Great Things Are Happening

Hello Everyone,

This past week was a really great week work wise.  To start, on Tuesday morning we had a lesson with Philip where we discussed the importance of confirmation and how it completes baptism.  Philip then agreed to baptism this coming June!  The Spirit was felt and it was a good lesson.  As we continued on into the day, we were able to then contact other various people and have a Book of Mormon class in the evening.

Wednesday was spent doing long drives to a coastal town named Coos Bay for Zone Conference.  It was a great meeting and it definitely felt cooler on the coast than the hot weather we have been experiencing in the Roseburg zone.  Following the conference, my district got to do dinner at a nearby truck stop which capped off the day.

The rest of the week was a blur.  I got to go on down to Myrtle Creek for a district blitz in their area.  I got to meet some of their investigators, as well as get to know Elder Hallam more, which was nice. The rest of the week was then spent doing a lot more of our normal missionary work, as well as having four investigators come to church, which was a miracle.

Great things are happening, and as I enter the last week of the transfer and will probably get transferred out, I can say it has been a great time in Winston, and despite what happens for transfers, I have seen the Lord's hand here.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Roseburg Zone

Lunch aka picture taking time at Zone Conference

A Great Time

Hello Everyone,

Following the p day at the end of last Tuesday, the week really flew by with a bunch of random events that occurred, that made the week feel a bit different.  To start, on Tuesday night we watched the Restoration movie at the church.  Unfortunately none of our investigators came, but we did get to show it to a couple of recent converts which was fun.  On Wednesday morning we had a special service at the veteran affairs in Roseburg.  It was a 2k race where we pushed old vets in wheelchairs for the two miles.  It was fun to listen to their stories of serving in various wars like World War Two and the Korean War.  Other things that happened service wise included helping an old couple recovering from back surgery wash their car and plant various plants in their garden.

We also had some good lessons as well.  We met with an investigator named Bradly and discussed the first half of the Plan of Salvation with him.  Every time we meet with him we can see the Spirit working on him, and more and more clicking with him.  We also got to meet Philip again and have a great lesson about prayer, and see both Bradly and Philip come to church.  Beyond that we met with many various people and got to set up some good lessons for this week.  We also hope to meet with Mario again in the near future as well and officially put him on date for baptism.

Transfers are coming in two weeks and I get the feeling I will leave Winston.  If I do or not though, I can say I feel like I really was able to invite people to come to Christ through the Gospel.  It is amazing to get to be apart of this great work and to really serve people in the best way possible through sharing that Gospel.  There are very solid people we are teaching now, and more are on the way.  It has been a great time out here.

Thanks for all of the support!
Elder Baxter

With Elder Kellerstrauss

A picture that was sent to Mom's phone by a member.

True Help

Hello Everyone,

This past week was Mother's Day as well as had plenty of teaching opportunities.  To start, the past week we managed to find a few more solid people we can teach, including an older couples as well as various people a little older than us.  We got to introduce the Book of Mormon to them and teach the importance of the first vision in various lessons that the Spirit was definitely present.  Among those, we also got to teach an older Catholic lady following doing service for her, and then got to commit someone named Mario to baptism.  He was having a rough time with a move and asked us for help.  We were able to then really help him by teaching him the Gospel and how he can be truly helped.  While he is moving outside the area though, it was a privilege to get to be the one to teach him that day.

Outside of that, we also did quite a bit of service this past week from helping the Catholic lady, to a move, to service at a food bank. We also had interviews with our mission president on Monday which were nice, and then of course had the Skype call on Sunday.  Overall, it was a humbling week from getting to see the various situations so many people are in as well as how the Gospel helps them all.

Thanks for all of the support!
Elder Baxter

Sunny Days

Mother's Day Skyping

Mission Life

Hello Everyone,

This past week was a little bit of a tougher week.  Due to an upcoming Zone Conference in Coos Bay, we have to save up our miles for the car, which has meant a lot of walking.  Our feet hurt a little bit, but that is mission life.  To start off, we had three great lessons with Philip, Jackie, and a new investigator named Bradly, who came to church on his own after a member invited him.  They are all very different people, and in the end it is amazing how the same Gospel promises to bless everyone's life.  It is awesome to see, and as we continue to meet with them I look forward to seeing how they progress.

Finding this week has been tougher.  None of our Tracting has gone well, and the formers we have visited have not been all that interested.  We will keep on going though, and I am sure that blessings are coming for enduring to the end.  One fun thing that happened though was an exchange where the South Umpqua Elder's came on up to Winston.  It was a fun day to continue to get to know other missionaries and to be able to share my testimony with them.

This upcoming week is looking to be another average week in missionary work with the exception that it will end with Mother's Day.  Thank you for all the support!

Elder Baxter

Carlton with the river behind him

Part of the Work

Hello Everyone,

This past week has been a great week for teaching lessons and helping the people we teach feel the Spirit.  To start off on the finding front, this week we have had several miracles.  We got into a couple of part member homes from randomly knocking on their doors and they let us in.  Each time only the member was there, but we managed to set up future lessons where the whole family could come and listen.  Beyond that, there was also a young man who came to church that invited himself over and has several friends in the ward that we are now teaching.  The miracles have been coming as we have put in the faith and it is great to see.

Another fun event that occurred was a movie night our ward put on which all the missionaries in the zone helped out with.  The ward put on Meet the Mormons, and the missionaries were able to blitz Winston as well as invite our investigators on over to see.  In the end we had several investigators attend as well as several less active ward members.  It was a fun event that really allowed the ward to work with the missionaries and it was a nice change of pace.

On the teaching front we also had several great lessons.  First of all, we got to teach a man named Philip.  The Spirit was very strong and we were able to really discuss the importance of baptism among a series of other subjects.  In the end he said that he will pray to find out if he should be baptized and he came to church this past Sunday.  We also got to teach several other lessons to various people from all walks of life.  It was a great week as far as teaching goes and in each lesson the Spirit was definitely felt and was the true teacher.

The work promises to move on here in Winston, and despite whatever may happen, God's hand leads the way.  It is amazing to get to be part of this work and I look forward to seeing further miracles happen in the upcoming week.  Thanks for all of the support!

Elder Baxter

Looking Ahead

About to Take Off

Hello everyone, this past week was a busy week.  We have been mostly focusing on doing less active work, which led to a bunch of lessons with various members of the ward.  Many of the families were nice and want to come back, but have trouble keeping commitments, so that is where we are starting as far as teaching goes.  This was also my first week with Elder Kellerstrass again.  We have been doing a lot of catch up since we last saw each other in the MTC.

We had our second real lesson with the youth pastor as well.  This time we got to go completely through the Restoration with him, and he seemed to be at least accepting of what we believe, even with our claim to be the one and only true church.  It was a great lesson, but we are not too sure where he will go from here.  We also got to do missionary work in the outskirts of our area.  We didn't see a whole lot of success, but we did see a lot of trees and no trespassing signs.  I guess the people out there don't think that the missionaries will ever visit them, but the ones we could, we did.

Outside of those, we also had stake conference this week as well.  It was fun to get together with the stake and zone in Roseburg and watch an adult session and general session that was basically centered around the stake presidency trying to simply teach the Plan of Salvation on a very basic level, so that new members as well as investigators could understand.  Finally, we as a zone got to take a hike to a nearby waterfall.  It was a fun time and the waterfall was pretty great.  That was my week in a nutshell!  Overall, it feels like work in the Winston area is about to take off and as we rely on the Lord all things will be possible.

Thanks for all of the support,
Elder Baxter

Carlton at the Waterfall

Zone Picture

Wet Elders

Elder Baxter was here

Worth the hike

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