On the move again!

Hoppy afternoon everyone!! 

Hehe, enjoy the pun :D 

Anyway, I have almost no time this week, so I am going to have to keep this quite short and powerful. I have a ton of pictures, so hopefully that makes up for it. 

I'll start with the fun news. I received my transfer call this past Saturday and I will be leaving my loved companion and area and heading to the Carmicheal Stake. I will be serving in the Fair Oaks Park North Ward and the River City YSA Carmichael area. Serving YSA should be interesting!! My new companion is Sister Van Vaulkenburg. I am so excited! I have never seen this girl frown or stop laughing, so I am pretty pumped!

Kelley is still moving forward and we are hoping to get her to the Temple soon, like this week soon!! 

We have been working with members a lot more lately, and I am so excited to see where the work starts to go here. I know the Lord inspires the work to go the way He wants it to and I think we finally figured out what that is!!

I love and miss you all!!! 

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

Ashley and Sis Baird

L to R - Wilcox family, Sis Baird and the Lenehan family

Tovar family

Long family

Sis Devey and Sis Baird

Last District photo

Bishop and Sister Suafoa and Sis Baird

Taylor family

Sis Taylor and Sis Baird happened to match - crazy and unplanned!

Sis Zufelt and Sis Baird

Kristi and Cody and Sis Baird

Kelley, their recent convert working on Family History.

Combined p-day with East Sacramento District

Combined p-day with East Sacramento District

Sis Baird and the Nelson family

Sis Baird and Sis Nelson

Turkey walking around...had to snap a pic!

Sis Baird and Sis Richins with the Lewis family.

The Living Dead

Hey oh!

Sister Baird here, reporting from the California Sacramento Mission!

This week has followed suit of nothing normal, which seems to be the theme of this transfer.

We started off the week with me going and getting my eyes dilated.

All good, no worries!! Short little blip about that. The eye doctor I went to see, said he had just had a young lady with my same prescription come in because she started to see "fireworks". In other words, her retina tore. He said I was fine though. Gave me lots of comfort.. anyway!!

Then on Wednesday we had zone conference and I loved it! Zone conference is truly one of my favorite things in the world. I got to see 3 of my 4 'daughters' at this Zone Conference as well! I was seriously thrilled when I got out of the car and saw Sister Simpson, Sister Wong and Sister Rowley. Oh my goodness it was amazing. Some day I will get all 4 together. #bigfamilyproblems

L to R - Sis Richins, Sis Baird, Sis Wong, and Sis Simpson - 3 of her companions she's served with.

Sis Baird and Sis Wong (throwback pic)

We were able to receive training that was exactly what we needed to hear. I got to give a training to the zone with the zone leaders, that was fun. I love when the spirit guides the conversation. I am also super grateful that I am serving with some bomb Elders. I don't have to worry about being not part of anything or them just ignoring me. Not sure if that makes sense, but I just have an awesome zone. I'll leave it at that. The rest of the mission also got smart phones at zone conference so that was exciting!

Zone at Zone Conference with President and Sister Hymas

I was then able to have exchanges with Hermana Barrera, and that was wonderful. She is super sweet and such a hard worker. 

Then Saturday we had Kelley's baptism! Oh my goodness, the spirit was strong and it was an amazing baptism. I loved being able to see Kelley just glow because of the choice she had made. She is an incredible example to everyone around her. 

Kelley at her baptism with Sis Baird and Sis Richins

Oh and the best part of this, Sister Richins has literally been sick for a solid week. Last Saturday and Sunday she laid on the couch for 48 hours straight, and just slept and for the rest of the week she was down. It was nuts, but she is alive and going again. The title is all based around her. Glad she is back. 

Sorry if this email is all over the place. Life is great. I love the mission. We find out transfer calls this Saturday, so be waiting for news next Pday!

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Zone 'blitz'

14/18th of the way done!

Howdy all!!

I guess Sister Richins is rubbing off on me. Just kidding, I just thought it would be fun to say. :) Fun little tid bit though, this morning I was asked if I had an accent. I haven't gotten that my whole mission. 

This week has been an adventure yet again. I started it off by having a mission meeting with some of the other missionaries in the mission. We ended up leaving the meeting with our old "dinosaur" phones being replaced with smart phones!

 

We now have a Smartphone!

This coming week, the rest of the mission will be getting them. It has been a neat experience seeing the added blessings of having yet again, just another tool in our tool belt! 

Wednesday I had an eye appointment, which was awesome. Don't wait 14 months to get yours eyes checked! We also found out that we were going to have our apartment sprayed for cockroaches again just to be safe, and that means rearranging the apartment.. again. 

Thursday we had service and that was fun. We also got to go on a Temple tour with Kelley and I got to see Sister Tenney, my 4th daughter <3 It was a great day!

Friday we had district meeting and it was amazing. The Zone Leaders and I got to give a training to start, then to regular meetings, and finished by coming back together, having a member of the High Council come and talk to us about member work. It was inspiring!

Saturday, we started the day off by having Kelley's baptismal interview. All went well and she is ready to go for this coming Saturday!! However, when we got home Sister Richins was not feeling well. She told me she just needed a 20 minute nap and she would be good. Well, Heavenly Father made sure she forgot to put the sound on for the alarm she set, and ended up sleeping from 9:45 is in the morning until 3:45 ish in the evening. And when she woke up, she had a fever and went straight back to sleeping. She ended up being sick all Saturday, and all Sunday. Allowing me to attend 3 sacrament meetings, because the Hermanas did splits so I could go. And today she is finally on the uphill, but still recovering. 

It seems Sister Richins and I just can't get a normal week. that is okay though, what fun would that be? :) 

I want you all to know I love you and miss you and hey, I guess I have 99 days left! Who knew.
 

Stay close to the Lord, He is the best.

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Sis Baird is honing her 'cooking skills'. That was supposed to be 'Pita Bread'. 

Got to see Sis Koller (MTC companion) at a mission meeting this week!

Temple, Interviews, and Exchanges

 Hey all!!

With a crazy afternoon, time for emailing is cut short a bit so this one is going to be quick!
Three main things this week!

First interviews with President and Sister Hymas!! They are seriously the best and so inspired. I always walking away feeling wonderful and stronger. Highlight would have to be when President said he should write a talk about repentance using an analogy about cockroaches. If you deal with the day to day problems, you won't have such a huge problem in the end. Love them both!!

Then we had the temple. Oh my goodness. Favorite place in the world. I felt so much peace being there.I never wanted to leave, never! I can't wait to be able to go as often as I want!! Even though the rain and wind was crazy, most definitely worth it. 

And final fun thing for the week was that I got to go on exchanges with Hermana Najera. She is so fun and it was a blast getting to spend the day with her. I have so much to learn from all the sisters I get to serve around I love it!!

We also found two new investigators and Kelly is now on date for March 17th and super solid!! 

I know this church is true. I know Jesus is the Christ. I love being a missionary!!

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

The amazing Beehives of the Ironwood Crossing 1st Ward sent me a package. Amazingly, not a single item fell out. Not sure how that happened! (Sis. Baird's parents Ward)

The amazing Beehives of the Ironwood Crossing 1st Ward (Sis. Baird's parents Ward)

Who doesn't like a picture of a beautiful rainbow?

Sis Richins checking the depth of the water to ensure we could 'get through'!

Selfie with the Seymour kids!

Apartment Rearranged.

What a week!! 
Hello beautiful souls! This has been quite the week. Not a typical week, but a week nonetheless. 

We started out the week, almost completely working on cleaning and scrubbing the apartment!!

 

Prepping apartment to spray for cockroaches!

Prepping kitchen cabinets for spraying for roaches!

We had really bad cockroaches and Sister Richins and I were done. So we got it taken care of at the expense of barely going out to work. But the cockroaches are taken care of and in about a week and a half they should be completely gone. Yay!! However, because of the sacrifice, I know that Heavenly Father was very aware of us. 

I will start with the update on Jimmy though. Did you think there would be one? Well, on Wednesday as we were scrubbing cabinets, the phone rings and this time instead of a "Private Number" it is just a plain ole sac number. So we answer it in our typical, "Hello this is Sister Baird and Sister Richins", BUT right as we answered a leaf blower started going super loud and we were unable to be heard and this man started speaking saying he did not hear that and that he was looking for the two ladies who he talked to last time about the card being left. He said he had a hard time reading the handwriting so he was not sure if this was the right number. (opps..I guess I need to work on writing clearly) but by this time we knew who it was and I promptly told him he had the wrong number and he immediately hung up. We have yet to hear from him since, a blessing from Heavenly Father for sure. 

Now onto the miracles that happened yesterday and today. 

1. We went to Mather Ward and were just ready to start a new week, giving it our all. We felt bad for not doing all we wanted to last week, but were ready for the coming week. Well after sacrament meeting this woman comes up to us and lets us know that she has investigated the church for 10 to 11 years and wants to be baptized, and that it needs to be done before March 27. We immediately set up lessons and are so ready to teach her!!!

2. After Mather Ward we get into the car and have a text from this sister in Anatolia Ward letting us know that she has completed the challenge (to find us someone to teach within 2 weeks) and has set up for us to have dinner and a lesson on the 8th of March. It had been about 3 days since we extended the challenge. That is in our schedule and we are super excited. 

3. We get to our lesson this morning (sacrificing part of our pday was worth it) and we get a call from another member in Anatolia Ward to whom we have extended this challenge. Well, she said she found us someone and has set up lunch for the four of us for this Thursday!!1

4. We then had a lesson with Kelly this morning and she accepted, easily, the baptismal date of March 17th, which is also the same baptismal date of her son who converted about 11 years ago. 

Heavenly Father poured out blessings this weekend and I am so incredibly grateful. 

I know He is there. I know He is so aware of us and is waiting for us to reach out to Him. 

I love you all and hope you have an incredible week ahead of you!

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

Oh Jimmy...

Hey all, another week has come and gone already. Oh and surprise, I'm emailing on Tuesday this week, not Wednesday as planned! This is due to Temple schedule and overflow, it turns out we are going to the Temple on March 1st instead of this week. As long as I get to go, I am a happy person. If you have not been to the Temple recently, go! If you can't go inside, go walk the grounds. The Temple is seriously the best place on earth. 

Sis Baird and Sis Richins - my new companion!

Sis Richins and Sis Baird 

Well, this week has been a little bit crazy. Sister Richins and I have been doing all we can to hit the ground running and do all we can for the work here in the Mather and Anatolia Wards. We had a great time at church - we attended both wards, we were just going around and meeting as many people as we could. 

One of the families made 'Missionary Name Tags' for themselves when we came over to meet them.

We were able to have the opportunity to work yesterday instead of have preparation-day because more people would be home as a result of the holiday. Well, we had a little miracle and it all starts from the fact that Jimmy did not answer his door. We knocked, and I felt prompted to leave a pass along card. Though this seems normal, for me it isn't. You see, if you don't leave a card, they don't know you came and you can go back sooner. :) hehehe. sneaky, sneaky, I know. Be proud. Anyway, I left one as the spirit directed and oh man, was that a good thing. All it said was "Jimmy - Sorry we missed you! If you'd like to hear a message about Jesus Christ, give us a call!" With our names and number. Well about 4 or so hours later we got a call from said Jimmy. Long story short, he was telling us he was going to press charges and would be in contact with his lawyer and that he would be calling back at 4:30. Well, miracle because 4:30 rolled around and no call. Funny side note, he asked for my manager and I gave Sister Richins the phone and he completely believed it. Also, he asked what time we closed.. not sure the man really understood who or what we did. Oh well, Jimmy never called and life is grand. 

And in other grand news, we got a return appointment with Jackie and are hoping to make her a new investigator this week. 

There are my fun times for the week. Simple, but great. Made me so grateful that we go two by two in this work. :) 

I love this gospel and I love you!

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

Valentine's Day from my parents!

Valentine's Day from my parents!

13/18th of the way done!

Crazy news! 

Apparently I have been out for 13 months!? Hmm, not sure how that happened, but I guess it did!

Some fun news this week!!

First off some events from the week! 

We were able to start the week off by having an amazing meeting. Just got to meet with President and Sister Hymas, have some training and learn a lot! I was also able to see my wonderful MTC companion Sister Koller

Sis Baird and Sis Koller (MTC companion)

A bunch of Sisters receiving training w/ Sis Hymas (she's on far left)

A bunch of Sisters receiving training w/ Sis Hymas (she is in the pink)

 
and my MTC district member, Sister Brown!! I love them both so much. If you want to know our secret, not so secret plan, it is that we all three are going to kill each other our last transfer. Not sure it will happen.. but one can hope, right?

Zone Conference

We were able to have some amazing lessons with our members this week. We have been working closely with our Bishops and had him pray about which families we could give a certain challenge to. It was to introduce us to someone to teach within the next 2 weeks. We are excited to see what happens. I have faith that the Lord will provide for each of these families. 

Miracle from Sunday!! We had this younger boy we were working with when I first got to the area and we ended up having to release him because his grandmother was not being active in the church and would not bring him to church. In order to be baptized, church is part of the deal. Well, I guess the neighbors worked with the grandma enough and she let them give him a ride so he was able to come to church on Sunday!! This was the first time since Christmas Eve, and even then it had been a while! We are hoping to pick him back up soon. \

Other than that, life has been grand. I have loved my companions and know that the Lord put us together for a reason. 

Which brings me to transfer news!!

I will be staying in the Mather and Anatolia Wards!! Sad news is that not only am I losing Sister Kearl, because she is finishing her mission, but Sister Tenney is also leaving and headed to Folsom. If she had to go any where I am grateful she is going to the place I started. 

My new companion will be Sister Richins, who came out with Sister Simpson, so she is only 6 months old! I am so excited to meet her tomorrow!! Also, I am the designated driver again.. having a transfer off was fun! I guess that was my break .

Sorry this email was longer, but it was an amazing week. 

Next week we are going to the temple as a mission, so I will not be having my p-day until Wednesday!! So no emails from me until then!! 

I want you to know something and that is: I love being a missionary! I had a member ask if I did and know I feel the need to make sure everyone knows. 

Also, so sorry for all these add ons... this will be my first transfer in 13 months with no 12 week... whooo!!

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

Sis Baird, Sis Kearl, Sis Tenney and Cody - the cutest little boy!