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!

Officially Looks Like Winter

Hello Everyone,

This week was pretty similar to the previous week, but several miracles did happen from it.  First, it snowed!  It didn't last long whatsoever, but it was nice to see snow to go along with the cold that had hit the Eugene area, making it officially look like winter.  I heard stories of how it hit the coast as well and the city of Newport panicked and shut everything down for the day.  I have come to the conclusion that Oregonians don't know what to do around snow, haha.

Moving on to the important side of things, we had several lessons with a couple of our main investigators.  With one of them we managed to bring a priest.  It was a neat lesson where the priest was able to bear a powerful testimony about fasting and really enjoyed his experience.  I think we might have just convinced him to go on a mission in a year or two.

On Tuesday we had a great lesson with the part member family at the church.  In the end they committed to try to find ways to come to church.  Previous to this they have had work on Sunday's, and while it might take some time to pan out, they took a few large steps in their faith.

One last story came from Sunday.  We were out tracting but got a bunch of nasty denials.  Ultimately it didn't feel like the right thing for us to do, so we started to head in another direction to regroup.  As we went we heard someone cry out and were able to help an older woman who had fallen on the ground and was unable to move.  She left fairly quickly, but it felt like that we were definitely directed to help her out at that time and it was cool to be an answer to someone's prayer.

The work is progressing and thanks for the support!
Elder Baxter

Winter Weather

Snow Tag

Change of Plans

Hello Everyone,

The best way to describe this week is that it was the kind of week where the Lord looks at what we plan, and then takes it and gives us something completely different.  Going into the week, we had more or less set lesson every day of the week which is great for the area, but as time went on every single one of those lessons with the exception of one fell through.  But in most of those cases we were always led to someone who needed us more.  I will tell about about a couple of those stories.

One of those happened on Thursday.  We were going to have a lesson with a part member family we have been working to get a lesson with, but a half hour before the appointment they texted us to cancel due to the flu.  Unsure of what to do, we felt we needed to go back to a street that we had only half tracted earlier in the day due to time.  This time we started on the other half and went from house to house getting various kinds of rejections, until we reached the last house we didn't get to knock on earlier.  Right when that door opened the man warmed up to our message immediately.  While talking, it became evident to us that the Lord had been preparing him, and that the Lord maneuvered our plans so we would knocked at that house at the exact time we did, so we could catch him and introduce the Gospel to him.  We go back to his home tomorrow.

On Friday another story happened that was very similar.  We were to have a lesson with another new investigator who fell through on us.  We decided to look at our area book and contact a few former investigators nearby, which led to us finding a young mother.  Then on Saturday lessons fell through again, but this time we were prompted to visit the part member family from earlier and essentially get them all to start thinking about goals to reach baptism and ultimately being sealed in the temple.  They have a lot of work to do to get there and nothing is final, but it was great to be involved in these miracles.

Ultimately this is the Lord's work and not ours.  All God asks of us is to have a willing heart, step outside our door and do our best. When we do that, the Lord can take whatever plan we have made and change it to something that truly reflects His will.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Baptismal Witness

Hello Everyone,

This week I got to witness the first baptism of someone I have taught!  In the past, I got to Skype the various people following the baptism, but this time I had the privilege of getting to see the actual event.  What I learned overall though is that I am just happy that she made the decision to be baptized ultimately, and whether I am there or not doesn't make too much of a difference.  The baptism and confirmation occurred on Saturday, where we were the witnesses, in charge of the part of the program while they got dried off, and were able to be in the confirmation circle.  It was a good, spiritual event, that was very well attended, by their family as well as ward members.  I am very excited for them!

The rest of the week was spent doing much of the same.  One fun story came when I had my district leader give me a haircut.  Over the course of it he ended up having some trouble and probably messed up, but didn't tell me, haha.  Due to it, he had to change my hairstyle, basically changing my life.  On the plus side a lot of various people have complimented my hair, I just hope it was real and not being nice!

We got to teach a bunch of various lessons this week, that went very well.  Teaching the part member family is going very well, though their progress is slow.  We have also had some small other updates on others we are hoping to more fully teach soon.  It is a slow grind, but when it gets going it will be great!

Now I am entering another transfer.  I am staying with my companion, finishing up his training.  We also have a temple trip this transfer sometime in March.  Training has been fun and the mission is awesome.  As I come another step closer to the end, I hope to endure to the end well and truly invite all to come closer to Christ.

Thanks for all of the support!
Elder Baxter

Baptism Day

Valentine package from home

Loving the castle entrance to this home

Everyday Adventures

Hello Everyone,

To start off the week we had Zone Conference, where they focused on the importance of the "Book of Mormon," as well as more training on how to do online proselyting.  It was a great meeting as usual, and at the end we got to have some time to talk to other missionaries and past companions which was great as well.  Unfortunately, the meeting went long which caused us to miss a lesson we worked hard to set up.  When we got back we raced on our bikes to at least apologize for not meeting with them and barely met them before they left for dinner.  All is well though and they completely understand.

Wednesday we had another exchange to help out our district leader, followed up with a lesson with Haley our on date.  We finished up teaching her the commandments in a lesson, as well as prepared her for her baptism interview.  Fast forward to Saturday, she successfully passed her interview and is ready to be baptized his coming Saturday! Haley and her family are awesome and it is easy to tell that their faith is stronger now than it was before the lessons.

We also had several other great lessons, including one with a family named the Whites.  We got to bring a member who worked at the MTC and they really hit it off, which was followed up with a great Restoration lesson, where they showed great sincerity and great questions.  The Spirit was so strong, making it a great lesson.  We also got to teach a different inactive member again and teach about the Sacrament.  Through the lesson it was easy seeing the Gospel click for him in many ways.

Overall, teaching is great and everyday is an adventure.  As I go around on my bike to appointments, I am very thank for the opportunity I have to be out here and all those who made it possible.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Not something Carlton sees much of!

Look a street with my name!

Playing my favorite game, Memoir '44

Seeing the Miracles

Hello Everyone!

This week was a pretty normal week on my end, with a lot of finding to help fill out our area book as well as several lessons and an exchange.  On Tuesday we had another lesson with our on date investigator, unfortunately the lesson didn't go as smoothly as we hoped.  One of the members we brought ended up going way too deep and decided to talk about a bunch of semi doctrine things while we tried to discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson.  Fortunately, it all went way over our investigator's head and after the member left the parents told us they understood what happened and will help her know what we were trying to say.  Still, fun times!

Throughout the rest of the week we battled to get our lessons to actually go through with varying amounts of success, but in the end we were able to get several new investigators including a super nice part member family as well as a husband to another investigator that we found a week or two ago.  We also got our bikes fully working!  Elder Daugherty was able to get a bike from the mission office which we were able to take over to a member to get all fixed up.  Ever since then we have been able to move around our area so much easier, not to mention use all the bike friendly lanes that Eugene is famous for.

We had an exchange on Friday with our district leader and nothing too out of the ordinary happened outside of one miracle.  We got to go to a lesson with one of their on date investigators who was struggling with coffee.  While there we were able to convince her to throw out all her coffee, which she then poured out onto her garden to "feed" the plants to justify throwing it out.  It was great to see much of the work those Elders have been trying to accomplish go through and see the miracle.

Finally yesterday we had regional conference where Elder Christoffersen spoke over the satellite about the need to fulfill our callings, and then had a great lesson with an inactive member about the Plan of Salvation and how to feel the Holy Ghost.

Thank you everybody for all the support and talk to you all more next week!

Elder Baxter

Finally able to use my bike!

P-day game time

Book of Mormon Give Away

Hello Everyone,

This week was another crazy week out here in Eugene.  To start, on Tuesday we got to watch the message from the new first presidency.  We were gathered together as a zone along with President Orton.  The internet wasn't working so we just listened to the messages that were spoken off President's phone.  Despite the technical difficulties though, it was a great experience to see President Nelson as well as have a chance to pray about it afterward and strengthen our testimonies.  Following the message and press conference we had our interviews with President Orton and had a normal day.

We had two lessons with the girl we are teaching, finishing up the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation.  They have gone well and it has been fun to come up with various object lessons to teach her about various principles.  We also learned that the Dad is a world war historian and showed us an original Nazi helmet and Hitler youth knife that his grandfather gave him that he got home from fighting in Europe.  Being a world war history nut myself, I thought it was awesome!

On Thursday our zone handed out Book of Mormon's to hundreds of people who went to see the Book of Mormon play.  It was a blast being able to go and grab ten or so Books at a time and then just start handing them out to unsuspecting audience members as they left.  Some other Elders got so into it that they even started to hand them out to people in their cars as they started to drive away.  As a mission we gave out 3000 Book of Mormons this week at the play, now here's hoping that someone in that group will want to learn more!

The next couple days were pretty normal until Sunday night.  Our District Leader, Elder Henley, went on a split with us around 8 pm and for the night.  A while earlier he injured his foot putting him on crutches, so that night when his companionship had their turn to go to the play he stayed with us while his companion went with another companionship.  While we were finishing up the night, we got many doors saying no and not letting us get anywhere, but the final door we knocked on was different.  A man opened the door and at first he looked extremely angry, but as we shared the message of the Restoration his heart softened.  In the end he accepted a Book of Mormon and said we could come back.  It was a great way to end the week.

Thank you for all of the support and make sure to go out and serve others!

Elder Baxter

Nazi memorabilia 

With Elder Daugherty