Newbie Arrival

The beginning of the week went by fairly slowly with not a lot happening. We were mostly just preparing for my new trainee to arrive and getting elder Felix ready to go to Louisville. 

On Wednesday we met with Norbert and Julienne again and read from 1 Corinthians 15 with them. We discussed the doctrine of the spirit world, the resurrection, and baptisms for the dead. Julienne pushed back against it at first saying that people who outright rejected the gospel in life will not go to heaven. We agreed with her saying that there are many people who didn't receive the opportunity or didn't fully understand the gospel in life and that they deserve the opportunity to receive the ordinances of salvation. Although they were hesitant to accept it as doctrine, they were on board with the idea of everyone needing the gospel. They are an awesome couple and I love meeting with them. They live down the street from a member named Byienigulu and we are going to bring him by on Tuesday for our next lesson.

Thursday night we drove 75 minutes to the president's home to pick up Elder Kocherhans and we chatted with the President and Sister McGinn. They are honestly the best and I feel so much love from them. On the drive back I got to know Elder Kocherhans and he's such a great guy. He's really genuine and funny and has a desire to work. I'm super grateful to be able to be his trainer. I can feel the push to be a more diligent missionary and it's just what I've been needing recently. 

On Saturday we went by Byenigulu, a recently baptized member and visited his family. First we went over the "Living Christ" with him, which by the way is an amazing document. I highly recommend studying it. He then had some questions about why people call us the "Mormon church" and if that is our name why don't we celebrate the birth and death of Mormon like we do for Easter and Christmas ha-ha. We explained that Mormon is just a nickname used by people outside the church and we are in fact the church of Jesus Christ. He was kind of surprised but was glad to reaffirm that Christ is the most important part of our church. We also met with a new guy named Adam. He is the son of Norbert and Julienne. He has some interesting beliefs but came to the church years ago and wants to get back into it. In the end he was talking about how he loves people, and he finds it really important to treat everyone equally, but with that belief he says that we should spend equal time talking about all the other prophets as we do about Jesus. It was an interesting discussion, and I was able to testify that Jesus was not unique or special or even necessary just because of his teachings. He taught the same gospel as all the ancient prophets. What makes Jesus the center of everything we teach was His sacrifice for us and that he truly was the living son of God. When he suffered for our sins, he fulfilled the prophecies of every prophet before and after. Because a prophet's role is to be a witness of Jesus' divinity and the importance of his atoning sacrifice. 

I'm going to be a dad!

We started this week with a knowledge that Elder Felix would most likely be transferred out. So, with that in mind, we set up a lot of lessons to say goodbye. But thankfully that led to a lot of people who don't talk to us too often reaching back out. 

On Tuesday we met for the first time with a couple named Jules and Marie. At first, we went over and only Jules the husband was home, we taught him the whole restoration and he had some great questions. Mainly being that he likes the idea of prophets but how can one know if someone is a true prophet. Like how can we say that Joseph Smith was real but all the others who claim to have similar experiences are false? I love that question because our answer is simple and concise. The answer is always as Jesus taught us in the sermon on the mount, to look at their fruits and ask of God. And thankfully Joseph's "fruit" is easy to show through his translating of the book of Mormon. He accepted the book and we said we would call to plan another time to come by. As we were out in the parking lot to leave, we saw his wife Marie pull up and get out of a friend's car. She had just come back from talking to some people about applying for a job and she asked us if we could help her fill out some applications. We agreed and went back inside to give her some help. It took some time, but we were able to get it all figured out, and hopefully she can find that job!! 

Later on, Tuesday we visited Norbert and Julianne, they are a couple we have been meeting with recently and they are so amazing! We have been going by their home at least 2 times a week for the past 3 weeks. Juliene had been in the hospital that weekend for a stroke, but she was looking pretty good when we came by, which was good. She was telling us that it was her third one and had previously recovered her functionality. We talked about the priesthood and approached the possibility of baptism with them. Sadly, they really bounced off the idea of being baptized again and didn't truly understand the concept of authority. In talking about Joseph Smith, Julienne made a point to talk about how there are so many prophets in Africa, some good some bad she says, but it's really hard for them to believe that there can be only 1 true prophet. In talking we discussed the power of the priesthood and how we can offer blessings of healing and comfort. Norbert really liked the idea of the laying on of hands like the Disciples of Christ did. I gave my first 2 blessings in French that day and it was kind of hard haha. I have a difficult time knowing what to say in English and French made it that much harder ha-ha. But it went well, and they were grateful. I gave one to Julienne and their daughter Berth. Berth doesn't seem to be fully there, but the parents asked us to bless her. We went by again on Thursday and taught them part of the plan of salvation which they really liked, and we had some good conversation. They seem to agree with the fact that personal suffering is often inflicted by sin and more so that it can be a part of life, but that God will not give us anything we cannot bear as long as we turn to him. 

We finally saw Phillip again because Elder Felix is leaving. It was a good visit and we taught him the word of wisdom. He said he fairly well follows all 5 main things and takes health very seriously. His struggle was the idea that God would give specific health guidance and how there could be spiritual gain to be found from living healthy. We did our best at explaining the need to take care of the bodies that God has blessed us with, and that God has given specific blessings to follow this commandment. Phillip had some great words for Elder Felix and was excited to meet my new companion. 

Wednesday night we had transfer calls. President McGinn informed me that I would be training a new missionary!! He will be arriving on Friday this week. I'm excited for the opportunity to help a new missionary learn the ropes and develop his language skills. I look back at the past year and wish I would've been more diligent and purposeful in my learning, but on the other hand I can say I am proud of how far I've come. Even more so I can't wait for all the good I'll do, all the people I will meet, and all the hearts God can touch through me. Although Elder Felix and I haven't always gotten along, I am really happy of how far we have come and what I've learned since being His companion. 

Thursday and Friday a storm blew through Kentucky, and we had to be home early Thursday night and all day Friday we couldn't drive the car. Me and elder Felix made some calls, did lots of studying, and went for a walk for a few hours. We grabbed some Chipotle and walked around some grocery stores. Frankly I was both trying to escape the apartment and maybe put ourselves out for a miracle. 

On Saturday we had some member visits and with both of them we discussed the Lehi's vision of the Tree of Life. I'm really grateful for my mother because she has instilled in me an importance of Lehi's dream. It truly is a perfect simple guide to our lives. All we have to do to partake in the Love of God and the Eternal Life granted by his son Jesus Christ is grab on and hold tight to the word of God as represented by the iron rod. 

And with that I apologize to everyone for not sending in emails for the past month. I will work on those and get them out as soon as possible. But everyone needs to know how much I appreciate all of your prayers and constant support. God lives and loves you all and so do I as one if his servants in the vineyard. 

Elder Baird