Touch Down!

And we're good! We made it through the Mexico Terminal and through a much more difficult American Terminal. I got the window seat and spent the time "studying." I saw a cruiseliner, a lot of strange golden veins in the water, and what I think was an Aircraft carrier. What a good study period!

Elder Fox finished the Book of Mormon for the first time in the terminal! We're so proud! Also, we met two Latter-day Saints in the Mexico city airport. They posted stuff on Facebook, for those of you who can access this so-called "Internet."

B the Dubs: this is our P-day; you'll see me, or at least the remains of me, in 1 week! Love y'all!!

BYYEEEE!!

(PS: Before we arrived, there were 29 Spanish missionaries here. Now there are 37! That's... still less than I was expecting, but now it's a much bigger number!!)

MTC District and Maestros

Hermana Baer, Maestra ___, Hermana Ellis, Mexico MTC

Lauren and Noelle - last day together, Mexico MTC

Cousins: Lauren Baer, Noelle Baer, Stephanie Sorensen (California Riverside Mission)

Streets of Mexico City

at Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez, Mexico City

over the Gulf of Mexico

Orlando, Florida, USA

Touch down!

B the dubs: We made it. 'Murica's pretty beautiful. Even Florida
[Translation from Laurenese: B the dubs(w) = By the way; Murica = America]

Two by two, with tags of blue

Lauren's and Noelle's tags
-Blue signifies the last week at the CCM.

Hola Todos!!

Story: I was in line at the "Tienda" with some Choco-rita's when I look up to see Elder [Payton] Larkin grabbing as many snacks as he could. The conversation went something like this:
Me: When do you leave??
Him: 30 Min!! (grabbing more soda)

Yup. He's pretty cool. The lady at the register counted down as he ran back and forth, grabbing more granola bars and skittles. I hope things go well for him.

Because of the earthquake, which felt kinda like a fat guy was jumping up and down right behind you in a portable, a lot of the incoming planes with incoming missionaries were diverted. 21 of them were at the Texas airport, and 4 of them had to spend the night Leons. A bunch of them were just sent back to Provo. They won't even see Mexico! That helped put my life in perspective: as hard as all of this is, it could be worse; It could be Provo.

Sorry, but things are gunna be scatter-brained. cuz I took a nap.

We had to pack and weigh our luggage today. Ricardo and Monty [the names of her suitcases] did a much better job of staying beneath the weight limit than I did. I'm fat. Also, I forgot to weigh all the Spanish books they gave me. l:{  But I might just use my carry-on as a checked bag, and get 25 more pounds of weight. (Not that I need it, heh heh heh.)
It's weird to think that I'll be leaving soon, but I have been here for a long time. I can't recall the taste of Strawberries anymore. [from Lord of the Rings]

I got to talk in church this Sunday. In case you didn't know, sacrament meeting is entirely in Spanish. Mostly I got up there and was so sweaty and nervous the congregation just laughed at me. What a good time! In all honesty, I was able to crack a joke (I even did it in front of the Presidente. Oops) and it went pretty well, until I biffed it in the end. "En el nombre del Espiritu Santo, wait, DANG IT!!" What a good memory.

For the Tuesday devo[tional], Hermana Robbins and I performed a song. Meaning she sang like an opera star and I watched the angels play the piano through my hands. There was definitely a lot of help for that because from the piano, I could barely hear her. But things went pretty well, and after a good talk from Elder (Presidente?) Cook, everyone came out of there glowing with the spirit.

Let me tell you a bit about Hermana Robbins. She's from Cottonwood Heights, or SLC area. She went to a performing arts school and can sing like an opera star. Unfortunately, she likes country music and will only sing hymns or country. Too bad. She'd probably be really good at Queen of the Night. She's planning on "a bachelor of interdisciplinary studies with an emphasis in equine studies, psychology, and outdoor recreation." In my words, she wants to fix broken and hurting kids with horses. That's pretty cool. She LOVES horses, and, thanks to her B personality (Someday I'll find a C person like me!) she can tell you all you want and more about them. [personality types explained]

Spiritual thought: I really liked President Monson's talk about hidden wedges. I thought that was really good. I also found a talk by a young Elder Hales. I loved this quote: "President Kimball told the General Authorities, “I am not afraid of death. What I am afraid of is that I will meet the Savior and he will say, ‘You could have done better.’”

Can you feel the dedication and urgency of a prophet’s voice to move the kingdom forward? “Are you tired, Elder Hales?” has a way of ringing in my ears when I rest for a moment. If we knew what President Kimball knows, then we, too, would work with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. "When we tried to save his strength, he’d say, “I know you are trying to save me. But I don’t want to be saved; I want to be exalted.” He then would tell us that the Lord would sustain him as the prophet, and we should not slow the Church down because of him."

I love Prophets! Can't wait for General Conference Next week! Ok, this time, I'm really going.

Thanks!! Have fun, vosotros!!

Hermana Robbins and an interesting tree

Taken 14 September 2017 -- Thanks to the Mexico MTC Facebook page.

Where are the mountains?

. . . I'm Still Okay!!!

Another earthquake, about 1 hour after the drill. 7.1, about 70 miles away. The damage is much worse than the last time because the epicenter was in on land (and not in the ocean). But we were looking at the map, and around our area, the earthquake was only a 4-ish. We were in the middle of lunch, and the floor started wobbling. By the time we actually made it outside, it was over. It was pretty fun though. "Whee!! Oh, ok..... It's over now." (Probably shouldn't say that because there are ambulance sirens all around.)

ANY-WHOO... yup, still not dead. Angels are all around. Fun times.
Wookie, times up. BYYEEE!!



This photo from the Mexico MTC Facebook page.

Y’all just got served!!

Hola todos!

It's that time again! The time where Hermana Baer relates an odd story very poorly! Let's begin.

Once upon a time (in Mexico), it was really cold for an entire week. Here we are in the middle of Mexico and we hadn't even seen the sun all week! (I'm not even going to mention how disappointed I am at the lack of deserts and cacti and tumbleweeds!!) Anyways, I woke up sick on Saturday. You'll never guess what day the infirmary ISN'T open. Yep, it's closed Saturday. I went the whole day praying for Sunshine, but it wasn't until Sunday evening that the sun exploded through the clouds. Anyways, we had service scheduled for Sat. afternoon. Usually the service activity is something like raking grass or moving this box over there (except they don't allow Hermanas to participate in that last service so...) But they surprised us with service in the kitchen. I made over 50 burritos for dinner. That's a lot of burritos, but more importantly, that's a lot of people I single-handedly got sick. I took Nyquil that night so I was feeling fine during all the Sunday devotionals, but there was A LOT of sniffling and coughing all day long. Heh heh heh. ...But seriously, oops. Don't tell Hermana Bennet. She already knows too much. So thanks for sending me with Sweaters! Also that tan skirt was my best friend all week long, so thanks, mom, for spending the time to make it.

Real quick, before I forget, I'm currently rooming with a Hermana Peterson. She will be heading to the Logan, UT mission in 2 weeks. I know y'all are celestial and everything, but will yinz that live there make sure to watch out for her?

Due to the fact that my compañera y yo have been speaking only Spanish for the last 3 days (and she was one of my burrito casualties), nothing else cool happened.

I think one of my best scriptural tie in's that I had this week was when I was teaching Relief Society (In English!) Someone said "We came to earth after living with our Heavenly Father. We'll return to live again with Him." For some reason, this time I realized that I was once living with my father in Heaven. And it wasn't just, 'POOF! It's a Lauren! Ok, here's the plan! Understand? Yes? Do you accept? Good! Ok, tie your shoes 'cause it's your turn now! Ready... Go!' NO. I once was spending time strumming a harp with the cool kids. Who even knows how long!! Long story short, it ties in in Alma 13:23: “And they are made known unto us in plain terms, that we may understand, that we cannot err; and this because of our being wanderers in a strange land; therefore, we are thus highly favored, for we have these glad tidings declared unto us in all parts of our vineyard.” 

Yeah it's a strange land!! I used to be able to spend the afternoon discussing what "repentance" was with Thomas Jefferson while strumming heavenly chords on my harp! These days I have to wear pants and walk up an icy hill in -10 degree weather just so someone can tell me I didn't subtract a number right. I realised just how short of a period this life is. It's almost like we come to get a body (Just gotta move this body back up state!) and to show that we really did accept the plan. That made me feel better. I was once a cool kid too.

I'll let you know. I'll return and report next week with a more spiritual experience.

Until then, Salud Todos!!

IdunnoifyoucanactuallysaythatbutIamthenI'mgoingtorunawaybeforeyouactuallyprocessthissentence,okBYYYEEE!!


Morning sky, clouds, and mountains at CCM:

I'm still okay! *

* This post title refers to this scene from the Dreamworks animated movie, The Road to El Dorado.

Hey! Yo soy no muerto. No tengo moria.  Or in other words, I´m not mario nor am I dead. Apparently there was an 8.1 earthquake here last night, but everyone slept through it. The ground the MTC is built on is much tougher then the surrounding ground (or so they say...) so the MTC was not hit as hard. The alarms went off and everything, but since they don´t have alarms in the casas no one was alarmed (except for all the Miestros! Silly teachers!)

Ok, I have to learn spanish now. Best of Luck!

Hermana sleeps-like-a-rock Baer

Come, We Try Again! *

This post title probably refers to this scene in The Pink Panther with Steve Martin.


Hola todos!!

Cool story, cuate: This week started out really rough. The days were still as long as the first few days, and I was pretty frustrated between the ratio of the amount of teaching to the loftiness of the expectations, some of which I didn't even know about. Thursday night, Hermana Robbins and I were talking and I decided to tell her just how much I was struggling. But before I could get the words out, she turned to me and said 'I keep thinking of that very first Adjusting to Missionary Life meeting, and the Spirit it prompting me to ask for a blessing.' After that, things got pretty deep, but the next evening we asked our district to give us blessings and even though they're pretty new at the whole blessings thing, they all came together and helped us when we needed it. Two other Elders got blessings with me and my companion, and 4 of them gave blessings, two for the first time. It was a really cool spirit there with us that night. I'm so grateful for a companion who I can tell my feelings to, and I'm grateful to have such a great district! Life was good those few days, but on Monday, I got back down in the dumps. My companion was only speaking Spanish which means I have to only speak Spanish which means neither of us say anything all day. I was frustrated with the lack of pondering time and praying time we were having. I miss the days when I could zone out at any given moment and not suffer greatly. Anyways, I was trying to figure out if I needed to change to be more obedient, or if I just really needed to be myself. More obedience means more blessings, but it also brings more stress and confusing feelings. I had asked all of Monday and into Tuesday and was getting frustrated with both a lack of answer and Spanish. The only answer I recieved all day was "I need to work on the attribute of patience." Not the answer I wanted. But, come the Tuesday night devotional, I learn that they're broadcasting Elder Dallin H. Oaks talking to the Provo MTC. As soon as he started talking, I dunno, I just heard what I needed to hear. I realized that the Lord had sent me an apostle with the answer to my question, and I had to be patient because the Provo MTC is an hour behind us here. I walked out of the auditorium into a night singing with rain! Looking back over this, I have no idea WHAT Elder Oaks actually said, or why I was having this problem in the first place, but I'm grateful that the Lord will take care of me as long as I just keep trying to be better.
Was that even English? ok, new topic.

BUTT-RACHETTING!!! Oh My! I super love this stupid and painful game (but only because I've never played it myself). It's a game Elder Isaacson brought from his family reunion. 2 people stand facing each other with a rope wound behind them that they hold with their right hand. You try to throw the other person off balance by pulling the rope, or, as Elder Isaacson puts it, by "playing them like a banjo at a southern hoe-down." He's pretty cool. I'll have to show you all the trick when I get home. (Unless you guys can actually see the videos I take...?) Um.... Other than that, just a lot of grueling spanish. We're going 100% spanish from here on out and I might die. I know it's good for me, but, no me gusta. Maybe Hna. Robbins will let me speak english at the gym in the morning so I can better taunt Noelle. She's starting to get good at sit-ups without me holding her feet. I'm so pa-roood!! Also, side-note for Evan, all the Elders are super impressed with how many pull-ups I can do. If I take a running jump, the door frame has just enough room for my fingers. Thanks for making me work out Boy! We'll have to compete when I get back and see if I can still beat you. ;)

Um............. Miss you a lot? I'd probably kill for an omlete, or even just some peaches. I miss being able to be dorky. But I'm grateful I have the opportunity to be patient. (I also miss sarcasm. Spanish doesn't actually believe in fun.)

I'm glad to hear about Erin doing so many fun things like theater, Improve Troup, procrastinating homework... and I hope Evan made it into the Smith's family because then I can be related to Mandy. Best of luck with your bed! Now you know how ours feels! I miss the days where I could sit on my bed without bruising my tailbone or bashing my head into the top bunk. Or when my pillow was actually a pillow. Good memories.

Ok, thanks for all the muscles! Gotta Run! (except that's not actually an option. Hna. Robbins hates running)
ByE!

PS My 3:15 is actually your 2:15. Funny, huh!

Lauren and Heather Hopkins -- the sticker on Heather's nametag means she has 1 week left!

CCM food

"mi casa!"  "secret swamp (Danger)"

Look who I saw in the cafeteria! -- Noelle and her companion

Sisters and companions

Thanks, Mexico MTC facebook page!

Hermanas: Ellis, Noelle Baer, Lauren Baer, Robbins

A teaching moment

30 August 2017 - Semana 2: Keep Delivering Flyers Tumbleweed!! *

* this post title refers to a cute Canadian educational short featuring a hamster named Tumbleweed.
 
Hola all!

First of all, my last letter was a bit of a downer. So sorry; I ran out of time. We're doing things better this week.

Last week's P-day was pretty hectic. Not only was it our first, but we also got to go to the Mexico City Temple.

We're going again this week and this time should be our last. The Temple is SUPER pretty. The sessions are a lot like the Logan Temple, but the curtain under the screen opens up into the telestial world. (So only 1 room, not 2) It's also probably my favorite celestial room; but maybe that's because at the time I was super proud I made it through in Spanish! It was super fun last time and I'm grateful to have the chance to go again (especially because they have escalators!! Jealous!), but we only get to go twice during our MTC experience, and It would've been nice to go when I have a better chance of understanding what they were saying. (That and it takes all P-day. I wonder what a normal P-day is like...) *

Life is still really long, but I THINK the days are going by faster than the first two did. It's fun to see Elder Larkin in the cafeteria, and Noelle still comes and asks for my charger at night. Noelle's doing much better, B the Dubs. After the first week and the traumas that come with it (such as S.T. Syndrome which Noelle definitely suffered from), she's been doing really well. Everyone in her district is super impressed by how good her Spanish is, and she's rubbed off so much on her companion that now they can both do the "double chin grin." I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. :))

Now for some questions. I'll answer one, then I get to ask a lot. Seems fair.

1. Food's fun. Costco only pops up 1 in 5 meals. There are some days when I'm grateful for it and
days I'm not. There are also some days where I'm grateful for the lump of 'Carne' they give us. And then there are days where I think of Being Safe while eating; where I can't recall the taste of strawberries. But at least they almost always have watermelon and grapefruit soda!!

2. Are you seeing any of the pictures I take? Have you seen the Mexico temple? If not, let me know what I need to do.

3. Dad, which Sibelius symphony was the history of the world? 2 in D? Can you either do some research on that and send me what all the phrases mean or just have Bishop Beazer send his notes to me? And if it's not 2 in D, will you send me the actual one?

4. How's school!?! Suckers! Now you know exactly how I feel every day!! But my school starts at 6:30, ends at 9:00, and is in Spanish. :P

Um, I didn't read enough of your emails to answer any more questions so Now's the time to send them! I can read them every other Wednesday between 6:30 and 6:45 am. Anyways, have fun y'alls.

Love,
Hermana Baer the younger



Mexico City Temple

Hermana Robbins and Hermana Baer on the temple grounds

Views from the Mexico City MTC. (It's the rainy season.)

23 August 2017 - Am I soup yet?

Dear family,

 The first 6 months of my mission have been hard, but through prayer, faith in the Lord, and A LOT of complaining in my head, I managed to drag myself through.

 But seriously, day one was rough. I cried on day 2, but luckily our teacher would randomly have us pray and I could get out all of my tears while everyone else was praying. What a blessing!! When we first arrived, none of us spoke Spanish and none of the workers who help those coming in and out of the CCM Mexico compound spoke English. So, we basically didn't get dinner, got shoved around a lot, stood in the sun for a long time, and I have yet to receive a working key and an English Preach My Gospel. Personally, I would've rather been hit over the head with a board if it meant having a friend to see me through. But at least here I've learned why serving a mission is so cool. It's because the mission president broadcast a message about how much they love us, then give us A MILLION PAPERS with A BFSHASL;FHASL-ION WORDS ON THEM and then smile. It's impossible. The very first thing they give you is how to greet people, then how to pray and testify. You are praying in Spanish on Day 1. Again, it's impossible. The next day, you go and they talk a lot at you in a wierd (and inferior) language and your companion turns to you and says you'll be teaching an investigator before dinner. IMPOSSIBLE. After a few tears, you take the yoke and shove as hard as you can (Which would be easier than learning a new language, might I add). You say the prayer with the investigator and somehow you understand what she's saying and the lesson goes shockingly well. I've learned that the MTC is impossible, but because you've been called of God to represent Him, you can do the impossible. Day 3 was good. Day 4 was fun, and yesterday, I spoke 100% Spanish from Breakfast to an hour past lunch. (At least, I think it was Spanish. I'm still not sure.) Being able to do the impossible is a little odd, but really cool at the same time.

But apparently, we had a super big group- 150ish, I think- and they couldn't handle us. Most other missionaries got the help they needed. (It's ok, I'm not bitter...)


I'm super glad Noelle is here to help me; right when I don't think I can be patient any more, Noelle walks into the room and collapses on my bed, asking for my charger and a waterbottle and Tums and a retainer and all my candy and a foot massage. (PS Sister Bennet, the President's wife, came up to me and said 'Hola Hermana Baer. You have a sister here. Are you the one that forgot your retainer? Your mom's sending it in a package soon!" Aren't sisters great? (And that is a legitimate question.))

My companion is Hermana Robbins. She's super cool and a lot like me, really, she's great. The hardest part so far (besides the Spanish and the food and sharing 1 bathroom with 4 girls) is not being allowed to listen to any music besides MoTab. Good thing Dad made sure I took a[n awful lot] of Bach. /:" But, the moment I decided I'd actually follow that rule, the Lord blessed me with a really cool song ("When David heard that Absolom was dead" or something like that)

Ok, 15 seconds left. Gotta run! Maybe I'll have more stories next time!!

Hermana Oso

Mexico City Temple
Hermana Robbins and Hermana Baer

Mexico City -- colorful houses

MTC room

15 August 2017 - Arrival in Mexico - First Day

We made it! Mexico smells weird.
My P-day will be Wednesday (but not tomorrow). That´s all.

Hermana Lauren Baer

Mexico MTC lobby
Lauren and three other sisters on center sofa

This week's arrivals

14-15 August 2017 - Departure

Last supper: pizza and gelato at Settebello in SLC

Grandpa J, Grandma J, Noelle, Erin, Natalie, Brennan, Lauren Mom, Evan, Dad

Leaving Grandma's house
Noelle, Lauren

Natalie, Brennan, Grandpa J, Noelle, Grandma J, Lauren

 Driving to the airport
Mom, Lauren, Evan, Erin, Noelle, Dad

 Salt Lake City International Airport - ready for departure

Click on the video: Though surrounded by dozens of sobbing families, Noelle and Lauren weren't interested in an emotional parting.

30 July 2017 - Sacrament meeting talk

5 July 2017 - Logan Temple

With the family at the Logan Temple
Natalie, Brennan, Lauren, Noelle, Dad, Mom

 Noelle, Heather, Lauren

15 June 2017 - Mission Call

Lauren opens her call to serve.

Noelle and Lauren with map of guesses