July 13, 2015 Slow!!!

Hello everyone!  I hope everyone is doing well!
This week has been pretty slow still. Not a ton to report on in terms
of lessons and teaching and things like that. That has been pretty
rough. It's actually pretty frustrating and sad. But, we are trying,
and working to improve every day. And that's all you can do.
Our whole district is struggling with finding new people to teach.
It's hard. But, if missionary work was easy, we wouldn't learn
anything. And sometimes you learn the most when things are tough.
Like Saturday for example. Saturday was horrible. Lessons cancelled,
no one we tried to visit was home, and basically nothing productive
got accomplished, even though we were out and about all day. With
about 25 minutes left in the day, we sat down on a park bench for a
short break. It was super depressing. I really wanted to go in for the
night, and I could tell Elder Malauulu did too. Then I just got this
thought, "what gives you the right to give up?" The time to be most
obedient is when it is the hardest. If Christ had given up in the last
15 minutes, there would be no purpose life because we couldn't return
to live with Heavenly Father. So, we got up and we walked. And nothing
came from it in terms of numbers, but my attitude changed a ton.
President Samuelian once said if you truly understand the Saviors
sacrifice, then you will always want to serve Him, and doing the hard
things becomes easy. I'm not fully to that point, but I definitely
drew a little closer on Saturday. We don't have the right to give up.
Something good came out of Saturday.
I've been super tired this week. Don't know why. But, all is well. I'm
loving being a missionary, even when it's slow and frustrating. I'm
learning so much, that even the slow times are beneficial. Just not as
fun.
I love all of you so much! Hope you are all doing well and have a great week!!
Elder Baldridge

July 6, 2015 Week one of Transfer 4

Hello everyone!

Sounds like everyone had a pretty good week! I'm glad Jennica got to

go to EFY! That's awesome. I always loved EFY, and I hope you did too.

Also sounds like everyone had a pretty good 4th of July. Better than

my day, anyway.

The 4th was interesting. It's one of those holidays that isn't big

enough for missionaries to get the day off, but also very much big

enough so no one wants to talk to you. So, we went to a breakfast and

flag raising at the church in the morning. Tried to be productive, but

basically failed. Went to eat dinner with an awesome family, and then had to be

in by 7:00. Then at about 4:00 the next morning, I woke up and

realized I had food poisoning. Let's just leave it at that. So, we

stayed in all day yesterday and missed church. Lame. The first time

I've been sick on my mission. Great times. But, I'm good now, so all

is well.

This has been a pretty slow week. It just felt weird. Not a whole lot

of teaching, not much of anything really. We did do a little more

service than normal, which was good. But overall, this last week has

felt weird.

Elder Malauulu and I survived another transfer together. Every other

companionship in our district lost one missionary though. We got

destroyed. It will be so new, and so weird. Elder Young, who is

basically my favorite missionary and our district leader, goes home on

Wednesday. I am going to miss him SO much.

Also, some more fun news. President Samuelian called us on Saturday

and extended the call for me to be the next district leader. Which is

pretty scary. I am excited though. I have decided I love leadership

callings, not because of the responsibility or the title or anything

like that, but because you get to know and love all the people you

serve better. I love that side of it. So this will be an interesting

transfer. I'm praying that the Lord will help me know what He wants

for me and this district.

Spiritual thought this week. On Saturday night, when I woke up and was

in the beginning stages of the food poisoning goodness, but before I

came to the conclusion it was food poisoning, I really just wanted to

go back to sleep. So I'm sitting on the floor in the bathroom, and I

say a prayer asking for help to be able to sleep. So I finish the

prayer, and I sit there another minute or so. And then I very clearly

thought something along these lines: if you expect Heavenly Father to

answer your prayer, if you have any sort of faith at all that He can

help you sleep, why are you still sitting on the bathroom floor? So I

got up and got in bed. Sadly, it wasn't His will at that time that I

would sleep, because I was back in the bathroom puking in like 10

minutes, but that really hit me. If we expect Heavenly Father to

answer our prayers, we need to act like it. We need to pray, and then

do the work in order to make those answers possible. Just something

that really stuck out to me this week.

Thanks for all of your support! I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week!

Elder Baldridge

June 29, 2015

 Hello all! Seems like everyone is doing pretty well. I was especially
glad to hear about Jennica and Addisons experiences at camp,
especially the spiritual ones. Sounds totally awesome. Enjoy EFY!
Don't get too crazy.
This week has been better, in some ways. We found 3 new investigators,
which is very nice. Who knows how solid they will be, but at least
they invited us back. I'd say that's a good start! We still haven't
taught a whole lot this week though. Hopefully it ramps up and the new
people continue to let us come back.
Elder Malauulu and I are very different people. Very different. All is well.
We are learning to work things out. But definitely different people.

P-Day hike

We went on a sweet hike today with Elders Sims and Young, and a member
from their ward. We went to a place called the Valley of Giants,
because it has massive trees. Apparently very few people even know how
to get there. But, it was awesome.

 I love nature, and I totally want to go to like every national park when I get home. Cause nature is
cool. I'll try to send some pictures.

This week Elder Malauulu and I did have some cool experiences with the
guidance of the Spirit. There were some times where I felt prompted to
talk about something, but then he would start before I could, and he
would say the same thing. Stuff like that. It's super cool. We
honestly don't know anything, but the Spirit knows what these people
need. And if we listen to that, we will both be on the same page.
We had an exchange this week with the zone leaders. I went to their
area, which is randomly super hilly. And it was SUPER hot. Like, 100
degrees hot. And we walked up and down hills all day. I was dripping
sweat for a very long time. It was awesome. And then I remembered that
Brazil will only be worse. Can't wait!! We did have a good day though.
It was all good. I still love being a missionary!
I don't have much time today. So sorry. I love you all! Have a great
week! I miss all of you, and pray for you! Love you!
Elder Baldridge

June 22, 2015 - Happy Father's Day!!

June 22, 2015
Hello everyone!!
Happy Father's Day Dad!! Elder Malauulu and I gave talks in sacrament
yesterday on our fathers and some of the things we have learned from
them. I didn't have enough time to cover even a minor portion of all
those things. So, I focused on one of the big ones. I'm so grateful
you taught me how to serve, and to love it! You have been an amazing
father, and I am so grateful to be your son! I love you!!
Everyone else, you are kinda alright too :)
This week has been decent. Still slow. We had a lot of meetings and
such this week. Thursday we went up to the mission home and had a
meeting with President and Sister Samuelian and the Assistants and
stuff. Elder Malauulu got his iPad, and they talked about using them
properly and stuff. I love any time we get with President and the
Assistants. They are all awesome!
We did get one new investigator last night! First one in like over a
month! We set a goal before we left the apartment to talk with 5
people about the gospel. We prayed and told Heavenly Father our goal,
and asked Him to put 5 people in our path. And He did. It's almost
like He hears and answers our prayers or something. Crazy! But
honestly, when you set a worthy goal and then ask Him to help with the
things that you can't really control, I know that He is there to help.
It was a neat experience. I have no idea where things will go with
this new investigator. We have a lesson scheduled for next Wednesday,
not this week, so we will see.
I have a good feeling about this next week for some reason. I don't
know why, but I do. We are kinda mixing up the way we do things.
Trying to improve everyday. I don't know if it's worked yet, but we
are trying! Hopefully my good feeling is accurate. We will pray lots,
and we shall see.
This week we as just missionaries met with the bishop. He talked a lot
about prayer. We often talk about it like a phone conversation with
Heavenly Father. But we don't really change the way we pray based on
that. When we are repetitive in prayers, why would Heavenly Father
want to listen? I'm sure He still does, but it doesn't mean it means
anything anymore. We also need to give Him time to talk. Don't just
hang up the phone. If we close the prayer before Heavenly Father has
time to talk, then it was basically worthless. Give Him time in every
prayer. I never did that every time, but I can promise you that it
works! He will begin to speak to us more, if we give Him the time!
I love all of you so much!
Thanks again, Dad, for everything. Love you all!!
Elder Baldridge

June 15, 2015 Spoke some Portuguese!

Hello everyone! I hope all of you are doing well! I'm doing great! We had an interesting week.
First off, thank you so much for the package! Those cookies were amazing, and thank you for the ties! Also for the picture. That was awesome. Thanks so much.

Disc golf with Elder Wilson on P-day

We had some awesome meetings this week. We had two meetings with a member of the first quorum of the Seventy on Thursday, which was awesome. One meeting was just for missionaries, and the other was for us and the bishops and some members of the ward council. It was super awesome, and very specific on certain things that we as missionaries and members need to be doing. Super helpful. We had actually scheduled to meet with our bishop and ward mission leader this week, to talk about things that needed to be done in order to help the missionary work in the ward, and the Seventy basically covered all of it. Which was great, because it means a whole lot more coming from him than from me. So, if our ward chooses to act on what he asked us to do, I think there will be some great things coming!! Let's hope and pray.
We also had a stake priesthood meeting yesterday, and that was amazing as well. The stake presidency basically called everyone to repentance for some very specific things, and it was sweet. I loved it. They talked about the law of the fast, sabbath day observance, and the sacrament, as well as how important it is to fulfill and magnify our callings, especially in relation to home teaching. I love our stake president here. He is totally awesome, and loves the missionaries. We have breakfast at his house with missionaries in the whole zone/stake, and it's sweet.
I met a Brazilian lady at church yesterday! She is in the other ward, and I had never met her before. She moved here like 2 years ago. We talked some Portuguese, which was cool. And made me realize how much I am not good anymore. So that was fun. She was super happy to meet me though. She said she missed speaking Portuguese. I believe she may have even cried she was so happy haha. So that was neat yesterday.
For my spiritual thought, I'll refer to that meeting with the member of the Seventy. He talked about how nothing is more important than the salvation of souls. Not our job, not money, not our hobbies, not anything. If we are too busy to worry about bringing someone else to Christ, than we are doing it all wrong. That really stuck out to me. So that was cool. Don't get so caught up in ANYTHING that we don't have time to worry about the salvation of others.
This week has still been fairly slow, but a little better. We taught a few more lessons, so that was good! Hopefully with more from the ward, the work will start to pick up! Some great things could happen! So, we will see.
Love you all! Hope this week is great!
Elder Baldridge

June 8, 2015 Keep the commandments and serve others!

Hey everyone! Sounds like things are going good back in Indiana.
School is out, everyone is having fun, and more importantly you are
all doing some awesome church stuff, like the temple names and
preparing for the temple celebrations and such. Keep it up!
This week, and the past few weeks really, have been very slow. It's
frustrating, honestly. The number of lessons we teach has dropped
significantly, and we just can't really find new investigators. I feel
like I'm just not doing enough as a missionary, and I feel bad for
Elder Malauulu sometimes because when I first got here, we were pretty
busy. And now we just aren't. We stay busy trying to contact people
and all, but not much teaching. I know some points on your mission
will be super hard and slow and all, and that's fine. That's the way
it's supposed to be. But, we need to be doing more. I just don't know
what we can do. But we are trying. Our fast yesterday was all about
knowing what Heavenly Father wants us to be doing. How to use our
time, who to visit. Just to know His will for us and for this area. We
are meeting with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader tomorrow to
discuss some important things that I think will help, so let's hope
that goes well.
In the midst of all the frustrating things, we still found A……  last
Saturday. A…….  is cool. The gospel can really help him, and we are
hoping he will let it. We have a lesson with him tonight, and hope to
put him on date for baptism. So that's exciting! At least there is one
bright spot.
This week has been super hot, like Mom pointed out. It's not fun. We
had the car, which was nice. Hopefully it isn't as hot this week when
we don't have the car, but we will see. I've got to get ready for
Brazil I guess....

Elder Malauulu and Elder Baldridge

Elder Malauulu and I are getting along really well still. I like him a
lot. So all is well in that area.
I don't have a whole bunch to say this week, so sorry about that.
My spiritual thought is something I read this morning. I was reading
about baptism in Preach My Gospel, and it talked about receiving and
retaining a remission of our sins. You receive a remission of your
sins when you make covenants with God like baptism. But retaining that
is the most important part. Look up Mosiah 4:11-12 and verse 26.
Basically, it's all about keeping the commandments and serving others.
I really liked how service is a big part of our retaining forgiveness.
It's not just about repenting and apologizing, but then we need to
show our desires to follow Christ by keeping the commandments and
serving others like Christ did. That is when we can always retain a
remission of our sins. So, strive for that, and I will too.
I love all of you. I hope your week is wonderful! I love this church,
and I love this work.
Elder Baldridge

June 1, 2015 First Week Training

Hey everyone! Sounds like you all are doing well! Yay schools out.
That's awesome. Way to make it through another year, everyone. I'm so
proud.

Picture from Elder Watson's last day in the District

Our District was, and still is, crazy!

 So I'm training!  It's crazy! I spent Tuesday and Wednesday with
another trainer, Elder Larsen, because our companions were transferred
and we needed companions. We served in our area. He was super cool.
Wish I could have spent more time with him. But on Thursday we got our
new greenies! We had a meeting with President Samuelian as trainers,
which was awesome! Any time you can be with president is amazing. He
asked each of us how we were feeling. I said I was nervous but
excited, of course. He said I would be training myself along with the
new missionary, which is so true. I still have no clue what's going
on, so we can learn together. He also mentioned how awesome it would
be to go to Brazil already having the experience of training a
missionary. Which is true, that will be sweet. Also stressed the
importance of trainers. If we screw our kids up (the person you train
is referred to as your son), their sins can come upon our heads. If we don’t
do it well, we can shame the mission and this kid forever. So, it's
kinda important. And scary.

Say hello to my "firstborn son", Elder Malauulu.
Kid is a stud!!

Then we got our greenies! I am training Elder Malauulu (pronounced
Mala-ooloo).  He's super cool! He is from San Diego, but his
grandparents are natives of Samoa. I already love him. He worked in
the oil fields in California for a year, which means he lived away
from home and is already more mature than right after high school, so
that is super nice. I feel like I got pretty lucky. I don't know him
too well yet, because we have only been together like 4 days, but I'm
so excited!
Training is forcing me to be a better missionary. I've had to change
my mindset and do my best to be a good example.  I really am training myself at the same time, and I think it's
pretty cool. Also scary, because as stated before, I barely know
anything. I better learn fast.
This week we had a cool experience, which will lead into my thought
for the week as well. We had time planned for basically street
contacting, and no real plans. So I went through the area book, both
the paper copy and the app, and picked some former and potential
investigators to go visit. I had never even heard of them before. As
we went and visited them, we set up an appointment with one. Another
we knocked on the door and he wasn't home, but as we were leaving some
car pulled up. A guy got out and we helped him carry stuff inside,
then proceeded to have like a 45 minute lesson, ending in him
accepting a soft baptismal challenge. It totally wasn't the guy we
were looking for, but Heavenly Father made it work out. It was such a
cool experience.
We had been struggling to find people to teach for awhile. We baptized
3 people, which destroyed our teaching pool. So, we were praying for
new investigators and kinda getting down because it was super hot and
we walked a lot and nothing happened. Then we picked some random names
to visit, prayed and asked Heavenly Father to help us out, and then
put in the work to go visit people. So, for the thought, I know that
as we pray in faith, and then put in the work, miracles will happen.
As long as we have righteous desires, the Lord will provide a way.
Missionary work is awesome! Being a missionary is cool. Love it.
Training is weird, but sweet. I love all of you! Have a great week!
Elder Baldridge