Wow. Whadaweek.

20 August 2018 

0 ___ o

I'd say 'Let's begin with the biggest and best news,' but it's all kinda a tie.
So we'll just go in order.

Mon: We had a FHE with some very inspired members and Oscar. They shared a video called "The Touch of the Master's Hand," and it was really good. 10 outta 10 recommend.

Tues: We broke the car again. :) When we got it (from the elders), there was 20 miles of gas left before it broke, 1 mile of oil before it broke, and not clean. #typicalelders We also met Victor and Margret. Turns out Margret is a member but because of work, she can't come on Sunday. But he's not. More on this later.

Wed: We made it! We went to Gringos Locos to celebrate. I got a deep fried chimichanga. [Starting out 6 months to sexy on a good foot.] They were filled with baby birds. I was filled with much pain, but no regrets! We also chugged some Guaraná, which is a soda based off of a fruit only found in Brazil. Flashbacks to O-South/Windy Ridge days.

Thur: was awesome. Elder Costa of the 70 and his wife AND Elder Carpenter AND his wife came on a Mission Tour!! Which basically means they came and poured out revelation upon our ears. Wowowowowowow!! So good! We even walked in late and half the mission watched😁 The mockings still haven't ceased...

Fri: was awesome. We went to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with Hna Robbins recent convert from Valencia. It was Sooooo good! ...Wow.

Saturday: was not quite as awesome. Frankly, I don't even rememb-- OH WAIT! We went back to talk to Victor, and what started out as a shaky lesson became a really powerful learning experience. It was so cool to watch his heart soften and open as we shared the message of the Restoration. He even said he'd read! Please pray people!! We're excited!

Sun: ...nuffing. Literally nothing happened. We weekly planned. Not very fun.

And that's it. Thanks!! Ciao!

Making the bed with Hna Robbins. Aka visualizing Lehi’s dream

Wow. I wuv da Temple!!

Hna Robbins had to stop for a smoke. I love word of Wisdom problems.

Maria Alejandra left for home. We're so proud of all the good things she's done!! She's gonna be such a strong member!

Guaraná. 10 out of 10 WOULD recommend!

When Salt Lake Knows Who You Are

So there I was. Just trying hard to be a good missionary. Weekly planning like any other Friday. When the phone rings. It was the Mission Office. (Dun dun DUNN!!)
"Hello?" My companion answers the phone.
"Sister Baer!"
Toast.
"Salt Lake just called."
Crispy toast.
"There's something funny with you're account."
*face palm*
Dad, don't laugh too hard. Salt Lake called to tell me to spend more money. (Elder Faulk in the mission office suggested buying peanut butter for my peanut butter sandwiches. Hah! What a punk.)

But to whisk through other news,
 > We're not getting kicked out of our apartment!

> We didn't die by lighting #blessingsofservice

> We met a cool less active from Venezuela who talked for 2.5 hours

> Our less-active from Columbia is flying home this Saturday :( She made such good progress! We're so proud!

> I did not lose my driving privileges. Drat.....😒

Spiritual Moment Time!
We had a pretty long week, and had a good cleansing Saturday. We not only met and cleaned out the storage area for 2 ladies, we also cleaned out our teaching pool:) There was a lot of faith happening that day. But, while I don't know if I'd want to relive Saturday, I'm grateful I had that chance to fight the fear of and doubt in the future with Enos 1:15. It was hard to have two of our investigators simultaneously drop us, and then have to stop teaching 2 others. But We wouldn't've met Betsy and Rachel otherwise.
The Lord works in Mysterious ways.
Wow.

... that's all.

Us making Arepas! Yay!

I still wish the song went "Rain came down and the flowers came up." Oh well.

Salt Lake called. Pictures, so it happened.

Update on the piano: They Fixed It! Then on Sunday, we were moving it for the 8-year-old baptism and it went to tip. And I wet myself. (See photo 2;) But don't worry about it; it didn't fall. We're good!😅

Hace Calor

It sounds like the name of a cool adventurer, like James Bond, Indiana Jones, Minesota Cuke, or Cliff Gordon.
But nope. It just means "It does hot." Or, as I choose to interpret it, "Please pass me the bucket, I'm melting into a puddle and I'd like to not lose any of me in the grass."
But other than straight melting (and it's not like I get a tan out of this, I'm just in the heat. It's, like, 110° in the Shade ;)

But on to weekly miracles.

> We had some really cool things happened this week! The less-active member we've been working with is no longer less-active as of yesterday! She was glowing in our last lesson, and was positively beaming at church. She radiated that light over the pulpit as she bore her testimony:) We're so proud!

> We met a cool guy named Heri, who said he had had some terrible experiences with other churches and so he didn't go. But at the end of our conversation, he invited us back on Wednesday morning. Wow! I kinda forgot that people want our message. "We aren't just shoving it down people's throats." That was rul cool!

> We went to see a less active, but he wasn't there. But! His son was, so the son calls the dad, and we basically reschedule through the poor kid. But then, our car fob thing that unlocks the car, broke. We sat in the rain and stared at it until the neighbor of our less active came out and saved the day. He pried open our fob and inserted a new battery. Wow. My hero. We'll baptize him next!!

Well, that's about It! Hope y all don't get stuck in the rain! Or the sun! ...Frankly, just don't get stuck.

With care!

Dinner with a member

Stuck in the rain

Ward party. I have no idea why we had that party. Or who thought of a bouncy house. But I love them.

Hooray

 Pretty sure that’s how the song goes... (Children's Songbook, 285)
Anywho, what a week!
Must've been a good one, cuz I can't seem to remember anything...

We made a trip down to the mission office/ mmmmmmmmDaves. They took Hna Robbins bike, then took a look at mine. They told me there are 2 sets of brakes on a bike for a reason APPARENTLY, you're supposed to use both, not just one. *Shrug* Ya learn new things every day.

ZTM happened and we learned about listening with charity. ... That's all I have to say about that.

I had a birthday. Now I'm old. I can't even drink legally, so... NO FUN!

Oh! We had a pretty cool experience this week that I would like to share! We were meeting our investigator at a Baskin Robbins but got there a little early and waited. While waiting, one of the workers comes up and says, "You're the missionaries! These drinks are on the house! I'm a Mormon from California!" And then leaves. We later get to talking with him, and we learned that he was the first in his family to be baptized, and he slowly helped much of his family to become members as well. But ever since his move here about 6 months ago, he's been less-active. He asked us to help him come back to church. We're super excited! It was another good reminder that the Lord really is behind this work, that if we do our best, the Lord will make things happen. (Now I just gotta work on patience so I'm alright in between these cool and rare sightings! ;)

Sorry there are no pictures from this week. We've got the before birthday pictures but no after ones. Mostly because my photographer was camped out in our bathroom while I squatted behind our desks. #Bestmom!! [Lauren requested little Nerf guns for her birthday.]

Well, y'all. It's been real. It's been fun. But,
I'll see y'all in many more moons. Remember to read your Scriptures EVERY DAY!!

I'd like to thank the Stinson boys, who made my birthday possible...

It's basically the worst picture of me I'VE never seen!

For Dad. 'Bout the moon. We're gonna be ok.

A Wafer-less Kit Kat

What a week. Points?

> Same Area! It's weird how even though you are still in the same geographical area and the same ward, you suddenly meet different people and are in different places. I swear I discovered a new member last transfer and again, another family this... I dunno

> Our dryer was kinda... superheating. The top had half-chipped, half-melted off. So maintenance came in and got us a new one. Which means we didn't do laundry for 2 weeks. Turns out, I ALMOST have enough clothes to make it 2 weeks. But it's alright, tub-time is fun!

 > We take Oscar "Off-Date" so he could meet with President Wood (1st counselor to President Clark) and then we put him back On-date. He didn't even know! But it was a little scary for us :D

> We had an hour of free time and knew one of our investigators lived on the first floor in an apartment complex, but we weren't quite sure which one. So we went looking with Faith. AND WE FOUND HER!! She invited us right in and we had a really cool lesson. In the end, Hna Robbins invited her to be baptized, but she said she already had been. (I don't like this question.) But in that moment, the spirit was like "Hey, check this out!" And then he used my mouth to say something really cool about authority and Christ being baptized. And then I knew that God really isn't going to leave me to destroy His work. Wow.

> I dug out my 2nd to last Kit Kat and took a big bite. And there was no wafer. I was shocked. Frankly it was a really good bar of chocolate, but... where was my wafer? If I hadn't been expecting something else, it would've been really good. But... Kit Kats go 'Crunch!'

Ok. Spiritual moment. I've discovered Paul H. Dunn. I love his talks!! I suggest all of them to everyone!! Also, I had a really cool spiritual "CLICK" moment during "Behold the Man." Please apply directly to your souls. And then read Jesus the Christ.
Thank you.

TUB TIME! (Laundry)

Oh yeah! Hna Robbins' bike pedal broke. We were a 2 bike, 3 pedal team. It was rough.

Dryers. I'm SOOOOOO grateful (see tub-time)

A mascot for the week. It was actually pretty good... It was..

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, for Tomorrow...

I ... will still be here. Yep. Hna Robbins and I will be staying for another 6 weeks in Semoran! What a party! Such a gift! [That's what lil Gideon says, right?]

This week, Hna Robbins had both 2 converts going to the temple to do baptisms for the first time as well as an investigator who got baptised! Needless to say, we had a great week and none of it was in OUR area! :D

Um... I don't know what to tell you about with those so... I'll just send some pictures!

Our investigator, Oscar, went to the doctor this week, and the doctor told him to not to. Smoke or drink coffee. I wanna hug that doctor, and then share the gospel with him. But hugging is Diso, so... I guess I'll just high-five him. But it was cool go see God taking good care of us! Even if I still have no idea what I'm doing all the time, the Lord is guiding my wreck of a self to victory! How neat is that?

We also had Hna Robbins' birthday this week! What with glow-in-the-dark balloons and candles that burned in color, we were partying hard! We got a little daring and made cake-in-the-mug 's too! I know! We're living on the edge these days! #lifeofamissionary

Um, but really, I did a much better job of taking pictures than of doing anything else. We did get caught practicing our musical number foe the baptism by the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and thus played/sang in Sacrament meeting this week. Yay! It was cool to see the Lord really come in and help with the whole "relearn a song in 2 days without a piano!" Thing.

Anywho. I gotta go. But! Read your Scriptures! Every day! And life gets easier! Well, maybe not easier, but you get stronger:)
Ok Ciao!!

Birthday festivities and carnage! (Can you guess which one I am in the dark picture with both our heads?)

Baptism! Hna Swan & Wade with Bianca getting baptised in the middle. Hna Andrus joined us por skype:)

I love to see the temple. I went inside that day.

Hector and Ricardo with Hermana land!

Lunch at Junior Columbian Burger after with a member de Valencia. Shout out to Hna Calderon!

Pride Levels are High

We met a lot of people who really struggled with the Word of Wisdom but do love our church. I never thought I would have to review the 12 steps of repentance on my mission, nor did I see myself ever holding a cigarette. The mission changes you. But seriously, we've had a lot of our good friends struggling with the Word of Wisdom. We welcome ANY advice on overcoming smoking addictions or the whole-hearted desire to drink coffee. Cuz... I don't even. Know.

But I found a good talk I wanted to share! Mostly, Paul H. Dunn just made me laugh, then while my mouth was open, he shoved some motivational quotes down it. It's called "Know Thyself, Control Thyself, Give Thyself." Favorite quote time!

> The lives of many great men will testify to you that ofttimes they have many failures, and there is no disgrace in falling down; the disgrace is lying there. To get up one more time than you fall is to be a winner. To stay down is to be a loser.

 > And I said, “Spirit, I won’t.” I said, “I am the president of this mission.” And the Spirit seemed to respond with the counsel, “Yes, but you will keep him in Cambridge.” ... Well, I kept him.
(Mostly I just love this one because all the time I feel the the Holy Ghost responds to me like that. "But I don't wanna, and it'll hurt!" Spirit: "Yes, you're right! You're going to do great! *a loving spiritual shove*")

> I just keep goin’ up there and keep swingin’. I know the old law of averages will hold good for me the same as it does for anybody else, if I keep havin’ my healthy swings.

We gotta just keep trying. There's a quote from Adjusting to Missionary Life that I both love and hate: "Realize that everything you do can’t be above average. You still want to work hard to improve, but no matter how good you become at something, you will perform below your personal average some of the time. This is not a cause for alarm." A previous companion (Hna Wade) would say "I hate thinking that 50% of what I do is below average!" True, it's not the most motivational of thoughts, but when you have a bad day, it's the slack you need so you don't feel like an utter failure. It's ok to not be Epic all the time. It's ok to have set-backs, falling-shorts, and flop moments/days. Collapsing is not a sin. Just make sure to get back up and dust yourself off. You'll be here all week:)

In bullet point news

- All of our less-active friends came to church on Sunday! I'm so pa-rood Imma cry.

- Florida got filled with Love bugs.

Eve Baer - Lauren's first niece

- OH YEAH AMERICA!! We sat out on our lawn and got eaten by bugs and watched Fireworks. The coolest ones were the ones Mother Nature provided for free. I love lighting! Also, some of our neighbors shot some off their dock. That was exciting😅

- OH YEAH EVE!!!! I will direct you to the other Hermana Baer's email from last week for photos of the newest member of the Baer family.

- Oscar our investigator went from an unknown number of cigarettes (As in, he wouldn't tell us) to ~ 3 fully-smoked cigarettes in 2 days. Pride levels are high.

That's about it. Thanks for coming. Please exit the ride to your left and have a nice day. Here. At Lagoon.

District: the gathering. (Elders Arnson, Porter, Coppin, Cruz, Haderlie, Firth, Hnas Swan, Wade, Robbins, y Oso)

Blurry photographic evidence of my companion enjoying fireworks, but not pictures.

When our neighbors shot fireworks off their dock. Exciting times.

The mind of Hna Robbins

This is Hna Robbins weekly:
Okay, like no time to write, so it is going to be short, but this is what I have for you!

We had an amazing miracle this past saturday. It was night and our plans and back up plans had fallen through. We were biking near a members house that had mentioned that she had a friend that might be interested in meeting with us. We stopped and talked to her, and she said that her other friend has family in town and wasn't showing interest right now, but that we could go talk to her other neighbor, who just happened to be outside.

We walked over there and talked with her, and a young man she had stopped on the street to help her use her cellphone. They both could feel the power of our message as we shared with them Joseph Smith's words of the First Vision. The spirit touched their hearts. We were able to set a up a return appointment for this wednesday, and we are so excited to see the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ enter into their lives!

Birds. Not even stinky.

We got stopped by a golf field. I took pictures And biked. Ask me why I fall so much:)

...Nuffing

(Title references this Kid History episode.)

Let's work backwards this week!
We had all 3 investigators at church! True we went and made pancakes for Pedro and his family that morning and then made them give us a ride to church, and TRUE none of them made it to the 3rd hour ("Sergio hace un pupu!"), but this is progress, people! We're pumped! Especially when 2 of those 3 are on date and we're putting Pedro our etern-igator on date this coming week! The work is popping here! This is weird.  ;)

Friday, we fasted with Maria Alejandra. We biked in the mid-day Florida summer heat, and then when we called her to break our fast, she had totally forgotten. Oh well. What a testimony of I have of fasting and how much food gives you energy. BUT! We put Lorean On-date!! So yeah, there ARE blessings in fasting! Thursday we finally made it to Angels house (he's been on date for 3 weeks now. And we haven't been to see him in... 3... "yes... days...") And so he felt super overwhelmed especially cuz he had some legal matters to sort through, so we reset the date to the end of September. RIP. BUT!! He still loves God and probably actually WILL be baptized in September. It's not a set-back, it's just us finding the actual truth.

And that's all I remember. We had Zone Conference. That was good...
I dunno. I remember being so busy we had no time to do anything. So apparently nothing happened.

I hope y'all had better/more experiences than I did:)

Have a flabby week!!

Motivation from Zone Conference.

Maracaibo Mía! We had 4 arepas in 3 days. #Gotwrecked

 This made me smile.

 

Why Is There a Piano on My Cake?*

*References this Veggie Tales scene. 

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! I love and am grateful for all the priesthood holders and father-figures in my life! Thank you!!

-- EXCHANGES!! I got to go to Tuskawilla and bike on a very tall person's bike for 5 hours:) I got tan. -ner BUT! After a long and grueling day of biking through and eating a lot of bugs, we decided to start heading to dinner. While about still a mile out, the windows of heaven opened up and shared with us their love. Por medio de la lluvia. We got super soaked:) But, now that we're soaked, we may as well just keep going! So we kept biking. About 4 blocks from their house, the lightning came out. Like any smart, melon-using people we are, we took the proper precautions. And by that, we definitely just biked faster and prayed harder. 😅 Don't tell my mom! Besides, Sam Cloud and I are good friends these days! And I've never eaten more comfortably!

-- We taught an 8 year-old all of the lessons in one week! Poor Gabriel had to sit there and take it! I'm so proud of him! We met him on Sunday after bishop announced to us that Gabriel was getting baptized on Saturday and we needed to teach the lessons. One crazy week later, baptized he was! (even if his baptismal interview was 5 minutes before the program began! So much sweat!)

-- We were asked to fill the font for the baptism on Saturday, so we went to help set up. Turns out, pianos are a lot lighter on their feet than we thought they were. To make a long story short: Don't Look, Dad! (Don't see picture)

-- I honestly don't remember the rest of the week. Sorry😁

But there I was, studying Lehi's vision, when I suddenly realized that Jesus Christ is everything! He is the Word of God; He is the Living water, where if men come unto, they will never again thirst; He is the Greatest gift God gave to us, whiter about all other whiteness! WOAH!!

Ok, thanks y'all! Hope the summer isn't too hot for you there! Praying for y'all!!

Hna Baer the Younger

Shout out to the Little Family! Thanks! My shirt said "Kiss Me, I Work Out" I don't even work out!! *sweat sweat!*

Pianos are heavy! We worked so hard for 2 hours to inch by inch pick that thing up! Then, the elders came and straight up lifted. |:"
 ...Still grateful...

 If we ever get pictures from the baptism from the member, I'll let you know!

What Are You, Like, Thinking Ahead?!?

11 June 2018

 Did you Know? If you think through things, it's WAY easier in both the long run and generally the short run.

So much happened this week:

-- We put Angel on date! He didn't like the number 14, so he bumped it up to 12:) What a pal!

-- We biked through the rain to give brownies to Claudia (who was a recent convert friend in Windy Ridge then moved here, in case I haven't said that enough) and she was THERE!! THAT'S never happened before! We got to bring her some love, chocolate, and ...a little chastisement. #alreadylessactive   :(

-- We drove up to a baptism in the Valencia area where Hna Robbins was before this. Baptisms are so cool! You just feel so good in that moment right after they come out of the water. Mmm. The Holy Ghost  :)

-- The ward figured out I play piano. Estoy frito! 

-- We got a call from a Brother Storm who lives in one of the other 49 states of America, and he gave us the information for a less active who wants to come back to church. [For those of you who HAVE served missions, you know that sometimes these are not the most solid of referrals, so... slacking happens. Sorry.] But then, about 5 hours later, we're literally between parking our bikes and walking up to the front door of our investigator's house when we get a phone call from the mission office. There's no delaying those calls, but upon answering, it turns out that our beloved ..."Secretary"(??) had just received a call 100% Spanish phone call and called us with the number to call back. It turns out that it was the SAME LESS-ACTIVE MEMBER! Apparently, she really DID want to come back! We pulled some strings (and a couple teeth) and got her to church. She's the cutest!! We'll pump her up full of love and hope, then send her back to Colombia in 4 months! ... :(

That was about it. But I read a super cool talk that explains WHY we need a body; think about it: Why DO you need a body?? Well, let Elder Bednar tell you! It's a fabulous talk called "Ye are the Temple of God." I invite all of you to read it! But here's my favorite quote: "The body that has been given to us was for the purpose of allowing the spirit to exalt itself to a nobler condition. The lightning that is seen flashing from cloud to cloud, from mountain top to mountain top, is an electrical force that may tear down buildings, set fire to property, and destroy life. Conduct electricity through the dynamo wire, and motor, and behold its wonderful results working for the service of man, accomplishing something under the control of a physical instrument, it thus becomes a power for good. So with steam, if allowed to evaporate freely it does little good, but restrain it in the boiler, send it through the engine, and under its power you may travel across the continent or sail from shore to shore. And so, too, with this highest, most potent of all spiritual forces, the intelligence that is in man; enshrine it in a spiritual body, that it may have the experiences of spiritual life; and then give it a physical body, that it may enter into and obtain the joy and experiences of physical life, and you have enlarged its powers immeasurably.”

Mmm. On that note, Ciao!!

I LUV CHURCH! Alejandra made it!

The one time we remembered to take a picture...

Because it was raining SUPER hard and biking in lightning is scary.