Happy Valentine's Day

Dear Family,

Happy Valentines Day! Thank you very much for the Valentines Day package. That was a pleasant surprise. You sure do know my favorite things (Reese's and cheescake ... mmmmmmm). I think Sister Monson will be very grateful for the rice bag. She is always cold, even though things are starting to warm up around here. I now consider anything above freezing to be a heat wave.

I'm so excited for you to be doing a 21 day missionary challenge. Who are you praying for? It has been fun for me to refer someone that I know (Bill) because I get to log on to the place where we enter the referrals and see how things are going. So far the sisters have only gotten his answering machine. But who knows, maybe in a couple months the status next to his name will go from potential referral, to new referral, to contacting, to teaching, and finally to baptized! It makes me want to refer everyone I know. And when I think about it. If I really love them, I would naturally want to share the gospel with them. It is the most important thing to me and I know that it will help them be happier now and throughout eternity. They may not be ready to accept it now, but as I follow the spirit in extending invitations they will feel that spirit and that will make all the difference.

I had an idea the other day. What if Will drove me down to Provo for school? I dunno if that will work or what the plan is, but I kinda like the idea of a siblings road trip. Also, I wanted to recommend that you get the D&C Church History DVDs. They are amazing! It has the Joseph Smith movie along with a bunch of other great little films. They strengthen and inspire me every time.

Jesus is probably moving this week. So as soon as we get his new address we will have the Spanish Elders continue teaching him and preparing him for baptism. He met them once but said he preferred learning from us. Hopefully he won't mind the switch and will still make his baptismal date of Feb 26.

Stephen is still set for his baptism on March 5. He such a smart kid. I think 11 year olds are my favorite. They understand things so well and just want to do what's right. At least, I've taught a lot of 11 year olds like that. Is Clark one of those awesome 11 year olds?

Heidi and her son Greg are reading from the Book of Mormon everyday but didn't come to church yesterday because they were out of town. She is really struggling financially and the ward is being somewhat helpful with looking for who is hiring and giving her websites where she can get help. We've also been praying for her a lot. I wish I could just take all her problems away. I know that the gospel will help, that paying tithing and living the Word of Wisdom will bring those blessings that she needs, but I don't feel that her testimony is strong enough to where she will have the faith to do those things. They would probably scare her away. So, we are planning to teach about the Sabbath Day and have her build her faith by keeping that "smaller" commandment first. As she sees the blessings her faith will grow and she will want to keep the others. Also, she still doesn't think she's gotten an answer about Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon. Hopefully, as we explain to her son Greg how the spirit feels, she will gain a better understanding and more readily recognize those answers.

Well family, just know that I love each of you very much. Oddly enough, I think being away for so long has helped my love for you to grow. You are great!
Love,
Sister Bailey Mortensen