Week 23- The Book of Mormon and Personal Conversion

Hello all!
This week was great as always but one thing that was especially
wonderful was something that happened with our investigators!! We
invited them to church and they said they wanted to come but something
was wrong with their car so they didn't think they could come. We
asked if we could arrange a ride for them and they said that would be
okay, but it wasn't really working out. We were praying so hard that
they would be able to come to church when we got a call from our ward
mission leader saying he had fixed their car!

He had gone over to see if he could help and ended up getting it all
fixed! So they came to church, said they really liked it and that they
want to come again next week!:) It was such a miracle and I'm so
grateful for the members getting involved in missionary work!

Something more personal that was really impactful this week happened
during a presentation I gave at the visitors’ center. I was giving a
history presentation with Sister Moss and during the presentation she
was bearing testimony of how important the Book of Mormon is in our
lives. She said something to the effect of, if we are studying the
Book of Mormon, really studying, we can be more and more converted to
this gospel every day. You would usually think the missionaries are
there to help the guests, which they are, but that day Sister Moss
answered my own prayers. Even though I'm a missionary I learned from
that presentation and from the words of my fellow sister.

We can be converted to the gospel every day! What a blessing, that
though the scriptures we can felt closer and closer to our Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ. I know as we spend more time in the
scriptures and really dedicate our minds to Christ as we study, we can
feel more of Christ's love and our questions; worries and concerns
will be comforted. So I challenge all of you this week to dedicate
more time to studying the scriptures!

I love you all and am so grateful for all of your prayers!
All is well and God is good!
Love Hermana/Sister Baggett

Our District!
Elders Sagers, Beelek, Blake and Umperiez. Sisters Delange, Junes, Hunt and me!

Me, Sister Allan and Sister Hunt in the guides room at the Visitors' Center.

One of my favorite families in the ward.  The Sanders.

Letter to the young women

                                                                                                                                                 October 22, 2015

Hello my lovely ladies!:)
I just wanted to start by saying I am so grateful for all of you. I may not have known all of you super personally but your light has had an influence on me no matter how many times we talked. There isn't a day that goes by here on my mission that I don't think about how grateful I am for the young woman's program and especially the people involved and how they have influenced me and helped me to gain my testimony and to become the person that I am.

This past week I have felt so strongly that I needed to write this letter. I'm not exactly sure what to say or why I need to write this but I hope the spirit will be with you as you read it and you will be touched by the message that comes from the spirit.

I hope you know that you are all so loved and so important. Being in young women's with all of you I felt like you were all my little girls, you still are!:) I wanted the best for you, I wanted you to know you could always talk to me and I wanted you to know that this is truly the gospel of Jesus Christ. I didn't realize until later that all of those desires came because they were exactly the desires that our Heavenly Father had for you:) he wants you to know that he loves you, that you can talk to him and that this is the true gospel!!

I want to bear my witness to all of you that this gospel is more than just a belief, it's more than just a faith, it's who we are. I didn't realize what this meant.  Before I thought it was just church, but it's about becoming. I remember when I was a young beehive and I looked up to the laurels so much, I thought they were incredible! And they were:) but now that I was one of those laurels and now have passed even that, I felt really inadequate to be looked up to that way. Some of you girls may have experienced that:) I sometimes felt a lot of pressure to be perfect because I knew others were looking up to me,
but here on the mission I learned something. We don't have to be perfect; we just need to show progress.

We are not perfect, I am not even close, I make frequent, dumb mistakes and make messes of things, but I'm doing my best. I may struggle but I know that though goals, good desires and the atonement of Jesus Christ I have become a better person. I hope to be an example not because of the things I have done, but because of the person the atonement is making me. I am the person that I am because of this church! I know we all want to be better, and it's a big task that can sometimes feel like looking down into the Grand Canyon with someone expecting you to jump over the whole thing, an impossible task. But I know that though the atonement of Jesus Christ, when we really trust him and let him change our hearts, we can make it.

I hope you can feel the love and urgency that comes from my message, the Lord’s message to you. The world is not easy to live in; it's the hardest it's ever been. But I know the lord will help you! He can help us more if we are obedient. Make sure you're going to the temple; spend time in the scriptures and PRAY. Use the atonement to not only repent but to become a better person every day. And most of all take care of your fellow young woman! These girls sitting around you really need you, and you need them:)

The missionary in me needs to leave you with a commitment:) I can't ask you personally but I want to all invite you to choose something in your life to do better. Take the invitation given in Elder Lawrence's talk in conference and pray to know what that one thing that will be good for you to fix. The spirit will direct you and I know you will be blessed!

I just hope you all know that I love you so so much! I'm not sure why I felt such a strong need to write this letter, but I hope it is what you needed to hear. Keep working hard, and know what you're doing is good enough:)

Love, your big sister, Courtney

No letter :(

On Thursday a girl in my class came in smiling ear to ear.  She told me that her dad saw my daughter the day before.  I was confused for a moment until she told me that her dad was in Missouri!!  He was there on business and decided to visit the Visitors' Center.  He said this amazing sister was giving him a tour and he asked where she was from. She replied "South Jordan". He then recognized her name. (which is amazing, because most dads don't know who their children's teachers are). He thought about it and asked if her mom was a teacher.  He couldn't believe that his 8 year old daughter was in her mom's class at school.  This week was parent teacher conferences and he and his wife came.  He was so impressed with Courtney and her countenance and couldn't get over how happy she was.  He made me promise to invite them to her homecoming so that his three daughters could see what he wants them to be like when they grow up.

Sister Hunt, Sister Baggett and Brother Madsen

The sisters were getting their ipads mixed up at the Visitors' Center.  Courtney asked if I would make them vinyl letters for their ipad covers.  Looks like it was a hit!

Week 22- #1 Mission

One of my favorite little girls in the ward who got carried away with the stickers when we were having dinner with them.

I know everyone always says "my mission is the best mission!" But
really my mission though...haha the Missouri independence mission AKA
the alpha and omega mission or the only mission with a future;) did I
mention mine is literally the best?

Sister Moss and I and our matching necklaces.  My mom sent me one and her grandparents sent her one and we got them the same week!

Okay now that I'm off my high horse...I have some extra mission pride
this week because the visitors center sisters were able to go visit
Adam-Ondi-Ahman, Far West and Liberty Jail and I had some of the most
spiritual experiences I have ever had. I just feel so incredibly
blessed. In what mission can you live in the place that was the garden
of Eden (Independence), drive 20 minutes to sit in the Liberty Jail
where some of my favorite revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants
were received to comfort the prophet Joseph smith in his time of need
(sections 121-123). Then drive an hour to Adam-ondi-ahman where after
the second coming, the Lord Jesus Christ himself with gather the elect
for a grand meeting. There is no place in the world like this and I
feel so blessed and grateful every day to be able to serve in this
incredible place.

Preacher's Rock
Preacher's Rock is where the prophet is said to have stood and taught.

Far West
Cornerstones for a temple were laid here in July 1838. Although the Saints were not able to complete the temple, the cornerstones and property remain as a testament of their faith and devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Adam-Ondi-Ahman 
This is where Adam and Eve went when they were cast out of the Garden of Eden and where Adam blessed his posterity before he passed away.

Preacher's Rock./Adam-Ondi-Ahman

Liberty Jail
This is where the Prophet Joseph Smith spent approximately five months awaiting trial. While there he received three revelations that are included in the Doctrine and Covenants today.

Some other great experiences from this week! We had our first baptism!
Darlene was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday in sacrament
and it was a wonderful experience! It has been such a blessing to
teach her and to feel of her spirit.  The spirit taught her all along
the way and it has been a blessing to me to be able to see the light
grow in her eyes and in her face!

Sister Hunt, Darlene and I at Darlene's baptism.

And last for the week but definitely not least was we were able to
talk with Sister Dalton, the former young woman's president on the
phone for one of our training meetings. She is a huge example in life
of someone who devotes everything they have to the savior, I hope to
be like her one day.  One thing she said to us that really touched me
was, "you are exactly where the lord needs you right now." We could
have been born at any time, in any country, to any family in any
situation but you are here right now for a reason. What is that
reason? I couldn't tell you, but I know the Lord can and will help you
to find that purpose and help you to accomplish it.

I know I am where I need to be and I am so grateful and love it all:)
I hope all is well with all of you. I am grateful for all of you as
well! Have a great week and I'll talk to you next! All is well and God
is good:)

Love Hermana/Sister Courtney Baggett