Make Every Moment Count

Hello Everyone,

Nothing too crazy happened following the temple trip this past week.  We had several lessons with two of our families who are making great progress towards coming to church, as well as living the word of wisdom.  Outside of that, most of our week was spent going out and trying to make contact with those whom have had previous contact with the missionaries.  It has been a slow process trying to meet everyone and gage their interest level, but it will pay off soon.

One story that came from this past week was that I was able to see one of my past companions, Elder Hoskins, again.  He goes home this week and he is one area over from me, so we decided to do dinner.  It was a cold and rainy bike ride but it was nice to be able to say gooddbye and realize how close to the end I really am.  One thing I know I am going to try to do is really make every moment count and go out and really do my best these last two transfers.

I know that this Gospel is true.  Joseph Smith was the prophet who restore the church, and that Jesus really is the Christ.  Through him we can be strengthened past trials and receive forgiveness from our sins.  And best of all, because of Christ we can access these blessings today, we do not need to wait for a future day but choose to repent and come to him today.  When we do so and keep his commandments, including baptism and the sacrament, we truly can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, which blesses us with all of the necessary blessings to come back as well as be sanctified from our sins.  I know this is true.

Thank you for all of the support!
Elder Baxter

Goodbye to Elder Hoskins

Going Out and Doing Our Best

Roller Coaster Week

Hello Everyone!

This was a strange roller coaster kind of week.  To start, last Tuesday we had Zone Conference where all the missionaries were given Samsung Galaxy smartphones at the end.  They are replacing our old phones for now, but as new missionaries come in they will enter the field with smartphones rather than tablets until eventually all of the tablet users are gone and each individual missionary has a smartphone. 

Each night of the week we had a lesson, unfortunately Wednesday during a dinner appointment my illness hit again full force.  The way we got around that dilemma though was by having Elder Daugherty go out with one of the zone leaders to teach while the other stayed with me.  This ended up leading to an exchange with the zone leaders Thursday to Friday night.  I hear that the lessons went well though.

Saturday we had a great lesson with one of the families we are teaching and Sunday they came to church along with five other investigators!  We were excited, and it was was the most I think I have seen come to church that I can remember.  The best part is that a lot of them are very solid investigators.

Finally that leads to today.  This morning we had a temple trip up to the Portland temple.    It was nice being able to recharge this final week of the transfer and prepare for whatever may happen.  At any rate, thank you for all of the support and know that the Lord is blessing this area!

Elder Baxter

 New Smartphone

Portland Temple

House of the Lord

We Love to See the Temple

Sick Week

Hello Everyone,

The best way to describe this week is with the words "sick week".  There has been a cold that has been traveling around the different members of the Zone, and it finally hit us.  Following last p day we came back to the apartment and my companion was complaining that he felt weak and had a headache.  By the next morning he was out.  It basically led to me spending the day doing lots of studies and some cleaning around the apartment.  I have come to one conclusion though, being sick on a mission is absolutely no fun.

Wednesday he was feeling somewhat better, so we were able to go out and teach the family we put on date the previous week, as well as do as much work as we could without pushing it, but then Thursday happened.  The sickness came back in full force so we ended up taking a field trip to an urgent care, where they diagnosed him and then took it easy once again.  Friday following district meeting the cold started to hit me.  It didn't come quite as bad but it is still not fun.  Most of the symptoms were gone by Sunday however and we were able to go to church.  Now all I have is an annoying cough.

In all of this, a couple of good things did happen.  The first one being we got to go visit the Oregon Ducks stadium today as a zone.  That was a fun experience and it is definitely huge.  Then throughout the week one of the families we found kept texting us questions about the church and told us how their Book of Mormon reading was going.  That was a miracle and really proves to me their real intent.  This week we have Zone Conference, hopefully a complete recovery, and lots of lessons planned.

Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

The Missionary Zone

A Oregon Duck Fan?!?

Teaching Is Great!

Hello Everyone,

This week was a really good week out here in Eugene.  The first couple days were pretty normal missionary days, but on Thursday really good things started to occur.  As it turned out, that night we managed to get the day set up where we had three lessons back to back.  They were all good and I believe will help out our investigators.  The first and last ones mainly focused on the Book of Mormon, and the different ways answers may come.  Several of our investigators seem to be struggling with that point, so being able to back up and talk about that was great.  The second lesson was with a part member family that we have been working to set up a lesson with for awhile.  They have met with missionaries in the past, and explained to us their desire to be baptized and sealed as a family.  As a result we were able to put three people on date for baptism, now the trick will be helping them keep their commitments.

On Friday we had an exchange, then Saturday another miracle came.  A young family reached out to a few Sister missionaries down in California on a vacation, and as it turned out they live in our area. We got to go over and teach them the Restoration.  The questions they asked were all perfect, and they showed a lot of sincerity and real intent.  It was the kind of lesson that really helps build my faith that the Lord is preparing people to accept our message.  So I guess I can say that teaching has been pretty great here in Santa Clara 6th ward!

Sunday we had stake conference where a seventy came and spoke.  It was a good meeting and he had great things to say about the two great commandments.  Outside of that, nothing too crazy happened outside of interviews with President Orton.

This work really is in the Lord's hands, and I have learned that as long as we step outside with the intent to do our best, blessings do come.  Doors open that may have been closed before and the work will hasten.  Thank you for all of your support!

Elder Baxter

Signs of Spring

Happiness is teaching!