We have more than 1 investigator! Yippee!

FAMILY and FRIENDS!!!!!! HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING????? I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!!! Here is my life via email! :)

The work is really moving right along!! This week we picked up a new investigator. His name is Christopher We met him while contacting in the park. He double majored in biblical studies and history. So I thought that our meeting with him might turn into a bible bash, and i was a little nervous for it. But He is a really nice guy and just sincerely wants to learn. He has a lot of doctrinal questions that I don't always know how to answer. But I really feel as though if I truly follow the spirit, that he will learn what he needs to know that this is the Lord's kingdom on the earth. 

Pat is another new investigator. She is just peachy!! I love her so much. She is a "Devout" Catholic. Meaning, the first time we met her she told us that she loved her church and was very involved with it. But as we have talked to her more and more, we have come to find out that she feels something missing in her life and like there is a void of some kind. The first time we met her contacting and shared a scripture from the BOM with her. She loved it and told us that she thought so highly of the Mormon church and its members. The second time we visited her, (with sis brown) we knocked on her door and she told us that she thought we were very sweet but that she loved her church and was committed to it and she wouldn't let us set a return appt. but we gave her a BOM. The third time we saw her just outside her house and she told us she had been reading the BOM! Then she asked us about what we believed about life after death. We taught her a little bit about the POS and she said it brought her a lot of comfort, but she still wouldn't set a return appt. The last time we saw her, we were with sister Tew and we talked to her about how the parts of the POS that we had talked about had brought her great comfort. She finally let us set a return appt! So we met with her this week and she said that we were her angels and that she had been praying for guidance and maybe we were it! This is also when she told us she felt like there was a void in her life. I can see her accepting the gospel, but she loves her church because all her friends are in her church. So that is our only stumbling block as of right now.

Sherry, our progressing investigator, is doing dandy! She is continuing to read and pray about the BOM. And she also bought a quad and "Our Heritage". The only thing there is that she won't set a date for baptism. She said she feels pressured and that she "Wants to know everything" well... I guess I shouldn't be baptized then because I STILL don't know everything. Sis Tew came   with us to our last lesson with her. It was a good lesson and we talked about the importance of baptism and how, all we need is to know that the BOM is true, but that we REALLY need to ask with SINCERITY and ask specific questions. I felt like the spirit was there and like it testified to her that she really needs to ASK. We have another lesson with her on Tuesday and we are going to watch the Restoration DVD with her. 

I'm sorry that I never have any funny stories.... I will try to be better at that. I guess I am just a failure as a missionary! oops! :) haha! Well I love you all so much and I am grateful for all of your friendships and prayers. Please continue to pray that we will find those people who are prepared to hear our message and accept the gospel.

I love you!

God Loves you!

Jesus Christ is our Savior!

Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet who guides us today! 

These things I know! 

God be with you 'till we meet again.

Love,

Sister Bauer

Pics:

1.) Signal Hill... You can see the whole mission boundaries (Supposedly) from this point! That's the ocean and also Downtown Long Beach (I think)

2.) Me, Sister Brown, and Sister Puttapong. She is a temple Square sister who came to Long Beach for her "out" Transfer. Behind us is LA in the distance!

3.) The buildings in the distance is downtown Long Beach.... I think?

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July is Almost Over!!!

Hi All! Hopefully your weeks are going well!

 

This week was good. We didn't have a chance to really meet with Sherry. We had an impromptu lesson with her, but then she cancelled on her other lesson, so we weren't able to get a member there. She came to church which was great, but left after sunday school. Sister Tew came with us this week which was great!!! I love her so much! She really is wonderful!

We were able to pick up a new investigator with her there as well! Her name is Pat. We met her a while ago while she was outside in her yard. We shared a scripture with her and she just talked about how she loved it and how it almost made her want to cry. She then proceeded to tell us that she was Catholic and very involved in her faith, but that if she wasn't Catholic, she would be Mormon! (What??) So we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave her some passages to read (Including the introduction). Then we saw her again and she told us she had been reading the BOM. (Wow!!) And she asked us about what we believed about life after death. We taught her a little bit about the POS and she told us it gave her great comfort. We tried to meet with her, but she wouldn't set a return appointment with us. But when we went to see her with your wife, she did!! So we are meeting with her on Wednesday! We are going to teach her the Rest.

Nothing too much more exciting! Short email this week! I love you all and miss you all! Hopefully you all are doing well! Lots of love from California!

 

Love, Sister Bauer

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More Pictures!

1.) My Zone

2.) My District

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Transfer Tuesday!

Mi Famila y Mis amigos!!!!!

 

I've made it 2 transfers!!! WHAT THE WHAT?????? I'm officially done with my 12 weeks! ;) Oh wait, I've been done with those for 6 weeks! :) haha Well, I know you are all DYING to know whats happening this transfer so I will fill you in!! Nothing is changing.... I know. Exciting right??? :) I'm really glad that nothing is changing. The work in the Woodruff ward is just starting to pick up and I love Sister Brown! So I was glad that nothing changed! :) Yay! Ok! Moving On!

 

This week was good! We had another lesson with Sherry. We talked a little bit about the POS. not alot, she had questions about the restoration so we talked more about that. She is so great! she came to church again and she is reading and praying! I love her so much! She is awesome! She also came to the Dept Fireside and she loved it!

 

We did service this week for a nonmember family who was a referral from a family in our ward. we did service fo rthem, but they left like right when we finished so we didnt get th eopportunity to share the gospel really with them. We are going to try and do some more service for them and get a retern appt to teach them. the husband, mike, had a lot of questions about the gospel and seems to be s little bit more interested then his wife, jill. So we will see how things go with them.

 

Ok, miricle time! Elder Frost (My District Leader) has really challenged us as a companionship to pray for specifics and expect miricles.  So one day this week we prayed that we would meet one person who would meet with us again who wouldn't flake. As we left the house on our bikes, I had the distinct feeling that we should turn around and go the other direction. So we did, we came to the park that is right behind our house and had to walk our bikes across the grass. I noticed this kid who was kicking a soccer ball around and I felt like we should REALLY talk to him, but it was kind of awkward because he was kind of in the distance a bit and when we walked up to him and said hi he sort of blew us off. So we walked passed him. But, I still felt this overwhelming feeling that we should talk to him. He was getting ready to leave the field and go back to his car. So Naturally... we followed him. :) As we approached him, I just opened my mouth and the words, "You look familiar, do we know you?" Came out! didn't plan that! He said no, but that he knew who we were because he had seen missionaries before. Anyways, long story short! He grew up in Utah and is going to Cal State Long Beach for school and had a lot of Mormon friends. He said, "I'm catholic and the Mormon thing is not for me." But he agreed to meet with us Tuesday at noon! We got his number and I felt so good afterwards and know that the Lord answered my prayer! It was so cool!

 

Also! I got to sing in the deptarture fireside last night! It was so cool! I sang the song I wrote (Go & Do) and it was a hit. I had so many people (other missionaries, members, investigators) tell me how amazing they thought it was! It was a real self-esteem booster! PLUS! Margaret and Sherry BOTH came!!!!! It was so great! Another Transfer down, 11 more to go! Crazy how fast this time is going!!! Before I know it.... I'll only have a year left! NUTSS!

 

Well, I love all of you so much! Have a happy week and I will try to do the same! Keep the Faith and God be with you 'till we meet again!

Love, Sister Bauer

 

Pics:

1.) Happy Holidays! .......in July?

2.) Pic of our Zone (LBE, Long Beach East)

3.) We went to get Sushi! It was pretty good!!! I quite like sushi!!!! Actually I have recently decided that I love it!!!!

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Welcome to Missionary life on Pdays...

Welcome to Emails every week! Everyone talks about thier families and the drama going on in thier own lives! It's great! :) hahaha

 

1.) Elder Komarek, Sister Brown, Elder Mann, Elder Thorup, Elder Frost, Elder Barney

2.) What Emails are really like!

3.) Look how spiritual our elders are!

 

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Happy 4th!!!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!!!!! GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND OF THE FREEEEEE!!!!

 

Hope you all had lots of fun on the Fourth of July! I definetly had lot of meetings..... it was great. And then when everyone else was lighting off fireworks, we were trying to sleep... So it was a wierd day! It's wierd to be a missionary and celebrate holidays, cuz we don't really get a day off from them! Anyways, it was good though! We got to have dinner with the Goodmans! They are our favorite family in the ward!!!!! WE LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! They are seriously the greatest!!! So happy fourth!

 
Fourth of July we went to a ward breakfast. Then we had meetings all day. (District meeting, Weekly Planning, Ect.) then we had dinner with the Goodmans. They are our FAVORITE!!! They take such good care of us!!! Like really! I love them so much! I sang/played the song that I wrote for my BOM class that one time! It was called Go and do. Based off of the scripture 1 Nephi 3:7. Actually we had a sisters training meeting a couple weeks ago and the assistants asked if I would play it for the meeting. So I did. Everyone loved it and asked for a copy and all this stuff! It was really cool!

 

We met President and Sister Tew on Friday. He is a SPRIRITUAL POWERHOUSE! I miss President Bubert, and president Tew is soooo different. But It's good I think I have been struggling with my spiritual connection and he made me cry!!! and said things I really needed to hear! He really teaches with the spirit... which is something that I have seriously always struggled with, since the begginning of my mission. It's something I am still trying to work on.
 

So we had our first lesson with Sherry this week. It was good. She said she would be baptized when she felt like it was right. Our next lesson with her is tomorrow and so we are going to commit her to a date. She loves church and always says, "See ya next week!" it's great! She met the missionaries like 20 years ago and they gave her a book of mormon, but kind of just set it aside. She wasn't prepared to recieve the gospel then. But like I said, she has some really good friends that she was visiting for like a month in Utah and she was going to church with them. She came back to Long Beach (Home) and looked up her ward boundaries and just showed up to church. It's just a testimony to me of how planting a seed really does make a difference. Sometimes we don't necessarily see the fuits of our labors. I mean look at abinidi! Simply because he shared what the Lord commanded him to share, he converted Alma! And look how many people joined the church becuase of Alma! It's encouraging to me because sometimes I feel like nothing I am doing is making a difference! But it is, I just won't always see it. Sherry, however, is now prepared and It's awesome!
 
We also taught a member referral yesterday. I don't know if I would put it under the "successfull" category though...  Their names are Mike and Jill Shafer. GREAT FAMILY! So fun!! They are friends of the Andersons (A family in our ward!). We talked about The Family: A Proclamation to the World, but between the Anderson's kids and the Shafer's kids, there were 8 children running around under the age 9... So it was a bit hectic and babies were crying and had to be changed and all this stuff! So needless to say, we didn'f fully get our message across....
:( Mike seemed a little bit more intersted then his wife and what we did talk about he said he liked. He really loved that Skippy (Brother Anderson) felt as though Him and Katie (Sister Anderson) had a really good marraige and he said it was because he tried to follow the proclamation. We talked about how it was because we had a modern day prophet that we were able to have this and that was Mike's only stumbling block. But he had quite a few questions and invited us to do service on Wednesday. So hopefully we will be able to talk to him and his wife more, and see if we can't get those lessons started! They are such a good family and we laughed a lot! He would make an AMAZING addition to the church!!!
 
Shirleann has been out of town visiting her sister in Minnisota, but her mom has been coming to church without her which is awesome!!! they are coming back into the fold.... so it's awesome! Once she gets back... which is actually today, we will get her started on the After baptism lessons.

 

Well, other than that, I don't have much elsxe to say. The weeks just keep flyin by and I'm sure they will contunue to fly by. Transfers are next week... can you believe I've already been out 2????  I sure can't!!!!! It's crazy! Well, I love you all!! Keep the Faith and if you love me, you will write me letters..... K LOVE YOU LOTS!! BYE!!

 

Pics:

1.) Saluting for the flag!

2.) At the Ward Breakfast in front of Bro. Goodman's awesome bike!!!!

3.) The Goodman Family!!!!!!! WE LOVE THEM!!!

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Do Miracles Never Cease???

Hola mi amigos y familia!

 

This week was a little bittersweet. On Saturday the Buberts (My mission Pres and his wife and 2 kids) left! :( and our new mission president President and sister Tew came. It was hard. I REALLY loved President and sister Bubert. But, Friday we actually got invited to the mission home to help clean everything down to the core. It was fun! Just a bunch of missionaries in normal clothes cleanin' the mission home! PartAAAAY! haha! but really....

 

So the Tew's are now here and I'm sure they are wonderful. They will be a great blessing to this mission!

 

Let me tell you a bit about how the work is going! It has been incredibly slow for quite some time. We have been really focusing on finding people to teach. When Elder Ballard came to this mission a while ago, he made a promise to the missionaries here that if they reiceved 10 contacts a day, they would be blessed with more people to teach. So we have really been trying to get 10 contacts a day. It's hard sometimes because there are barely 10 people outside a day that we even see. But we talk to every single person we see and that has truly blessed us.

 

Since the Worldwide leadership training, we have also been focused on having the members help us find people to teach, because of thier built in friendship and trust. Before the training, we actually challenged some families in the ward to pick like 5 names or families that they knew and were friends with and to pray about them. Then, we would come back the next week and aske them about the names they had. They followed throught and this week we have a lesson planned with a family that they are good friends with for this Sunday! The Lord blesses those who truly pray for those experiences. Also, this week we had a lady show up to chuch who wasn't a member. She has been visiting her friends in Utah and going to church with them. So when she got back into the area, she looked up her ward boundaries and decided to come!!! Needless to say, we have a lesson with her Wednesday! So great!

 

My grandma sent me a great little thought the other day. She said, "Obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings Miracles!" I know that is true. I have seen it happen. Since sister Brown and I have been striving for exact obedience, we have seen miracles happen. Sometimes they don't come in the form that we think, but they come.

 

My dearest friends! I love this gospel so much! I wouldn't be here if I didn't! Everyday I pray that my message will change at least one person's heart. I know that the message we share as missionaries is true. The Book of Mormon, is the word of God. I know this because I have felt the power of it in my life. Thank God for all of the blessings in your life. "Ere you left your room this morning, did you think to pray?" Did you? Think about everything that God has blessed you with. Have you thanked him lately? I heard this once, "What if you woke up with only the things that you had thanked God for the night before?" Man... I need to be better. We all do.

 

I challenge all of you to share one simple belief with one person today. Whether it's that you know there is a God and that He loves us, or that the Book of Mormon is true, or that Jesus is the Christ. Because simple testimonies change lives.

 

I know that God is our LOVING Heavenly Father. I know that He wants us all to return to live with him, and that He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, so that we could live with Him again. Jesus IS the Christ and He lives and loves us. Joseph Smith Restored Christ's gospel in it's fullness to the earth. We are led by a prophet of God and if we heed his words, we will never be led astray. I'm so glad that I have an eternal family, and that through the priesthood power and temples, I will be able to, one day, be sealed to my spouse and children forever. I KNOW the Book of Mormon is another testiment of Christ and that it is true. Read it and pray about it, ask God if it isn't true. (Moroni 10:3-5)

 

I love all of you and I miss all of you! I pray for you every single day! Continue to pray for the missionaries! And not only pray for them, but help them! By helping the missionaries find people to teach in your area, you help me!  Doctrine & Covenants 18:10, 16
"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." "And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!"

 

JOY AWAITS YOU!

 

Share the gospel!

 

I love you all so much! Sorry this one was so long! but read the whole thing... it's good. :)

 

God be with you till we meet again!

 

Love, Sister Bauer

 

 

Pics:

1.) President and Sister Bubert after cleaining thier house

2.) My SWEEEEEET shoe tan line! (Don't mind my freaky toes)

3.) The best of both worlds!!!! Chick-fil-A and In-N-Out are RIGHT next door to each other!!!

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