15/18th of the way done!

Surprise, I hit one month older this week!! 

I hope you all have been doing well, because that would be wonderful. By the way, I would love to know what is happening in all of your lives. Life is crazy and goes fast and I want to be able to be up to date :) A lot happens in 15 months!! 

Alright, so for the week it was a good one and miracle packed!! 

We started off with having interviews with President Hymas this week - I love interviews with President. Sister and President Hymas are seriously like your parents on the mission, I have no idea what I would do without them. It was a little strange to think about the fact that this was my last regular interview with them. When you are in your final transfer, you get a 'departing interview', not a regular one. 

We then had exchanges with Sister Searle and Sister Workman. I got to be with the amazing Sister Workman.

 

R to L: Sis Baird, Sis Workman (on exchanges) and Elder Newton

On exchanges with Sis Workman.

We got to help each other with being bold and talking with everyone. She is an incredible missionary and has only been out for 4 months!! 

We did manage to get through the week with no unexpected team ups, so that was a plus side!! 

We then had such an incredible weekend!! On Saturday it was "game day" and did everything we could to get people set to go to church on Sunday. It took a lot of correlation and prayers, but it worked and turned out amazingly!! On "Pay day" or Sunday, we had the miracle of FOUR investigators at church. 3 of which are on date for baptism!! One was a new investigator we found on Friday!! Two days later he was at church. ALL of them were given rides by members. We seriously could not do this work without the members. 

Mike is still on date for the 21st, which will be this upcoming week. Kristin is still on date for the 12th of May and her wedding is this Saturday!! Lastly, Seven is still on date for the 5th. However, please pray for him if you are willing.

L to R: Sis Baird, Sis Van Valkenburg, Mike (our investigator) and his daughter.

Life is moving fast, but I am happy. I love being a missionary.

This coming week is going to be a bit crazy, but oh so wonderful. Can't wait to tell you about it next week. 

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Sis Baird selfie w/ Sis Van Valkenburg

Selfie w/ Ward Mission Leaders address - note the 'Angel Moroni'

Fun w/ Sis Childs! 
 L to R: Sis Childs, Sis Maldonado, Sis Clifford, Sis Baird & Sis V

Fun w/ Sis Childs! 
 L to R: Sis Childs, Sis Maldonado, Sis Clifford, Sis Baird & Sis V

Selfie w/ Sis Clifford and Sis Maldonado

The Great Coloma Illness

What a beautiful day it is, isn't it?? The sun is shining, so why not be full of joy!!

This week we quite a week. It seems, all my weeks are turning into weeks like that. 

Well I guess I will start with Tuesday!! On Tuesday Sis Van Valkenburg and I had a meeting with some of the other missionaries in the mission, and I got to see the wonderful 'daughter' I was with in El Dorado - Sister Rowley.  She is seriously such an incredible missionary. If you get the chance to meet her one day, it will be well worth it. If she is reading, so sorry. I just love bragging about the ones I love. 

Sis Baird and Sis Rowley (previous companion)

Well Tuesday night took a turn for the not fun. I ended up getting some awful food poisoning. We thought it was from the Cafe Rio we had for dinner, but we don't think it was, but Mom and Dad - I am never eating there again. When you get sick both times after attempting to eat there, you tend to want to never go again. Anyway, we end up finding out on Wednesday night that about 13 or 14 other missionaries were affected by food poisoning as well. Common denominator?? COLOMA. So yep. We all got the food poisoning from the food there and turns out it was not Cafe Rio. I was just the first to get hit. Much better now though!

On Thursday Sister Van Valkenburg then got sick, and Sister Clifford ending up needing to go to the Urgent Care for a DOUBLE ear infection. It was craziness. Sister Maldonado spent the good part of the day with Sister Van Valkenburg and I spend the good part of the day with Sister Clifford. By Friday evening, we were doing much better. 

On Friday evening we were able to do team ups with Sister Searle and Sister Workman. They are wonderful. I got the chance to be with Sister Searle and she is incredible. I have so much to learn from her!! 

Sis Baird and Sis Searle on team ups.

Other than that all week, we managed to have some amazing lessons!! Mike is still going strong. We had quite the bitter sweet moment on Sunday, when he went to get church clothes instead of coming to church. They ended up feeling pretty wiped out from it. They are older and his wife is super fragile in health. Next week for sure!! 

Seven is doing amazing as always. He had an amazing spiritual experience, then had a great lesson, probably the hardest but best one yet, and then was in church on Sunday, sharing about the incredible experience he had. We are seriously so proud of him and how far he has come!

Well, sorry this was a longer email. I guess that is what happens when I actually plan what I am going to say. Woot woot for being prepared. 

For those who had continued to read, thanks for staying loyal. Don't miss your chance, you have only 10 weeks left to send me a letter and email. It isn't too late! ;)

Much Love Always, 

Sister MJ Baird

More precious than gold!

Hey all!! 

So this week has been a blast!! 

Sister Van Valkenburg is amazing and I am so grateful to have her as a companion! She is from Utah, and is hilarious.

 

Sis Van Valkenburg and Sis Baird twinning it up!

Sis Baird and Sis Van Valkenburg - her new companion.

She has been out on her mission 6 weeks less than me! Our first full day working together we were able to put 2 people ON DATE!!! 

We have this awesome investigator in the YSA ward named Seven, yes like the number, and he is incredible. He is already in 2 Nephi and loving it. He even watched two whole sessions of conference!! We are aiming for May 5 so we are hoping that works out! 

The other on date is Mike and he is the husband of a less active who we are hoping to have come back to activity. The previous sisters found him and I guess he said it is time for my wife to go back to church and I am coming with her this time. AMAZING. He is super solid and we have set the date of April 21. 

We then also got to have some team ups which was fun!! I got to teach a lesson with the amazing Sister Clifford and then got to have Sister Maldonado with me to watch conference with Mike! Sister Van Valkenburg was sick, so we needed some help. It is always a blast to be with brand new missionaries. \\

Then today, as per tradition, I got to go to Coloma!! It is a place up in the way North of our mission and we get to learn about some history and pan for gold. I found 3 pieces and 3 pieces of fools gold. It was a blast. I got to spend almost all day with the wonderful Sisters Wong, Brown and Koller!! Love those sisters. 

The other amazing part of this week was conference. Now, as a missionary, this conference was by far the most stressful conference I have ever had. And I realized that this conference was a lot of "churchy" or "mormony" words in it, and when you are thinking of your investigators, it tends to stress you out. But it all turned out well. As a member of the church, holy molies, it was incredible. 

I want you all to personally know that President Nelson is the chosen prophet on the Earth today. He leads the church only by guidance from our Father in Heaven. I know this is Christ's church on the Earth, and I know that Christ lives and will one day come again. Today while learning of the gold rush, there were pioneers who decided to turn their backs on the gold because they knew what was far more precious and that was the gospel of Jesus Christ and their families. I would have done the same. 

I love and miss you!

Much Love Always,

Sister MJ Baird

Sis Baird, Sis Van Valkenburg, Sis Maldonado and Sis Clifford trying to get bikes on the bike rack.

Sis Clifford and Sis Maldonado

L to R - Sis Van Valkenburg, Sis Baird, Sis Clifford and Sis Maldonado

Saying goodbye to Sis Richins and the "Hermana's" on transfer day.

Sis Baird and Sis Clifford - team up.

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!