April 6, 2015 Easter and General Conference

Hello everyone! Sounds like everyone enjoyed conference and had a great week. If you didn't enjoy conference, you are crazy, because it was amazing. 

So, conference. Wow. AMAZING. I went into conference with about 6 or 7 questions. I prayed to be able to find the answers through conference. And sure enough, I got at least some sort of an answer to all of my questions. It's almost like Heavenly Father hears our prayers and loves us enough to answer them. Crazy, huh? Nope, not at all. I knew that as long as I asked and was sincerely seeking the answers, they were there. And that applies to a lot more than just conference. So keep that in mind.

This week has been pretty good. D…. had her baptismal interview on Friday, and she is set for this Saturday. So excited. L….. has her interview on Tuesday. She has missed a couple Sundays because of work (they are in the process of hiring new people so she can get all sundays off though!) and she had to cancel a few lessons for emergencies. So, she will definitely be baptized, we just don't know if she will be ready for this week, or wait until next week. But, it will happen. And she is awesome. I love L….. a lot.

Both of them were able to watch at least one session of conference, but not all of them. We got to watch one session at a member's home with L…., which was super cool. The other sessions we just watched at the church. It was the 6 missionaries in Dallas and like 4 other people. Everyone just stays home to watch conference haha. But conference was really good. I loved it, and seemed to get so much more out of it this year. It was awesome.

Elders Baldridge and Watson

Funny story of the week. We went to try to talk to this kid who we had given a Book of Mormon before. He came to the door and was like "I'll be back out in just a sec." So, we waited. And he never came back. Ha we waited like 20 minutes, and nothing. It was actually really funny, and strange. That was a first for me. Good times as missionaries.

On Friday we gave a blessing to a guy who is really cool and we have a good relationship with. He was really sick. He could barely just sit up in bed for us to give him the blessing. He said he has some kind of problem where he gets sick a lot. And then he asked me to give the blessing, which really surprised me because everyone around here has a better relationship with Elder Watson since he's been here longer. But, it was a cool experience for me, so I'm glad he asked. And the next day he was at the Priesthood Session of conference joking around and looking fine and everything. So, that was neat. Little miracles are awesome.

On Wednesday a ward member asked us to visit her mother-in-law, who is a former member of the church, but now goes to another church. So, we drove by, and she was outside sweeping her sidewalk. We stopped and asked if we could do it for her. She said yes because she has a bad back. As a former member, she knew who we were, and probably didn't want to see us, but needed the help. We then asked if we could do anything else for her. She asked us to come back later and vacuum her house (we had an appointment right then, so we had to leave). We of course did, and she made us some awesome dinner that she said she had been saving for company the next day, but made for us instead. I think she liked us. We never once brought up the gospel (we did leave her a card with our numbers with the Easter video on it, but we just left it with her), we just served her and let her know that we care. She may never want to hear about our church again, but she appreciated the service a lot. Service can open so many more doors than pass-along cards or anything else. Show them that you love them and that Heavenly Father loves them, through you, and people's hearts will be softened. 

Easter was great. Mainly because of General Conference. In the morning while Elder Watson was in the shower I opened the box from you and arranged all his stuff in a nice way where he normally studies. He was very excited, mainly because he lives to eat unhealthy haha. But thank you for the package, and for remembering him too. I knew you would!

Easter treats Elder Baldridge set out for his companion, Elder Watson

So, we watched conference, weekly planned (a solid 2 hour planning session for the whole week, which I kinda enjoy but most people despise), and then went to a member's house for dinner. Dinner was really good, so that was awesome. But, it was a couple with no kids at home, so we didn't do anything kiddish like I knew you would be doing with the Elders there  haha. But that's okay. It was a good time.

So, spiritual thought. During conference, I realized that I have always believed a lot of things about the gospel, but there were lots of things I didn't really know. I had a testimony, and that testimony has been strengthened and deepened throughout the years. But there I was a lot I didn't know for sure. So, this morning during personal study, I set out to fix that. I got on my knees and asked sincerely for the knowledge I need to not only help my own testimony, but to help others strengthen theirs as well. As I said before, Heavenly Father definitely hears and answers our prayers. It was a very personal experience which I won't share all of, but now I know a whole lot more. I don't just hope and believe that God loves me, I know it. I know that Christ suffered for our sins out of love for us, and I am grateful for that sacrifice. I don't know everything about how the Atonement works, but I know that it is real. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and an older brother who was willing to suffer and die for me. I hope during this Easter season, all of you remember that too.

I love you all, more than you know. I hope everyone has a wonderful week full of awesome, fun things. Keep being cool and keep sharing gospel stuff even though Easter has passed.

Love, Elder Baldridge

P.S. We may have bought some Easter candy on clearance when we went shopping this morning.... I'm getting so out of shape. Oops.

March 30, 2015 Best Day So Far!

This week has been really good. One day this week (I believe Wednesday) I read "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" which is an amazing book. I literally read it in one day. Everyone should read it. The subtitle I guess you would call it is "The what and how of missionary work" or something like that. And that is what it tells you. It talks about how to be a missionary through simple means. It can help everyone, both full-time missionaries and members, to become better missionaries. So read it.

Our investigators with baptismal dates are doing pretty well. D….. is doing really well and is definitely ready to be baptized, I believe. She has changed so much from when we started teaching her to now. The gospel has brought so much joy into her life that wasn't there before. It is great to see. L…… is doing well. She has almost quit smoking!  We may have to push her baptism date back because she has only been able to make it to church once, but only because of some crazy stuff at work. She said they are hiring two new people so she can have weekends off, so she will definitely be able to make it to church in the near future. So, we may have to push it back, but she is pretty much ready for baptism. And she is awesome.

We did a decent amount of service this week. Probably like 6ish hours. I think the goal for the zone is 10 hours a week, but that is hard. So 6 was good. We did some yard work, worked at a food pantry, and helped a member in a wheelchair clean out cages for these massive bunnies that she has. It was all pretty fun. I love doing service!!

This week we also got pass along cards to hand out for the Because He Lives video, the Easter video the church has put out. It is an awesome video (I saw it for the first time yesterday) and the cards are an easy way to start a conversation with people. So that has been good. The first day we got them we gave out like 15 and had some good talks. You should all totally share that video, whether on Facebook or suggest it to specific people or whatever. But it is super great.

Last night we typed up our Family Mission Plans that we will be starting to implement this week. I'm excited because it should definitely get members more involved. You can't do mission work without members!

So I had the best day and coolest experience of my mission so far this week. On Thursday, I went on an exchange with Elder Young, another Elder in the Dallas area, right next to us. He is super cool and probably the most obedient missionary I have met. He and his companion Elder Mariano work out every morning, so Elder Watson and I went with them since we were on exchanges. We got up at 4:30 (which they do every morning!!) and Elder Young and I jogged to the church, about a mile away. They picked up some weights at a members house, and we did a workout in the church parking lot. First real workout I've done in awhile. My legs were sore...

So, after that Elder Young and I had really good studies together. Then he did my training for that day, which was also super good. We came up with really good questions about the Plan of Salvation to ask people, and then chose one to use throughout the day. The one we chose came in real handy later.

So, then we start our day. I wrote down a couple people from our potential investigator list as backup plans with their addresses, because I still barely know people. I just picked random people. Or so I thought. Definitely Spirit led. One that I picked we went over there and she was happy to see us because she needs help moving sometime this week. So, service opportunity. Then we went and did some service. It was the bunny service project with Elder Young. Later that night, we visited an investigator and had about 40 minutes before 9:00. I thought we could just take a long way home and try to talk to people on the way and be back by 9:00. But Elder Young and the Spirit had different plans. He suggested we go see L….. and one of the people I had written down that morning, who live in the same area. L….. had told us she was out of town all week, and I didn't even know the other lady. but we went. Didn't even have the time to see either of them, because on the way we met A…….

So this lady is walking by us and Elder Young stops her and does the short missionary intros tells her that we are testifying that God has a plan for each of us and asks the question we had come up with that morning - "How would it be important to you to know God's plan for you?" This lady immediately starts to cry and tell us that she had just been in an argument with someone and that she knew that meeting us was God showing her that he loved her. We then got her name and address and phone number and have an appointment on Wednesday. It was wild! You always hear about crazy stuff like that happening, and it really does. It was awesome!!

Spiritual thought this week - I had always known that living the gospel makes us happy, and I've always known that God loves us. But on my mission I have connected those two points. God loves us so much that He wants us to be as happy as possible. He has given us the gospel to help accomplish that. He gives us prophets and scriptures to guide us; he gives us commandments to tell us what we need to do; he gave us Christ to give us a perfect example of what to do; he provided a way to get rid of guilt and unhappiness through Christ's Atonement; and the sole reason He has done all of that is to make us happy. People need to understand that this isn't just another church to teach you what is right and what is wrong. This is the only way to true happiness, both in this life and the life to come.

So that is something that has become much clearer the last two months. Anyway, I love you all! Keep being awesome!

Love, Elder Baldridge

Week 3 in Dallas March 23, 2015

Elder Baldridge and Elder Watson at a dinner appointment

Hello everyone! This week has been fairly good. Elder Watson has been feeling much better, so that helped a lot. We were able to actually be out doing something most of the time. We did have a lot of lessons fall through this week, but that is nothing I didn't expect.  Most of it is understandable, but it still kinda stinks.

D came to a baptism of Saturday of a little girl in our ward, and enjoyed that. She also came to church, which was good. L was not able to make it to either, but I think she will be okay. We have a lesson with her tonight, so we will see how it goes.

It is definitely hard having 4 hours of study a day (personal, companion, language, and training, all an hour each). It's not hard for me to focus, that part is fine. But it is hard to get as much done when we have 2 hours less than normal missionaries. So that is interesting. When we aren't studying or in lessons, we normally just walk around and try to talk to people or try to do service. They have tracted most of the area before, so we don't do much door knocking, although maybe we should do more...

This week we are trying to develop a program to get members more involved. Basically we want to set up a mission plan for each family, so they have goals and stuff to work toward, and so we can follow up with them each week. I think it will be good for members, and will also help us a lot.

This week I just want to stress the importance of member missionary work. You know it's important, but you never know how important until you are on your mission and you need the members. We can all do more, in little ways, to help the missionaries. We know the people in our town, and they don't. And it's a lot less intimidating if a friend asks someone to learn more than if a random missionary does. So, set goals for missionary work, and help the missionaries!! They need it. And remember, that all the friends and people you associate with need the gospel in their lives too! They just don't know it yet.

So, we will be working on that here, and you should work on it there haha. Anyway, good luck with everything this week. I miss you and love you and am praying for all of you!

Elder Baldridge

Getting ready to play disc golf on Pday

Second week in Oregon March 16, 2015

Hey family!!  This week has been a little slow. Elder Watson was fairly sick for a few days. So we went to all our scheduled appointments, but we weren't able to do much more. I'm looking forward to a whole week of hard work, hoping he is feeling better. He seems to be getting better, so hopefully all will go well this week.

 The ward here is really pretty good about missionary work. The bishop is totally focused on growing the ward, and the ward mission leader is really good too. We also have really great ward missionaries, and other people who are always willing to go out with us if they are available. This one ward missionary, Josh  (his family are all awesome, by the way), just got home from his mission to Germany, and is totally awesome. He goes out with us to as many lessons as he is available for. So we use him a lot, and that goes great. And a lot of other people help us. So we get good support from the ward. We also normally have dinner appointments, which is nice. Except I was planning on going to Brazil and losing weight, and now I actually have to be worried about getting fat. So, not something I was expecting. Working out at 6:30 in the morning is so hard, but I really need to start doing better... So yes, we get fed well here.

This week we put two investigators on date for baptism! L and D, and I think both of them will make their dates. Not too worried about it. The date for both is April 11th, so hopefully that will be my first baptisms!

So this week it rained for the first time. So glad I got that rain jacket from you. When it rains, it just like rains all day. The weather had been super nice since I got here (which people said was really weird). I wish we could check the weather each day, but we currently don't have any technology, so that's impossible.

Speaking of technology, we get iPads on April 8th. I believe that I will be issued a loaner one, because no one knows how long I will be here, but I don't know for sure yet.  But that will be interesting. They have this program set up where you have to basically do training and earn your way up to full use of the iPad. When you first get it, you can barely do anything, and after 3 months you have like full access. Basically they just want to train everyone how to use them the right way without wasting time and stuff. So, who knows how much I will actually get to use it, because no one knows how long I will actually be here.

We had Zone Training Meeting on Friday, which was good. Got to see the whole zone and practice some cool stuff. So that was good. We also did service at a food pantry kinda place on Wednesday. Afterward we go to a members house for lunch, and they make great food. So, always something to look forward to haha.

So, this week I was reading in Alma 32 I believe, and I think verse 23 says something about how God imparts His word unto men through angels. And then I was like wait, he imparts His word unto men through missionaries (or anyone who shares the gospel really). And so i wrote in the margin next to that scripture "Be the Angel." When people accept the gospel and it changes their lives, they often see the people who helped them get there as angels or like angels. So I want to be the angel to others. Just a neat thought this week.

Anyway, all is well. I love all of you. Hopefully this week involves more work and less sick. Have a great week everyone!!

Love, Elder Baldridge

First week in the mission field! March 9, 2015

Hello everyone!! I made it to Oregon, as I hear you could see from the pictures. I'm glad they sent you those so you don't need to worry, and you could see a bit of what's happening.

So this week has been crazy, and Wednesday seems like forever ago. We flew in, met the Samuelians and the APs, and then went straight to the temple. The Portland temple is amazing.  They have a mini visitor center there, which is cool. So after that, we drove to Newburg (where the mission home is) and met some other missionaries. We then proceeded to drive out to the coast and had like a mini devotional on the beach. Here's why. The symbol of our mission, a huge rock that sits a bit of the coast, is obviously at the beach. Our mission theme is to build upon the rock, and I believe our mission scripture is D&C 6:34. So, we had a cool experience at the rock. All new missionaries go there, and it was a cool experience. Then we went back to the mission home, ate dinner and had interviews with President. The Samuelians are crazy awesome, and President is easily the most inspired man I have ever met. He just spews revelation at you. It's crazy. For example, in our interview, he asked me to open with a prayer in Portuguese. After he was like "I have no idea most of what you just said, but now I know where you will be serving and who your companion will be." He had no idea before that. He is SO inspired.

Elder Baldridge with his first companion and trainer, Elder Watson

So Thursday we had some more training, and then we met our trainers. Elder Watson is super cool. We get along well. So then we drove back to Dallas. We had an appointment or two that day but they fell through, so we went around introducing me to investigators and members and seeing if we could do anything for anyone. We had scheduled to go to the temple with investigators on Saturday, which doesn't happen often I guess, so I was excited. But all three that were supposed to go cancelled. So, lame. We went to a child of record baptism instead, and I met the bishop. Bishop Short loves missionary work. He really has a vision (something President Samuelian feels is very important) and we have loads to do to accomplish that vision. So that was a bit intimidating, but also inspiring. We have a ward member who got home from his mission to Germany like a week ago, and he is going to be working with us a lot. He is super awesome, and a really good missionary. So that will be great. His name is Josh, and he is great.

I am really excited for this coming week. We have a lot to do, and I am ready to get to it. I haven't been able to teach too many lessons yet, but I think that will turn around. We have 2 tonight, after P-day is over. I'm excited! We should be setting a baptism date for one of our investigators tonight, so wish us luck!!

I wish I could tell you every detail about everything, but I just can't. So sorry! But I am doing great. I love Oregon, and I love the town of Dallas already! I love all of you too!!!!

Elder Baldridge

He made it!! March 4, 2015

Elder Baldridge left the Missionary Training Center today and flew to Portland, Oregon - to begin his mission in the Salem Oregon Mission.  His new mission president and president's wife picked him up at the airport - and then sent us a nice note and picture to let us know that our missionary arrived safe and sound!  Here is a picture of Elder Baldridge and President and Sister Samuelian in front of the Portland Oregon Temple.  

Last week in the MTC! March 3, 2015

Hello everyone!! I'm glad to hear that everyone sounds like they are doing great! It's crazy that I'm going to the same mission as Louis, at least for a little bit! Exciting stuff.

I have been feeling a little sick the past morning or two. Just my throat, so nothing too major. But I really don't want to start my actual mission sick, so I would appreciate a prayer or two. I'm fine, I just don't want it to get worse. Thanks!!

I had a really good last week. We finished up teaching our "investigators" a few days ago, and that was kinda sad. Especially since both of them agreed to be baptized and we never got to do it!! Haha. But even though they weren't really investigators, we still grew to love them. So it was a good experience, and we learned a lot.

I am going to miss my teachers and district so much!! They have helped to make my MTC experience amazing. I absolutely love our teachers. One day, Irmao Sears talked to us about what it means to be a successful missionary. In Preach My Gospel, it says a successful missionary is one who is committed to finding, teaching and baptizing, as well as helping others become more faithful members and enjoy the presence of the spirit. Or something like that. Through tears he told us that we had helped him to feel and enjoy the presence of the Spirit more in his life, so we have already been successful missionaries. He thanked us so much, even though he did more for us. That really touched me and stood out to me, and I love him like crazy. He also did a little exit interview with each of us yesterday, and he said some super nice things about me and helped us with advice and such.

We hosted again this week, which was fun again. A nice break from the normal, every day monotony. Our district was also chosen to help with this thing on the first night for new missionaries. Basically there are like 50 missionaries in a room with an investigator. We meet the investigator and just get to know them, get their background and try to lead into a discussion kinda thing, like any first visit would be. Then we leave and the new missionaries have to team-teach them. When we did it our first day, we were horrible haha. But it was fun. We really just had to get to know the person. Our teacher recommended us for it because she thinks we are the best haha.

That night, we got our reassignments. We all opened them together and people freaked out a little bit and it was pretty funny haha. It was a neat experience. I was proud of my district because no one seemed too upset about not getting their visa, and everyone had a good attitude.

Thursday was infield orientation. Basically there are just lots of small workshop things where we learn how to do better contacts, how to work with members, and other things. It was good, but so long! We started at like 8:00 in the morning, had a lunch break, and ended around 5:15. It was a long day...

Friday was skyped Brazilians for TRC again. It was super fun. The guy we skyped this time knew English really well. We could ask him how to say specific words we didn't know, and once he responded to our question in all English because it was really important to him and he wanted us to understand all of it. It was kinda nice, but also threw me off a bit. He was a returned missionary and basically seemed like he is super strong in the gospel and knew everything, so he basically taught us.

Sunday we had mission conference, which is basically stake conference. We have them every fast Sunday here. It was really long, but really good too. The devotionals and everything here are super good! I wish I could go to more!! We are hoping for an apostle our last night here tho! Except there are only 3 people from our district left, so the others who have already left would be SO mad haha.

Also on Sunday I had a departure interview with President Jackson, the branch president. I love him a lot. Everyone here is awesome! In the interview, he told me some really nice things and expressed great faith in my ability to be a great missionary.  I'm not so sure yet. I have a lot to learn, but I'm going to do my best to live up to what everyone thinks I can become. We also had our last District Meeting Sunday, where we basically had a small testimony meeting. We did kinda the same thing again last night with our teacher. I just love all the people in my district, I can't imagine what the MTC would have been like without them.

Anyway, I'm excited for the next step of my mission. I'm so pumped to get to Oregon and get right to work. I love the MTC, but I'm also ready to leave haha. I want everyone to know that I am not sad in the slightest that I haven't received my visa yet. I know that where ever I am asked to be, that is where the Lord needs me. And where ever I am, I will work my hardest and do my best to bring people closer to Christ. The place doesn't matter.

I love you all, and wish you a great week!!!

Elder Baldridge