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