Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Last one!

Dear Family,

Sister Monson and I have been receiving lots of referrals for other areas, mostly because we were in the right place at the right time and we talked with everyone. One man actually lives a few blocks from us in Florence, but we met him outside working in Millard. He said he'd really like the fresh start that our Savior offers through repentance and baptism. About ten minutes after meeting him we went to another area but the people we were hoping to see weren't there. As we walked around the neighborhood we ran into a lady on her way to visit a friend. We handed her a website card and she said "Oh, you're Mormon." in a very cheerful tone and immediately invited us over "Mormons never visit me. Why don't you come by sometime?" Then she wrote her name, number, and address on the card, handed it back to us, and said "Give me a call first." We barely had time to thank her before she went inside but it was quite a miracle.

I can tell you are excited to see me. Well, I am excited to see you too. I'm glad that missionary work is an eternal principle and that I'll still be a missionary, just a different kind of missionary. I read about "A successful missionary" today and decided that I've been successful. I haven't been perfect, but I've learned that I can be great without being perfect. I've grown a lot and seen a lot of other people around me grow as well. I just hope we can all keeping growing closer to the Savior together.

See you soon!
Love always,
Sister Bailey Mortensen

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

General Conference

Dear Family,

I LOVED General Conference. We had four investigators watch it at members homes! I think the interaction with members was more interesting/helpful to them at this point than the actual conference messages, but Heidi, Greg, Holly, and Scott all seemed to enjoy it.

My inspired questions were definitely answered as I watched conference. They were: 1) How can I help my family return to Heavenly Father, 2) What else should I add to my list of small and simple things (see the attached document), and 3) What is the Lord's vision for me and my family?

Elder Oaks talk about desires/vision and Elder Robbins talk about "to do" vs. "to be" really rang true. My vision, desire, and hope for an eternal family was strengthened and I realized that those small and simple things are how I'm going to get there. I also realized that rather than trying to teach people what to do, I should show them who they can become. I'm still developing this thought but so far this is what I've come up with (see PMG pp. 20,198).

know what teach principles
feel why testify of doctrine
do how invite them to apply those principles
become who demonstrate and promise blessings that come from living those principles

Anyway, what did you learn from General Conference? I'm glad Clark took notes at the priesthood session. I am so excited to get the Ensign and really study these talks more in depth. They certainly invite personal revelation.

Love,
Sister Bailey Mortensen