3/31/14 | "Like the Ceiling Can't Hold Us"

Familia!

This week has been crazy.  I was only in my area for about a day.  I had a double exchange so I was gone for 2 days straight and then we had a service project and district training, and Saturday a rain storm came in and my comp didn't want to get wet, so we stayed inside, oh well.  Other than that the week was great!  I had a 3 hour comp inventory with my District Leader and now we are friends, weird how that works.

Every Tuesday we go to the church to play basketball and bring some investigators with us.  Last week we got 4 to come with us, the only problem is that they are more interested in playing ball than coming to church, so we will continue to work on that.  Lebron even came, we lost contact with him for a few weeks but we found him again!  

Funny story of the week.  also on Tuesday we helped a lady in the ward move tons of boxes and furniture to her attic.  Elder Melander is the shortest one out of our group so he was up in the attic sorting stuff that we gave him.  All of the sudden we hear a crack and "crap! I slipped!" and we look up and see Elder Melanders leg sticking out of the ceiling, it was hilarious! Luckily the rest of him didn't go through the ceiling.  

Miracle of the week.  We were harvesting Saturday and felt prompted to talk to this guy on his curb.  We asked if we could pray with him and he accepted as did his wife who was sitting in the driveway.  After the prayer we invited them to be baptized and they denied so we invited them to come to church and they said they would rather skip their church and come check ours out.  Sweet!  But on Sunday they didn't show up.  So we went over last night to see what happened and they said they felt like their church was right.  I asked if they had prayed and they hadn't.  and they weren't interested in us coming back.  So we were going to leave, but then the Spirit prompted me to open my mouth and start talking, so I did.  I don't even remember what I said but I testified that this is the only true church and then the Spirited prompted me to bring out a Book of Mormon so I  brought out a Book of Mormon and explained it and read Moroni 10:3-5  and committed him to read, pray and listen to the Spirit and when he receives his answer to call us up and schedule a time for us to come back.  He accepted and my comp bore a powerful testimony as well. The spirit was super strong and it's always amazing to feel the Spirit work through you.  So we will wait for him to call us back, if not we are going back over tomorrow to follow-up.  

That's about all that happened this week!  I was studying PMG more and one of the references is Helaman 10:3-5 which is an amazing scripture passage.  

I love you guys and have a great week!

Love,

Elder Spencer Bailey

3/24/14 | Chiropractor Miracles

Hey Family!

This week has been great!  It's been a rough week but we at least got a lot of work done.  We spent most of our week biking all over town to find Part member families.  Thankfully the drivers in Jupiter are much better than the ones in Coconut Creek.  

Last Wednesday I had a Chiropractor Appointment (I found out I got scoliosis over the last 6 months) and there are 2 lady assistants around the age of 19-20 that work there, so I see them every other day.  They have started talking to me more and more each time I go and it got to the point where I could start slipping in gospel messages to each visit.  On Wednesday they Chiropractor and the assistants were very curious on what I do exactly, so I told them and also slipped in that I don't date for 2 years (you should have seen the devastated looks on the assistants faces;) and they wanted to know more about "John Smith" and the "Gold Plates" and then I just started teaching them the Restoration and introduced the Book of Mormon and invited them to the Temple Open House. They all accepted!  It was amazing!  The Lord provides opportunities to teach wherever you go, you just have to look for them.

Also another bird pooped on me, that's twice in my entire life and it happened within a 2 week period.

One night after knocking on a door of a part member family we saw a lady coming down the stairs of the apartment complex, so we started talking with her and asked if we could pray with her.  She accepted and after the prayer we invited her to be baptized, she wasn't for it, but we somehow started talking about Sister Wives (she thought they were Mormon and that we were polygamists) and that built a friendship connection, so we invited her to the Temple open house and she accepted and also she is a huge fan of Family History, well, what do ya know, the Church has the largest or second largest family history site.  So we got her on board for that.  She is amazing! We met with her a couple of nights ago and introduced the Book of Mormon and she loved it!  She will realize this is the truth in due time!

I started highlighting in the Book of Mormon every time a word refers to God and Jesus Christ, so every time it says Lord, God, Jesus, Savior, Redeemer, He, His, Thou, Thine, etc.  I realized how much they are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, I didn't realize it before, it's amazing how true this book is and Joseph's promise is true, "that a man can get nearer to God by abiding by the precepts in this Book than by any other Book in the world today."  I also realized I neglected Preach My Gospel.  My teaching was very poor and I was wondering why, then I was impressed to study PMG seriously and do the activities and take notes.  As I've diligently studied from it daily, I have learned so much more and my teaching has been improving.  Austin and Randon start reading from PMG, you'll thank me in a few years:)  

I love you guys!

Love

Elder Spencer Bailey

Gator

Serious fishing

lizard with 2 tails

View from bridge we biked over, it was ridiculously huge

escalator for shopping carts?

legit car

my "zone"

3/17/14 | Gators

Wow, well I just realized I have hardly any time to write this because I started emailing everyone else and forgot to write me weekly email...ooops:)  But to be honest not a whole lot happened this week.  It was filled with p-day on Monday, District training on Tues. (which is almost all day since we drive up to Stuart) then Doctors appointments Wednesday and Friday.  Oh yeah, we had specialized training Thursday with 4 different zones and President Anderson.  That was really good. We talked about the Temple that will be coming in the next month and that if we get an investigator to go we can go with them:)  Good incentive to work 110%!  Also he told us about how we will be participating in the cultural event, but that is a secret that I have to keep:)  You'll find out in a few months.

Yesterday was a miracle, we were working hard, but our numbers were down the drain.  We decided that we couldn't finish our week like that!  So we went out and worked harder and had some miracles.  Due to lack of time I'll briefly summarize what happened.  We got info on 3 Part member families to pass along to the ward, 1 return appointment, 1 new gator, 7 Harvest blessings, 1 other lesson, 1 Less-active, and 3 referrals!  That was the best day we've had this week! #miracles

Also I saw a gator while riding my bike and snapped a pic right as it jumped into the water, but I got a pic of his head and back as he swam away, I will send it next week:)

Well, that's all I have time for today,  I won't forget next week:) 

Love you guys!

Elder Spencer Bailey

3/10/14 | Singer Island

New transfer, New comp.  you would never believe where my new comp is from.  I give you a few moments to guess and I'll keep typing.  This week was great! I got to remember my favorite sister missionary and my dad.  Happy Birthday Alyssa and Dad!!! I hope you are having a great day today dad, thanks for being the best dad in the world!  And I hope you had a magnificent bday yesterday Sister Bailey, hopefully your mission is kind enough to forward my package to you (get excited). 

Alright, my new comp is from Highland Utah, and guess what else, we both just graduated from Lone peak.  Coincidence? I think not!  But alas we didn't know each other before the mission, but we knew a lot of the same people so it's been fun to be with him.  Oh yeah his name is Elder Rodgers and he played football, so he is a big guy.  he has been out 2 transfers longer than me and it's his first time senior comping.  I realized that I've done  a lot of firsts with my comps.  With Elder Wood it was his first time training. with Elder Woodard it was his first time being senior comp and with Elder Whitney it was his first time District leading and 2nd time senior comping and now with Elder Rodgers.  

Also I have very good news that made my day yesterday (besides it being Alyssa's bday)  I had to call Elder Woodard and I found out that my recent convert Nate spoke on Sunday and was put in the Elder's Quorum presidency!  It was awesome! and 3 people I had been working with for months just got baptized!  It was very good news to hear.

Alright here is a transfer day miracle that happened.  It was wednesday after transfers and we were out harvesting.  We noticed these huge thunderstorm clouds coming in our direction but we were determined to finish harvesting and then ride our bikes for shelter.  As we kept harvesting we noticed the clouds started going around the neighborhood we were harvesting allowing us to finish our harvest.  Towards the close of our harvesting hour we knocked on the door of her house and started talking to her daughter and then she came out and acted very excited to see us.  We talked and did some H2BT bullet points and said a prayer with her and she wanted really badly to learn more.  We set up a time to meet with her and left.  Later we tried to see her but her husband rudely sent us away.  She promptly called us and apologized for her husband and said she would still love to meet with us to learn more.  She is awesome, even though her husband has been giving her grief for wanted to learn more she still wants to visit with us.  Transfer day Miracle!

On Saturday we had planned to help a member move, but then they cancelled on us so we had 2 hours to fill.  I remembered a media referral we had received last week and hadn't had a chance to see them yet, mainly because we were on bikes and they live out on Singer Island.  But we had the time and felt like we should go so we started our trek to get there.  After crossing one of the biggest bridges I have ever seen and getting pooped on by a bird, we made it to Singer Island.  the referral was home and he was one of the coolest people I've met.  We talked on the beach under a gazebo and taught him about the Book of Mormon and did some How to begin Teaching.  He said "Wow, well, we have a shower right back there or an ocean right over there, can I be baptized now?"  Excellent question!  We explained that he had to come to church twice and then he could be baptized.  He is super elect and solid!  Miracles, I love them!

Well, it has been a great week! After a 5 week drought and hard work and determination, we are starting to see the fruits of our labor.  I have grown a lot in the last 5 weeks, more than I had in the previous 6 months, and I learned a lot from Elder Whitney and from the Lord during those 5 weeks that have changed who I am, and am thankful that we didn't find anyone to teach and baptized last transfer or else I wouldn't have grown so much.  I found first hand that we grow the most when we go through trials and difficult times.  I'm reminded of D&C 122.  Of course I didn't experience anything remotely close to what Joseph went through but the message in verses 7-9 still applies to anyone.   So it's been a great experience.  

Well I love you guys, and I hope you have a great week!  and Go Lone peak! (4 times state champ bball)  

Have a happy Birthday Dad!

Love,

Elder Spencer Bailey

3/4/14 | Clay in God's Hands

Hey Family!

Transfer update: I'm staying and Elder Whitney is going.  I'm so excited to stay because this is the best place to serve!  But I'm sad Elder Whitney is going because we became super good friends so it was just like we were hanging out everyday preaching the gospel, not something I would usually do while hanging out.  Also random story, I'm at Church a couple of Sundays ago and we start talking to this guy and he has the coolest accent and while I'm talking with him, I think "wow, this guy sounds exactly like Bro. Howden".  Then we ask each other where we are from and he says "Oh, I have some family living in Highland."  I said "woah, are they the Howdens?!?"  He said yes, so I was talking to Bro. Howdens older Brother from Arizona who was vacationing in Florida.  Small world, but it gets even smaller.  Last Sunday we are sitting in Church again (it's a reoccurring event) and Bro Howden gets up to the pulpit and bears his testimony and also mentions that he moved into the ward! what?!? I'm pretty sure Bro. Howden (the one in Utah) sent him here to spy on me. 

Also another small world connection, I started talking with a random ward member and found out that he is friends with the Toolsons (his name is Brad Westover) and came to the bball tournament in Ft. Myers last December, so we probably saw each other, small world keeps getting smaller.  

Haha, we tried to street contact at the mall the other day to try new ways to find and let's just say that isn't one of the things we got trained on. It was bad. So we kept to knocking doors, and went back to the drawing board.

One of those miracles is that we were going to follow up with a former investigator that we found in the area book.  As we were going we felt prompted to talk to this guy in front of his house.  He wasn't interested and it actually wasn't his house but he said to come by later to talk to the owners of the house because they would be interested.  We came back later and they weren't home but their nephew, who lives there, answered the door and it was a kid we had played street ball with 2 weeks ago!  He said he wanted to learn more and grow closer to God but he couldn't talk right then so we came backSaturday night with a member who talked with him for about 30 minutes about basketball and gained his trust and friendship and we invited him to church and he said he would.  He came to church on Sunday and said he loved it and said he "felt safe".  We invited him to be baptized on March 16th and he said that he would!  He is a super amazing guy and we found him because the Lord led us to his home. Let's call this investigator Lebron from here on out.

We had the weirdest Monday yesterday.  Started off with us tracking down a less-active since they tend to be elusive and of course as luck would have it, he moved. so we were biking back and helped an old lady bring her trashcans in and found out that she used to be a member.  So we talked and she showed us her garden and gave us some odd fruit off of some bush, don't know if it was edible or not, but I'm still alive so that's a good sign.  After that we helped a guy back into his driveway and started talking to him and eventually agreed to disagree.  But he thanked us for our service and asked if we were thirsty and gave us these 2 drinks he had just barely bought from the store. Then he asked if we were hungry and he gave us each a chicken sandwich he had just bought from El Pollo Tropical. He said for some reason he had bought 3 instead of 1.  And we were doing him a favor by taking those off his hands because he wasn't the slimmest man around.  So we got a free meal from some random guy.  score!  Then we went to Lebron's middle school basketball game to watch him play.  Oh man, they take middle school basketball seriously out here.  It was like we were at a high school basketball state championship game.  It was awesome and Lebron is pretty good, and you'll be seeing some pics of him in a couple of weeks when he is baptized. 

This past week I have been working on surrendering my will to God's will.  I didn't realize how hard it would be.  I've been practicing putting off all of my wants, dreams, wishes and desires and turning myself over to God to allow him to mold me into what he wants me to be.  That is why we have had so little success number wise this past transfer is because we weren't turning ourselves over to God.  We were humbled a lot but the Lord takes us low so he can bring us higher. Once we realized that and tried our best to surrender our wills we started seeing success. We found many people all of the sudden and received referrals left and right (one of which is a big shot music producer on Singer Island).  So the Lord has been blessing us as we've tried our best to do his will and put off what we want.  It has been a great learning and growing experience.

Well I love you guys and hope that you have a great week!  P.S. Happy Birthday to Dad and Alyssa! I am sending you some stuff but they may be late since I can't mail until tomorrow, but don't think that I forgot about you!

Love,

Elder Spencer Bailey