Week 58 - Summer in Liberty!

Sister Shiess and I on PDay at the Jail.

Hey everyone!:) I never really know how to start these things...ha-ha

but we had a fantastic week as always!:)

Here's an amazing story for y'all! In my first area, when I was in
independence, a woman got baptized named Darlene. She was so excited
to be able to do to the temple so she could prepare the name of her
son so he could be baptized too because he passed away. However, soon
after she was baptized she had a lot of problems with the people she
was living with and ended up moving to Kansas City Kansas so we
couldn't keep in contact with her other than though email. Sister hunt
and I (my companion that taught her with me) emailed her but didn't
hear anything back. When I was transferred to Kansas, I went on
exchanges to the area she was living in and we always went and tried
to visit but no one ever answered the door.

Fast-forward and this last transfer about 3 weeks ago, Sister Hunt was
transferred to the area Darlene now lives in. When I saw her at
transfers, we both were super emotional when she said she was going to
find Darlene, and she didn't waste any time! I got an email from her a
week later, they had found Darlene!:) now Darlene is back to preparing
to go to the temple and she came to the jail this week!! God's hand
truly is in all of this work, because it's his and these are his
children:)

Darlene and her granddaughter. Sister Rowley, me and Sister Hunt.

The jail has been fabulous this week as well!! My favorite kind of
groups to take are one with young kids or youth groups because they
are so in tune to the spirit and these experiences that they have with
me in that hour could very possibly change the way their life is
going. It's such a blessing to be a part of that and to feel the power
with them.

Yesterday I was able to take though a mom and her almost 8-year-old
daughter. They were going to see some church history sites just her
and her mom before she gets baptized in September. As I explained the
history in a way that an 8 year old would understand I was able to see
it all in a whole new light; she taught me more that I taught her with
her simple comments that bore strong testimony. Being able to teach
her along side her mom also reminded me of learning as a child and the
patient way I was taught by my parents. It also was a reminder to me
of how our Heavenly Father sees, guides and teaches us. I learn more
every day than I could ever explain or teach, I'm just grateful for
the opportunity to be a missionary:)

The little girl that I was able to go through the Jail with.  I received a text this week from this sweet girl's mom.  It said "Your daughter was so inspiring. You should be so proud!  I hope my daughter can grow to have a testimony as strong as hers."  I am proud!  I and I am proud to be her mom!

Yesterday, June 27th was the anniversary of the martyrdom of the
Prophet Joseph Smith. It was an amazing day to serve at the Liberty
Jail and remember his example and amazing servant as the prophet of
the restoration. I'm grateful for the knowledge and testimony I have
of the restoration. I know that the church Christ established while he
was on the earth is back in it's complete form and that Joseph was
guided by our Heavenly Father to restore it completely for us. I'm
grateful for God's love and the opportunity to share it:)

All is well and God is good!!
There is good in the world and that good is you! Be the good this week:)
Love Hermana/Sister Courtney Baggett

This last week marked a year in the mission field! (As Courtney's mom, I counted the day she entered the MTC as a year, which was May 6th.  Apparently she is counting the year mark as the day she got to Missouri!)

Making Oreo truffles for FHE with some members and investigators

Week 57 - Royce got baptized!!

An attempt of a selfie as a zone after a training. Ha ha We missed some people.  Better luck next time!

At the mission home.

Hey family and friends!:) happy Father's Day to all the dads out
there, especially mine!! Love you dad!

It’s been another week in the MIM and it was quite a wonderful one!
Some highlights from the week! We had an amazing zone conference and
then MLC with a member of the 70, Elder Hamula. He and his wife helped
us to really zone in on what we need to do to improve, but never
directly told us what we need to do, rather they counseled with us and
we came up with what we need to do better as a team. That was a huge
example to me of how to be a leader and a teacher. No one will learn
anything from you, and you won't be able to help them if you tell them
what to do and what they need to change, that's simply changing their
behavior, not their nature. The way that the savior led the people was
though service and love and helping them to understand how they need
to change and then deciding for themselves. So that was an awesome
lesson learned from this week:)

Also a little tender mercy that probably won't seem like much, but it
was a lot to me:) I went on exchanges with Sister Prior into their
area, and there is absolutely no Spanish in our area. But there is a
little bit in theirs! So we made plans to go contact some Spanish
speakers that used to be meeting with the sisters! We were only able
to contact one, and it was a very short contact, but Spanish is
something I have really missed in the last 2 weeks and I've been
worried that I'll forget it. But that little opportunity to use what I
have been working to learn was quite a blessing:) Heavenly Father
knows what we need, even if it seems little and insignificant to
everyone else!

We also found 2 new investigators named Mike and Barbara! Mike was a
referral from salt lake, a friend had sent in his information. So
first we called the friend and asked a little about Mike, why did he
think Mike would be interested in learning from the missionaries,
those kind of things and the member said, "well, Mike is actually kind
of anti...but he always has questions!"  And we're over here thinking,
why would you send an anti guy to the missionaries!? But he sent him
in and said we could try so we texted him and he texted right back! He
set up a lesson with him and his wife and we met at the Hivee, which
is a grocery store that has a little deli, and he was one of the
sweetest guys ever!! So much for being anti, that wasn't true at all!
He knows quite a bit about the church, but has a lot of questions, but
he doesn't have a foundation of what we doctrinally believe, so we
asked if we could teach him the lessons so he could understand and he
said he would love that! Most often we find people to teach in the
most interesting ways!

Royce's Baptism

And the biggest miracle of the week!!:) I've talked a lot about Royce,
the investigator from my last area who canceled his baptism because he
heard a lot of anti things about Joseph smith. Well, Royce got
baptized this weekend and we got to go:) the service was amazing and a
lot of members came out to support him! It was just so amazing to
think of where he started, when the sisters first found his wife and
started teaching her, he was totally against it. Then, as they kept
visiting her, he started to show more interest and then committed to
be baptized himself. It wasn't easy getting there and he went though a
lot of trials, but with time and prayer he remembered his testimony
and now here we are today:) they are very excited to the temple to do
baptisms soon and I can't wait to come back in a year to see them be
sealed as a family for eternity:) that's really what this work is all
about! Uniting families together with our Heavenly Father:)

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

Love Hermana/Sister Courtney Baggett

Sister Prior and I at the Jail.

A Visitor

Sister Baggett received an unexpected visitor today at the Jail.  Her high school friend Kirstin Mathewson!!

Week 56 - Summer at the Liberty Jail

Sister Schiess and I at the temple

Hello ladies and gents!
This week has been pretty crazy thus far already, and the reason we're
writing so late today is because we had a member of the seventy come
for a mission conference today! So we had to switch up our p-day a
little bit but all is well and the meeting was fantastic so I was very
grateful to be able to go!

Miracles from the week!:) We were able to meet a lot of the member
families which was such a blessing because my companion and I are both
brand new to the area! One of the families that we met are the
Green's! The dad is not a member but he has been meeting with the
sisters so we're excited to start meeting with him, and then they
brought their niece to church who is going to be living here for the
summer, she said she wants to meet with us too so that was a huge
miracle to get a new investigator at church!:)

We also had a man who is a member, but his wife and 3 oldest girls who
haven't been baptized come to church! It was amazing because his wife
has never been interested in anything to do with the church, he's
pretty active, but they just had their 5th girl and so they all came
to church to have her be blessed. His wife was actually really excited
for the blessing and it was good to have such a good contact with her
at church:)

And a little story from the liberty jail!:) I took a huge family from
Riverton on presentation with their extended family on a family
reunion, and after they gave me a hard time for going to Bingham ha-ha
we had a really good time! We went though the history first and then
went into the rotunda (the room where the jail is) and after the last
narration that talked about the revelation that was received in the
jail, I felt like we should sing a song. And it was super random, but
I felt like we should sing “I am a child of God.” I asked if they would
sing with me, and when they all started to sing the spirit flooded the
room stronger than I have felt it in a long time.

The spirit at the Liberty Jail and understanding more about the
history of the church has helped to strengthen my testimony so much. I
truly know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and Thomas S. Monson
is the living prophet on the Earth today. Just grateful to be a missionary:)

All is well and God is good!!

Love Hermana/Sister Baggett

Seeing some of the sisters at the conference this morning,  Sister Morgan, me, Sister Hunt and Sister Rowley

Me, Sister Schiess and our friend Pauline at Liberty Jail

Liberty Jail -Visitor Center Leader

I was a little confused why this letter said "Independence Visitor Center" So I asked her today.  This was her reply...Haha yeah the letter is actually wrong, I got the same call, but it is at the liberty jail! When he extended the call to me he said independence visitors center first and I was shocked because I didn't think I would go back! Hahaha and then he was like wait what, I meant liberty jail! I was like oh that makes more sense!!

Week 55 - Toto...I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!

Some of the greatest!  Top: Sister Werber, Sister Prior and Sister Durrans.  Bottom: Sister Schiess and me!

Well everyone, we've had a change of scene! After serving in Olathe, Kansas for 6 months I was transferred and I am now serving in Liberty,Missouri at the historic Liberty jail. Pretty amazing change of venue! I love it so much already here and I have some pretty awesome stories from this last week!

 One more update from the people in Olathe! We had the most powerful lesson with Royce and his wife the day before I left. We talked about our spiritual progression and how he can feel closer to god's love. He said he is ready to commit to baptism again and he is preparing to be baptized on June 18th:) he is such an amazing miracle, I am so grateful to be a part of this family!!

And an update from where I am now! I'm serving in the Doniphan Ward in Liberty Missouri and am serving at the Liberty Jail! I have to keep reminding myself that I'm actually here because it really just feels like a dream! We're already in the busy summer swing and so my companion and I already need to take presentations on our own. There is a lot of history to know here, so it's a really good thing we go by the spirit because I wouldn't be able to do this at all if it weren't for that! My companion Sister Schiess and I are both new to our area so we don't know anyone ha-ha but we have met quite a few Ward members the past couple days and it's a stellar Ward so I'm excited to be here:)

We actually had a baptism this week too, to add to the crazy:) it wasn't a typical baptism though. Ella has been a member of what's called the restoration branch, which is a break off of our church in the early days of the church. After a lot and a confusing story that I don't have time to explain, her and her husband gained a testimony that this is god's true church on the earth and she entered the waters of baptism. It is amazing to be able to walk this path with people. To help them find true happiness and love. I am just so grateful everyday to be a missionary:)This was only a fraction of what happened this week but as Ammon says in alma 26:16, "I cannot say the smallest part which I feel." I'm just grateful and happy to be where I am:) 

I love you all! 

All is well and God is good!

Love Hermana/Sister Courtney Baggett

Sister Schiess and I at our new fave restaurant!

Eating with Sister Jorgensen and Sister Wilkey after a meeting.