December 12,"Transfers-Tallahassee"

So some surprise news! Transfers were this past week and we were expecting that I would be staying in Crestview and hopefully Sister Saunders would stay as well for at least one more transfer. Well, President Smith called us early one morning to tell us that I am getting transferred to Tallahassee to be head STL (kinda the equivalent to an AP for sisters) with Sister Stephens who is going home next transfer! I am really grateful to get this opportunity early on my mission to learn what I can from the amazing sisters in the mission! I am grateful that the Lord trusts me enough to be this for Him!

This week was a good week! Sister Saunders and I noticed this past week how stagnant Crestview is and we have felt some challenging times here, especially this past week, but we both grew a lot out of it and tried to find the joy and happiness in doing what we could even if others were unresponsive. I am really sad I am leaving Crestview especially because there are so many members and families that I have grown to love and sad I will miss Christmas here, but happy for change and the growth that comes with that. 

Love y'all so much! Next time we write I will be in Tally! 

Sister Baker

December 5,"Month Of Service"

Another busy, all over, crazy week but a good week!

We had Missionary Leadership Council this week and then Sisters Conference where all the sisters in the mission came together and the Mission president and wife spoke and it was a really inspiring event, and also exchanges! The Sister's Conference was all focused on Anchoring Ourselves in Jesus Christ and on working on ourselves with Christ so that we can become something more! I really have seen that on my mission and so grateful for the ways He is refining me and molding me! I loved being able to see all the sisters that I really have grown to love and admire! They had the sisters that are soon to be departing bear their testimonies and it is so inspiring to hear their heartfelt testimonies of the Savior! I have really appreciated their examples to me and hope that I can be for someone what they were and are to me! 

For December 1st (Worldwide day of Service) President Smith came to Crestview to help us serve at a local soup kitchen. I am really excited for the greater emphasis there is on service this month and to see God's hand more as we look for ways to serve and give of ourselves.

I am really looking forward to Christmas on the mission! The members here are so good at making sure we are taken care of and fed and loved! 

We find out transfer news this Saturday and I am hoping for more time with Sister Saunder's but I know God will have His hand in whatever happens! 

Love y'all! Thank y'all for your continued support and love!

Sister Baker

November 28,"Thanksgiving" 7 months

Zone Training was this week which is where all the Elders and the Sisters in the zone get together and the Zone Leader's and the STL's discuss for a couple hours the mission initiative of obedience through charity and love and service. The church just came out with a new Christmas initiative talking all about service and Jesus Christ so we have been using that lately as a finding tool! As missionaries and members, we have been challenged to do different service projects for those around us for 25 days leading up to Christmas. I am really looking forward to seeing the many hearts that will be softened and uplifted because we are striving to follow Christ's example and serve those who are placed in our path. 

To start off the Thanksgiving day, we served at a local soup kitchen/church and met with a lot of those around us who are less fortunate. It made me happy to be able to do something for them and excited to think of all the ways this next month of December we are going to be looking for opportunities to look outside of ourselves and give! 

We had so many people in the ward invite us to their Thanksgiving meals which was so wonderful! Except for the fact that we had a hard time saying no so we had 3 full Thanksgiving meals (fried turkey, stuffing which they call "dressing" here, sweet potato casseroles, rolls, pies, the works) all within 5 hours. We drove from one dinner appointment to the next and our stomachs were plenty full but it was so good to be with all the wonderful members of the ward! We feel very loved! 

We have met a lot of amazing families and people this past week who we are very excited to see where they go! I am grateful to be serving a mission and I really do have so much to be grateful for! Going on a mission has opened my eyes to all the many ways the Lord has blessed me and prepared me to be here and also all the ways He is preparing me for the future! I am grateful for the joy that I am discovering on the mission as I try to give more of myself and hold nothing back from the Lord. There is joy in the work! 

Love y'all!

Sister Baker

November 21

This past week Sister Saunders and I went on two exchanges with some wonderful sisters in the zone! I feel like I have really learned so much from observing others sisters and how much they give for the gospel! They are examples to me!

My first exchange was with Sister Dominique who is a recent convert! Our exchange was a blast especially when the car decided to not start right after our lesson and we spent the rest of our exchange in a Firestone auto shop waiting for our car to be fixed. Good times! 

The second exchange was with Sister Trawick (who I forgot to take a picture with, whoops) and it was neat to be with her! She is still pretty new and I remember what exchanges felt like when you are still getting the hang of things. I remember how I felt about the STL's and how much I learned and looked up to them so it's cool for me to think that I can be like that for someone else!

A quote that has been my motto for the past week is that "Opposition permits us to grow  toward what our Heavenly Father would have us become." And I have seen that! I have seen God help me a lot this past week and make me strong beyond my own power to do so! I have been praying for more faith this past month and I see now how much faith and trust I do have in God, and I am grateful for all that he gives and takes away so that I can learn to become more of what he wants for me!

 I am grateful for this Thanksgiving week to reflect on all the things I have to be grateful for! I am grateful for my family and friends that support me and love me! 

Sister Baker

November 14,"Mission Reunion"

This week was crazy busy but I am loving it! We had Missionary Leadership council with all the leaders in the mission and the Mission President, where we talked about the needs and concerns of the missionaries here and it was so awesome to discuss what we can do to help improve the mission culture. I love this mission and our zone!

Sister Saunders and I are getting along so well, I consider her one of my really good friends on the mission. We are having fun getting to know the area and the people here better! Time seems to be flying by, I can tell this transfer with her is going to go by too quick!

One cool experience this week was with an elderly lady named Sister Fonville. We came by and you could tell that she was just not in a good place spiritually, and she told us she just wanted to give up, she was never going to be able to quit smoking, and never make it to the temple! The thought came to us to ask her where she thought all these negative thoughts were coming from and right then you could tell the spirit change in the lesson. Right as we all acknowledged that Satan was putting all of that in her head, she softened and the rest of the lesson was full of hope and faith. Her countenance was completely different. I am going to miss experiences like that where God works through you to help someone get off their spiritual cliff. 

There is a lot of good things up ahead for me in this area! I love Crestview and the ward and the families and all their examples to me! I am learning so much!

Love y'all so much! 

Sister Baker

October 31,"Transfer News" 6 months

So this past week, Sister Bradley and I got a call from the mission president telling us that Sister Bradley is staying and training a new missionary in Toxey and I am getting transferred to Crestview Florida to be a Sister Training Leader! I am really excited for the change and the opportunity to be able to serve the sisters in that area, as well as the new people I will meet! We drive down tomorrow, so next time I write I will be in Florida!

A lot of good happened this week which was awesome for my last week here! We had exchanges, I hit my 6th month mark and the countdown begins, and we had ButlerFest which is a huge annual event. I have never seen so many people in Toxey before; there were hundreds of people from all over and we spent a whole two days handing out fliers, meeting people, and getting out in the community. Our booth was focused on family history and letting people know about the workshop we are holding soon. A lot of people were interested and it was such a fun time because we don't get a lot of opportunities like that in Toxey!

Since we found out about transfer news and me leaving, it was so special to see how much I loved these people and how loved I felt in this area! One part member family that has never fed the missionaries before, invited us over for a cookout (fried oysters, fried shrimp, boiled shrimp, fried fish, hushpuppies, the works!) and he gave me my going away present which was one of his beer mugs! It was awesome! Transfers are sad because of how close you get with people, and I have gotten really close with the people in Toxey, but I am looking forward to the growth and stretching that is going to come as I move areas/states! 

Love y'all!

Sister Baker

Picture Explanations:

Matching on exchanges; I like to match whatever the STL wears and I've gotten pretty good at it!

My boy Danny, who likes his Bud Light almost as much as he loves his sister missionaries

The biker gang vs. the missionaries 

October 24, "This Is The Place"

This week, we didn't have too much going on in terms of our plans but it was amazing to see that as we went on with our day and trusted that God would provide, things would come up and the next thing we know, our day is gone! Every day felt like that and I am so grateful that God is mindful of us and helping us along! 

It was Glen's birthday this past week (the investigator that we recently found and now has a baptismal date), so the Elder's and us went over to give him a surprise birthday party and had a birthday cake and everything! It felt so good to see him so happy and he kept telling us that this was one of his best birthdays! 

This past week, we had a lot of good experiences with people and trying to get out in the community through service, by going to high school football games (it is a big deal here), and Assembly of God luncheons, which was funny because a member there took all the missionaries on a tour of the sanctuary after, and told us at the end, "If y'all ever have any questions, this is the place to come get answers." 

This upcoming weekend we hear about transfers so I will let y'all know next Monday what happens. I am excited to see where the Lord wants me, whether that is to continue here in this Branch or to go somewhere else! I am so very grateful for all that I have experienced these past 6 months! I can't believe how fast this week went by and how fast my mission is going by! I think about how much I have changed and I feel like a different person than when I started only a couple months ago! I am excited to see how much more God will continue to grow and change me!

Love yall!

Sister Baker

October 17, "Joy In The Work"

This week we met with one of our newer investigators, Sarah, and we taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it was an amazing lesson with her. She is just so accepting and open and teachable and I love teaching someone like her! At the end, we followed up on her BOM reading (we gave her 3 Nephi 11 to read) and I was sort-of expecting her to not have read and tell us some reason she never got to it, but when we asked her she looked at the BOM in her hands and told us how good she feels when she reads it! She also said that everything we say is familiar to her, like she already knows it and we are just reminding her! I was so impressed that not only did she read but she read more than what we asked. I am excited to see where this lady goes! It is people like her that make your hard times on the mission all the worthwhile! 

Then, later this week we met with Glen (the man that has cancer) and he started talking about how he believes in prophets and apostles in this day and age and how now "we just gotta find 'em." and it was such a cool feeling to be able to say, "Well, we ARE led today by a prophet and apostles and the prophets name is Thomas S. Monson." He got really interested then and asked ,"Well, do y'all hear from him since your missionaries, what does he say?" I am so grateful that conference was a little while ago so we could talk to him about how we hear from the leaders of our church every 6 months and what they are telling us for our day! 

This week we had Stake Conference in Mobile and it was such a good feeling to be surrounded by all the Saints and to feel the strength that comes from that! This week was a crazy one and some pretty tough moments but I feel the strength that comes as I put God's will over my own. I am grateful for each and every challenge because I know God is preparing me and stretching me into who HE needs me to be! Thanks for the support Love y'all!

Sister Baker

Picture Explanations:

Babies are my favorite (every baby I want to hold but can only look at from a distance)

Gas stations preparing for Butler Fest

My new pet snake

"Growing Gratitude"

This past week we had mission conference and Elder Sitati from the Seventy came and spoke to all of us. He did a Q/A and spoke of his experience of him and his wife converting to the church in Kenya. He was a super intellectual guy and it was so fun to hear him talk, especially so soon after General Conference! I learned so much!

Our Branch did a special fast this past Sunday for the missionary efforts for the area. I am so grateful for the chance I've had to be apart of this Branch. I have learned so much from the last minute calls to teach Relief Society (right after sacrament ends), sacrament talks every so often, and being so needed and utilized! They are so few in number and like President Eyring talked about in this recent General Conference: "I have felt that transformation of growing gratitude for blessings and a love of God increasing across the Church. It seems to accelerate among members of the Church in times and places where there are trials of their faith, where they have to plead to God for help to even carry on." A lot of them have to struggle to keep going, but they are so amazing and unified and I am definitely grateful for them and all that they've taught me in my short time being here!

Thank y'all for the support every week! I am grateful for all the examples I have in my life and even among the trials, I am truly grateful I am here, I know God is changing me into who He wants me to become! Love y'all!

Sister Baker

Picture Explanations:

I FOUND MY FRIEND! I had a religion class at BYU with this girl and we would always talk about my mission call to the FTM (she had just put her papers in) and then that class ended, only to find out that she got called to the exact same mission as me! At mission conference, we finally met again on the mission!!

The Toxey District Reunion

October 3, "5 Months"

This week was another good one and having General Conference at the John's plantation was an amazing way to end it! I got so much from it and I kept thinking about the many families and individuals in Toxey that need to hear certain talks! I thought Eyring's talk seemed to perfectly describe our little branch! It was something else to hear the speakers talking about missionaries and thinking that I was one of them! The theme to me seemed to be finding joy in the work and letting God's will override our will, something that I am really working on! "What can be more joyful than sharing the Gospel with God's children?"

This week was amazing as I have finished the Book of Mormon for the third time since I have been out and then to hear conference and all the talks about the power in the Book of Mormon! I am so very grateful for that book and all that I have learned and felt as I have read it! I am so grateful that it has been a part of my life growing up and now that I have felt of that joy, to want to share that with others! 

An experience that really touched me this past week was when we were able to meet with Rachel at her shop and share with her the Family Proclamation for the first time and talk about the temple and eternal marriage with her. It still amazes me how something I grew up always knowing really touched her and comforted her knowing that families still continue on after death, that we believe and teach that. I am so grateful for the many examples of strong marriages and families in my life! That proclamation and General Conference make me so grateful for living prophets and apostles and continued revelation!

I love my Toxey Family!

Love and miss y'all!

Sister Baker

September 26, "There Is Nothing Quite Like It"

We brought a member along to teach Yvonne and it was an amazing lesson! It is so interesting to hear about other peoples perspective on growing up in different churches and Sister Blakley relates with that so well, being a convert herself. I loved hearing her talk about the church and saying things like, "It is simply beautiful, there is nothing like it. It is the same message everywhere you go. And the Spirit there, there is nothing like it, and I know!" Members that know and live the Gospel are so powerful and bring the Spirit so much in lessons!

We went to a funeral this week of the father of a Less active/ Part Member family and the entire district went to show support. We were all standing around and I felt the need to go talk to this lady sitting by herself. I pushed the thought away a couple times but then finally, I decided to just sit down to this lady and start talking. Lida is a hoot and she kept telling us how nice we all are and by the end of the conversation, we had her name, number, address, and a dinner appointment with the Sisters, Elders, and the Senior Couple and her entire family is going to come meet us! People like Lida are miracles and I am grateful to meet people like her every week!

Women's Conference was amazing! The Relief Society had a potluck (feast) and we watched it on a little tv in the chapel. Even though it was only 10 women there (including the sister missionaries) the Spirit was still the same from when I was at home watching it with a big ward. Some things I liked...

"Faith comes to those who pay the price of faithfulness."

"Faith deepens in afflictions." 

"He would do anything to take this from you, in fact, He already has."

I am so grateful for inspired leaders that direct God's work on the earth. 

Love yall so much! 

Sister Baker

Funny occurrences: The people here keep telling me how I don't sound so city anymore, I talk like a Southerner. Goal #1: complete

A preacher at the Senior Center decides to make the entirety of his "sermon" blonde jokes....I'm the only blonde there

One of our investigators gives us a bottle of oil telling us to anoint ourselves and proceeds to rub some on her face and tells us how she drinks it sometimes to "cleanse the insides" 

Sept 19, ''Rachels Baptism"

This week, a lot of things fell through but it ended so well with Rachel's baptism and confirmation! She was so excited to be baptized and it was such a spiritual moment to watch someone take those first steps towards Heavenly Father. She was confirmed the next day and the blessing was so perfect and tailored to her! Then after church, she got a calling as primary teacher. In Toxey we like to get them in real quick! She really is such an amazing missionary, she was baptized one day and the next day she brought someone with her to church! 

Cool experience for the week: we were driving and I see this man outside of a house and we pass by and I was debating whether I should turn around or just keep going. Then the first two commandments came to my mind and the thought "If I keep driving, am I keeping the commandments to love God and my fellowman? So with that, I turn the car around and walk up to find the man gone but a woman outside. We start talking and she tells us about her son that has cancer and how sick he is and I say the typical, "Well we would love to help anyway we can..." to which she responds, "Oh we would love that, come inside and put your hands on him or do whatever y'all do, come" and she starts leading us inside to give her son a blessing. So we walk inside and call the Elders so they could put their hands on him and give him a blessing and it was such an awesome blessing! It was so funny when she asked the Elders, "Do we (talking about us and herself) need to put our hands on him too?" She is very interested in the church so we are all very excited to see where this one goes!

Love y'all!

Sister Baker

September 12 "Toxey Update"

Being out of our area for two days made us have lots to do when we got back! We met a lot with Rachel, who is getting baptized this Saturday! It is amazing to see her faith and how excited she is to become a member! She is already an amazing missionary, inviting people from her hair studio to sit-in in our on-the-spot lessons with her and talking about the church to everyone. Her story leading up to investigating the Mormon church is really interesting; she used to stress about the after life and where we go after death and she was so comforted learning about the Plan of Salvation and how we believe that families are forever. It is amazing to me to see how something I have known since I was little and didn't think too much about brought someone so much relief and comfort. The blessings of knowing the Gospel is true are endless! 

We had an amazing lesson with Travis and Scarlet Downey (Paula's less active son and his fiancee). We had planned to watch the 20 minute Restoration movie and give them each a Book of Mormon, and leading up to it I was a little scared because Travis has told us that before he has had missionaries that seemed that they just wanted to shove the Book of Mormon down your throat, but when the time came they were so interested in the movie and asking questions and when we gave them their books they were so thankful and excited to read it! They really are such a wonderful couple and I am excited to see what God has in store for them! 

This week was a really good week and I feel Sister Bradley and I learned a lot from each other and the people and the work here. The new Elder's are going to do awesome for this area and the Senior Couple have amazing life experiences that are so helpful for Toxey. I am grateful each and every day for the chance to be a missionary! 

Love y'all 

sister Baker

Made Sister Bradley some eggs and grits! Basically a Southerner!

Sept 6 "Hello From Fairhope!!!"

Where to begin about this week? Earlier this week, we got a call from our district leader saying that they are getting emergency transferred, and that we are taking over the area for a little while until they get us new Elders, so for a couple days we were lone sisters up in Toxey. We took over the Elders investigator that has a baptisimal date for September 17th, so we are really loving her. She is a hairdresser and talks to hundreds of people a week and is already talking about the church and has some people that are interested. People are so key here, everyone in the branch is so needed and Toxey wouldn't be the same without any one of them. The Senior couple came this week too, so that has helped us a lot and they are really amazing and needed here. Paula also got a calling this week after sacrament. It feels good to see people coming closer to Christ and think that God worked through you to reach them. 

We had Zone Conference this week and I loved it so much and you always learn something you needed and your area needed. After, we did a finding activity and Sister Haught (going home in two weeks) and I went to parking lots and OYMed (open your mouth) people there and meet so many cool potentials.

This week was really amazing. It is so crazy to feel all the ways God is working on me! Things that used to scare me and I would dread now are normal, like pulling over and talking to somebody about the Gospel or teaching repentance. I am grateful for the missionaries He has placed in my path, starting with me siblings to my friends who served or are serving and now, the many amazing Sisters I have got to know better this past week. 

Love y'all! Thanks for the support and emails! 

Sister Baker

August 29," Get Behind Me Satan, I'm Going To Church!" 4 Months

This week was a crazy week but a lot of good happened too, which makes it all worth it!

We had a lesson with Elizabeth, one of our investigators, and we were planning on going in and teaching her one thing but as we were talking with her I felt inspired to completely teach another lesson, so we pulled out the Ensign talk, "He Will Place you on His Shoulders and Carry You Home" and read that with her. As were talking, she got really excited looking at the pictures in that talk because apparently her grandparents are from Germany and have pictures next to those exact statues and buildings. She was really touched and amazed that of all the talks we could have shared with her and her kids, we shared the one talk that she has a family connection to. I am really grateful that the Spirit helped us know what she needed in that moment and I feel it really opened her up to the message we are trying to share with her. 

We had exchanges this past week so Sister Bradley and I drove to Monroeville (about two hours away) and I was companions with Sister Masiasomua for the day. It was so awesome to be with her because she was serving with Sister Jensen right before I came to Toxey so she was asking me about all the people we were seeing. Plus, she looks and acts so much like Vinny Baby so I was laughing to myself as were talking because I felt like I was talking to Vanessa. She really inspired me and I came away from that exchange really excited to come back and work in Toxey.

Our main struggle here is getting people to church! Everyone always tells us after each lesson, "Oh yeah I'll be at church, I'm coming" and we get all excited and then no one comes. So that has been our focus and will continue to be our focus here. Paula was able to come and it was so cool to talk with her after as she told me about how she burned her hand and how it was hard for her to get ready for church and she was getting frustrated and finally just screamed out loud, "Get behind me Satan, I'm going to church!" That's why she is one of my favorite ladies.

Love y'all!

Sister Baker

Pictures:

Sister M and I and our matching outfits, she copied me ;)

The Flower's "bomb shelter" in their front yard

August 22 "Im The Best Trainer Ever"

So this week was a wild one but Sister Bradley is handling it like a champ, all the crazy discussions, the tracting, the last minute schedule changes. I am really grateful for her and how she is just pushing through. We have a lot of fun and it is good to be able to rely on her.

Earlier in the week, all our appointments fell through (my favorite thing) so we decided to start walking to save miles. Well, it took about 35 minutes before we hit our first mailbox and Sister Bradley kindly pointed out that her heels were currently bleeding quite a bit. Since we walked all the way there we decide to knock on one more house, get let it, and we start talking to these two ladies and I ask the younger looking one if this lady next to her (in a wheelchair, looks so frail and weathered) is her mom to which she responds "this is my sister" and with that, I just move on because there is nothing I can do to help myself at that point. After that, we decided to start heading home only to have it start raining on us. And to make this occasion even better, my shoulder strap on my bag completely tore off. At the end of it, I was just laughing because that's mission life for you! Gotta love it!

Something I have been trying to do a lot more in lessons is to testify of Jesus Christ in the first couple of minutes of being there and make sure that in every lesson, no matter what we are talking about, we always bring it back to the person and Him. This week has taught me a lot. In one lesson in particular I started bearing my testimony about Joseph Smith, the first vision, and the Restored Gospel and for once in that lesson, everyone was silent and paying attention. It was a realization moment to me just how powerful personal testimonies are. The phrase, you don't know what you have until you share your testimony is so true. I am so grateful that as I am focusing on Him and bearing testimony of Him and His work, lessons seem to be a lot more powerful and impacful. I am grateful for the testimony that I do have that this, the Gospel is all true and it truly can help people. I know that as I bear it more, people will be able to feel the love and the Spirit of what we are trying to teach them.

I love these people, I never thought I could love these people quite this much! They have taught me in so many ways what to be Christ-like really means! 

Love y'all so much!

Sister Baker

August 15 "Sister Bradley"

Hello fam and friends! 

So, I have a new companion, Sister Bradley. It is different being a trainer and having a new companion but throughout this week I have seen how good she is and can be for Toxey! I am excited for this new change and have seen already the ways I have become better because I want to be that example of going up to people and talking and putting myself out there. 

Sister Bradley is from Helper, Utah and she loves Toxey because she is from a small town so it feels like home to her. From what I have seen thus far the people like her and she really has just jumped right in!

This past week was lots of driving and being out of our area so we were not able to see too many people but it has still been a pretty good week. Yvonne has committed to a baptismal date on September 10th to which we are really excited about. We are hoping having this date in mind and having something to work towards will help her as she is trying to really know for herself that it is all true. 

Having a new companion has made me think about when I first got out here and what I was thinking and going through only 3 1/2 months ago, and it is crazy how you just fall in love so quickly with these people and this area, with the lack of decent roads and all. I love Toxey and I am so grateful the Lord has sent me here to start my mission. I am thankful for all the ways my trust and faith in God has been strengthened here on a mission and some days I really don't want to fall asleep, it feels so amazing to be a missionary and I am worried the feeling will leave when I wake up.

I love y'all tons!

Sister Baker

Picture Explanations:

Last District Picture in Toxey

New comp Sister Bradley

August 8 "Blessed Week"

This week was so crazy but in the best way! I love Toxey, the people here are truly the best!

To start off, we had to drive to Tallahassee (6+ hours one way) to get our Tiwi system fixed in our car (the thing that tells us to "check your speed" if we get a certain amount over the speed limit) Side note: the thing is still acting up, I think because now we made it angry and it yells at us ALL the time, so we drove 14 hours for that but it actually was exactly what I needed. While it was getting "fixed" we did splits with the head STL's who serve on the TCC campus and talk to people our age ALL day. At first, I was really scared but then we just started talking to everyone and generally the kids were pretty nice and accepting so it was really fun! Sister Haught was so awesome and I loved having the time to see her example as a missionary since she goes home next transfer. It really made me think about what kind of missionary I want to be and I learned so much and already I have seen a difference in Toxey applying what they taught us.

Lee really wants to know if this is all true. We think she already knows but she still hasn't had "the prayer" with God yet but this week she is going on vacation and she is bringing the BOM and she is going to find a quiet time to pray and really ask "the question". So we are really excited for her because she told us how much she is looking forward to someday getting baptized and feeling clean and having the HG with her all the time. 

This week we meet with Paula Downey's less active son and his fiancee and their new baby and we LOVE them. I feel like they might be the family I am here for because they are just so wonderful and responding so well to us.

This Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and Paula bore her testimony and she talked about being less active and how difficult that was and how "when you are at rock bottom, Satan wants you to follow him further down" and then she looked at us in the congregation and said "I would not be here at this pulpit if it was not for those two beautiful sister missionaries. It is through the grace of God that I am here and that He still has a work for me to do." AHH! Moments like that are amazing! And her husband who is not a member came to church and we are hoping that what was said touched him like it touched us.

Elder Parker, an area seventy, came and gave a blessing on the Toxey Branch that it will be prosperous and that the Spirit of God will go "house to house, door to door, heart to heart." It was amazing that he felt inspired to come here and he didn't know why but he needed to come to Toxey. Well we know why; this area, this branch, these people, they needed him. President Johns has often told us that the Branch is at a crossroads; at this point we can either flourish and become a ward or we can follow the branches around us and close down. It looks like Elder Parker just told us which one Toxey is! 

ALSO, fun news! I am going to start training a new incoming missionary, fresh out of the MTC this week, and Sister Jensen is going to Dothan to be an STL. I am really excited to help a new Sister and hope and pray that I can be a good example to her.

Love this work! Love y'all!

Sister Baker