They Serving Bullets not Jesus Christ

 

What a couple weeks! We've had baptisms, lessons, saw some unsavory parts of Louisville, and most importantly saw God's hand in many ways!!

First one was two Tuesdays ago. We had gotten in contact with a referral from across the river in Indiana about a man named Christian who speaks English but is better at French. Turns out that he's in Louisville often and doesn't have a permanent residence currently so we arranged to meet up at a McDonalds and as we were getting some food, the cashier asked for a daily verse and we heard a voice behind us saying "oh yeah they do". We turned around to see Elder Ballard, the local legend service missionary, and he had some time to join in our lesson and help teach the restoration! We've met with Christian one other time last week and he's also come to church! He's really cool and seems super interested in the book of Mormon. He apparently has a lot of history as well with missionaries in a bunch of states including: Texas, Colorado, Maine, and Indiana. Very high hopes for him. 

 Also starting two weeks ago we decided to check out an apartment complex in our area. It's definitely the sketchiest area I've been to yet. But as we were looking around we found a family who, as We've come back a few times to try and teach, apparently has met with French missionaries in the past. That was very surprising because they're not in our area book. We're hoping to go back this week. To explain the subject line haha once last week we went and were going to go to a neighboring complex but saw some police cars over there. And some grounds keeping guys said "you don't want to go over there. See the police? They serving bullets not Jesus Christ!" 

We started meeting with a family and the parents are Moses and Sifa. They moved from Uganda 5 years ago. She fed us Fufu yesterday and Elder Xanthos said its the best he's ever had. They both seem pretty interesting so we're trying to build speed and see what happens. But after we left we went to meet with another couple named Andrew and Marina, as we got there we saw someone out on the porch and asked where he's from. Apparently he's from Uganda and he's Moses' brother! But even crazier they're both brothers with Andrew! So somehow we found a family and have been teaching them independently, haha. 

We met again with Tangente! He said he definitely wants to be baptized, but the thing that's stopping him now is that he has a 3 week trip thing for the national guard and doesn't want to rush his baptism. So now we have to wait until the end of June until he returns and hopefully will be ready to be baptized then. Sadly though Elder Xanthos leaves on June 24th so he won't be here until then. But I have faith that Tangente will be ready to be baptized relatively soon, but God definitely has his own plans. 

Yesterday we helped with a English baptism of a man who's paralyzed from the waist down. To solve this problem, Elder Sokup and Elder Xanthos carried him into the font, then Elder Kurr said the prayer and put his hand on him while the other two lowered him down. My part in all this was to get his cot ready for him to change when he was done and hold the door. But it was a very special meeting. And Marine came to watch as well!

Speaking of marine, we're trying to get her interested in family history and the temple, but she's definitely taking this one at her own pace. We're hoping also that she'll start coming to YSA activities to get to know the ward better and be interested in making friends in the church. 

One very powerful way that we saw God's hand was through a referral. We received a self referral a few weeks ago from someone named Massan. We never were able to get in contact with them and there was also no information about who they were or what they wanted in the referral but we kept trying. On Saturday we we had like an hour and didn't know what to do so we decided to go and knock their door. Turns out it was a couple from Togo who had been waiting for missionaries to visit them for a while because they'd met some English ones! They seemed very receptive and we are meeting with them again in a couple days. And it was totally inspired that we happened to choose to go there at the exact time that we did. 

Crazy good miracles that we see in our every day lives, especially mine haha. I can see God's hand every single day when I look for it and I know that he'll be in your life if you let him. He loves his children and wants nothing more than their joy. And I'm with him there, I wish and pray for all of you to be finding joy in your daily lives. Love you all!

Look for God's hand, I promise he is there!

Elder Baird

Off to the Races

                                     

I apologize once again to everyone who wants to know what I'm up to. P-days are kind of whack! But here's the email I drafted a little bit of last Monday and some more from this week. Love you all and happy Mother's Day!!

Happy derby week everyone! 

                                        

This week was great. We did a lot of work and saw a lot of interesting things. 

First of all the derby is a huge deal here. The whole city came to life last week and we saw a bunch of crazy outfits. We biked around the derby and talked with a family who was renting their driveway (because literally everyone does it in a 5 block radius of Churchill Downs) for parking. They were nice but not terribly interested. 

Also there was a baptism on the 7th and on the 14th! The first one was a friend of the English sisters in my ward and there was a crazy rain storm that morning. A big tree fell down on the main road right by the church, and Elayna (the girl getting baptized) just drove on a lawn around the tree because "I'm not missing my own baptism!" That was a great reminder to me that if people are truly converted to the gospel then they will do everything to further their progression. 

We also met a man who makes music. We were leaving the home of our friends Akili and Paulina (more on them later) and he flagged us down because he saw my name tag. He asked if we wanted to come hear some,  we said sure why not, maybe we could teach a little something too. He proceeds to tell us that he makes jazz, blues, R&B and crap. That's not true haha, it's just rap. And he's telling us all kinds of things, like how he's on house arrest because he got in a fight at a bar, and how he used to sell drugs but now sees the error of his ways and really his true passion is music. But in the end he said he is looking for God and that's why he called out to us. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would make a song about it, so that will be interesting. It's been over a week since we've seen him though so who knows what he's up to. 

I had some fufu last week too. It's essentially just a big ball of corn masa and some ground up leaves. But that's a lot of corn for the next morning haha. It was given to us by Akili and Paulina. They were super interested and kind. We taught the Plan of Salvation but since they only speak Swahili, I just sat on the floor and taught the kids. But the parents and kids were interested enough that they had questions for me, and when we had finished and the kids tried to leave, Paulina got mad and told them to keep listening haha. We also just sat with them and they showed us YouTube videos of the Congo. I have high hopes for them and I can't wait to see where it goes!!

And yeah we're still working with Tangent. We just fasted last Sunday to help him be more spiritually in tuned so he can receive his answer about baptism. We're still hoping to make it happen this month! 

It's been a great 2 weeks and I hope everyone is doing well. Also for my thought this week, guess what it'll be about...

Mother's of course!

My favorite story, as I'm sure many others' too, is of the Stripling Warriors. Because they were all saved in Alma 57: 17-30 it says, "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them." Thank you to all the Mother's who have taught their children the way to be good people. You all do amazing work and we thank you. 

Elder Baird. 

Let's Go Part the Red Sea

Gotta be honest everyone. I don't really remember much about the first half of this week. Although we had another lesson with Chenga and Luenda. Luenda makes me so excited because he's totally in. Has great questions and really seems to understand. Chenga is still a work in progress but definitely has some interest which is still exciting. 

Now for the highlight of the week. ZONE CONFERENCE! It was my first one ever and it was so good!! 

First we talked about the importance of the Restoration of the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ. And how the main message that comes from the restoration is that everyone is able, and even promised that they can have a personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. 

At the end we all promised to "part the red sea". As in we are going to work on having the faith to expect and participate in miracles. Because the Gathering of Israel is said to be a greater miracle than even the children of Israel leaving Egypt, and we are a part of it!! To do this we are going to read a scripture about faith every day when we pray before we leave. Consider it done! I've really enjoyed all the extra effort and excitement that zone conference gave me. 

Then Friday we got back in contact with Tangente!! We taught using the Restoration Proclamation, just read through with him and asked questions. We then asked his thoughts on baptism, we invited him to be baptized a few weeks ago. He said that he's ready but wants to pray and ask about the right date. My companion is hoping that Tangente chooses before he finishes his mission. We'll see what happens! 

We also were able to meet with a couple named Akili and Paulina. We've been trying to go over since I got here and one day we went at a random time and they were home! Akili was definitely a bit drunk so he was half asleep the whole time. But Paulina and a friend of theirs that was there were totally interested! 

And I also went bowling today which was very fun. I got a 96, 100, and 112! It was very fun to get to know the district members a bit better. 

So yeah there's my week. I encourage all of you to do one of two things. 

1) Study the message of the Restoration. Know why it happened, know what it means for you PERSONALLY, and let your testimony grow. 

2) Part the red sea with the Kentucky Louisville Mission. Expect and have the faith that you can have miracles in your every day life. Set out daily with a quote/scripture and a prayer of faith. 

God will bless your efforts with success and joy. He loves all his children and wants nothing more than their happiness. 

Have a wonderful week and let me know if there's anything I can do for any of you. 

Elder Baird