Jacob - April 24, 2017

Hey everyone, I'm going to attempt to write a decent letter this week,
but we'll see how it goes. The week went well, we did a lot of finding
and on the spot teaching. We have a decent amount of people we are
working with. But they are all mostly still at the beginning phases of
their progression. There are a few people that have received the
lessons for a while, we are thinking about dropping them since they
aren't doing very much to progress. But that's missionary work for
you. One of the people we found recently is a high school girl and
she's pretty cool, really open and reading. We'll be seeing her again
this Tuesday, but we need to get permission to teach her and get her
family on board. Also this week I went on an exchange with elder Carr,
it went really good, he's from Sioux City, Iowa. We had a good time
together and we were able to explain how Iowa is with the members we
were eating with. That was fun, we talked a lot about corn. We then
had district Meeting on Wednesday, that was good. Thursday was a
normal day.. Friday was super fun. I didn't get any pictures and sort
of regret that, but we did this super cool service project for a bunch
of disabled kids/adults. We got to hang out with a guy named Curtis
and played baseball (he didn't miss a single swing), we saw a bunch of
dogs, played basketball, soccer and football. Then there was a
concert, the band was ok, but the music definitely wasn't missionary
approved. But they weren't bad songs. Anyways on saturday I got to do
baptismal interviews for a family of 4. They mostly passed except for
one, but the missionaries are going to do some reteaching so that they
can all be baptized the same day. It's pretty cool and they are a
solid family. Sunday went well, we found some new areas within our
area that have a good Hispanic population. We then were able to see
some other investigators and saw some members as well. Overall this
week went well. Like I said it was a lot of finding so it's hard to
remember all the details. Oh something else we learned is how to make
chile using a mortar and pestle (something like that), I'm just going
to use a blender, but at least I know the ingredients. I can't
remember much more than that. But I hope you all have a great week!
Love you!

Elder Baer

Jacob - April 17, 2017

Hey everyone, this week was good. We're still getting a grip on
everything, we don't have many solid investigators so that aspect it's
a little tough. A pattern that I've been noticing is that we set a
good amount of return appointments and find in those areas that we go
and set more appointments, but the appointments fall through more
often than not. So we are building a good potential list, but it's a
little slow with finding cool, willing people. But we are still
working and so far things are going good, we are just staying patient
and hoping for the best. But some of the highlights from this week
are: district Meeting, it's pretty cool when one can see the promises
of the lord come true in regards to receiving revelation for others
like me receiving revelation for the district. That was a really good
meeting about finding. Up next I was able to interview a girl that got
baptized this Saturday. That was good. Also I went on exchanges with
elder Porter, he's a zone leader and has only a transfer more than I
do. We had a good time together. We learned a lot even though a lot of
lessons fell through. Oh also Sunday was good, I felt really strange
throughout the day with fatigue and a stomach ache, but it was nice to
ponder about the significance of Easter during church and to think
about Christ's sacrifice. I've really enjoyed my studies these past
two weeks, I've been reading a lot of General Conference talks about
peace and I've learned a lot about how Christ offers peace. I've come
to understand that the principles of peace aren't just about peace,
but also they are principles of conversion. Two quotes that I liked
from my studies is: "Peace comes from knowing that the Savior knows
who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him, and keep His
commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating trials and
tragedies" (personal peace: the reward of righteousness) "Knowing God
and becoming His friend comes with the conversion process. Enos found
it. King Benjamin’s subjects found it. Alma found it. It is available
to all who will repent and obey the commandments" (bringing peace and
healing to your soul). Maybe you can't see the connections I see, all
I know is that keeping the commandments brings peace and conversion so
y'all can ponder about that. But this is all I can think to write
about for this week. But I love you all and hope you have a great
week!
Elder Baer

Jacob - April 10, 2017

Hey everyone, thanks for emailing, sounds like you are all doing good.
My week went well, we handled white washing like pros. We were able to
see most of the current investigators, some are tough to find and
don't answer phones, but we'll try and see what's up with them. We
were able to find a good amount of potential investigators and also
were able to set some baptism dates for the 7th of May for Adrian and
Jenoveva, they are different families, but we are excited about them
and we believe they have a lot of potential. Hopefully they'll do
their commitments to progress. Also this week we were able to visit a
good amount of members, trying to establish relationships with them
and help them out. Maybe we'll get some referrals as well. We also had
a meeting with our Bishop, he's a good guy. Sort of just let's us do
our thing so it's mas o menos, but i'm sure we'll get a lot of work
done with him. Working in car is strange, i'm not a fan to be honest
or maybe I'm just taking time to get used to it. I feel like I'm not
working when driving and that we do lot's of driving, I could be
wrong, but it's different. Overall I enjoy the area, I'm going to have
a lot of fun here. But this all I can remember for this week. But I
love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Baer

Jacob - April 3, 2017

Hey mom and dad, glad to hear you enjoyed Conference, I certainly did.
It was cool because elder Costa from the 70, the one that talked about
what investigators should do. He visited our mission when we saw elder
oaks and he shared the same story he shared in Conference. But also
there was a lot of good other talks, I too liked the one about
"standing up on the inside." This week was good for me, my last week
in jardines (garden Grove). I was transfers today to the Fullerton
west area with elder Schoen, he too is from garden grove so we will be
white washing for both our second time. We are excited, but the area
is super different, as of now I am driving (first time in a year).
It's a little different, but so far so good. I'll let you know next
week what happens. This past week I had two exchanges, one with elder
Castillo, an elder I know pretty well. Also with elder Galleguillos,
my trainer from forever ago. My exchange with him was like going down
memory lane, lots of fun and cool to see how each of us has changed.
Also Saturday I had a unique experience of teaching an investigator
from my first area, the YSA sisters are now teaching her and wanted
elder Galleguillos and I to come so that we could be the "familiar
faces." It was a cool lesson, imagine 4 super experienced missionaries teaching
the restoration right after conference. Super spiritual lesson. Lastly
we also had service this week on Costa Mesa and that was good, nothing
worth writing about. But that was my week for this one. Love you! Take
care!

Jacob - March 27, 2017

Hello Family, this week was good. I'm having some troubles of
remembering everything that happened so well see how this email goes.
This week went by pretty well. We are doing good at finding new faces
to teach. We are climbing out of our investigator problem, now we just
need to try and stay in contact with them, but that'll keep us busy.
This last week my companion and I were busy the whole time. We had a
church open house that we did and also a baptism for an 8 year old in
our ward. The activity turned out ok, there wasn't a lot of
investigators that went to it, but the members did a really good job
at presenting their organizations. I felt the spirit pretty strongly
so hopefully that touched the people there. After the activity I
interviewed a guy for baptism, but he had some question 4 concerns and
turns out he'll have to wait at least 2 years before he can be
baptized.. But fortunately he understands and hopefully we'll stay
faithful for time being. Tuesday I ate swordfish tacos, those were
tasty. Wednesday I lead a super spiritual district meeting. I really
enjoyed that. Thursday I had a crazy exchange, but it went well.
Nothing crazy happened, but it's hard to explain. Friday was the
activity and we also had soup kitchen service earlier that day as
well. Saturday was the baptism of the 8 year old. That went really
well. Saturday was the only day that was a normal work day. But also
throughout the week we've been able to find some cool people, people
that have a lot of changes going on in their lives so hopefully
they'll see how the restored gospel can help them. Sunday was also
good, we did a really cool activity with the primary. There was 10
stations set up, each representing part of Christ's atonement or
during those few days. So all the missionaries had the chance to teach
and testify of the Atonement. Overall that was how my week went. I
love you all and hope you have a great one!