Week 11-The spirit of hymns

This week my companion and I have been practicing English idioms for her language study because there are so many things that are confusing that we say in English that we don't realize are confusing, like "it's a piece of cake" "cut it out" or " you look like a million dollars":) so she's been using every opportunity to use these new lines and one night we're planning for the next day and I said  something about how I was tired and she goes, "cry me a river, build me a bridge and get over it!" I was in shock because I definitely did not teach her that one! And then I hear one of the sisters we live with upstairs start laughing....haha so now all the sisters are in on our idiom game and I get all the sass from my companion:)

Another funny thing that happened this week was one of the senior
elders helping the sisters to clean our kitchen at the VC and was
wondering why no one had started the dishwasher. The sisters said it was because we didn't have any more soap for the dishwasher. He decided to take matters into his own hands...

So brothers and sisters, learn from this and know, 

DISH SOAP DOES NOT GO IN THE DISHWASHER:)

On a more spiritual note, my companion and I have started singing in our lessons with investigators to help explain doctrine or invite the spirit more and it has been incredible. We are not by any means the best singers but doctrine and covenants 25:12, "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" and no matter how it sounds, the spirit floods the room. What an awesome tool we have! You don't even need anything because you always have your voice, and it will bring the spirit right to you. So this week if you need a little bit of comfort or love, sing a hymn and I know you'll feel of the love our savior has for you:)

I send my love to all of you.  All is well and God is good.

Love Sister Baggett:)

Sister Cuevas and I and a cute family in our ward

The dishwasher fiasco

PDays and excitement

Sister Cuevas, Sister Morgan and I.  Sister Hansen washing the car in the back!

This is a sweet video from one of the storms.  It's a time lapse of the lightning so bright in the middle of the night!

Week 10-Be Friendly!

Weeks really do fly here in the mission but the work is great!! 
I don't have much to say this week, but it was a great week and 
the work is progressing here in independence!

The summer months in the VC are packed and we get to talk with
 so many people it's awesome!! When I get a little break to sit, 
I realize how tired I am and how bad my cheeks hurt from smiling 
so much (cause I smile all day!) but then another group comes through
 the door and I forget the tiredness and get to talk with more amazing people!

We have also had the opportunity to teach more in Spanish this week
and I've been doing better understanding and speaking, it's super fun
to be able to speak another language! And it's funny too because I
make a lot of funny mistakes, I'm glad people (especially my comp) can
get a kick out of the weird mistakes I make! One thing I've learned
this week, life is a whole lot less stressful and upsetting if you
know how to laugh at yourself! Laugh at your dumb mistakes and do
better next time, set goals and work hard, but don't get too down on
yourself. If you're doing your best, it's enough!

A little challenge for everyone out there this week! As I've been
here, I've learned so much and been so much happier when I talk with
people. There are some incredible people that are around us always and
you will never know if you don't talk to them!! So I invite you all to
find a random person to talk with this week, it doesn't have to be
much, it could be as simple as talking to someone in the grocery store
line, asking how they're doing. I think you would be surprised to see
how much your day can brighten and how much you can brighten 
someone else's day just by talking with them and being friendly!

Brighten the world this week!! I love you all! All is well, and God is good:)
Love Hermana Baggett

Sister Rowley, Sister Cuevas and I in the teaching center.

Playing with one of the members pet turtles at dinner.

Another lucky week for us!

On Tuesday July 14th, we woke up to a darling video of Courtney from our friends the Almhers.  

 These are some sweet sisters that sent me this photo and a text. "I served here as an Independence Visitor Center sister 25 years ago-so I'm pretty soft when it comes to these VC sisters.  Thank you for sending her in faith!  What a beautiful spirit and testimony she has!  Mindy Telford- St. George, Utah

Week 9-Missouri summers will hit you like a freight train!

Last week we had a crazy rainy week with tons of tornado warnings and

this week was quite the opposite when it came to weather.  I think I

made it to the real Missouri heat and humidity!! When you walk outside

it seriously feels like you hit a wall, so in the oh so valid words of

one of the sisters, "Missouri summers will hit you like a freight

train!"

The work has been booming this week, there are miracles all over the

place!  My companion and I are now working with investigators and

quite a few less actives thanks to the help of the members in our ward

and the direction of the spirit.  The visitors center has been packed

too with bus tours coming though every day. we had almost 800 people

come through one of the days this week! So many opportunities to share our testimonies!

One awesome experience at the VC this week was with an investigator

and a member family. The elders brought in their investigator to show

him the visitors center and asked what he wanted to see and he said

the history, which was odd because we usually focus on the

presentation "God's plan for his family" (which talks about eternal

families) with investigators instead of the history, but that's what

he wanted to we were like sure! I went to go give them the

presentation, but another group was already there, a member family, so

we just joined them. We started the tour normal, but by the end the

man was so interested in the testimonies of the 4 children (ages 13 to

20) and what it was like for them growing up in the gospel. So the

kids all bore their testimonies to this man and he was so amazed and

encouraged them to keep doing what's right. He said "you influence

people more than you know. I influenced people to do things I wish I

wouldn't have, but you're young and you can change lives for good!" So

change lives with your influence. It was one of the most amazing

experiences to see these members teach by the spirit, everyone

involved learned something for that experience.

There were many more experiences this week, but on a less spiritual

note, I also tried to speak Spanish a couple times this week and it

didn't go too well haha. The worst was we went to a members house to

read the Book of Mormon with her to help her understand better, but my

companion had to use the bathroom before we started, so it was just me

and this sister and she speaks no English. So I worked up the courage

to try to start a conversation...I was trying to tell her that her

daughter did a good job teaching the lesson at church but I couldn't

make it come out right. After 3 or 4 tries she looks at me with a

confused look on her face and says, "Your Spanish isn't very good is

it?" (in Spanish) and I just started laughing and was like ummm...yeah

obviously not... Hahaha so that was a failed attempt! But I was able

to say some things that made sense to her during the lesson and it got

better, but I'll keep trying so one day she'll think my Spanish is

good:)

But all is well here in Missouri! Loving the work!

Keep spreading the gospel at home too, spread the joy!

I love you all! All is well and God is good:)

Love, Hermana Baggett

Guess which side of the study table is Courtney's??

Guess they wanted a snack??

Sister Morgan and I on a tour of the Community of Christ Church

Lucky week for us at home

Sometimes we feel a little guilty that we are able to "see"and "hear"  so much of Courtney while she is on her mission.  We know that there are many families out there who are unable to hear from their missionaries consistently.  In fact my sister has a missionary in Russia that can't say much about things going on there.  I have a brother who's son in in the Marshall Islands on an atoll and they didn't hear from him for 18 weeks.   So, we know it's not really the norm to know as much as we do.  Being that Courtney is at a historical site many people we know visit there. This week three families we know saw Courtney and were able to send pictures and videos.  So, we will count our blessings and pray for all of you who don't hear from your missionaries as much as you would like.

Aunt Carma and Uncle Bob

Courtney Baggaley and Courtney were Sunbeams together and went to school together until 3rd grade.

The Condie family are our neighbors. Shawn and his wife moved to Kansas City for Law School.

Week 8-Independence Day in Independence

Hello all!  

It's been another week and the work continues to progress!  We've knocked a lot of doors, some people are nicer in some areas than others...haha but it feels good to be nice and sweaty and tired by the end of the day.  We are still on the hunt for investigators, but we are getting the members more involved now that they know us better and I know they will be the piece that we need to find people who are interested in being taught. I did have the opportunity to attend a baptism for my companions previous investigator, Lorena, and that was a wonderful experience.  The spirit was incredible and I was so happy to be able to enjoy that moment with her. 

The Visitors Center was hopping as always!  In the month of June we had almost 8000 people come to the Visitors Center, incredible right??  All incredible people, it's such a blessing to serve here and be able to bear my testimony constantly!  It's also funny to see people I know from home stopping by the visitors center on church history tours.  Crazy to see how many people from Utah come to Missouri!  All the Mormons love the church history hahaha and we love seeing them!

I also got to spend Independence day in Independence, pretty cool eh??  It was mostly a normal day for us, but we were asked to usher for a show that the church put on at the auditorium next to the visitors center.  We welcomed people and tried not to sing along with the music they were playing haha.  It was the hardest when they played "You don't know you're beautiful"  by One Direction and all I could think about is my home boy Hayden!  Shout out to him for knowing all the words and making every girl happy by singing it to them:)  We went back to the VC after where we taught until it was time to get home.  We watched the firework show from our window while we ate late night nachos:)  My companion from Mexico loved all of it and decided she now belongs to the "Estados Unidos Mexicanos" or the United States of Mexico haha she's great.

This week my testimony has really grown on how great it is that God is an unchangeable being and that the doctrine of this church is, like God, unchangeable.  In this area there are a lot of churches, and I mean a lot!!  It's kind of like in Utah, where you can turn down any street and find a LDS chapel, except they're all different churches, which I think is so cool!  I've been learning a lot about some of these other churches recently, especially the ones around us that are branches of our church and the main thing that I have seen is that a lot of the churches will just change their doctrine based on what's going on in the world.  But our doctrine does not change, no matter what happens in the world.  There are some application of doctrine that may be different based on the time, however the actual doctrine, (the simple truths that effect our eternal salvation) what we believe and the standards we have, do not change.  I'm grateful for such a stable and strong foundation in Christ and his doctrine that will not change based on the situation of the world.  Helaman 5:12: "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I'm so grateful for this church and I know that this is God's work.  Because if it wasn't, I wouldn't be able to understand or speak as much Spanish as I can in 2 months, I wouldn't be able to remember all the history, I wouldn't be able to have as much courage to talk to random people, I wouldn't be able to make each presentation personal for a family that I met 10 minutes ago, it just wouldn't be possible.  I know that the commandments are given to us as a protection, not as a restriction, and when we choose to follow them he will bless us.  Thanks again for all the support I have from home, you are all great and I feel you love always.  

Take care, and God speed.

Love, Hermana Baggett

All the current Visitors' Center Missionaries

Sister Morgan and I

Lorena's Baptism

Severe weather alert Flash Flood Warning this area till 9:00 pm.  Avoid flood areas!