A Message Worth Sharing

Hello Everyone,

This week was a really good week to end off the transfer and my time with Elder Ellinghaus.  To start, on Tuesday we got to teach a couple of great lessons to an investigator named Philip as well as a less active family named the Cahoon's.  We taught about how the Book of Mormon can answer any of the questions we may have, as well as about the commandments.  We also had the chance to lead a Book of Mormon class the ward holds every Tuesday, which was a fun time.

Wednesday was mainly focused on Zone Conference where we learned about various topics ranging from chastity to our missionary purpose.  It was a great meeting where the Spirit was definitely present and we got to continue to learn about the Gospel and the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which is the greatest motivator I have found in participating in this work.  We then got to find another less active family following the meeting who would love to have us over again.

Thursday and Friday were spent doing Tracting, and a lot of it.  The zone was doing a competition to find out what companionship could show the Prince of Peace initiative the most, so Elder Terry, our district leader, had us spend a day doing pure Tracting in Myrtle Creek, and another in Winston.  Ultimately we gave all our points to the other Elders and allowed them to beat out the zone, as well as find many new people to teach for everyone.  We then got to go and teach a great lesson about repentance to another investigator named Nora.

Finally transfer calls came and I am staying in Winston while Elder Ellinghaus is going on down to work in Spanish again in Central Point.  My new companion is Elder Kellerstrauss who was actually my MTC companion.  It should be a fun upcoming transfer and miracles are starting to come into place, and my time with Elder Ellinghaus has been great for learning how to work with members.  Most of all, however, learning further about Jesus Christ and his Atonement has been great.  Because of what he did, not only do we have the chance to repent, but we have the ability to be strengthened past any mortal challenge because of the grace of Christ.  That is a message worth sharing.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Beautiful Oregon

Zone Conference

Easter Box

Working Together

New Companion 

He Is The Light Of The World

Hello Everyone,

This week was another fairly normal week with a few great things that occurred.  To start off, I got to go on exchange with the other Elders in my district down to an outlying area named South Umpqua on Friday.  While there, we had a fun time as well as getting to teach several people, including a less active member who committed to come to church this coming Sunday.  Here's hoping that he follows through!  We also had a great zone training meeting about how to do effective studies that helped us gain a prompting of how to teach the next lesson with our preacher investigator, and see a mission farewell talk for a member in our ward.

On the teaching front, we also had a miracle occur with one of our investigators named Nora.  A while back she was on date for baptism, but due to various scenarios we were unable to physically meet with for about a month.  On Sunday we randomly dropped by and managed to teach a great lesson about the importance of the Book of Mormon, as well as get two more solid return appointments.  It has taken a lot of work and patience, but we are excited to see her progress in the Gospel again.

I would like to end this post by bearing my testimony on Jesus Christ and his Atonement.  Because of what He did for us all those years ago, we have the ability to repent and have a hope of an amazing future.  He has the ability to comfort us when we stand in need of comfort, and be the friend we need when we are lonely.  He is the light of the world and it is our duty to share the light we have seen with others.  To truly love Christ is to truly love and serve our neighbors, as well as follow His commandments.  Jesus is the Christ, and this church is His church with restored Priesthood authority.  And if all the world were to revile against it, if we build on His rock we can never fall.

Thank you for all of the support,
Elder Baxter

Hello Everyone,

This letter will be a little shorter, but in short it has been a good week, and especially a good weekend with conference.  On Thursday and Friday we had the chance to go and help out various home teachers with teaching less active families as well as part member families.  It has been good, and the more visits we do, the more I have seen the excitement for missionary work increase.  It has been good seeing people realize that home teaching, in its basic form, is missionary work.

General Conference has also been really good.  We had various technical difficulties that caused us to come on a couple of the sessions a little late, but the talks were great.  Unfortunately none of our investigators showed up for conference, but I know that I learned a lot and loved the talk about walking with God from President Eyring in the Priesthood session.  It was a great time and I learned a lot from the Spirit.

Teaching wise we got to set up a couple lessons, including one with a youth preacher.  It should be an interesting time, but for the most part all of the investigators seem really interested in just learning what we believe, including the preacher.

I hope that everyone reading this learned a lot from conference as well and thank you for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Up close with a cheetah 

He got to go to the Wildlife Safari again.

Fun Events

Hello Everyone,

This past week has had several fun events as well as lessons.  We got to teach a couple lessons to an investigator named Philip.  The Spirit was felt during the lessons and while teaching him we have seen small changes starting to occur.  We mainly focused on teaching the Restoration, but he is starting to understand the need for developing a personal relationship with God and we are excited to see where the lessons go from here.  A light is slowly entering his eyes.

Another event that occurred this week was on Saturday.  Our mission president was holding a new missionary leadership training in our ward, and part of it involved him sending out all of the new district, zone, and sister training leaders out to tract our area.  Due to it, we got about five new investigators in an hour, and were able to see miracles occur.

The final two events that happened occurred this week.  On Monday we had interviews which were a great time to get to talk to President Russell again, and today we got to go to the Medford temple.  The temple trip was amazing and I learned a lot from the Spirit.  The Lord is definitely behind this work, and as we move forward in faith we will have the ability to truly be an effective instrument in the Lord's hands.  Next up is General Conference which is going to be a great way to end a spiritually enlightening week by listening to the testimonies of Apostles and Prophets.  Make sure to go out and invite someone you know to listen to at least one of the sessions, and thank you for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

At The Medford Temple

Joy in the Work

This was the first week of my seventh transfer on the mission!  Elder Ellinghaus and I started off the week with meeting an investigator who had a bunch of questions that ended up covering the entirety of the restoration and Plan of Salvation lessons, which was fun to teach.  She says that she is also praying and reading from the Book of Mormon, so we have high hopes for the future.

Most of the week was spent working with members to find referrals to visit, or houses to knock around their homes.  It has been very different from how I am used to do missionary work, but it has been a good change.  We hope to be able to find more sincere investigators through members, and currently we have quite a few referrals to hunt down.

Outside of that Elder Ellinghaus and I had a surprise trip to Eugene on an errand for the mission president.  Also our district got to go to a wildlife safari earlier today.  The safari was fun in that we got to see a bunch of various animals from around the world and was able to find a less active member there who wouldn't mind us visiting at some point!  The lesson I learned this week is that the Lord works in mysterious ways to do his work, and as we choose to submit our will to his, we can have greater joy in the work.

Next week the blog email will be later in the week than usual due to our p-day being changed because of a temple trip, but until then, thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

At the wildlife safari

Still fun even with the rain

I'm watching you!

The birds like the wet weather

A present for my littlest brother

Hanging around

Ready To Go All Out

Hello everyone,

This week was the final week of the transfer.  The week began by going and visiting a few of the people we set up return appointments with.  We got to teach a great lesson about the Plan of Salvation as well as the restoration with a couple of people who are very interested.  We are excited to see where teaching them goes from here.

Outside of that, the week has gone fairly standard.  We ended up updating our area book quite a bit and really trying to narrow down who was actually interested in taking the lessons for next transfer.  On Friday we had a zone training meeting, where we learned about the restoration and saw a new video of the first vision.  The day ended with getting our transfer calls where I learned that Elder Smith was leaving and I was getting Elder Ellinghaus, who I had gotten to interact a lot with when I was in Central Point.

Saturday and Sunday was spent doing a lot of packing, as well as Elder Smith saying goodbyes to various members and people.  I am now entering my seventh transfer and it is an exciting time on the mission.  Elder Ellinghaus and I are ready to go all out this transfer and we are excited to see what comes.  Until next week, thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Elder Ellinghaus and Elder Baxter

A Great Feeling

Hello Everyone,

This past week has been a fun week full of miracles.  Going into the week we thought that we were going to be dropping a lot of investigators who never answered when we knocked, but this time we got an answer.  We managed to set up many return appointments for the next week which will determine how interested they really are, but things are starting to progress which is a great feeling.

On Thursday we had zone conference.  It was about the Holy Ghost as well as having faith in Jesus Christ.  It was a great meeting where I got a bunch of good insights as well as getting to see my former companion, Elder Hoskins, who is now a zone leader.  Following the meeting we had a dinner with the district and finished out the day.

On Friday we went on exchange.  I was with Elder Terry who came out with me while my companion was with an older missionary named Elder Hallam.  We found several new investigators as well as less active members.  It was a fun exchange that ended with a ward correlation.

It was a pretty good week that is leading into the final week of the transfer.  Hopefully it all ends well and there will be a lot I can report on next week.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

zone conference 

Roseburg Zone