Hey family, I'm doing good. There's not much to report about these
past few days. I'm still kicking it. Juan came to church again, but we
weren't able to teach him this time. I'm still pretty sure that he'll
get baptized someday though. I did hear about how an investigator back
in SA10 is getting baptized this week. I found him with Elder
Galleguillos and this Saturday he is getting married and Sunday he's
getting baptized. Hopefully I'll be at both, but I'm really happy for
him and his family. Other than that there isn't much to say. Hopefully
this is enough for my email for today.
Elder Baer
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Jacob - July 14, 2016
Something I've noticed over here is how beautiful
the sunsets are. Some evenings are super pretty. I'll put in a
panorama from the 4th of July for proof. I finally got more pics to
send today! It was temple p-day. Super cool experience there. I read
the analogy of the olive tree inside and was able to find a cool
relation to missionary work. Sometimes on a mission we get "poor
areas," but the tree grows very strong there (the missionary), and
others times we get "good areas," but the missionary doesn't grow very
well, maybe because the area is too easy that the missionary doesn't
stretch and therefore grow. Sorta like muscles I guess. Stretch =
growth. Possibly an eternal principle? No idea, maybe I'll study that.
But this week was really good. We had lots of opportunities to teach
which was a nice change and so far this week has been really good too.
We've still got that solid investigator. He'll hopefully be baptized
in August, just because we aren't able to teach him more than once a
week. But I'm confident that he'll make it. Um as far as you sending
me stuff, I'm not sure what I need, but I'll think about it this
weekend and I'll write you some stuff Monday. Hope that works out. But
I'm not sure what else to say for this letter, everything is good. And
if I forgot something I'll send it to ya monday. But I love you mom
and I hope you have a great weekend since I'll be writing you soon.
Take care!
Elder Baer
the sunsets are. Some evenings are super pretty. I'll put in a
panorama from the 4th of July for proof. I finally got more pics to
send today! It was temple p-day. Super cool experience there. I read
the analogy of the olive tree inside and was able to find a cool
relation to missionary work. Sometimes on a mission we get "poor
areas," but the tree grows very strong there (the missionary), and
others times we get "good areas," but the missionary doesn't grow very
well, maybe because the area is too easy that the missionary doesn't
stretch and therefore grow. Sorta like muscles I guess. Stretch =
growth. Possibly an eternal principle? No idea, maybe I'll study that.
But this week was really good. We had lots of opportunities to teach
which was a nice change and so far this week has been really good too.
We've still got that solid investigator. He'll hopefully be baptized
in August, just because we aren't able to teach him more than once a
week. But I'm confident that he'll make it. Um as far as you sending
me stuff, I'm not sure what I need, but I'll think about it this
weekend and I'll write you some stuff Monday. Hope that works out. But
I'm not sure what else to say for this letter, everything is good. And
if I forgot something I'll send it to ya monday. But I love you mom
and I hope you have a great weekend since I'll be writing you soon.
Take care!
Elder Baer
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Jacob - July 5, 2016
Hey Mom, it's good to hear that you had a good week. Just to let you know, I was able to write out an email for John so hopefully he can get 50. But it sounds like your week was pretty busy. I enjoyed your little "gate of baptism" lesson. It sounds really interesting and that is a perfect mentality to have, because it's true! I guess sometimes we get caught up thinking about being perfect that we aren't worthy to be in the kingdom, but like how you said it... That's the reason we have the atonement. Brilliant! You always were a great teacher. Also super cool that you did a song deal at sacrament meeting. I think that's something they don't do super often in the Spanish wards, also there are like 100 songs missing compared to the English hymn book. But it's all good.
Anyways this week was good for me. Juan came to church again and it seems like it'll be a little tough to teach him. He's a very busy man so Sunday's will be our only days to teach him. But I'm confident that he'll be ready after teaching him everything. Also 4th of July was sweet! We had to be inside at 8, but from 8:45-9:30 it's been nonstop fire works. Elder Mark and I also found a pretty tall building where we took some pictures and videos, it was cool. We also ate some tasty food at an investigators house. Oh and something I can't forget, the mission had its 50th anniversary! So we had a cool program where a bunch of the cultures did little things to participate. There was a Spanish & Tongan dance (separate), the ASL missionaries signed a son, and the Korean elders sang a version of "I believe in Christ," oh my goodness it was probably the best song I've ever heard as far as hymns go. Super spiritual. We then heard from a bunch of past mission presidents. And for the closing remarks we heard Elder Acosta. I'm not sure if you remember, but I served in the same Ward as him back in SA10, but he is an amazing man. So humble, and knowledgable of the gospel. He's a concert and shared with us his conversion story. It was super spiritual. And lastly the Mission Choir sang a song to close it off. It was a mission song from 50 years ago called "Our Hearts Beat Strong." Man that was a great event. Oh and also I was able to go an exchange with elder Galleguillos since he is a ZL in my zone. It was a lot of fun and super cool to see the improvements we've made over the past few months. Something we talked a lot about that day is the importance of members in missionary work. I loved how he put it, he said, "the only way an area can catch fire, is with the help of the members." It's definitely something that I've seen in my time here. Everything is better when a member joins us for a lesson or fellowships people at church. And also referrals! Those are always awesome. And the last thing this week worth writing about is Zone Meeting. We went over the importance of the Spirit. We talked about the importance of faith filled prayers and having the right mentality as we pray. It was a good zone meeting. But overall the week was good, I can't really think of much else to say. Hopefully that's enough for this week. Love you mom and I hope you have a great week!
Elder Baer
Anyways this week was good for me. Juan came to church again and it seems like it'll be a little tough to teach him. He's a very busy man so Sunday's will be our only days to teach him. But I'm confident that he'll be ready after teaching him everything. Also 4th of July was sweet! We had to be inside at 8, but from 8:45-9:30 it's been nonstop fire works. Elder Mark and I also found a pretty tall building where we took some pictures and videos, it was cool. We also ate some tasty food at an investigators house. Oh and something I can't forget, the mission had its 50th anniversary! So we had a cool program where a bunch of the cultures did little things to participate. There was a Spanish & Tongan dance (separate), the ASL missionaries signed a son, and the Korean elders sang a version of "I believe in Christ," oh my goodness it was probably the best song I've ever heard as far as hymns go. Super spiritual. We then heard from a bunch of past mission presidents. And for the closing remarks we heard Elder Acosta. I'm not sure if you remember, but I served in the same Ward as him back in SA10, but he is an amazing man. So humble, and knowledgable of the gospel. He's a concert and shared with us his conversion story. It was super spiritual. And lastly the Mission Choir sang a song to close it off. It was a mission song from 50 years ago called "Our Hearts Beat Strong." Man that was a great event. Oh and also I was able to go an exchange with elder Galleguillos since he is a ZL in my zone. It was a lot of fun and super cool to see the improvements we've made over the past few months. Something we talked a lot about that day is the importance of members in missionary work. I loved how he put it, he said, "the only way an area can catch fire, is with the help of the members." It's definitely something that I've seen in my time here. Everything is better when a member joins us for a lesson or fellowships people at church. And also referrals! Those are always awesome. And the last thing this week worth writing about is Zone Meeting. We went over the importance of the Spirit. We talked about the importance of faith filled prayers and having the right mentality as we pray. It was a good zone meeting. But overall the week was good, I can't really think of much else to say. Hopefully that's enough for this week. Love you mom and I hope you have a great week!
Elder Baer
Monday, July 4, 2016
Jacob - June 27, 2016
Hey everyone, it was good to hear from you all. Apologies for writing
a group email this week. But I don't have a lot of time before sport
time begins. I got a get my b-ball on. But this week went by pretty
good. We still weren't able to have a ton of lessons, but we were able
to see an awesome blessing. So even though our numbers hasn't been
great, we were able to finally teach Juan yesterday after church (the
guy who has been coming the past 3 weeks.) it was sweet, he kind of
dropped out of the sky. But he has a date for the 17th next month so
hopefully that'll happen. Also I had a crazy exchange Saturday with
elder Castillo this past Saturday. We were teaching a lesson with this
guy named Roberto, when all of a sudden in the middle of the prayer
his crazy sister came out and sprayed him with a hose and then turned
it on me... Probably my most crazy experience yet in the mission. But
it was a refreshing ride home (on bike). Um that's mostly what comes
to mind for this week. But I love you all and hope you have a great
week.
Elder Baer
Hey mom, I'll make this one a quick email since I wrote one to you
all. But a few weeks ago I thought of a super cool thought. I know you
love math so my comp and I made a math equation for how the attributes
of Christ work. (At least in my mind.) so an exponential equation
starts out super small, like .0000000000047 or something like that,
but as it goes down the graph it slowly becomes bigger until it shoots
right? So I like to think our earth life is those beginning moments.
We might not see the progress as clear as day, but when we die and are
later resurrected we begin to see the signs and when we are exalted it
just shoots! I'm not sure if it's exactly how it works, but it's a
cool way to look at it. Also the idea came because it seems that if
you increase one attribute of Christ, another will increase too until
it goes around in a circle to the one that started. Idk it's a cool
thought, we also had the idea of how black holes are like a visual
representation of sons of perdition. That one was interesting too, but
I'll try and have some more spiritual ideas as I write you. Right now
I'm reading the New Testament and so far it's great. I'll probably
finish the gospel of Mathew tomorrow. But I love you mom, you're
awesome!
Elder Baer
a group email this week. But I don't have a lot of time before sport
time begins. I got a get my b-ball on. But this week went by pretty
good. We still weren't able to have a ton of lessons, but we were able
to see an awesome blessing. So even though our numbers hasn't been
great, we were able to finally teach Juan yesterday after church (the
guy who has been coming the past 3 weeks.) it was sweet, he kind of
dropped out of the sky. But he has a date for the 17th next month so
hopefully that'll happen. Also I had a crazy exchange Saturday with
elder Castillo this past Saturday. We were teaching a lesson with this
guy named Roberto, when all of a sudden in the middle of the prayer
his crazy sister came out and sprayed him with a hose and then turned
it on me... Probably my most crazy experience yet in the mission. But
it was a refreshing ride home (on bike). Um that's mostly what comes
to mind for this week. But I love you all and hope you have a great
week.
Elder Baer
Hey mom, I'll make this one a quick email since I wrote one to you
all. But a few weeks ago I thought of a super cool thought. I know you
love math so my comp and I made a math equation for how the attributes
of Christ work. (At least in my mind.) so an exponential equation
starts out super small, like .0000000000047 or something like that,
but as it goes down the graph it slowly becomes bigger until it shoots
right? So I like to think our earth life is those beginning moments.
We might not see the progress as clear as day, but when we die and are
later resurrected we begin to see the signs and when we are exalted it
just shoots! I'm not sure if it's exactly how it works, but it's a
cool way to look at it. Also the idea came because it seems that if
you increase one attribute of Christ, another will increase too until
it goes around in a circle to the one that started. Idk it's a cool
thought, we also had the idea of how black holes are like a visual
representation of sons of perdition. That one was interesting too, but
I'll try and have some more spiritual ideas as I write you. Right now
I'm reading the New Testament and so far it's great. I'll probably
finish the gospel of Mathew tomorrow. But I love you mom, you're
awesome!
Elder Baer
Jacob - June 20, 2016
But this week went ok, not much to write
about honestly. It was tough and frustrating because we had not a lot
of lessons, but I'm hopefully because there was an investigator that
came to church for two weeks straight now without even hearing the
missionary lessons. So he has tons of potential. But we're working and
trying to patient. Hopefully this week we'll go by a little better.
But I love you both and hope you have a great week!
Elder Baer
about honestly. It was tough and frustrating because we had not a lot
of lessons, but I'm hopefully because there was an investigator that
came to church for two weeks straight now without even hearing the
missionary lessons. So he has tons of potential. But we're working and
trying to patient. Hopefully this week we'll go by a little better.
But I love you both and hope you have a great week!
Elder Baer
Jacob - June 16, 2016
Hey mom, it's good to hear from you. That's pretty cool that a family
got baptized back home. That's also cool that Tayler got to
participate in the blessing circle. I didn't even know they had
another child so it was weird to hear that from grandma last week. Um
also it's good to hear that your college stuff is finishing up. I
think I took my time with that a little for granted. I could of tried
to work a little harder at it, but it's good to see that you are
determined to finish it. Also it sounds like Tennessee will be a lot
of fun. Maybe it's not math, but at the least its an opportunity to
learn. That's a characteristic that is super awesome. It seems like we
talk to a lot of people each day, but hardly anyone is interested in
learning more about the Gospel, or increasing their faith. It's tough,
but I'm staying patient with it. Just today we saw a family at the
mission office. They were looking for things to study so some
Hermana's gave them a bible and Book of Mormon. But they could be in
our area so hopefully we can teach them soon. Also another member
brought a friend to church yesterday and it turns out that he lives in
our area. So we'll see what comes with them this week. Oh and I did
get the pants, they fit me nicely so thank you a bunches for doing
that. I think I'm good as far as stuff. I did like the pics you sent.
Please feel free to send me anymore at anytime. I'm sorry I haven't
been able to send you any lately. I haven't taken a lot of pics, but
we'll see about these coming weeks. And if the video won't send, don't
worry about it. It hasn't even been in my mind this week. It's pretty
crazy how Monday's I usually think of family in friends, just a
little. But then when the week starts back up its all on the work.
For this week it went ok. A lot of the appointments to visit members &
investigators fell through... That was tough, but elder Mark and I are
going to try sacrificing a few things to hopefully bring more success
to our area. Also today is transfers! Nothing is happening to me and
my comp, so not much to say about that. But there were a bunch of
other moves in the mission that were exciting. Oh and also this week I
finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time in the mission.
And I'm almost to Alma in the él libro de mormón. I've noticed that as
I read that I've been able to get pretty good at looking for context
clues so I understand more and more each time. But there are still
lots of words that I still don't understand. Also reading Spanish and
hearing Spanish are two different things entirely, but it's coming
along. I'm not too sure what else to report on for this week. It was
pretty normal, just a lot of work on trying to find people to teach,
but also in helping the members to be more active/strengthen their
testimonies.
Elder Baer
got baptized back home. That's also cool that Tayler got to
participate in the blessing circle. I didn't even know they had
another child so it was weird to hear that from grandma last week. Um
also it's good to hear that your college stuff is finishing up. I
think I took my time with that a little for granted. I could of tried
to work a little harder at it, but it's good to see that you are
determined to finish it. Also it sounds like Tennessee will be a lot
of fun. Maybe it's not math, but at the least its an opportunity to
learn. That's a characteristic that is super awesome. It seems like we
talk to a lot of people each day, but hardly anyone is interested in
learning more about the Gospel, or increasing their faith. It's tough,
but I'm staying patient with it. Just today we saw a family at the
mission office. They were looking for things to study so some
Hermana's gave them a bible and Book of Mormon. But they could be in
our area so hopefully we can teach them soon. Also another member
brought a friend to church yesterday and it turns out that he lives in
our area. So we'll see what comes with them this week. Oh and I did
get the pants, they fit me nicely so thank you a bunches for doing
that. I think I'm good as far as stuff. I did like the pics you sent.
Please feel free to send me anymore at anytime. I'm sorry I haven't
been able to send you any lately. I haven't taken a lot of pics, but
we'll see about these coming weeks. And if the video won't send, don't
worry about it. It hasn't even been in my mind this week. It's pretty
crazy how Monday's I usually think of family in friends, just a
little. But then when the week starts back up its all on the work.
For this week it went ok. A lot of the appointments to visit members &
investigators fell through... That was tough, but elder Mark and I are
going to try sacrificing a few things to hopefully bring more success
to our area. Also today is transfers! Nothing is happening to me and
my comp, so not much to say about that. But there were a bunch of
other moves in the mission that were exciting. Oh and also this week I
finished reading the Book of Mormon for the 2nd time in the mission.
And I'm almost to Alma in the él libro de mormón. I've noticed that as
I read that I've been able to get pretty good at looking for context
clues so I understand more and more each time. But there are still
lots of words that I still don't understand. Also reading Spanish and
hearing Spanish are two different things entirely, but it's coming
along. I'm not too sure what else to report on for this week. It was
pretty normal, just a lot of work on trying to find people to teach,
but also in helping the members to be more active/strengthen their
testimonies.
Elder Baer
Jacob - June 6, 2016
Hey mom, well I'm glad to hear that you had a good week, it's also good to hear that all the wedding stuff is settling down. My week went pretty well, but overall I'd say it was pretty normal. We've been trying to improve the missionary work within the Ward & from what I can see so far.. It's looking good. There were still a few times were my patience has been tested, but they're just moments that I shrug off. Um the Spanish is going good. I've sort of developed a more optimistic view on it. Tomorrow I hit the 1/3 mark so I figure if people already believe I speak Spanish now, who knows what they'll think in another 16 months. But the work is fun and I'm excited to see what this week will bring, we've been able to schedule a lot of visits so hopefully those all happen. But there's not much more I can think of other than that. Well actually I take that back, I do remember one thing that was sweet. I got to go on an exchange with elder Groesbeck. It was a lot of fun and we had some pretty humbling experiences with some members & other potential investigators. So we both are still pretty young in our missions so sometimes we understand Spanish and sometimes not. But one house we went to their was a lady that would throw in what she knew about English and it was pretty humbling to see someone to try they're best to help us out when that kind of stuff should be our job. But anyway that was a great day and I was able to learn a few things. But that's about it. I love you and hope you have a great week!
Elder Baer
Elder Baer
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