Monday, August 29, 2011

Monday, August 29th 2011

Today is an early e-mail day for me. Lot's of stuff has happened since I last talked to you so yeah! Still here in Salt Lake City and I found out that the Consulate took a break for doing visas during the month of August so I guess I'll be getting my visa September! I'm excited about that! I also got transferred. I went from Cannon Stake to Granger West Stake! It's been fun to get moved so that I could experience something new! We also had a pretty bad storm last night, but I'll start from the beginning.

Tuesday was the day I found out I was being transferred. They didn't say where, but I just knew I was being transferred. All day that day I was super nervous as to where I'd be transferred because I have never been transferred before. So Wednesday comes around and we load up all our stuff and he takes us out to eat to the Original House of Pancakes. I got the Chocolate Chip Pancakes which were really good, but too much!!! Later we went to a church building to have transfers and our mission President was there and he spoke and yeah!! Later the Zone Leaders got to know each other’s companions and what Zone they'll be in. They held up their posters and I found my name under South Zone! I'm companions with an Elder from Puerto Rico and he's the District Leader, and an Elder from Huston, Texas! We have a car instead of bikes (dang it!!) but it's okay.

Thursday - Saturday was interesting since I didn't know anyone that we were teaching so yeah. Thursday we had District Meeting so I got to know everyone there which was nice so yeah!! Sunday was fun since I had to go get an investigator to church and I spoke a little bit in Sacrament Meeting. It was fun though. Last night we had a crazy storm!!! Lightning and thunder everywhere!! We all decided that we should go into the bathroom since it's the safest place in our apartment. So since it's night, and the power went out, we took our pillows and stuff in and laid on the ground. That bathroom is super small. Thank goodness the storm calmed down enough so that we could go to our beds and sleep. That was another adventure that I've had, hahahaha!!!!!! Now today is P-Day, and we went to the Temple which was awesome!! We took Tracks down here from West Valley since the train goes down there now so yeah!!!

How's everything at home? Jonathan's busyness isn't a surprise to me, so yeah, but still, I hope he does better this year than he did last year. How's my sister doing with her crazy schedule? How much does she have going on in the day? I hope everything is well over there!!! Be safe and have fun!! Love you all!!!

~Elder Bauer~

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday, August 22, 2011
Mom,

Tell grandpa thanks for the letter!! I hope to hear from him more and that I'm doing well!!! I don't know what else to tell him because you send all of my letters to him/post them on the blog so yeah!!! =D It makes me happy to hear from him!!
Daddy-o,

Wow, your week sounds like it wasn't the best, but I'm sure all will be well too!! Don't worry too much about it and don't get too frustrated. The only thing you can do right now is relax and do what the doctor and mom says. Who knows, the Lord may have something in store for you so that's why this is happening. I'm not super sure, but that might be one reason! My week hasn't been too bad. It was a bit discouraging, but it will all be fine.

Mother of mine,

I can say that the miracle of dad getting blood clots is one that I haven't figured out, but we'll see it in the future. I sent him an email just now so yeah. I hope that he reads it and gets comfort from it. My week has been fun and ehh. Here it is:

Monday, P-Day and all so yeah. Didn't do too much except for P-Day stuff. Tuesday was awesome!!! We had mission tour and that was a lot of fun!! We went to the mission office and Elder Paul V. Johnson talked to us a lot and yeah. We had that from 10 - 5 and that was almost like Zone Conference, but better since we had someone from the first Quorum of the Seventy! I really loved it and took good notes so yeah!!! Wednesday through Friday was pretty fun!!! We met new people, but some people fell off date for baptism. Some felt like they weren't ready, but they were, just for simple things that didn't really matter. We also then met somebody that his favorite word was, and I quote, "Si...si...si..." No lie. We talked to him and he kept saying that over and over again! It's pretty funny!!! We committed him to baptism and guess what he said, "Si...si...si...yo voy a...si." We even set him on date for the 24th of September and he said, "Si...si...si..." It was pretty funny!!!

Saturday we had a family's baptism and that was awesome!!! I did the brother and my comnpanion did his wife and it was perfect and awesome!!!! Afterwards we had cookies and stuff and Sunday they were confirmed!!! Super awesome since they are still really solid!!! Jose even volunteered for working at the Bishop's Storehouse so yeah!!! I really hope to see them after my mission since they are an awesome family!!!

Now I'm going to answer some questions that people have asked me and I'll just answer right now.

1. When's P-Day?
Mondays.

2. When do I get mail?
Thursdays after District Meeting during Planning.

3. When will my visa come?
Who knows, but probably soon since it's been 14 weeks since we've sent in the application.

That's pretty much it. Any more questions, put them in the comments and I'll get them and answer them asap. Thanks!!!
Love you all, my family unit!!!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Monday, August 15th 2011

Hey Father-dee-doo!!

Wow!!! It seems that you had a pretty good week!! I'm sorry you got sick though, but I hope that you feel better today! I'm also glad that everyone enjoyed their time in DC and that everything is going well over there at home!!! Okay, so I'm going to thank people that have sent me letters so far so here is the list:

Wil and Trey
Megan
CTR 6 and 7 classes
Bauer Family
Sister Johnson

Thanks to all of these people for sending me letters and I hope that I continue to get letters from all of you!! Now, I'm sure that your week seemed great and fun, but check out MY week!!!

My week has been interesting!! For one thing, we switched companions on Thursday during weekly planning. I'm meeting brand new people that have been investigating the church for a while so yeah!! Yes, that's their last name, which for those of you that don't speak or understand Spanish
(Sister of mine, *cough*cough*) it means peace and peace. They are super solid just like the other family. When this new inverstigator prayed the first time I went there, he practically said thank you for bringing these brothers so that we could be prepared to be baptized into your church.
I was shocked at what I heard!!! I was like...WHAT?!?! That never really happens before we commit them to baptism so yeah. Crazy, but awesome!!! One other thing we've been doing is talking to everyone, and I mean everyone!!! Just a random person we see on the street walking or in their yard, we talk to them. We may be late to other appointments, but it's okay. With this family we did that, and they wouldn't have been home when we planned to pass by so that's a miracle, just for talking to people. Super awesome how the Lord works!!!
I also met another new family!! I don't really remember their names. They just had a baby and I'm sending a picture with his little girl as well as other pictures in the next email! They're planning to get married this week and possibly baptized this Saturday or the next Saturday. We've also tried to get new investigators, but we haven't been too successful, but I'm sure there's a reason so yeah!! Oh well, we'll keep trying and that's about all we can do so yeah!! The family that was baptized is really solid still too!!! I'm not teaching them anymore, but they were there for the baptism that we had on Saturday...well, it wasn't an investigator getting baptized, but still, they were there. Then Sunday, they were at church...actually, just the husband was there, his wife was working that day. Next week she will get too so yeah!!!

Today has been fun!! We went to the Salt Lake Temple and did a session, which was much better than the last one!!! I loved it!!! We then went to Wal-Mart to buy some stuff that we needed and then ate lunch and now I'm here emailing. That's about all that's happened this week!!!
How has the Bauer family been at home? Is there anything new? How was school registration, or did you even have it? Take care and I hope to hear from you soon!!! Take care and I love you all!!!

~Elder Bauer~

Monday, August 8, 2011

The Awesome Family

Monday, August 08, 2011

Mother!

Well, with my companion's bike, he crashed into something and yeah, there went the bike's tire. As far as I know, I'm not going anywhere soon, but from what I hear, I'll be going to Spain on a P-Day so yeah.
If you send it this week, I'm sure that I'll get it before I leave, but just to warn you, I only get mail on Thursdays so yeah. If you can send it ASAP since next P-Day is the 15th and I feel like I'll be
going next week or soon after that, yeah. I hope I don't sound like I'm rushing you, but yeah. I'm glad that Jonathan liked his ring!!!
Did it fit him okay? I hope that he replaces the rest of his rings with that one since it's better... just kidding but yeah, haha. Your week sounded like a lot of fun!!! Mine was okay, but not as good as
the past few. Here's my week in a nutshell.

The family we are teaching is just golden!!! They make me happy and it's just awesome how they're just going for it!!! The weather here in the Salt Lake Valley is just RANDOM and bi-polar!! It's sunny and hot one
minute, and then it get's cloudy and rainy the next minute!!! Crazy I know but oh well. We have another investigator that we have and she's really shaky. We've taught her, bore testimony, and she's
still not getting it. I've been reading this morning in Preach My Gospel, Chapter 10, titled Teaching Skills so that I can better grasp how to teach people and so far, I can't think of anything. We even went to Temple Square and that didn't help her out at all. We'll think of something, but I can't do it without the Spirit to help me. I'm very reliant on that now more than ever. The Lord knows His children,
more than they know themselves so I'll keep praying for them.
Wednesday I went on exchanges, an English speaking Missionary, so when we met Spanish speakers, it was all up to me. We found a guy on the front step of a home and I talked to him.
Unfortunately, he was really hard hearted and he didn't really want to listen. He talked a lot more than I did. I ended the conversation just because it was lunch time and I didn't really want to talk to him
anymore. Later I met another guy that had met the missionaries before and he said that he'd like to have the missionaries over, except that he hardly had time so I'm not really sure if we should pass by, but we might.

Saturday was crazy. In the evening at someone's house, we left our bikes for at most 3 minutes because no one was home and my back tire was completely flat. So we walked most of the way home and a kid
helped me out with pumping it up. After ridding it to the corner of the street, I hear a loud POP and my tire was flat again. All day yesterday (Sunday) we walked because my bike needed a new tube and
tire. Today, I bought a new tube and tire so I'll be putting those on my bike and I'll be good to go!!! I do have a good feeling about this week for some reason so yeah!!! I can't wait!!!

Your trip sounded awesome!!! I'm glad everyone had fun!!! How did Jonathan like the University? How did Giselle like the bugs? Take care and I hope everything goes well! Love you all!!!

~Elder Bauer~

THE FIRST BAPTISM I ACTUALLY PERFORMED.

ME: I got in the computer to check the e-mail before we leave for Washington D.C and Alex was ON!!!!
Here is the way our little chat went on! Not too much time, but it was very nice and very exciting!

ALEX: If you could, would this be a good plaque picture? If it is, then could you use this one!!! Thanks!!!

ME: This is a very nice picture. We'll get it there soon.
ALEX: Yay!!!!! Okay, just make sure that it's EFY, Mormon Tabernacle, or classical. =) Thank you very much!!!

ME: This is so exiting. We are CHATING!! Is it against the rules?
I don't know, hehe. It's not really chatting, just sending emails to people back and forth!!

ALEX: I lied in the title, two more pictures!!! Cool pictures, but take your pick on which one is cooler!!

ME: I like them both, we could put them together. Your name tag that looks better with the temple picture that looks better. Hahah.
That is cool. Did you love the live session in SL temple? Isn’t the celestial room awesome?

ALEX: I loved it and yes it's super AWESOME!!!! Did you see the picture of the Prophet that I took with my own camera?!?

ME: Yes. We will be so happy to post it in your blog and I will let people know in your FB page so they can see them

ALEX: Yay!!! You can use Paint.NET to combine them better so yeah!!!
Sounds good. Well get the iPod, but we won't send it until we are back from Washington next week.

ME: Any word on the visa?

ALEX: No word on the visa yet, but I think it may come on the 15th of this month!!

ME: The 15th seems to be a good day. I think by then we will know a lot of the things that are happening here. It is also the day our real estate agent's contract expires. If we haven't sold the house it may be for a reason and it would be awesome, because we wouldn't lose money on selling the house and moving.

ALEX: That's good!!! It does sound like a good date!!!

ME: Your brother isn't here. He is celebrating his birthday with his friends. He should be back soon and then we will leave.
Have a wonderful day.
Take care, love you tons.

ALEX: I'll be sending him a letter so yeah!!! I hope he has a good birthday!!!
Love you!!!

BIKE ACCIDENT

MY FIRST BAPTISM

MY BIKE

Monday, August 01, 2011

Hey mother!!!

Okay, so one thing that I want from home is an iPod nano, you know the little square ones that are touch screen, so that you could fill it with music and send it to me. The music I want is my EFY CD's and as much Mormon Tabernacle Choir as you have so if you could do that, that would be great, if not, I can buy the iPod here, send it to you to fill it up and call it Ezra, then send it back to me. The color I want is silver. I will paste what I wrote to dad so that you can read it too!!! I'll also attach all of the pictures for you to see too as well as one that I forgot, of Thomas S. Monson!!! Here it is:

Okay, so this week has been fun and full of miracles on this side too!!! I'll tell you about them, but first the pictures that I'm sending you! The first four are from my bike accident. It was during the morning hours so I was wearing shorts and short sleeves since it was exercise hour so nothing got ruined. My hand as you can see was the worst of all of them. It's doing way better now though!!! The fifth picture was of my tan, and reading Jonathan's letter (yes I got the letters) he said he has a tan, tell him to check that picture out!!! As for the bike rides, I hope that no one is using my new bike there at home!!! If someone is...I won't be too happy!! Just an fyi so yeah. Now a scripture or two that I found interesting that I want to share with you!! Romans 15: 24 I see when I get to Spain, I'll learn from my trainer and verse 28 of how I will finish a bit of my work here and go to Spain to meet my trainer and learn from him. You'll laugh when you see those verses! Any way. On to my experiences.

Okay, so just a miracle that I have for you, we've been teaching a family, well, just the mom and her daughter. The father hasn't been there when we teach them, and when he is, he never opens the door. Thursday we go by with a member, and we know the father is there because his car is outside. So we knock on the door, no one answers. We knock a second time, and Brigit opens the door. Just a bit of background info. Her and her husband, have been together for 17 or 18 years and haven't gotten married in all of that time. They have three daughters, a 17 or 18 year old, another girl who is 14 or 15, and a little girl who is 2 or something. Okay so they answer the door and we teach them a little bit of the first lesson and ask them if they want to go to the marriage office and get their marriage license to get married, and they say yes! The next day at 4 we take them to the marriage office and get their license so yeah!! We then commit them to get a civil marriage at the church the next day (Saturday) and they say yes!!! The next day we get them married and the group picture (or last one) is the one that is after the marriage!!! Then that day we invited them to come to church and they did on Sunday so that's really cool!!! On Sunday, we invited them to Temple Square for a tour and they said that they'd think about it and so at 6 we called them, and they said...you know what they said...yes!!!!!! So we went to Temple Square for a tour and they had a good time and at the end of the tour, we set a date for their baptism and asked if they'd get ready to be baptized on that day. They said yes and he was probably really excited since he even asked if he'd have to bring anything to that so miracles happen all the time!!!

So you've seen your miracles, and I've seen mine!!! God I can say, is a God of miracles (Mormon 9:7-11, 15)!!! I'm sure that there will keep being miracles so long as we stay faithful!!! How's everything over there? Take care and I'll talk to you soon!!! Love you all!!!

~Elder Bauer~