I’ll go inside someday

I love to see the temple. And we're going on a temple trip on Friday. I'm super excited!!! We've even already seen miracles as the session starts at 7am, which means we leave here at 5am. And we had to find a member ride. We thought we were toast, but them, Jasmine, a returned missionary, was willing to take us. #blessingsofgoingonamission I'm so grateful and excited I can't see straight!!

Also, Roger FINALLY got confirmed!! He's no longer dead with a cold!! We're so proud, and he's so happy, and because it happened within 30 days of the baptism, we didn't have to rebaptize him! Blessings for a lot of prayers. Church is true.

But also this week, we had to put off another lesson with Pamela because she was still sick. But, silver lining here, I'm learning so much patience.

Also, exchanges: I went up to Satellite Beach, and I got to drive :) My favorite. But we did get to see a lot of miracles, such as meeting with someone they haven't seen in months. That was cool.

That was about it... But I did read an inspiring talk by the One and Only Jörg Klebingat called "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence." I recommend it to all of you! Be confident!

I have no photos this week. The only one I have is of my hand-made rice bag (because: gluten free) for Hermana Andrus. It's... Well, it worked. And I'm proud.

 ...ok, I dug up one more: ZTM. We all gathered and were edified as a zone. ...yep.

Perspective

There's a quote from Ratatouille here, but I can't remember the exact line. Oh well.

Let's start out with this picture.

This is us. Walking home from our car. Inside our car safely resides our keys. We're so safe! No one is going to steal our car now! Hah!

...

Here's one of my favorite photos.

Let's just say, what a day. We were on bikes the next day so Woot!! I love my bike!! We forgot to take a bike selfie though, so... too bad.

But as it is Hna Andrus' last transfer I Am now back in the driver's seat. At least, I should've been. I lost the card that allows me to drive a mission vehicle. But it's ok! Cuz God is a God of miracles. Also, Ask and ye shall receive. He sent it back to me.

We found it 2 weeks later. It made me realize how hard life on the streets is like without the Holy Ghost. Poor card. Poor all those people who are living on the streets without the Holy Ghost and don't even know what they're missing.

Another highlight of this week was seeing duckies. Here they are.

I always think of the Ugly Duckling story when I see ducks. Its a good reminder that we're all children of God and even though we sometimes don't fit in or feel ugly, we have a great potential ahead of us. Just keep chugging along, don't give up, and keep reading and praying. (And don't worry, you're going to grow up to be MUCH cuter than the Florida ducks. Those things are Uh-GLY!!)

Love y'all lots! Don't lose hope in school and Happy Birthday to all of you who are getting older!!

Hna Baer

Ether 6 or 12

TRANSFER CALLS!! Yeah, I'm not going anywhere :) 12 weeks in Ft. Pierce! And neither is Hna Andrus; she's dying in Ft. Pierce.

This week's highlights:

- It rained for the first time in forever!! I love the rain! And even better, we got to go tracting in the rain! The worst is when you enter someone's house or a church meeting right as it starts to sprinkle, then the whole storm passes while you're occupied inside. (Some of my best memories of the MTC are standing with my head out the window while it rained)

 - One of the Ward missionaries came up to us kinda upset that we never call her, so we took her to our next set lesson and she rocked it! She never missed a chance to bear testimony about a gospel principle and she mentioned almost every auxiliary in the church!! #wardmissionariesforthewin!!

- We were able to meet the non-member family of a missionary who's serving in - wait for it! - Concepción South!! They're super cool and even fed us burritos when we dropped by unannounced. They're awesome and we hope to stay in contact with them more. (Any suggestions on how to help them through the first few months of having a missionary out?)

- The sisters in Palm Bay (AKA English sisters that are 1 hour away) let us Skype into a Spanish lesson! I old Spanish ladies! Her name is Millie and She's super great; she comes to church every Sunday, but she ends up going to the 9 am, not the 12. The sisters have been trying to get her to change, and they even mentioned that next year their ward will be at 9am. To that Millie said "Well then I guess we'll be in the same ward next year."

- The best one: Hermana Turcio of the Relief Society presidency surprise took our entire district to lunch at La Granja. Inca Kola ALL around! She also wasn't afraid to talk about everything missionaries are told to not talk about (like pencil skirts and dating) mostly because her daughter just got home from a mission and is trying to re-enter the dating field. Also because she's Hispanic and Hispanic people are just the best!

Well, this week I learned a lot from Elder Bednar's talk called "Accepting the Lord's Will and Timing." And yes I'm going to make you go read them so you can experience for yourselves what a good talk it is. Also, the "But If Not..." talk is always a classic. Naturally. (From Charade, naturally.)

I'm praying for y'all to have a great week too! Enjoy!

Hna Baer

Pics!!!
Proof I love the rain.

Thanks mom! I forgot to take a picture of the finished meringues before I ate them, but they were super good!

Finish with a bang

Let's jump straight to Saturday: ...Nevermind, let's not. Exchanges were hard! I love Sis Andrus! I've learned from the error of my ways and will be a better companion.

Ok, Sunday: Roger got baptized! He was so happy and so excited! We even got to Skype in the Windy Ridge sisters (aka my old comp and Sis. Andrus' old comp!!) To take pictures! Wow! He was so happy and all the stress of making a baptism happen paid off! Wow:) see pictures below.

The rest of the week went something like this:
Brother Donnell (1st counselor of bishopric): Ya' know, Black Panther is still here showing in the theaters. It's breaking box-office records!
Me: Ya know, I'm still here breaking records in the field! *Cries*

 ._____. -_____- ._____.
Let's just say, I feel you Abraham. Probably not even really, but I've definitely had to face some desires this week. Like when we give a really good FHE lesson and Bro. Donnell ends on Marvel. Or when we go looking for a VeggieTales CD in Walmart and I just have to walk through the technology section with my eyes closed. That was fun. BUT, blessings are real! We helped Roger come closer to Christ, and we may even have another actual investigator! Wow! Bendiciónes!!

es todo.

Foto tiempo!!

#builtinhandmixer! (Meringues are had to make without an electric mixer)

Exchanges! Hna Andrus, me, Sis. Padgett and Sis. Knapp

Blessings of technology

Roger and Elder Ward in their Tidy Whities! (Because of health problems, we had E. Ward and Bro. Wolf in the font with Roger, who sat in a chair. The two baptizing Roger then tipped the chair. It was really cool!)

Our Zone discovered Bang energy drinks. And they won't stop. They finna drown with how much they drink, if they don't explode first!

Remember that time. . . .

This was a long week. Roger called on Tuesday and tried to cancel his baptism. 2 hours later, we had calmed him down and put him back on date. That's about ALL that happened. *super delayed thumbs up*

Oh! We also went to Okeechobee! (Transfer dream come true! (For those who don't serve in the Vero Beach Zone, Okeechobee is where the cows live. And also some trailer parks. With a person.)) Also, flea markets are creepy! I stood in the sun for many hours! But got no pics, so...* We handed out Famiñy search cards. It was

I'll give you the pics I DO have.
There they are. Enjoy them in their full glory. All 2 of them.
Um...
We weekly planned for 3.5 hours, 2 days in a row??

This week was mostly a lot of really long, slightly apostate lessons where they just talked the whole time and every 30 min or so we'd interrupt and bring it back to the gospel, where they would promptly run off with it again. l:"
I'm deciding to NOT look back on this week and to move forward with faith.
I know God blessed those in the dry times too. I'm now gonna go look for this well of living water, and take a drink, cuz I'm parched.

Quote time:
-- Remember that time when you scared Elder Larsen and I peed my pants? (Don't worry, I didn't say it.) *
-- I'd like to go with you because I have a small RV
-- The Hobbit should've been a half hour special

Sorry All! Forgive/pray for me! And for Roger to get baptized!! And for our area to get investigators!!

Love y'all!

Pictures:
1. The Taqueria, right before a soul crushing 4 hour service
2. A random ping pong table. It made me laugh.
Oh wait, an update! I convinced the Okeechobee elders to send me some. Enjoy. This one.

[Mom's note: we're still hoping to get pictures. Tune in next week.]




*So there I was.
Every Sunday night we head back in an hour early so as to account with our District leaders (That way, we only get a week's head start to go to Texas!) But at 8:30, aka 30 min late, they still hadn't called, we started wondering. 8:45 we get the briefest of phone calls: our District leader calls telling us his companion slipped a disk and is in the hospital so they won't be calling to account. Sis. Andrus is super worried, but I'm not sure... so I start a puzzle (Neuschwannstein!)

10 min later, something metal hits our glass sliding door. Sis. Andrus was in the bathroom, and I didn't care enough to move so I ignore it. Besides, I'm pretty sure I know what it was. If I'm right, it'll hit again soon. And sure enough, it does. This time, I stop the puzzle and watch as best I can through our broken blinds. Again, suspicion is proved right and a white blog passes by the window.

Elders.

Hna Andrus and I do what any sane person would do: we hit the lights. Our apartment goes pitch black. We each grab a nerf gun and super slowly approach the sliding door. We try and take a picture (pics or it didn't happen) but because our flash is on, we end up getting only blurry photographic evidence and alert the elders we're not asleep.

Finally, Our district leader - Elder Larson - blatantly walks up to the door. Fatal mistake! I whip back the blinds and after a split second delay, he total jumps out of his skin! We die laughing, and poor Hermana Andrus has to run to save her pants.

Elder Ward was not actually in the Hospital; the whole story backfired on them. And that's why you don't lie to servants of the Lord. Especially when you ARE servants of the Lord.

Saturday is a special day

It's the day Jörg Klebingat returns with some friends. More on that later.
What a week! It makes up for all those weeks where you ask "What just happened?*" Please fasten your seatbelts as things get pretty crazy.

Monday: P-day; we drove 2 hours to a different chapel (John Young, if you must know) so we could have a sleep over with the Buena Ventura Hermanas (Hermana Swan and Hermana Robbins -- That's right! You DO know her! See pictures from Mexico in earliest posts). We had Zone Conference the next morning at 8am, and we couldn't be late because:

Tuesday: We got Smartphones! Wut. () I looked hard for the Second Coming but, no luck. It was a good meeting and I got to see all the peeps from Windy Ridge. But I didn't actually get to go home because we went on:

Wednesday: Exchanges! I went with Sister Padgett and we got to see the ocean, a rare sighting for Hermanas! What a time! I met a lady who's best friend/the missionary that baptised her lived in Smithfield. (Name is John Harold Heaton for anyone who lives in Smithfield) and I also sang in the Spanish choir. Oh Spanish choirs... But I finally got to go home and sleep in my bed, only to wake up to:

Thursday: Ma' 6 month mark! We celebrated by having a day full of knocking! And also, we went for Ice cream and had Gluten free brownies!

Friday: All I remember from Fri is having to wait super restlessly for:

Saturday: A VISIT BY ELDER DOUGLAS B. CARTER, BISHOP GERÁLD CAUSSÉ, ELDER JÖRG KLEBINGAT, AND ELDER GARY E. STEVENSON!!!!!!! [It's over 9000!] I got to shake Elder Stevenson's hand, and true, he definitely said "Elder Bayer?" And I said yes, so, I may or may not have lied to an apostle... But it's OK because Elder Klebingat started his 30 min. By saying "Where did Nephi say liars go? That's right, they are Thrust down to Hell" *smiles!* Wow I love Elder Klebingat. :) I may or may not have had to spend the rest of the day in a car with 4 English sisters, but wow was I spiritually fat from all that feasting.

Sunday: We got torn apart by our investigator in front of the Ward mission leader for a misunderstanding that happened last week. But on the bright side, he's going to get baptised on March 4! Yay! Bringing souls unto God, even if it destroys all of my credibility and dignity!! But we really are super proud of Roger, and we love seeing his super intense love for God. So plz pray for his making it into the font!

Quick spiritual note: Brother of Jared said "God, we need light." God said "Yep. Why don't you devise a means." Brother of Jared thinks for a bit, then comes back with a bunch of rocks. "Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee." Lord, I know you want light and I brought you rocks, but it's the best I got. I know it isn't enough, but please, help.
God: I will make your efforts enough. *touches rocks* Bring God your best. Even if it's salty or burned or lop-sided or the wrong color or too small; bring him your best. And He will make it enough.

Ok bYYYYEE!!!

Pics.
Cuban Mexican food with the Hermanas

You Can see the Waves!

I'm slowly getting Hna Andrus hooked on pixy stix

First ocean sighting! What a sunset!

Triple Chocolate for achieving the first 3rd of mission.

Holy English sisters, Batman!

BEACH P-DAY HOY! bet you didn't see that coming!

Pink Elephants

"... oh hi!" (Name that Reference!)

This week. Happened. I think... Sis. Andrus doesn't remember it either... "that's not a good sound..." (NtR!)

We did missionary work. I think. Our Zone is focusing more unity so we made the goal to "Come Together" and memorize the Living Christ. When they first called with the proposition and said "Its alright It's alright It's alright It's OK!" We know this is a lot but "Stay Calm and  Carry On, my Wayward son!" And we were like "As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of his matchless life and the infinite virtue of his great Atoning sacrifice." Yup. Sis. Andrus already knew it. ("I knew it!")

Other great moments for this week:

-- I had my first catfish ("at the codfish ball!")

-- I had a moment where The Impossible Dream came on and Sis. Andrus commented on it being from the Man of La Mancha. I immediately busted a gut as the quote "Look it was my dream and it was impossible, OK!" Clicked in my head.

-- And I got to meet the members down here. We had stake conference last week so I this week was really the first time. They have so much heart, and I even managed to not say Hallelujah at the end of Sis. Gloria's soulful testimony. That was fun! (She definitely testified over the pulpit "This church is the most awesomest church in the universe." I love her!)

To try and save this email from its worldly ways, I'll mention Pamela. She asked for a Book of Mormon online; previous attempts to contact her had not come to fruition, but this time when we dropped by, she was there! ("Rumors of my death have been Highly Exaggerated.") She invited us right in and started talking to us, even though all of her grandkids were there for the 1-year-olds birthday. Her brother moved to Utah and has been a Mormon for 35 years. She got interested and asked him to bring her one, but he said no, she wasn't going to get one that easy. He gave her a link and said she had to go through the system ("We're just tryin' ta break the system!"). He had 2 kids serve missions so he made sure she met with those serving here. Aka ME! She loves God and has a lot of faith. We're super excited to talk to her more, and I hope she can hear God's answer when she prays! ("Pray for her Penny. She's gonna need it!") Also, she's all about respect. ("Find out what it means to me!") Something that's losing value in this world. You could probably say she's "something Amazing, I guess."

Ok, things are going downhill here ("And trip, and trip and trip andtripandtripit!") with all the quotes and worldly references. Good thing I studied Matthew 6:24. Oops. (Mental image of Indiana Jones and the golden boots in Cerebro!! Wheeeee! #mnemonics!)
So, I'm going to "take the trigger off ol' Betsie" and "back-it-up back-it-up back-it-up" now. "See you, on the other side." "For Science. You monster." ("Drive into the river, Bob, oh Drive into the River, BOB!") *insert the Dumbo pink elephants train wreck*

Ciao!

I guess it's not Strawberry Fields forever...

Did you know, that when it snows, my eyes become large.

All the nerdy references are going mad! *bonk*

Don't look now, but I think he's the avatar!  [note the Airbender sticker on the laptop]

Here's a picture of us sitting in Fast and testimony meeting. I'm in sweater town, and Hna. Andrus is hiding in her bed. I love it! (I keep getting this great hold music!)

0 __, o ...ok

Wow. What a week. We're gonna bulletpoint this one.

-- Did you know: There are cows in Florida? Here's a picture of a field. I didn't know I missed grass so much! (I forgot to find a field with a cow in it.)

-- Sis. Andrus is the bomb.com. We're both kinda awkward and laugh when we don't know what to do. Needless to say, there's a lot of laughing going on.

-- Sugar ants die when you spray bleach right on them. And it may or may not be super fun!

-- our District leader got a smart phone this week. We're next. The second coming is near.

-- We had a fabulous week when I met LITERALLY none of our investigators. So, that was cool.

-- Turns out having a lesson at Golden Corral was the most awkward thing of my life. The most cringey part is, we think he has some real intent. We'll see him next week. :) So excited.

-- no alligators, but a lot of dogs. In fact, I'm contemplating learning dog so I can preach to all creatures the word of God. One time, we knocked on a door, and 12 dogs answered. #animalfarm

-- Trailer parks are fun!

-- I made cookies using a 2/3 cup measure. Turns out our apartment is only 1 generation from Elders. Sis. Andrus being that 1 generation. 👍

-- Chicken comes in a can. ... And so does dog food.

-- Sis. Andrus has an Achilles heel: she's gluten intolerant. Other than that, she's perfect! (Which probably makes me the lousy companion. Oh well. *munches on bread*(JK!))

-- I managed to lose all of my missionary skills in the move down here. BUT, I'm excited to learn all over again! Also, I've been going through the Book of Mormon and marking all the promised blessings from the Lord for everyone and also for missionaries, specifically. I kinda forgot there are promised blessings for missionaries, and they are cool, if not as numerous as the promised blessings open to everyone if they just repent and keep God's commandments. So do it! Both reading the Book of Mormon looking for blessings and keeping the commandments!

Ok, I'm done. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, quandaries, or extra bags of Cheetos, please mail them to: 300 Treasure Day Dr. Apt #107 Fort Pierce, FL 34947.
Thank you.


My first Trailer park! The sun shone brightly upon us that day.

Ice cream is gluten free. And delicious.

Bird. Point. (Oh please oh please oh PLEASE be my prisoner!)

A cow-less field. Sorry everyone. But also... take that Orlando!!

And it is an abomination unto me.

Did I really do that bad of a job?

29 February 2018 

"Yes." -- Jeremy Brett.  [references Sherlock Holmes and the Solitary Cyclist]

Don't ask me why I still remember that. And also, please don't ask me where "Good cheer, no fear" is in the scriptures.

TRANSFERS: now that Hermana Wade has a decent grasp on Windy Ridge (like a python:), they decided to send me to exile. AKA Fort Pierce.
Here's a picture.  First of all, here's my current area (give or take). It's about an hour to get from corner to corner.

Ok, now here's the mission.  My current area is pretty small, huh.

Ok, now here's Fort Pierce.

Basically, I just get the Gromit pat every time I tell someone where I'm going. :)
I'm excited.

All I remember from this week is a bunch of sight reading music. I sight-read some baptism songs for a member's 8-year-old daughter at her baptism Friday, then we headed to Sis. Wades last zone as the three sons of her recent converts decided to get baptized too. That was way cool! They're an amazing family! Here's a picture of Downtown Orlando. (That was a jump that made way more sense in my head:)

Check out this cool scripture!
D&C 78:17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

Wow. Sounds like a lot. (Sounds sticky!) I'm excited. I guess I'll keep working hard here on Earth and hoping I'm doing something good. But it’s kinda cool to know that anything great on this Earth is pitiable in the world to come. A little motivation.

Ok, I gotta go pack!
CIAOOO!
Hermana Baer

Pics:
The prettiest Florida has ever been!

Sis. Wade getting her dream fulfilled: dinner at Waffle House! What an experience!

Oh yeah…

I'm getting transferred to Fort Pierce! (AKA exile)

Here's a picture of the Orlando mission with where I am now and where I will be tomorrow marked.

Mom: Oh. My. Goodness. Being near the ocean is super-fabulous in hot weather. Do you know your new companion yet? 

Her name is Hermana Andrus. There's a 95% chance I'll 'kill' her. I'm excited to be close to the ocean; heck I'm even excited to be in the boonies! Just wait, my next email will be a lot of me realizing just what I've gotten myself into. 😄

Sweet Li’l Chocolate Surprises

Sis. Wade and I have discovered French toast sandwiches, with fruit and chocolate on the inside. Mmm. So good! So fat! (We'll be having Bologna sandwiches, but... No bread.) 

The best part of my week was by far painting a member's "house". Our regularly scheduled service fell through, but then one of the Elders got a phone call from a brother in his ward. Now, the quotation marks should have alerted you to the fact that this wasn't any ol' paint job. We were definitely unprepared for emergency service that day, so some kind elders brought work clothes for us. This kind brother had been renting out his... house to a blind veteran with 5 dogs. Also, this house is in a sketchy part of town. Usually you'd be pretty worried about getting... "in trouble"... but he worked at the jail for a long time, so no one touches his property; they all know not to. But the best part of this service was when I got to squat on the rickety handrail leaning precariously far trying to hammer a tin roof back out of a tree while 4 other missionaries tried not to drop said roof and all its accompanying dirt on their heads. So Fun! Blurry (and unattractive) evidence following. But the owner was really appreciative as he was an older gentleman with cerebral palsy. He's been working on this house for a long time, poor guy. It was really nice just to feel like anything I do will be better than if I hadn't done it. Sure I might have done a terrible paint job and sure I may have painted a couple ladybugs in... but at least it got painted. Sometimes I feel pressure in missionary work not to mess up; I feel like I should give more, like my best isn't good enough. To go somewhere where your good is heaven-sent... yeah, that felt good. Also, the Elders were there to make it fun. So that was a plus.

We also met with a super golden family but they have crazy work schedules. We were really hoping the daughter could make it to church - we got a ride for her and everything - but Sunday morning she canceled with us :( So Prayers for Jean Paul and his beautiful family!!

Thanks for all yinz do! I 'preciate it! I hope y'all enjoyed the 1st presidency meeting; I know we sure did! Prayers for you and for our new presidency!

Hermana Baer

Finally a house my size.

Ogre hunting. (In the swamps.)

If you could only take 3 things with you . . .

Hm, this week. I know! Story time.

So there I was. Sleeping like a log in my bed. The time? Midnight. The sugar plum fairies are dancing, and so are the Lamanite daughters. (Wow what fun in my brain!) Suddenly, a really loud sound jolts me from my death-like slumber. It takes sister Wade and I a good 3 min. To put together the sound with its name: the fire alarm. We evacuate, like slugs in peanut butter. There's probably about 20 people outside, and there's a guy on his balcony on the 3rd floor. After about 20 min, the fire truck and a cop car come, lights cutting through the dark mists of night. A out this time, Im thinking clearly enough to realize what I grabbed to save from the fire: a pony-tail holder and a jacket that's been left here from missionaries long dead. The tablet didn't make it out, neither did my watch, or heck, even the keys. (Luckily, Sis. Wade grabbed those.) After about 10 more min, they tell us we can go back in; someone on the fourth floor pulled the alarm. We slink back in, and put things away, and return to the blessed sleep.

3 hours later.
I wake to blood running from my ears as the fire alarm pays a personal visit to my pillow. Not really but, wowsers, that's loud! This time, about 7 people evacuate, the fire truck comes alone with sirens off, obviously disgusted with our complex. We party it up outside by the fountains. Us and a lady with her dog. BUT! This time, I take my tablet and watch, and I even get my missionary tag on my jacket! I was so ready to preach the gospel! Woo! When we finally get back in, we both just collapse in bed nothing gets put away or even taken off.

The End.
Pictures following.

We had a week of people not answering and "te aviso!"-ing us. (I'll let you know) There was quite a bit of door knocking.
:)
Um...
The End.

PS I may or may not be addicted to veggie straws now.

I guess I'll add a spiritual thought to my letter.
While I was waiting to fall back asleep at midnight, I felt so bad that I didn't thank the firemen who came at a ridiculous time at night to turn off the world's most annoying alarm clock. I promised the Lord that if I ever got another experience like this, I'd go out of my way to thank them. Right before I fell asleep, I heard a little angel laughing. 3 hours later, they gave me that chance. I made Sis Wade wait while I found someone and thanked them. All those guilty thoughts of 10 lepers faded way, and I felt great! Maybe because it was 3 am, and I was super tired, but I choose to think the Lord taught me a great lesson in a moment I would listen the most. That was cool to see. And then I got to sleep!
Ok, now:
THE END!

I Love Firemen! They're super cool! But really. Take a moment to thank them. And that does mean you! Yes you!

Meet me at the drop spot tonight at 8:30 and I'll give ya' the goods!

 

Hermana Wade being cautious at English class.