Elder Bailey Will Miss Many, LA!

From Sister Leone (above): "We're sure going to miss this guy! he came here and captured our hearts! I know he'll be successful where ever it is the Lord is sending him."

The members of the Many, LA ward have taken such good care of Elder Bailey. He loves them! What a blessing to be in such a wonderful ward for the first area of his mission. Special thanks to Sister Leone and her beautiful family! From Sister Leone, "Elder Bailey is part of our family now and we adore him!"

Transfers!

"I'mbeing transferred! I'm not happy about it at all. I really love Many and the people we are teaching. I just don't know how to act because I know it's what the Lord wants. It just sucks leaving an area that we have turned around and is on fire. April will probably have 3 or 4 baptisms and I won't get to be at any of them! Elder Davidson is training again. I'm sure he will do a great job. He was a good trainer for me. I've grown to love the kid and I feel like we both have learned a lot from each other.

This past week was a good week. We have had a lot of progress with some of our investigators. Shelly is solid and is just waiting for an answer. Stoney has a baptismal date for when he gets back from offshore, and this week we picked up another solid new investigator. He is engaged to a less active member. He is solid, he has an awesome relationship with God and he feels like the Book of Mormon and this church is the next thing the Lord wants him to do. So I'm really sad that I won't be here for all their progress.

But, hey I'm gonna go drown my sorrows in Mountain Dew! I love and miss ya'll so much! Continue standing up for what's right, and never let anyone get you down! Be safe, have fun, and Enjoy life, my friends!"

Oops! The Elders' Car Got Stuck in the Mud! Lots of Rain in Louisiana!

Photos from Sister Dawne Leone, Many LA. Ward

From Sister Leone: "Boys will be boys! It was quite eventful, but they're fine. They cam over tonight for pizza and a discussion with a part member family. It's amazing to hear Elder Bailey teach and testify. he is a wonderful missionary and we just love him! He reminds me so much of my elder. They share a lot of the same characterisitcs! Two very special young men."

"This week we got to meet with Stoney twice because he was in from working on the Oil Rigs. He is such an awesome guy and knows that the church is true. He is just one of those people that wants to know and understand everything before they do it, which is good but very frustrating as a missionary. I guess it's just me being prideful cause it's about what the Lord wants, not what I want. I'm working on just getting out of the way and allowing the spirit to do the work!

On Thursday we taught Shelly again! She is so awesome, she is a golden investigator. She reads, prays sincerely and comes to church as much as she can. She knows this is what she wants, but is working on praying and finding out for herself if this is true. Which is all we ask for as missionaries.

Friday we had our ward party! It was really fun. We had hot dogs, and then played horse shoes and Volleyball, Elder D got a little too excited about that... But anyways it was nice to get out of our church clothes and wear normal ones for once! Then on Saturday we got to help Bro. Vincent tear down this old shed of his (Bro. Vincent is in this photo with Elder Bailey). I got to use a axe and a sledge Hammer! hah It was really sweet. Then later that day we actually got to leave Mission Boundaries (We got permission from President Wall) And went to a Less Active member's wedding that was in Texas.

That's pretty much it for this week. I can't believe that I've been out for 4 and a half months. Time flies when you are serving the Lord! I love and miss y'all tons! I pray for y'all every night. Be safe, have fun, and enjoy life!"

Rain, Rain and More Rain...

This week was a pretty good week. The weather was really crazy yesterday though, we were on lock down for 2 hours cause of rain storms and tornado warnings. Our neighbor Rick updated us on all the weather. I've never seen so much rain in my entire life! It's crazy, definitely my least favorite part of Louisiana. But, other than that it was really good. We are going to have to push back Patsy and Larry's grandsons' baptisms cause neither of them came to church and are not progressing at the pace that they need to be. But we did have a few awesome miracles this week... But I'll share the best one... There is this young lady that is married to a less active member, she has been around the church for about 10 years and has always been interested in taking the discussions but her mother is a strong devoted Catholic and so she didn't pursue it because she knew her mom would be furious! When I heard this I thought of the scripture in Luke 12:51-53. Well anyway, she had been praying on what to do and she finally got an answer! So, she told us, "I don't know what's gonna happen, but I know that taking the discussions is what I need to be doing." It was such an awesome miracle! And I feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Exchanges with the Zone Leaders

Missionary work this week was really good, but still a little slow because most of the people we teach are still off shore. But, this week should pick up because they are all coming home. Larry's grandsons committed to baptism for March 24! Larry has really sparked the Austin family!

This week we got to go on exchanges with the Zone Leaders. So, Elder Moss and myself stayed in Many and Elder Davidson and Elder Andurus went to Alexandria. I love Elder Moss and was stoked to be able to be comps with him for 2 days. He's from Arizona too. He went to Mountain Pointe and is way tight! He was with me when I committed Larry's grandsons to baptism. He brought a special spirit that needed to be there. Gosh, I love missionary work!

Working with the Bishop...

This week has been good. I ran out of money on my monthly card, I burned the Jambalaya, and I broke my yo-yo, but on Thursday we had a sweet Zone Conference down in Baton Rouge! Elder Clarke from the First Quorum of the Seventy came and spoke to us. We learned a lot about how to work with members and how to keep recent converts active after baptism. I loved it and I feel like I cam out a better missionary because of it!

On Saturday, we had a pretty sweet day...We went down to Robeline, where the Bishop lives. We went to go see some people that the Bishop has been wanting to give Books of Mormon to. It was great to be out with the bishop and have him give us all those referrals. He was on fire! We went into a gas station and he saw someone he knew from like 10 years ago and he said, "Elder, go get me another Book of Mormon." It was sweet to see him get so pumped about missionary work. I know that this will lead to several baptisms in the future.

We have been working a lot with Larry Austin's kinfolks (relatives). We are actually teaching his two grandsons and they came to church yesterday! I think they will probably get baptized in March.

I'm so thankful to be out here in Louisiana. I have realized out here how truly blessed we are out in Arizona. I've seen things here that I never thought were going on in the United States. It is sad and it breaks my heart. I only hope and pray that I can help. Pray for me. I need it.

Jeremy's Baptism

The Lord allowed us to have another baptism here in good 'ole Many! Jeremy was baptized on Tuesday. It was such a sweet service and I feel honored and blessed to be a part of it. We confirmed him on Sunday and I had the joyous blessing of being able to do that. I love how I can't even remember what I said because the Lord was able to use be as a vocal piece for the Spirit. I love it when that happens! Also, the Bishop felt like he was ready to receive the Aaronic Priesthood on Sunday as well, so we were able to give him that too! He is well on his way. Jeremy will be an awesome member and such a powerful tool in the Lord's hands.