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

May 25, 2015 - Transfer week!!

Hello family! Happy Memorial Day!! I'm glad to hear everyone is doing
well! School is done tomorrow?! Holy cow, that's crazy. Can't believe
it!  I got a letter from Grandma Poulson today, so thank you so much to them for that!
 I loved it!

Oregon is beautiful!!

This week has been crazy! We had Zone Conference on Tuesday, which was
absolutely amazing. We focused on getting back to the basics as a
mission. It was awesome. Any time you can be with President and Sister
Samuelian is a great time. They are both amazing! Zone Conference
definitely took about 12 hours of our day though, so that day was shot
haha.
Our tripanionship went fairly well.  We were still productive. We had to cover two areas for
the week, so our numbers in our individual wards were down, but it was
all good. Overall it was a good week.
We did service a couple times, which was good. I love serving people!!
Our teaching pool is pretty small right now, which is lame. Man,
baptizing people makes things harder haha. But, I wouldn't have it any
other way. We will definitely need to be doing a lot of finding in the
coming weeks though.
Speaking of the coming weeks, you probably want to know who I will be
with. Transfer calls were on Saturday. We got the call from President
in the middle of the day, which means someone is getting leadership.
Elder Watson will be leaving and becoming a tech Elder, to train and
work with the iPads and such in the mission. He will be in another
tripanionship, but will be serving with his trainer during his
trainers last transfer. So he is excited about that. As for me, I will
be staying in Dallas. I have no idea who my new companion will be yet.
I do know one thing though. He is still in the MTC as I write this.
I've been called as a trainer! President said it was very rare that a
visa waiter trains, but it is what the Lord wants. He said he is
praying that my visa doesn't come for at least another transfer.
Jerk... Haha :)
I definitely feel very inadequate for this assignment. I'll be
responsible for a whole other person and their progression. That's
scary. But, I know that the call is from the Lord, and both He and
President trust me. I'm nervous, but also very excited.
My thought for this week is that the Lord will help us when he asks us
to do something. Just like Nephi said, I know the Lord doesn't ask
anything of us without giving us a way to accomplish it. I know that
who He calls, He qualifies for that calling. I know that I can't train
a new missionary on my own. That sounds horrible. But I'm comforted in
the fact that Heavenly Father has asked me to do this, and he won't
let me fail. However, I could also definitely use some prayers to help
me recognize that help and have everything I need to be the best
trainer I can possibly be for my new companion. But I know that if I
rely on the Lord, all will be well.
I love you all! Thanks for all your support and prayers! Have a
wonderful week! I'll let you know all about my new greenie next week!!
Elder Baldridge

May 18, 2015 - Another baptism this week!

May 18, 2015 – Another baptism this week!
This week has been pretty good. C….. was baptized on Saturday!!  That went really well. He has progressed so much even in the last week alone. I'm so glad we pushed his baptism back a week, and it was definitely Spirit led. He invited a lot of non-members to his baptism too, which was sweet. Our ward mission leader felt prompted to ask him to share his testimony after the baptism, and he straight up told everyone to take the lessons to feel the same joy that he has felt. That was awesome haha. Then on Sunday I had the opportunity to confirm him, which was awesome as well! Love him.
I said goodbye to Elder Lowe on Friday. He leaves for Brazil either today or tomorrow. That's crazy. So he will be there soon.
Speaking of visas, I got an email on Friday, saying... There are new visa requirements for the LA Consolate! Yay! So I had to email Amber (at Church Travel) a picture of my driver's license. But, that also means that they haven't done anything with my visa yet haha. So, that's some news. I don't care. I love Oregon, and I'll leave when I need to. No worries.
I am a little nervous about the transfer coming up. I know everything will end up how it is supposed to be, but it just will be weird. Elder Watson has been here a long time, and could very possibly leave. We will find out on Saturday.

Elder Baldridge and Elder Pope

For the next week, I'll be in a tripanionship with Elder Watson and Elder Pope. Since Elder Lowe is leaving, someone had to go to his area to be with his companion. So Elder Wilson will go there, and Elder Pope will be with us. They are both from another ward in Dallas. So, we will see how this week goes. Could be interesting.
This week has still been pretty slow. We had a baptism, which was definitely exciting, but not much happening in terms of future success right now. I think we need to change some things in order to be more effective.
Anyway, spiritual thought. This week I have heard multiple times about how our personal conversion comes before anything else in the church. There are lots of great programs like home teaching and young mens and all that stuff, but nothing is more important than our personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. We work out our own salvation individually. But, as we improve ourselves as disciples of Christ, the other things take care of themselves and improve as well. As each of us strengthens our own discipleship, then our families will be strengthened. As families are strengthened, wards improve. And so on. It all starts as we work on our personal conversions. So, focus most heavily on improving yourself and becoming more converted to the gospel, and the rest will follow.
I love you all! Have a great week!
Elder Baldridge

Time is Flying!!

Time is Flying!!!
Hey everyone!
It was so nice to skype you yesterday! I'm glad everyone could be
there in one way or another haha. That 40 minutes went by SO fast. It
seems like we barely talked at all. But, it was so nice, and I was
very grateful for technology as well.
This transfer is FLYING by. It's already week 5. We get transfer calls
at the end of next week. That is ridiculous! I can't believe how fast
it's gone.
The last two weeks have been kinda slow in terms of lessons and
things. It's lame how we don't teach the lessons after people are
baptized. Ward missionaries take care of the new member lessons in
this ward. So after baptisms, we get less busy in terms of scheduled
lessons. Lame. I guess people getting baptized is kinda cool too
though... :) I definitely want to teach more though.
We have been going on lots of temporary exchanges with the Elders in
the Oakdale ward the last two weeks. Elder Young is the district
leader and has some meetings to go to. But they also have appointments
sometimes they need to go to, so we help them out. I go with Elder
Sims and Elder Watson goes with Elder Young, and it's pretty fun. We
don't have as much time in our area though.
They also double booked service projects on Saturday, so we helped
them out with that.
Our district is crazy.  We have so much fun. At what point is
it too much fun?? Question of the century. Elders Young and Sims and
Elder Watson and I are all super good friends, and we have a lot of
fun. One of the reasons they also ask us when they need help on those
exchanges and stuff.
This week we began doing push-ups for things that we want to improve
in ourselves. For example, I do 25 push-ups everytime I put myself
down or put someone else down. The push-ups add up during the day, and
then we do them at night. So far the most I have had to do is 125. Not
too horrible... We are either going to be super righteous or super
buff. We shall see which way it goes haha.
C…. should be baptized this Saturday, which is exciting. We've got a
lot of work to do in this area now. We definitely need to find new
investigators, because our teaching pool is running a little dry.
That's a big goal this week.
Spiritual thought for the week: the Atonement is very real. I know
that Christ really did suffer for our sins, as well as our pains,
weaknesses, etc. It is only through the Atonement that we can return
to live with Heavenly Father again. I am so grateful to Heavenly
Father for sacrificing His son for us, and for Christ sacrificing
himself. It is only through the Atonement of Christ that we can
experience a fullness of joy, both in this life and the life to come.
Christ is literally our Savior, and I will forever be grateful. May we
all strive to apply the Atonement in our lives more effectively and
more abundantly. That's my goal, and I hope you all make it yours too.
I love you all. Hope this coming week is wonderful!
Elder Baldridge

May 4, 2015 Time goes so fast!

Hey family! Sounds like everyone is doing well.  Sounds

like everyone else had a great week too, so that's awesome.

L.... was baptized on Saturday! She is my favorite! I love her so

much. It was awesome. After the baptism, she came up to us and was

like "I just need to hug you guys" and comes at me very quickly. I

very smoothly stepped back and extended my arm at the same time,

quickly explaining I can't do that. It was fairly awkward and so

disappointing, because I want to hug her and congratulate her, but you

just can't, first time that has happened to me. Probably not the last.

I forgot the notes I had written for this week, so my email my be

jumbled and not very detailed. Sorry.

We just got done playing a round of golf, which was really fun. I shot

like a 48 or so on a par 31 9 hole course. With the amount I have

played golf throughout my life, I thought I did pretty good. Should

definitely play golf more, though.

Elder Watson forgot his name tag one day, so he wore my spare!
That was interesting to explain!

C..... is still scheduled to be baptized this Saturday, but we aren't

sure it's going to happen. First off with his mom, and second I just

don't know if he is ready. But definitely working hard with him.

This week has been really weird. Lots of just random things popped up.

We had to help some of the other Elders in Dallas out with some

lessons and stuff at the last minute, so that was fun. I don't really

know how to describe it, but this week has just been weird.

About Mother's Day, I believe we will be Skyping from a members home.

But, right now I have no idea what time or how to set that up or

anything. I will have to let you know later. I don't even know how to

let you know though... We will try to figure it out.

This week I have been studying a lot about charity. Charity is SO

incredibly important. If you do everything else right, but don't have

charity, you are basically worthless. Charity means loving others the

way Heavenly Father loves them. It means seeing people the way

Heavenly Father sees them. And it also means loving Heavenly Father

and wanting to please him. Basically everything that we do stems from

those two things - love for Heavenly Father and love for others. True

disciples of Christ have charity. So, work to develop charity, and we

can improve on all the other Christlike attributes as well. That's my

thought for this week.

I love you all. I can't believe it's already Mother's Day this week.

Time is flying. It's crazy. Have a wonderful week! Make it great! Love

you!!

Elder Baldridge