May I say, I might actually like driving...?

Hello beautiful people of the planet Earth,

Don't judge, I'm weird. I know it and I love it.

Anyway :) I finally made a list of things I wanted to let you all know about so hopefully this is a better letter than past weeks have been.

A pond in the new Silva Valley Ward area that Sister Baird is serving in.

First off I wanted to let you know how AMAZING our new ward is. Silva Valley is so missionary minded and is willing to help us with anything. They are very well off so they live in a pretty nice neighborhood. All of them are gated. I don't mean Candlewick gated community, I mean really nice gated community! Maybe this won't be a surprise to some of you, but it was to me, but we are actually not allowed to proselyte (which means no knocking on doors allowed). This is why the ward has to be so missionary minded. Good thing they are so amazing! Hopefully that all made sense...

Another view of a pond in the new Silva Valley Ward area that Sister Baird is serving in.

A dead fish Sister Baird and Sister Anderson found at the above pond!

Some updates on the people we are teaching:

Luis is no longer ours, but I still wanted to keep you updated. He did not get baptized on the 25th, but he is now on date for April 8th. Due to his crazy work schedules he had to push his date back. He is so faithful and can't wait for his baptism. I will still be able to attend even though I am no longer teaching him. I can't wait!

Tony couldn't meet this week, but we are working on getting him to the church building so we can actually sit down and have a good lesson with him. Right now it has all been on his front porch. I'll keep you updated.

Laura, not sure if I have shared anything about her yet, but we finally had her not cancel an appointment with us. If you are curious, people cancel on missionaries ALL THE TIME. It is wonderful and that is why we always have backups. We had a member with us and the two of them hit if off really well, so we are hoping that helps her in her progressing.

And last, but certainly not least, Madi!! Oh my goodness she is amazing! She is in high school and wants to be baptized so badly. She has decided to meet with us twice a week and her mom will be going through the lessons with her. I am so excited for the both of them. The unique thing about the lesson we had with her, was that I was the lead and that I was with Sister Miko (the other trainee in our zone). So I have been out for about 8 weeks at that point and she'd been out 1 and a half. BUT, it went amazing and the spirit was so STRONG!!

Some small things, but this is getting long..

- I am actually starting to like driving..

- I was asked to sing a duet at zone conference again. Did I mention this is only my second zone conference? I will have sang at both. It's great :)

- COURTNEY DONNER (no longer Donner!) GOT MARRIED!! CONGRATS!!

- I got flowers at the bingo service this week!

and for the grand finale....

I finished Alma!! The single longest book in the Book of Mormon and after reading it for quite some time, reading over 20 chapters yesterday, and actually paying attention the whole time, I finished it! If you have not read the Book of Mormon cover to cover on your own, I challenge you to, it is truly an incredible book. It has changed my life and I promise it will change yours,

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

An old 'pass along card' that Sister Anderson shared when she first started in the area.

Sister Baird striking a pose!

A picture captured while walking around the California Sacramento Temple grounds after the Women's Conference.

A picture captured while walking around the California Sacramento Temple grounds after the Women's Conference.

Sister Baird - walking around the California Sacramento Temple grounds after the Women's Conference.

P.S. Blairs, Sister Ryan, Sister Evans, and Cody Hale I need your addresses :) Thanks!

Slow week....but I love you!

Sister Baird Selfie on St. Patrick's Day

ALOHAAAA,

I miss Hawaii a little, so I thought I'd throw in a little aloha this week.

This week I don't have too much, but I will keep you a little updated. You will first be receiving two group emails this week. I guess last week was evil and my email did not send out to anyone! 

Update on Luis....
As you will find out in the other email, I am no longer covering Luis as a result of transfers and no longer covering the Folsom 4th Ward, but I did find out that his baptism was postponed. Sadly, he has had some work conflicts that are not making it easy. Dang Satan getting in the way. However, he is still planning to get baptized - so that is good! 

We met this guy named Tony! He is Native American and actually speaks one of the native languages. He is super interesting, but we are hoping he is willing to take a chance with the gospel. I will let you all know how that goes!! 

Not a lot happened this week, but you will be graced with some pictures so that is good. I will make sure next week's email has more. This was a slow week.

I love you all, and all the emails I'm getting! (which is so so many...

New Zone

New Zone - having fun!

1st Zone

1st Zone - clowning around - having fun!

)

Haha, but for real I do love you all. 

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

2/18th of the way done!

Hey all!

Okay, so I had totally taken notes so I would have more to give you this week and was awesome and forgot those at home. It was great. Anyway, I will try to do my best to remember. 

Sister Baird and Sister Anderson

First, this Thursday the 17th is St. Patty's Day. Don't forget to wear green. That is very important! My mother has taught me this well. 

Next we had TRANSFERS this week!! I am now serving in the Silva Valley and Folsom 4th Ward, still with the AMAZING Sister Anderson. We are what we call "shotgunning" or "whitewashing". Basically two new missionaries take over the Ward instead of one trading in. We are super excited. We had our first dinner with them yesterday and I got to sing while the mom played piano and the daughter played violin. I loved it! I could not be more excited for this transfer. 

Sister Baird and Sister Anderson pictured with the Chinese family they have been teaching english to. 

In other news, a little bitter sweet, but with transfers that means we had to give up Folsom 2nd, which is where the Chinese were and Luis. Though, we will still be able to attend his baptism, but he will no longer be taught by us. This Sunday, we had to say goodbye to the Chinese and him so that was a little hard. I also had to say goodbye to the Steed family. They are amazing. And I just loved them. They always made me feel funny...so you know. 

With a new transfer that means that I am no longer the newest in the mission! We have a trainee in the zone so I am seriously pumped to meet her!!

I wanted to end on a good note, so I will share a little about Lenni. She is sadly in 2nd Ward, but I still have to share the little we did get to experience with her. We originally tried her house at least a month ago and when a car saw us walking they quickly sped off to avoid talking to us. The usual, you know. We found ourselves there about a week later and realized where we were. We confidently walked up to the door and knocked anyway. To our surprise this woman answered the door and was so very kind! We didn't have time to talk at that moment, so we set up a return appointment and left her with some information on the Restoration (how the church was brought back to the Earth in the latter days :)) and went on our way. We went back at the scheduled time and found a sticky note on her door. She had said she couldn't make it, however she did set a return appointment for us! It was for a Monday, which normally would not work because of P day, but it happened to be transfers when P day is on a Tuesday. Miracle, just saying. We then went back yesterday and talked with her and she said she read the pamphlet we gave her and believes it all. She knows Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, that there is a prophet on the Earth today and that the Book of Mormon is true. We committed her to reading it and she said yes and that she had been looking for something to read and would read a few pages a night. I had her open up to the book of Moroni and read 10:3-5. As she finished reading she told us that it gave her chills and I was able to share with her that she was feeling the spirit. She said when I told her that she got the chills again and loved it. She is amazing. 

Need addresses to mail these!!

The Lord is preparing people and I truly do love and am grateful that I get to help find them and teach them. I get to be the one to help them come unto Christ. I love it!

Last few things. Yeah I remembered some sorry...

- I hit my 2 months, hence the subject of this email/blog.. :)

- I am now designated driver of our companionship.

 Yes, laugh it up. I know. 

- If you see a card with your name on it in the picture, I need your address!! 

I love you all!

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Dumpster diving is fun, well the smashing part :)

Hey all,

Well this week I would have random thoughts of 'I am going to put that in my weekly email', and then I failed to write it down so I am going to do my best.

This is actually my last week of the transfer (6 weeks), so next preparation day will actually be on Tuesday. Thought that was kind of important to mention. 

So Luis is doing amazing! He is still on track to be baptized on the 25th of March, which is amazing! 

Front Row: Sister Baird
2nd Row:  Sister Anderson, Elder Stewart, Sister Kaufusi, Elder Escoton,  Elder  Forte
Back Row: Sister Sessions, Elder Wingard

I got to go mountain biking last preparation day and for those you who remember, yes my coordination is still awful. 

Front Row: Elder Wingard, Elder Escoton, Elder Young Yen, Elder Forte,
Back Row: Sister Baird, Elder Ross, Sister Anderson, Sister Sessions, Sister Kaufusi, Elder Stewart

Sister Baird - random pic while Mountain Biking

This week we had an awesome service opportunity to help an elderly, non member move and it was so fun! I ended up getting to see an old grandfather clock from the 1760s! .....and I got to climb in one of those large dumpsters and crush stuff! It was great!!

Another awesome experience this week was having a huge turning point with my companion. We are better than ever and can't wait to get to work this week. She's been sick for a  few days. Hopefully her illness fades soon. Keep her in your prayers. 

Lastly, I wanted to keep you all updated on some real life stuff! Friday evening I found out that Sidney and I were both accepted into BYU- Provo!!  YAY!
...and Sidney attended Prom! AHHHH! She's all grown up!!

and a final shout out...

Happy Birthday! 

MARRYANN PHILLIPS  I LOVE YOU

Much Love Always,

Folsom, CA Sunset

Sister MJ Baird

 

Left to Right - Peter, Lucy, Judy, Sister Hunt, Michael, John. We were teaching English and the word was 'picture'.
So we took a picture!

Left to Right: Sister Baird,  Sister Hyde, and Sister Davis (The STL's - Sister Training Leaders)

Open roads between Folsom and Eldorado Hills - headed to do service. 

Sister Baird driving! What!? If you know her, you know how much she loves driving!

Always looking to the positives

HEY ALL!

So this week was way better!! Some pretty awesome things happened. I'll save the best for last. :)

First, I had my first ever zone conference!! Oh my gosh, it was AMAZING. It was the strongest I have felt the spirit since I was at the MTC and I loved every single second of it. All of it. I learned more than I ever would have thought I could. Oh I loved it so much. If you are preparing or on a mission, definitely take full advantage of zone conference. It is such a blessing to have.

Another good thing, because there is always so MANY!! We had the most unique experience on Sunday. We were sitting in the Sacrament meeting first hour in the ward with our Chinese recent converts and they were having Chinese translated in front of us. Then in the row behind us we had our investigator having Portuguese translated to him. Chinese in front of us and Portuguese behind us. How amazing is that? Also I guess I'm not meant to teach in English...haha!

Another amazing thing, EXCHANGES! The Sister Training Leaders are amazing and I got to spend almost a full 24 hours with one of them. It was such a cool experience getting out of my area and getting to work with someone else. I loved it. Oh and the pictures of the area, that was from exchanges, so not actually my area. :)

Picture from Eldorado Hills, CA

Sister MJ Baird while on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leader

Picture from Eldorado Hills, CA
Sister MJ Baird while on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leader

Picture from Eldorado Hills, CA
Sister MJ Baird while on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leader

Picture from Eldorado Hills, CA
Sister MJ Baird while on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leader

Picture from Eldorado Hills, CA
Sister MJ Baird while on exchanges with the Sister Trainer Leader

Folsom Dam in Folsom, CA

Also.. I got bike lights finally!!!

AND for the grand finale...

  

On March 25th I will be having my first baptism!! His name is Luis and he is the one who speaks Portuguese. He is so prepared and ready to come unto Christ. He closed our lesson with a kneeling prayer and it was so incredible. The spirit was so strong. I could not be more proud of him.

I want you all to know that I know this is the true church on the Earth today. I know that it is Christ's church restored to the Earth. He loves us so much.

I love you all so much!!

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

I wanted to share this amazing 'audio' file with you that Sister MJ Baird allowed us to share. This was recorded 2 weeks ago.  It is Sister MJ Baird and Elder Spencer from her Zone. Enjoy! We truly enjoyed this...we hope you enjoy as much as we did!

What's Your Favorite Color? 8.

Well this week was rough. So I want to focus on the positives.

I will start with the subject line!

We get to volunteer at an old folk's place (sorry not sorry..) and there was the cutest old lady who was sleeping most days we went, but this time she was awake!! I decided to talk to her and ask her favorite color, and she proudly responded with 8. I haven't been able to not laugh about it since.

President Jardine and his wife are in my first ward and I got to hear them speak!!

Sister Baird and Sister Anderson
in front of the California Sacramento Temple

My companion and I spoke in our second ward and President and Sister Jardine actually came and listened to our talks!!

I MADE IT TO SUNDAY. This was a positive.

Members fed us almost everyday.

Sister Baird and Sister Anderson - dinner at the Kolanders' home.
Picture sent to Momma Baird by Sister Kolander. A very pleasant Sunday evening surprise!

AND for the grand finale, after we had to release (yes drop for other missionaries) a minimum of three this week, we 

GAINED THREE NEW INVESTIGATORS!! and we had the most incredible street contact!! Bitter sweetly we had to give him to the Spanish Sisters, but he was the definition of GOLDEN. 

This week was hard. The hardest of my mission so far, but it had positives. It was not all bad at all. The Lord blesses us when we endure. It won't always be easy, but He will help you get through it.

I want to give a sincere apology to all of you as I forgot to wish you A HAPPY VALENTINES DAY last week!!!!!!!

Also shout out to Sinclair and Brody for getting hitched this week!! Congrats!!

Sister Baird uploaded this picture to use, but I don't know the story behind it.
I'll share an update on this picture once I know more.

I love you all so much, please continue to email me, and please include your address!! Even if you think I have it, send it anyway!!

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Happy Valentine's Day from Sister MJ Baird

Looking up towards the Angel Moroni on the California Sacramento Temple.

This was a physical letter that was sent to us from Sister Baird.

FamBam,
I know it's nothing like what I usually do, but I couldn't not send a Valentine. I love you all so much. Thank you for your constant support I'm not sure what I would do without you, I wouldn't survive. 

I wanted to share my testimony with you all as well.
 

I know that this is the true Church on the earth today. I know without a doubt in my mind. For the first time in my life, I had questions, but I realized they weren't doubts. We don't have to let the questions we have become doubts. I know most of you know this quote, but "DOUBT YOUR DOUBTS, before YOU DOUBT YOUR FAITH". The Lord and Heavenly Father have given us so much, why do we take one thing and make it or let a cause us to doubt the rest. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know it was translated by the power of God, through Joseph Smith. If you're not currently, I challenge you to read the Book of Mormon for yourself. Ask God yourself if it is true. I promise He will answer you in the way you are supposed to be answered. The great thing about this gospel is you're not supposed to just accept what everyone says and tells you. Go ahead and ask a question, but then be willing to pray with a sincere heart, being willing to accept whatever answer you get. You have to have faith as well. If you don't think you're going to get an answer, then you probably won't. We have to have faith that we will get an answer. I know that Heavenly Father loves us. Each and everyone of us. He knows us personally. He knows you by name. There is a reason it is always "one by one". It will always be that way. We aren't numbered at all. We are His son's and daughter's. We are Christ's brothers and sisters. I know that sending Christ down to earth was one of the hardest things He could go through, but He did it for us. For me. For you. I know that Christ went through what He did for us, out of pure love. He had to experience everything. The pain was so hard to bear that at one point He cried out to have it removed, but it wasn't. He push through and finished so each of us would have a chance to live again and never be alone. He was able to go through what He did because He is the Son of God. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ would never leave us alone, out here without doing all they can. I know that we have a living prophet on the earth today and I know that that man is Thomas S Monson.  I will sustain him every day of my life and every Prophet after that until the day I die. He is a man of God, called to lead and guide us today. I know that no mortal illness can stop him when he is needed as a Prophet of this church. I know that a mission wasn't always in my plans, but I know, without a doubt, that it was ALWAYS in Heavenly Fathers plans for me. I have gained such a desire to share this incredible message. One that I have never had before. This gospel changes lives. I testify of that every day, and I don't plan on stopping. I know that families are forever. I know I was put in the family I was for a reason and I wouldn't change it for the world. I know this Church is true. I know our Heavenly Father is a loving father and I know Jesus is the Christ.

I love you all, so incredibly much. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Happy Valentine's Day, much love always!
Sister MJ Baird