April 17,2017 "As You Come To Christ you Come To Yourself"

Transfers were this past week and I am so happy to be able to stay another transfer in Tallahassee!

This past week we have seen so many miracles from working with members! The Beyer's, to name one, are this amazing family in our ward that we love so much! They share the gospel with all their friends just by the example they set! When we go over there they have so many nonmember friends and one is a 17 year old named Amanda (she is dating the son of Sister Beyer's best friend, who isn't a member). Every time we go over she asks tons of questions about the church and recently told Carly (her friend that lives with the Beyer's who is dating their son who is on a mission) that she wants to take the lessons! We were able to teach her and it is amazing how much love we feel for her! She has been through a lot and really likes us and our standards and how nice we are and because of that and the happiness she sees in us and the Beyer's she wants to take the lessons from us! She has been through a lot and I am so thankful to be able to be apart of her road to find more happiness in her life!

Another member gave us a referral, a lady he talked to at work, and we go over and the whole family (the mother and her four kids) all sit down and listen and loved the Restoration! We asked them if they wanted to be baptized and they all said yes! I was so taken back at how amazing an experience that was to teach and have all the kids and the mother just loving to learn what we had to share and being so open-minded! We will have to pass them off since they don't live in our ward boundaries but we are excited to hear about their future progression!

We have been working a lot with Liz and the kids (G'adaisha, Diamond, "Blue", and Aiyana) and we are praying that next week they will be able to come to church so she can make her BCD on the 29th! She is really excited and is retaining information so well, it has been such a joy to teach her!

Lila came to church this past week and it was so fun to have her! She makes the best comments in class and tells every one about her "radio preaching" and her sister who was a Mormon! Her hang up is Joseph Smith and the BOM and she won't let us read out of it or teach her which is hard. I realized how handicapped I became when we sat down to teach and she told us she only wanted the Bible and what she believed and wouldn't let us share what we believe! It made me so grateful for continued revelation, that my belief is something active and alive, not something from the past or dependent on ancient peoples experiences with God! It strengthened my testimony of the BOM and how needed it is for my testimony of the Savior!

This Easter season has been amazing, I am so grateful to be able to share with people the joyous news of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Sharing that this past week has opened so many doors! My favorite line from Sunday service was "As we come to Jesus Christ, we come to ourselves." And I have seen that on my mission! I have really found myself more and more and I am grateful for the refinement this past year has been! 

Love yall! Happy Easter season!

Sister Baker

April 10,2017 "I Dont Want To Be Offensive, But I Believe God Is My Color"

So recently we got this media referral named Venetia and she is so PREPARED, one of the most prepared people I have ever taught! Her story is kinda interesting, though; her daughter dated and was engaged to a polygamist Mormon but then that didn't work out and now the daughter is really against God and religion (not because of the polygamist but something else happened apparently) but when she saw the Book of Mormon she asked Venetia, her mom, where she got that and if she could get one! We were really surprised when we heard about that but were happy because it is a step in the right direction! We read with Venetia out of the Book of Mormon and she loved it and was so excited to start reading and coming to church. We invited her to be baptized and she wants to pray about it but is really open to the idea! While teaching the lesson, I could just see her dressed in all white being able to wash away all the things that have been so hard in her life --and she has dealt with a lot of hard things! I am grateful to be apart of this time for her when she is really looking for God in her life! What a blessing we as missionaries offer, what God actually offers to every single one of us, a chance to try again and to be clean! I never realized what a blessing that was until I saw people that need such light in their lives.

Later in the week we were driving down this road and their was this older woman walking down and like the creeper I am, I slow down, roll down the window, and ask for her name and if we could talk to her. She was totally cool with it and we got out and she saw the name tags and asks, "Oh, are yall Mormons? At this point I was bracing myself for what was to come and she said ,"Oh I love Mormons, come on in!" Lila, the lady we found, is a radio preacher and had a sister that was a devout Mormon and loved it and Lila was really impressed with the religion! She told us, "I was hoping some Mormons would come by soon!" and we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon, to which she was very grateful for! She is an interesting one because our next visit she told us she just wants to read out of the Bible and only would want to know about the BOM if she was planning on joining but she doesn't feel like she could ever change. Oh Lila!

So many miracles this past week working with members so that has been really cool to see! G'adaisha came to church with Liz her LA mom and Diamond her older sister! We were so happy to see them and are so excited for Daisha's baptism April 29th! 

So to explain the email title,  this past week we have been asked like 5 times what color is God and what does He look like! I swear people here are convinced He is black and they quote Revelations to back that up! Gotta love the South!

Love yall!

Sister Baker

April 3,2017,"Happy Birthday"

So this week was a crazy one but so many good things happened! 

We had an exchange with the Fairhope sisters, Sister Kirkham and Sister Housel! Being back in Alabama made me miss it so much! It is so beautiful there especially the pier by the bay! It was cool because on the way to see people that all happened to not be home we were able to meet some wonderful people along the way. I am so grateful to see the blessings that come as we talk to the people we meet in out path knowing that they were put their by God! I have been trying to be better at TWE (talking with everyone) whenever the opportunity arises, especially the awkward, uncomfortable u-turns and parking the car to get out and talk to people! The drive was beautiful and we were definitely not mad when we got stuck in traffic on the way home to Tallahassee! We had another exchange with the Dothan sisters this past week, Sister Adams and Sister Leavitt! Such amazing sisters!

Then we had MLC and that is always so fun and uplifting to hear what we can do as leaders to help the mission reach our goals for key indicators for everyone of 2, 2, 2 (2 BCD's, 2 ASM's 2 NI's every week for every companionship). I have grown to know and love every person there and pulling up in the transfer van I was excited to see all my friends! 

My birthday was so special! Sister Whatcott did so much to make that day special for me and it was such a fun day! I felt very loved by the members here and by the sisters who did so much to celebrate that day with me! 

General Conference was so good! Thelma Henley, our investigator, came to Sunday morning session and it was so perfect for her! Every talk I was thinking Thelma really needs to hear this! And then I thought about how much I needed to hear this! I am so grateful for the wonderful and inspired leaders of this church that continually remind us of what we can do to come closer to Christ and His restored Gospel.

Thanks for all the support and love; I loved this week and grateful to be serving the Lord at this time! Love yall!

Sister Baker

March 27,2017,"11 Months"

We had exchanges this past week with the Crestview sisters, Sister Jamison (who I was with) and Sister Crosby. They both came to Tally and we had a blast with them! I love our sisters in the FTM; they are "certain woman" that I have learned a lot from!

This past week we were able to see the Hillard family, the grandfather taking care of all the little kids who we just met. I just love them so much! They are constantly going through your things and getting into everything, especially my camera which is why I have all these action shots! Teaching children is a whole different ball game so we are working with them and honestly, I am so excited to see where they go! I look at them and I see Desire coming to church and being that family leader since her mom isn't really there for them, or Brianna and Matthew serving a mission, and I have the biggest hope that they will get it and hold on and they will go places! I really do love them!

We watched Women's session of conference and I loved it! I felt like every talk was so focused on centering ourselves on Christ and that has been something I am really working on the past couple of weeks! I love that the mission gives you that time, free of a lot of worldly influences, so that your main objective is to build that foundation on Christ! It really has blessed my life in so many ways for which I will be forever grateful! As I look back on my past 11 months, I can really say that they have been the hardest, most soul searching and stretching months of my life but the fact that it is possible and that I have found sweet peace and happiness along the way shows that the gospel is true, that God is real and that there is something divine about this work and those who carry it and those they meet!

Love yall

Sister Baker

March 20,2017,"What Makes It All Worth It"

Carrie Jackson and her husband came to church yesterday and my missionary heart was so happy! They liked it and she is starting to say "if I start coming here, I want to be in the choir" and she tells everyone "I'll be back, don't worry, I'll be back!" It was so fun to see how happy and excited the members were to see her there and were going up and introducing themselves and making her feel so welcome and loved! I love this ward!

We met so many amazing people this past week! The people that you meet here really make all the work so worth it! I have really seen this past week how the Lord places people that are prepared in your path if you show that you are willing to talk to everyone! As we went to and from appointments, we would see someone next door with their door open or someone walking by and we would go up and talk to them and then we have these amazing lessons with them! I really have come to love the wonderful people of Tallahassee; they have my heart! 

I have been thinking a lot this past week about my setting apart blessing and the line "children are the pathway to their parents" really stuck out to me as I was reflecting on this past week. I thought back to all the families we have been teaching and I have seen how really true that is! I am so grateful to have meet all the wonderful families and children here, they make it so fun!

Love yall!

Sister Baker