My Last Email As a Full Time Missionary

This might be the hardest weekly I've ever had to write, especially cause I wrote one last week, it's too soon. I've loved serving the Lord for this year, it's been the hardest, most amazing, life-changing, and miserable year of my life. Through all of that, I have learned and grown so much and I'm grateful for every single day that has taught me. I'm so blessed. 

I've met the most amazing people and loved every single one of them. I don't think I fully realized how much one could love until I came out on a mission. I have been able to see through God's eyes for a little bit, and it has been the best gift that anyone could ever give me. 

On that note, I'm coming home. For those who I've told already, I'm so grateful for your love and support. It has been the hardest decision because I have truly loved my mission more than I can express. 

For those struggling with mental health, I understand, but more important than that I know Jesus understands. He has never left my side, even though I sometimes can't feel Him. He has helped me so much and I'm so grateful for how close I've been able to get to my Savior and Brother. 

I just want to tell you that I know He listens to you and answers you. That's a promise from someone who has a calling to represent the Lord. 

I'm so grateful for this name tag that I get to put on every day that has His name on it. I cannot tell you what a blessing that has been even in the hardest times. 

Since this will most likely be my last email, I want to leave you all with the invitation to pray to know if God is there and if He loves you. Once you get that far, I promise you He will bless you for your efforts. 

I know that He lives, I know He loves and listens to us. I know that He is the only way we can find peace in these crazy times and in this life. Please reach out to Him, He is waiting to embrace you.

I love you all,

Sister Bailey 

Thanksgiving and Being Thankful

 Happy Thanksgiving! I know this year is a little weird and it doesn't seem like there is much to be grateful for, but I know there is still a lot that we have been blessed with. 

I know I have been blessed with a wonderful family that has been with me through thick and thin. I have wonderful companions and a beautiful area. I'm so grateful for all of yall! I encourage you all to look for the blessings in your everyday life. 

- We have Kellie on baptism date for December 1! It's so exciting that she is finally able to get baptized.

- We have been working with some new members, I don't think I've ever seen anyone so excited to learn. It's kind of intimidating. It was cool, we went over and I felt very prompted to bring her one of my preach my gospels (what we use to study) and she started crying. She said it was exactly what she needed! 

- Sister Leila Randall from home was able to stop by and have a visit! It was so good to see her! 

- We have a moment about once a week, where we lay out a blanket on the sand and stargaze! It's so peaceful and makes me realize how grateful I am for this wonderful world that we have been given. 

If you need something to be grateful for, look around for a minute. I'm sure you'll find something! I mean just look at social media being flooded with #givethanks! 

You could also just come to the south and meet wonderful hilarious old ladies who have more guts than you ever will. Or just look at the destruction that Michael left behind that has still to be cleaned up. This is the most interesting place to be, but I'm so grateful for it! And the fact that I've been able to serve a mission here with the most amazing people ever! 

I love yall!!

Sister Bailey

Mexico Beach

 I moved again... here we go to my fifth area. Bet you aren't as cool as me. I'm now in Mexico Beach and in a trio! There are three of us, which I was not looking forward to, but now I love it. Both of my companions are amazing, I am so blessed.

- I had to say goodbye to Sister Thueson, which was one of the saddest moments of my life. 

- Halloween has now passed, but not from my heart. We were actually able to hand out candy and kind of dress-up...? If being a McDonald's worker is dressing up.

- We got to volunteer at an Ironman! Watching those people run by made me tired, but honestly so inspiring. I could never do that, but I applaud anyone who can.

- I've decided I want to own a turtle, so if anyone wants to send me one...?

- Last time I was in the Panama City Zone, we went to a food drive and I loved it! I got to do it again and got some sun. Because of the food drive, we were able to meet some good people, and thus I was able to climb (literally climb, while spiders crawled) into one of these people's windows to let her back into her house. Ms. Audrey was very grateful.

- It's a small world, one of the members in one of my last areas, Moultrie has family that lives in Mexico Beach. And we are teaching them! I was so excited to find this out.

This week Temples have been on my mind, one of my companions had the opportunity to go through for the first time and it brought back a lot of feelings. I have realized, even more, the sacred power of temples. I know they are closed right now, but if you are anywhere close to one, I urge you to go on the grounds and feel the spirit there. That is something I wish I could do. I know that Temples answer so many questions and bring so much peace, and I know that as we search for answers we will find them at the Temple. I pray that y'all may be able to find and feel the comforting presence of the spirit at the Temple and are reminded of God's love for you.

I love you all so much! 

Sister Bailey

Bugs, Humidity and Halloween!

 Covid is back with a vengeance here in the Florida, Jacksonville mission. We now have half of Jacksonville and all of Tallahassee under quarantine, so transfers have been postponed... on the bright side, that means I get at least another week with sister Thueson! 

- A wonderful sister from Elk Grove, took me and my companion out to lunch! Thank you Gabby Chandler! She knows my grandparents and hunted me down to make sure she saw me. Honestly, one of the best days of these last two weeks.

- We've been teaching a woman named Pearl! She's incredible. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, which describes where we come from, why we're here, and where we are going. She soaked it in and is so excited to share it with her family! Everytime I get to teach people about Gods plan for us, it helps me realize how blessed I am. 

- We were invited to a members Halloween party! I was living my best life. Especially on the haunted hayride! I LOVE HALLOWEEN! We also carved some pumpkins, so we're getting into full fall spirit here in the 90° weather with 85% humidity...

- Update on how I deal with bugs:

A lot better. I know only run away, no screaming involved. We find a cockroach in our apartment at least once a day, so you could say I'm a pro at dealing with them. Still cannot handle spiders though. 

- Also, I'm applying for college... that's not fun. Anyone want to write my essays? 

This was sent to me yesterday and it really hit me. 

Christ, Who really was perfect, did not call Himself to be until after He was resurrected.

(& Greek/Hebrew translation of perfect is: finished & complete).

SO!

Be kind to yourself. Be proud of yourself.

Be proud of the steps, no matter how small they seem to you, that you have taken to be better.

Be proud that you are trying even when you aren’t there yet. No one is.

Every single step we take closer to Him is noticed & magnified & blessed. 

& don’t forget the adversary suuccccckkkkks 

It’s dangerously subtle & easy it is for him to skew our perspective 

He’ll get in our vision to stop us from progressing, from doing what is right, from trying, to give up, 

To stop us from turning to Christ, from crying to Christ, to jump ship, or keeps us standing still--

anything to pull us away from God, it's clear who it is coming from. 

But regardless of how real & subtle the adversary’s pathetic attempts are, the reality is, they’re still pathetic. And not reality. 

& you have the actual power to cast him off.

-Al Fox Carraway

I love you all so much! Make this the most amazing week yet!

Sister Bailey

Fried Frog Legs

 

Hey Y'all!! 

What is up? I hope you've had the most amazing week! I know mine has had a lot of ups and downs. But a lot of good has come out of it. 

- We found two new people to start teaching, we are super excited about one in particular. She has already read the Book of Mormon once and is on her second time. That never happens.

- We got to do chalk art with some other missionaries! 

- Y'all, I tried frog legs. Gotta say they weren't my favorite. They tasted alright, but the texture and the look ended up being a no go for me. But had to happen at least once while in the south.

- Wasn't General Conference amazing? For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a world wide, two day event, where our Prophet and Apostles speak to us. They are representing the Lord, so what they say we take as if the Savior had told us. If you get the chance I highly recommend the Saturday night session directed to the woman. 

- Before the Sunday sessions of General Conference, we got together with some missionaries and made a huge breakfast. It reminded me a bit of home. 

There is always a lot of hard and bad in a week, but I've been trying to focus on the good. I highly recommend it . As I focus on the positive, I tend to see it more and look forward to it. My life is so much better finding the happiness that is sometimes a little more hidden than we want it to be. I challenge all of you to look for the blessings in your everyday life, there is so much more than we realize! 

I love you all so much! 

Sister Bailey

Birthday And 9 Months to Go!

 First off, thank you for all the birthday wishes! I'm so grateful for your love and support. Wish I could hug every single one of you! And that's another thing, I'm halfway through my mission! 9 months down, 9 more to go. It honestly has past by so quick.

So instead of my regular letter, I thought I would say a bit of what I've learned thus far. 

- I have learned how to not judge others, just simply love them. It makes life a lot easier

- I have learned how to not care so much about what others think of me. What I'm doing is so important and I need not be ashamed of sharing it.

- I have sort of learned how to stand up for myself. I should say that I'm still learning that, and I will be for a long time.

- I have learned how to cope in weird places and circumstances. Covid19 has been hard on all of us, but a huge learning experience. It has also helped me realize what I'm grateful for.

- I have learned the importance of a handwritten letter.

- I am learning how to be kinder to myself.

- I have learned that it is more important to love and get hurt many times, than to let yourself turn jaded. And trust me, it hurts a lot. 

- I have learned it's okay to not know the answers now. They will come.

What have y'all learned in the past nine months? I hope you have learned how important family is and how much God loves you. I would say that is all you could now and you would be okay. 

No matter how many times you fall down, I pray you get back up again and know how much I love you! 

Sister Bailey

Service, Service and More Service!

 If you want to know what missionaries do now that we can't knock doors, I'll solve that for you in one simple word: service. There was only one day this week that we did not do service for someone here in the Gainesville area. I absolutely love it!

- We got transfer news, we're both staying! I could not be more excited! This is my first companion, since my trainer, that I get to be with longer than 6 weeks. 

- We had what we call a zone Conference, where a bunch of missionaries meetup to learn how to be better and help each other. It was so freezing cold, so I wrapped up in a table cloth for the whole 8 hour meeting. There were no blankets.

- Did I tell yall about Hector? He came up to us and basically asked for a Book of Mormon! Coolest experience of my life. This never happens! But since then he has stood us up. We will keep trying. 

- We filmed a funny video for Facebook, that we were then told to maybe not post on our Gainesville page, so it's on my personal. Go check it out. (Shameless self plug)

This week I have learned how much easier life becomes when you give it all to the Lord. I have been struggling a bit on the mission, so the other night I prayed for a long time that I could let Him take it away from me. He didn't take it all away, but I know I'm not carrying it all alone. When your burdens are too much to bear, please know you don't have to carry them alone. He wants to help you, so try letting Him. I promise you, life will get a little more bearable.

I love yall so much. Thank you for your constant prayers and support. You can do it!

Sister Bailey

(Note from Mom: Brennan's birthday is September 22. I know she would be over the moon if you sent her a card!)

309 NW 6th St.

Chiefland, FL 32626-0849