Welcome Home Elder Baird!!!

 

Kwa Heri and Au Revoir

 March 10 2025

This week has been a bunch of goodbyes and a lot of preparation for returning. I have so many mixed emotions right now and it is a bit hard to process that the end is really in sight. 

We started on Tuesday evening with an exchange. My last one with previous companion Elder Arscott. I was here when he started his mission, his companion a year ago, and now he sees me leave. It's crazy to see how much he's grown and I'm really proud to see it. We went and visited the member family of Innocent. He's so awesome and I love to see how much he loves the gospel. We also taught Albert for apparently what would possibly be the last time I saw him. We didn't have much time for the rest of the week, and he didn't come to church yesterday. It was a great conversation about the plan of salvation. But at the end he said, "this was great to learn and all, but I thought you said I am going to be baptized so why am I not learning about that." I took this opportunity to explain to him the actual reason we get baptized. It is to open up the gate into the path that leads to heaven. We had a good conversation about the importance of covenants to gain God's help to prepare us to return to his presence. 

Thursday, we had some fun walking around Walmart speaking Swahili. We enjoyed watching people's head's turn when we started talking in their language. We even found a few people in the juice isle and had a good convo with them. We're hoping to schedule a time soon to come by and start teaching them. 

On Friday we had a great DC where we talked about helping new members progress along the covenant path. It was a great discussion about the importance of assisting them in understanding how to live life now as a member of the church. I have a huge testimony of this facet of missionary work. I've done my very best to help every new member grow, and having varying degrees of success. I also loved hearing everyone else's thoughts on best practices. 

Saturday, I had my last branch council and a dinner with the Shumway's. It's crazy that it's been a year since they moved out to Kentucky to help us out. I also learned that they've lived in west Kaysville for the last like 20 years. They made some awesome soup called hamburger soup. They have been such a big help to the branch and us missionaries.

Saturday we also did service for a couple in the English ward named the Jenkins. They are awesome but sadly are moving soon so we helped them clean up their yard a bit and also had dinner on Sunday. 

Also, on Sunday evening we went over to Degaule's home where we had goat and rice and beans. He's an amazing member and I'm going to miss him so much. Also president Bawilii was there so I was able to say goodbye to them. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary. I've grown to love these people so much and I will miss them. But I am excited to come home and see everyone! Love you all and see you soon!!

In Due Time

So, to start off this week had the last exchange of the transfer with Elder Lukins. He was reassigned from Africa a while back and because of that we will return home on the same day. I've never had a good experience to spend some time with him and we didn't have a great relationship most of last transfer, but this exchange was a perfect way to get to know him. All of our lessons were canceled so we just ended up knocking on doors to fill most of the time. We had some great conversations about grace, and I loved it. I also got to interview a young man for baptism, he's usually been pretty aloof to most things church related but recently he seems to have felt the spirit and decided he wanted to meet with the missionaries again and get baptized. I have confidence that he will continue learning and growing. Tuesday night we had our transfer call where President McGinn announces to the whole mission where we will be headed. We learned that Elder Mann would be headed to Louisville and Elder Bradley would be coming here with me. I was his District Leader for 3 transfers back in Louisville and I'm so excited for this transfer!!

Wednesday, we spent most of the day packing and preparing for Elder Mann to leave. We visited a couple of people and planned some lessons for the next week. That evening we went over to Sanngo and Mauwa. There was a moment that we were all eating and listening to music Mauwa was sitting on the couch holding her youngest daughter singing along, and it just dawned on me that I wouldn't have many more of these experiences. It was a sad feeling but it gave me a good push to work hard and finish strong.

Thursday, we transferred and interestingly enough one of the Spanish sisters came up to me and asked if I know a member of the 70. I said I had one in my ward, and she said that in her parents' Stake Conference a 70 came and talked about me. Many of you have heard the Elder McKay's story but I did find it funny to hear he is still telling it around the nation. I saw most of the friends I have made on the mission, and it was a good time. 

The next few days were somewhat uneventful, we are working on getting into a good groove. Elder Mann was good at keeping me going ha-ha, but we are figuring out a good system. Sunday Merci (the young man from above) was baptized. And it was super chaotic, but it was good, and we figured it all out. When I confirmed him, I started in Swahili, but something stopped me, and I realized that I needed to do it in English. I recognized that it was the spirit telling me Merci would understand better in English and I am really grateful to be able to hear the spirits whisperings.

Something really impactful happened on like Friday night. I was talking to Elder Bradley about some of the people he had taught in Louisville. He was talking about these two kids Kibu and Joseph. I saw on his Facebook that Kibu's second name was Akili, and I realized that I have met those boys before. For those of you that have been reading these since the beginning you will recognize that in my training, I taught a family where the dad's name was Akili. This family was great, but they stopped progressing and I have always wondered what became of them. Something I have struggled with often is a blessing I received about my mission. In the blessing it was stated that as a missionary if I was obedient my labors would be crowned with success and also "In due time, many people will come into the church as a result of your efforts." What I've struggled with these past 23 months is that feeling that I haven't been completely obedient and wondering if my labors are successful. And secondarily I have always recognized that the "in due time" of that promise could very likely mean that I wouldn't see the fruits of my labors for a long time. Up until about 3 weeks ago not a single person that I had taught had been baptized (Alenge and wife Mwaliasha were baptized, look to a few weeks ago for that story). Of course, that isn't failure, but I have often had a hard time reconciling this idea with the blessing I had received. The spirit impressed upon my mind while I was talking to Elder Bradley and hearing his excitement about Kibu and Joseph that this was a taste of what the Lord had in store for a few of the people I taught back in my first transfer. I can promise everyone reading this message that the Lord does fulfill his promises in full. He has more in store than you can ever imagine. The roots of this story go even deeper because apparently Akili's brother-in-law is the branch president here. The Lord's plan is truly perfect, it is simply up to us to choose to follow it or not. Trust in Christ, trust in his power and know that His work involves nothing other than our eternal life.

I love you all and have a good week!!

In Due Time

So, to start off this week had the last exchange of the transfer with Elder Lukins. He was reassigned from Africa a while back and because of that we will return home on the same day. I've never had a good experience to spend some time with him and we didn't have a great relationship most of last transfer, but this exchange was a perfect way to get to know him. All of our lessons were canceled so we just ended up knocking doors to fill most of the time. We had some great conversations about grace, and I loved it. I also got to interview a young man for baptism, he's usually been pretty aloof to most things church related but recently he seems to have felt the spirit and decided he wanted to meet with the missionaries again and get baptized. I have confidence that he will continue learning and growing. Tuesday night we had our transfer call where President McGinn announces to the whole mission where we will be headed. We learned that Elder Mann would be headed to Louisville and Elder Bradley would be coming here with me. I was his District Leader for 3 transfers back in Louisville and I'm so excited for this transfer!!

Wednesday, we spent most of the day packing and preparing for Elder Mann to leave. We visited a couple of people and planned some lessons for the next week. That evening we went over to Sanngo and Mauwa. There was a moment that we were all eating and listening to music Mauwa was sitting on the couch holding her youngest daughter singing along, and it just dawned on me that I wouldn't have many more of these experiences. It was a sad feeling but it gave me a good push to work hard and finish strong.

Thursday, we transferred and interestingly enough one of the Spanish sisters came up to me and asked if I know a member of the 70. I said I had one in my ward, and she said that in her parents' Stake Conference a 70 came and talked about me. Many of you have heard the Elder McKay's story but I did find it funny to hear he is still telling it around the nation. I saw most of the friends I had made on the mission, and it was a good time. 

The next few days were somewhat uneventful, we are working on getting into a good groove. Elder Mann was good at keeping me going ha-ha, but we are figuring out a good system. Sunday, Merci (the young man from above) was baptized. And it was super chaotic, but it was good, and we figured it all out. When I confirmed him, I started in Swahili, but something stopped me, and I realized that I needed to do it in English. I recognized that it was the spirit telling me that Merci would understand better in English, and I am really grateful to be able to hear the spirits whisperings.

Something really impactful happened on like Friday night. I was talking to Elder Bradley about some of the people he had taught in Louisville. He was talking about these two kids Kibu and Joseph. I saw on his Facebook that Kibu's second name was Akili, and I realized that I have met those boys before. For those of you that have been reading these since the beginning you will recognize that in my training, I taught a family where the dad's name was Akili. This family was great, but they stopped progressing and I have always wondered what became of them. Something I have struggled with often is a blessing I received about my mission. In the blessing it was stated that as a missionary if I was obedient my labors would be crowned with success and also "In due time, many people will come into the church as a result of your efforts." What I've struggled with these past 23 months is that feeling that I haven't been completely obedient and wondering if my labors are successful. And secondarily I have always recognized that the "in due time" of that promise could very likely mean that I wouldn't see the fruits of my labors for a long time. Up until about 3 weeks ago not a single person that I had taught had been baptized (Alenge and wife Mwaliasha were baptized, look to a few weeks ago for that story). Of course, that isn't failure, but I have often had a hard time reconciling this idea with the blessing I had received. The spirit impressed upon my mind while I was talking to Elder Bradley and hearing his excitement about Kibu and Joseph that this was a taste of what the Lord had in store for a few of the people I taught back in my first transfer. I can promise everyone reading this message that the Lord does fulfill his promises in full. He has more in store than you can ever imagine. The roots of this story go even deeper because apparently Akili's brother-in-law is the branch president here. The Lord's plan is truly perfect, it is simply up to us to choose to follow it or not. Trust in Christ, trust in his power and know that His work involves nothing other than our eternal life.

I love you all and have a good week!!

Youth temple scramble

Alright so I'm going to make this somewhat quick because I am trying to get all my backlogged emails figured out.

We started this week with a bit of a breakdown ha-ha. Monday night I was feeling sad and stressed that I haven't worked hard enough during the last two years, and I just wanted to finish the best I can. What I learned was that I really have tried my best and I needed to learn more about grace and the power of forgiveness and change. So, I started the rest of the week with that in mind. 

We had a stake youth temple trip that has been in the works for this whole transfer. It was supposed to be all figured out with a bunch of temple recommend interviews last Sunday after church. Well because of snow they cancelled church so instead we went to all of the youth's homes and handed them a phone call with the branch President Bawili on the other line. Most of the time he was at work, or we woke him up to do these calls ha-ha. But he was a trooper, and 6 kids were able to go. Honestly, a highlight of my mission. It was the first time for almost all of these kids and most of them they beat their parents to the temple ha-ha. 

Sadly, though this week one of our new member families moved out of our area. It was really sad. So, they've had some issues with their house and the heat hasn't been working. They went to a check up/vaccinations and the doctor said they needed to move. So, they went to the refugee organization, and they put them in a hotel for 2 nights and got them a new home. They moved like 5 minutes away but went on the other side of the border of the area which was sad. Goodbye Sango, Mauwa, and their family. 

We went and finally visited a referral that we received at like the beginning of the transfer. He finally gave us his apt number, so we went and met him. He is apparently amazing ha-ha. His name is Jaques and is from Congo. He speaks French, Swahili, Kinyarwanda, and English fluently. He has like 3 friends who are (inactive) members of the church. He was super cool and when we called in a member Jaques really wanted to come to church. He's here in America completely on his own so it would be awesome to connect him to a bit of a church family. 

Finally, we went by a friend we've been teaching by the name of Albert. We've been hoping for a while to be able to extend him a baptismal date but never felt he was ready. We discussed in district council that day about extending baptismal invitations, so it was fresh on our minds. We discussed the plan of salvation in general and went into depth about the premortal life. Then we called in our member Fiston to testify and he at some point asked if Albert plans to be baptized in the church. He said no and Fiston explained why he should be baptized again and he just accepted it ha-ha. We then put him on date for the end of February and it was so cool to watch the member missionary work in action!!

In all I learned this week that God expects effort. I've heard before that Heavenly Father treats weakness differently than he does rebellion. One involves turning away from God and the other involves a recognition of our own imperfections. The grace comes in when we accept help. Something that I don't understand yet is how we can apply God's power to ourselves, but I do know it is there, and it is available to us all. Christ loves you and he gives you the power to change. Have a great week and I love you too!!

Infinity War

So, transfers happened and I'm back to Lexington! Not only that but I have now served in every single French area. I feel like Thanos collecting the infinity stones. Tuesday two weeks ago I did a mini exchange with Elder Wirth and we went to visit mama Zura and Fahila. It was a great time. Then that night we got the call I would be coming to Lexington North with Elder Mann, presumably to finish my mission. 

On Wednesday we visited a lot of the members that I have come to love in the Louisville 1st ward. In total I have served almost a year of my mission in this ward (8 transfers). I remembered right before I left home almost 2 years ago, I asked my sister Hailey what I should do to adjust to living far away. Her response was simply to get to know the members wherever I am and ask people about their story. This ward was really the place I did that the best. It is an American ward with a French group, but I have come to love everyone in there. Of all my areas LV FR N is my home, and I was worried to leave. In the end I knew that the Lord would help all of the friends I taught, and the missionaries would take care of them. My two "sons" are serving there now, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Thursday, I loaded everything up to move for most likely the last time before getting on that plane. It's weird to feel the end be near, but I am excited to see what these next 3months have in store. 

Friday started a blur that was the last week and a half. We were working 2 areas in a trio with a previous companion Elder Arscott until his trainee arrived. We met a lot of friends and members who had been found and baptized since I had been here in Lex, as well as some of the old ones I remembered. A few highlights are:

-A new member family in my area (north). Sango and Mauwa. They are literally the best. They love the missionaries so much that they feed us twice a week when we go to teach. They have 5 kids: Sela, Machozi, Tereza, Munga, and Mimi. (Mimi is the missionary fan favorite baby, she's adorable.) 

-The dunia family is a very large family we have named after the first man who was baptized. Dunia is also the friend that got Alenge and Mwaliasha interested in the church. This family is chaos ha-ha. There are 3 apartments in the same complex. One is Dunia and his family, another is his sister Binwa and her family, and the third is their brother Sadi and he lives with another brother. The grandma and another couple siblings also live in the first two apartments as well as a couple of Binwa's adult sons. (Hats off to elder Lundgreen a while back for sitting down with them and learning what their family tree actually is.) Currently, like 5 or 6 of the adults in this family have been baptized in the last year, with 2 more having been baptized I the last 2 years. We visit them a few times a week for new member lessons and because one of Binwa's sons, Bitazo, is preparing to be baptized in January as well as another woman named Deborah is progressing quite well. 

-Shebani is another man who has a baptismal date for January that we are working with. It's hard because we're not super sure what his interest or commitment level is yet, but we will keep working with him because we trust the previous elders. 

-And lastly Albert. He pulled up to church for the first time a week before Christmas. He had just flown into Kentucky from Maine that morning to live with another of our new members named Henry. We have been over a few times to teach him and he's really cool!! We have high hopes for Albert.

For the most part these last two weeks have been trying to figure out who everyone is and inviting people to the Christmas party this week and Christmas church yesterday. It has been a good time and I'm really excited to serve here. 

To end we had a zone gathering for Christmas and I'd like to talk about what I learned there. We were invited to read the whole Book of Mormon before April 30th as a mission. I return home on March 14th. During the meeting I was faced with a choice, continue floating until i finish my mission or did deep and open myself to learning something before I return home. I've learned many things on my mission, and I could return home now feeling accomplished, but the spirit reminded me through President McGinn that I still have something to learn and there are people prepared here for me to help. I'm excited to see the hand of the Lord!!

Elder Baird