic as always! She is always sending us scriptures from the Book of Mormon, quotes by prophets and apostles, Etc. She is always so willing to come with us to baptism and firesides. She already told us she would come with us to the General Relief Society Broadcast! (Which I am completely STOKED about by the way!) So that will be completely Amazing! She still won't commit to a specific date for baptism, but I know that she will be baptized. It's just a matter of WHEN. She really wants to make sure she KNOWS it's true before she gets baptized because she doesn't want to be flaky. I'm not sure if she KNOWS that Joseph Smith is a prophet and if Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. And those are kinda important things. She will get there! I love Sherry so much! She is seriously the greatest person on earth! So sweet, kind, selfless, and loving! She's "practically perfect in every way". (Get it? That was a Mary Poppins reference... ha)

Welllllll! It's time to say goodbye this week! I will bid you all adieu and look forward to next week when my inbox will be sooo full with all the responses you send... *Hint *Hint! ;)

I love you all so much! Pray for you often! 

Remember to be happy! True Happiness comes from following the example of Jesus Christ in all things!

2 Nephi 5:27, 

"27 And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."

 

Mosiah 2:41

"41  And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I love you all!!!! Have a happy week! :) 

Love Sister Bauer

Exchange with Sis. Luft (My Sister Training Leader)

A weird little diggy thing at the park! I think I have a future in Excavation. 

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I forgot!

Also, Just a little update on the weather here! This whole summer it has been 75-80 degrees max with a nice ocean breeze! That is until now! Ugh! this past week and this coming week are in the high 90s or 100s and humidity out the wazoo!! Sorry for those of you who have had to live with this for the whole summer! That must suck!!! (Natalie Gibb, Liza Stephens!) Thanks goodness for air conditioner! 

Bye!!

Love Sis Bauer

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I love New Missionaries!!!

This past Tuesday all the new missionaries came in! Sis. (Mission Pres's Wife) asked me and Sis. Brown to come and help her make lunch for the new missionaries who would be arriving and also just mingle with them. (Well the sisters at least) It was really cool! I love getting to meet the new missionaries because it reminds me of when I was one of them. Hard to believe it was a whole 5 months ago! Glad I am not in their shoes. That day sucked! Running on no sleep and not knowing what the heck is going on!!!! No Thank-you! I will choose the situation I am in now thank you!\

Anyways! So that was fun! Sis. Tew even said that she is probably going to have sisters there every time now because those poor missionaries don't know what the heck is going on and all they want to know is what is going to happen to them! 

This week was a slow one as far as work goes. Sister Brown hasn't been feeling well lately, and so we've kinda been taking it easy! She is great! We will def be best friends when we get off our missions!!! I will go home only 1 transfer before her.

So we had a cool experience this week!! We were biking and ran into this man who was watering his lawn/flowers. We started talking to him and he said his name was Barom. He was born in Cambodia and lived there until he was 5, then moved to Germany and lived there until 6 years ago. We told him that we were missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and he started telling us about his son who goes to church. (He was a little confused and thought that because his son went to "a Church" we knew him) Anyways! Long story short! We went back last night and took Barom a Cambodian Book of Mormon and we also got to meet his 14 year old son Wilney. (Yes... Wilney not Willy.) Barom speaks broken English, but Wilney speaks perfect English and started telling us about how he is really searching to find himself right now and he wants to find God and He know's there is a God and so on and so forth! It was cool because I was able to see how a 14 year old boy (Like Joesph Smith) could really care so much about his salvation and his soul. It was really refreshing! I realized that there are teenagers in the world who care about the important stuff! It gave me hope!! :) Anyways, So we gave them to the Cambodian speaking elders so that if Wilney joins the church, it will help his dad get there too and he will be able to be a fellow-shipper for his dad. I hope to see their names sometime soon on the mission email that we get every week saying who was baptized the past week! Both were so grateful for the Book of Mormons and Barom was so grateful for one in Cambodian! It was definitely a miracle to find them!

Well, time to bid you Adieu! Love you all and hope this finds you all well! Don't be afraid to email me back or write me a letter! Love from California!!!

Love Sister Bauer!

Woodruff Ward Missionaries: Elder Thorup, Elder Komarek, Elder Fillmore, Sister Bauer, Sister Brown

Junipero District

 

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Drum-Roll Please...........

Well... Sister Brown and I are staying together for one more transfer!!! Happy Day! I love her so much! I just hope we won't get too sick of each other! :)

Well, Yesterday I had to say goodbye to one of my favorite missionaries. Sister Shaver. (One of the first sad goodbye's of many I'm sure...) At the end of every transfer we have a departing fireside and that was last night. All the departing missionaries bear their testimonies and then there are musical numbers as well. Last fireside I sang and played a song that I wrote, this fireside I sang a duet with another sister named Sister Andelin. We sang "A Child's Prayer" It was really awesome! I love Departing Firesides. You can't go unless you are in the program or you bring and investigator. Sherry came also! It was great! I love her! She does so much for us!

Sister Brown, Sister Shaver, Me, Sister Perry

So... speaking of Sister Perry! I have a really funny story about her. Right before I left on my mission... Like DAYS before... I discovered an email on Facebook from some girl named Michelle Perry. I was so confused and so I opened the email and read what she had to say. She proceeded to write that her name was Michelle and she had been called to the same mission as me and was supposed to enter the MTC on the same date too, but she had to get surgery on her foot so she had to delay her entrance date. I emailed her back and we talked back and forth for a few minutes and then she asked if she could receive my weekly emails. So I said sure and put her email address on the list. Well, I won't lie.. I thought she was a little weird at first. Hahaha But I was like, whatever! So she came in this past transfer (the 16th of July) and I met her for the first time. We both recognized each other and it was a weird little reunion/introduction. Long story short, she is probably one of the coolest people I have ever met and we will be friends forever! I love her so much! She is hilarious and has an AMAZING desire to just work super hard. How could I have ever called her weird? :) We laugh about it now! She was Sister Shaver's comp. this last transfer. She's hilarious and I love her! Hopefully we will get to be companions at some point! We have 9 more transfers to get a shot! 

My District: "Junipero" 

Elder Butler, Elder Komarek, Elder Jesperson, Elder Owen, Elder Manwill, Sister Brown, Sister Bauer, Elder Fillmore, elder Thorup, Sister Butler

Woodruff Ward Missionaries!

Elder Thorup, Elder Komarek, Elder fillmore (Visa Waiter to Brazil) Sister Bauer, Sister Brown

Elder Komarek is getting transferred to Whittier. After 7 1/2 months here in Woodruff, he's getting a change of scenery! Bye Elder Komarek! You will be missed! Good luck in Whittier!

Well, As far as the work is going here, We are still teaching Sherry! We taught her about the 10 commandments and also about following the prophet this week. We watched the Mormon Message "Good Things to Come" by Elder Holland. I HIGHLY suggest it! It is a really good one! The spirit was really strong and me and Sister Brown just really bore our testimonies that we know that President Monson is called of God along with all of the quorum of the 12 apostles. I love those men. They truly are Called of God. 

Well, I love you all so much! Ready for another week in the Great California Long Beach Mission! (Arguably the greatest mission in the world!)

Another Shout out to my best friends Allyson and Jordan! CoNgRaTS on your ETERNAL MARRIAGE!!! Wooo!!!! Now you can join the ranks of young married Mormon's across Utah! ;) Jokes! You know I love you both and wish I could have been there! Glad I had a proxy (Thanks Madison). 

Well, Onward Christian Soldiers!!! 

God be with you till we meet again!

Love, Sister Bauer

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