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!

This week I have failed at being creative with the title..

 Another week down in the life of Sister Baird. 

Well, first off. To those who are still on this journey with me, thank you! It guess it has been a bit now. You are my favorite if you are still reading this. :D

Onto the week. 

So the first exciting part was that we got to go on exchanges with the most wonderful Sisters in East Sacramento. I was with the amazing Sister Tatafu and Sister Tenney.

Sis Baird and Sis Tenney on exchanges w/ East Sacramento Sisters.

It was so much fun to be with the two sisters. We biked all the way up to dinner, and oh man was that worth it. We learned just how important it is to follow the spirit. The spirit is the best person to have on your side, giving you little clues here and there the whole time. 

A cool experience I had was when we were in this apartment complex. We went to knock on these two doors. Well, for some reason I kept thinking 52 when the numbers we were going to was most definitely not 52. So after knocking the 2 doors, we decided to just knock 52. It was amazing. This man had met with missionaries in the past, and attended church and did not have anything against the church. He said he would definitely look into it when he was able to give more time to it. He recognized that in order to do it, he had to have his heart open to really giving it his all. He was also able to accept Book of Mormon and said he would read it. I loved it. FOLLOW THE SPIRIT. 

Other exciting news, the Sacramento California Mission will be expanding this coming July! We will be gaining 3 new stakes and 50 missionaries from the Modesto California Mission. Weird thought, is I will be home when all those changes take place..! 

I just want to let you all know how much I love the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the single greatest thing in my life. It is because of Jesus Christ that I am who I am and have what I have. Because of Him I will be with my family forever, there is no question about that in my mind. He is the best. 

Have an amazing week!

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

Old Town Sacramento

Old Town Sacramento

Bumper sticker found...Baird family knows why this is special - and the Blairs!

Keep Calm and Carry On

 Good Evening Earthlings!! 

Had to come up with a more creative way of starting my email! Hope you enjoyed it. |

So just a few quick things for this week!

To start I had amazing exchanges with the beautiful Sister Leavitt. She is training after 12 weeks and is doing an amazing job. She was able to be such an example to me in even just the short amount of time we had together. I can't wait to continue to get to know her. 

Then we had zone conference!!

Overall the theme of zone conference was to "Keep Calm and Carry On".

We were able to really talk about controlling what we 'can control' and not worrying about the rest of it. So many times we spend time worrying about things that we have no control over which results in wasted stress. I most definitely have spent a huge chunk of my life having 'wasted stress'. It is so nice to be able to go through and realize, I can't control it, so I am going to let it go. We were also able to focus on 'buoying each other up'. We had a 'Sisters breakout' and I loved it! We hadn't had one since my first Zone Conference and we were definitely in need of one. It was neat hearing everyone help each other out. On a final note, well actually two more things. One, Sister Kearl gave her departing testimony so that was a little sad, but I loved seeing someone I have gotten to know and love get up and bear their testimony of the Savior and truly see how much they have grown over their mission. Now the final note, I got to see Sister Wong and Sister Simpson at Zone Conference. I had 3 of my 4 babies there. I was one proud mama - that is for sure. 

Sis Simpson, Sis Baird, Sis Wong and Sis Tenney at Zone Conference
Sis Baird's 'babies' - Sisters that she helped train in the mission field.

Sis. Baird - enjoying herself at Zone Conference

Sis Kearl, Sis Tenney, Sis Payne (Ward member) and Sis Baird at Zone Conference

Rancho Cordova Zone - Zone Conference

Zone P-Day

Zone P-Day

I love you all and hope you have the best week of your life. 

Sister MJ Baird

Spanish Life

Hola! 

I figured since I was in Spanish work for half the week it was a great way to start off this wonderful email. 

Not a crazy amount of things happened this week, so this is going to be pretty short, but I will still give you a bit. 

So after our emailing time last week we got a call from our Mission President letting us know that I would be going with one of the Hermana's in our apartment until her new companion arrived Monday (today). So, starting Thursday morning through about 10:20 this morning I had the privilege of being an Hermana! If you are wondering, yes, I still have zero Spanish skills. I have learned a few random words, but English and ASL are still my thing. I will let the other do the Spanish life. Heavenly Father definitely knew better than sending me Spanish speaking. A few funnies from my adventures in the Spanish life. 

First, the Hermanas are teaching this man from Bolivia and for some reason my brain kept pairing that with Europe not South America. Well, we were in the car and talking about how she one day wants to have something to do with Hispanics and of course, the so intelligent me says, well Bolivian could do! She dies laughing and then lets me know Bolivian is Hispanic.. at least I know now!

Then, every door we would go up to I would just stand, smile and nod along with whatever was being said and as we were saying good-bye the people at the door would look at her and say good bye in Spanish and look at me and say good-bye in English. They totally knew. It was great.

And my final story. Last night we had dinner with a woman who only spoke Spanish. She gave us these plates of food and it was really yummy. Only problem, I am the biggest wimp you'll meet in your entire life. Well I ate the whole thing while downing an entire water bottle. By the end I was most definitely rationing out what water I had left in order to make it last the rest of my plate. We get in the car and Hermana Barrera starts telling me that the woman asked if we thought it was spicy and that she had said no. The woman replied by saying 'wow, you are Mexican!' Hahaha, I just died because I told her, nope I was dying the entire meal. Like I said I'm a wimp. 

Well, I am sure you thought my stories were hilarious, just kidding. I am an awful story teller but hopefully it at least gave you one of those half smirky smiles on your face!

I love and miss you all, oh and yes I am back in my most loved trio! I missed those sisters!!!

Sis Tenney, Sis Baird and Sis Kearl

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

On Wednesday, January 17, we had the opportunity to be apart of the 'activity days' girls activity. It was so fun!

2/3 of the way done, orrrrr 1 year!!

Hey oh you beautiful people!!

Well, I hit 1 year this week and that was exciting!! 

Part of me thought to end the email right then and there, but then I imagined my Mother's face and thought to do otherwise. 

Oh what a week!!

Honestly, it has been a bit crazy, but so good!! 

Far left - Sister Koller, then Sister Brown, then Sister Baird
Those three were in the MTC together!

The week started by having to attend some meetings and that was amazing!  I got to see both Sisters Brown and Sister Koller, the two other sisters who I was in the MTC district with. Shout out to Krista who is out there living life and being amazing. 

We then stopped in Folsom to plan and use the wifi and I got to see my wonderful old comp Sister Rowley. It was so good seeing her. She is doing amazing if you were wondering. They won't brag, so I will for her. When I saw them, in a week and a half they had gotten 12 new investigators. Wow!!

We then had some fun service and more meetings on Wednesday! wait service was Thursday opps... 

Well Thursday we had an amazing district meeting. We are focusing on the Christlike attributes this next several months and currently we are focused on Charity. I love it!!

Friday I got to go on exchanges with Sister Lund and Sister Tenney stayed with us. It was so much fun and we definitely saw miracles. 

Saturday we did a seeking Saturday bike blitz. It was fun to just get on our bikes as a trio of us. 

Sunday was stake conference and we got to sing with the youth choir, oh the spirit was so so very strong! Sister Kearl ended up being pretty sick Sunday and through Monday so that was how the past two days went. 

Now it is Tuesday and last week we were able to find 3 new investigators. We love being in a trio and love working hard. This is the Lord's work and I love being a part of it. 

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Meetings!

If you were wondering if I was still weird, yes. No, I did not actually lick the shoe.

Clearly, I have a pretty biking face!

My most beautiful companions.

Taking our miracle video and Sister Kearl put a snail on my umbrella.

District Picture

Rancho Cordova Zone

Rancho Cordova Zone

Rancho Cordova Zone