Wherein Landen is almost 20!

December 31, 2018

Thanks for the Birthday wishes!!! I hope you all have a great new years eve/day! Glad everyone survived the sledding trip, and I hope that everything is going well. That's funny that it was Emerson that biffed it this time cause he was the one that knocked the wind out of me last time, jaja. 

There's not really much to say, I just talked to you all a few days ago. Pres. Mohr and his wife just left after spending a few days on the island, it was fun to have them here, they brought the package down that you sent! Thanks for the food, and the vial too!!  Also tell grandma thanks for the support as well!  It will help me to buy a new watch (mine finally broke after all this time) :(. 

 Love you all though, hope you all have a great week!

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen gets his CHRISTMAS CALL HOME!

December 24, 2018

     Awesome, I'll probably call at around 5pm our time here which should be close to 2 pm Idaho time.  Man!!!! your trunking me out with Christmas traditions from back home, those cardboard forts, Christmas nights and cinnamon roll breakfasts are the greatest!!!  But you should be happy to know we've been trying to keep alive some traditions here as well! 

      The week started off well enough with us reading the Christmas story from Luke to our students in the English class. They didn't understand it all too well since it was in English, but they learned a lot and we had a good time. Then a few days after we had our scripture class with all of the members and I low-key forced upon them our family tradition of acting out the nativity together..so we did! They enjoyed that as well, and we felt a cool spirit with them all. We also got them to help us film a 'Christmas Video Card' for us, so I'll be sure to share that with you guys so you all can see it too. (*Can't get it to work, but it is on FB and Insta).

     Then later on in the week we had a branch Christmas party.  We got the group in Portsmouth to take a bus down to Roseau and with the whole branch together we threw an awesome barbecue. Lots of food, a great Christmas spirit and Christmas message, and friends and family all around. After that we had the following day an amazing Special sacrament meeting service. Elder Mancilla and I spoke about Christmas and the Message of Christ to the world. 

     We have some good plans to celebrate Christmas and Christmas eve.  We've got a hike planned with a couple single adults from the branch and we got invited to a lunch with one of the families, then of course talking to you guys will be the best part of it all!  I hope you can all enjoy Christmas and the spirit of hope and salvation that Christ can bring into our lives as we remember His birth and the Light He brought into this world. This week in the "Light the World" initiative we are all to Light our individual faith. Let the Light of Christ enter your heart.  Search out his teachings in his scriptures, search out his personal counsel in prayer and seek out his Light in every way you can. 

    

      We can all grow "firmer and firmer in our Faith" as we give our hearts over to him (Helaman 3:35), so let's all take advantage of this wonderful Christmas season and take time to grow closer to our Savior. 

       Merry Christmas to all, and to all a "see you tomorrow"!!!!

Elder Bailey

ps. yeah- I'm not sure on what I will be doing when I get home. I don't plan on going back to school til the fall, so I will be looking for a job. The site would be cool, I'm also considering focusing my education towards an MBA in the future so I was thinking of checking with Tom or the Cousins at Grandpa's office to see if they would need an extra hand around the office over the summer as well and get some part-time experience in business. But I would definitely still be interested in applying to the Site! So we'll talk more about that tomorrow.

December 25, 2018

We loved Skyping with Landen for a special Christmas treat. (Video and transcription below of his testimony to us). 

 

TRANSCRIPT from the video clip we took of Landen (I don't think I am getting it to upload yet)...

“It’s helped me a lot to come to appreciate really the home that I grew up in, with you guys teaching us the gospel our whole lives. And growing up with good practices. Growing up with good things that we’ve done our whole lives. I’m really grateful for that. Like, for seeing all of the stuff that other people don’t have and for all of the things that I DID have, I guess it’s something that I’ll always be grateful for – especially just that knowledge of the gospel.

I know there is a story that I kind of remember that I think Mom told me, that when I was a little kid I came out of our Catholic preschool into our Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Sunday school (primary) and I like knew everything already, because I’d already been taught it before. And that’s kind of how I feel like in a lot of situations here – where we are like going through hard times and struggles and I already know how to handle it and how to get through it, because I learned it at home, I learned it from you guys, or I learned it from somewhere else in the mission already.

So, I’m very blessed, very happy with where I’m at right now. Very excited for the future to see what’s going to happen. Definitely I know that this gospel is true – that is something that will never change! Truth is eternal and truth is definite, and no matter how much people want to try to prove it wrong or force it away, it’s not going to change. It’s the way it is because that is the way that God wants it to be. Um – it was super cool actually, a couple months ago to see President Nelson as well, as he came and visited Puerto Rico, and just all the changes he’s been making (while I am) on my mission, I feel like the Church isn’t even going to be the same as it was when I left, because of all the new things going on with the new changes! But it is just a more sure sign that the Church really has been restored. It’s not just a different Church or anything, but it is really being led by God. It is being led by Him, and He is the guy in charge and He is doing what He wants with it. And I am super excited to be a big part of it as it moves forward and as the Kingdom is built even more!”

Wherein Landen Explains Cockfighting to Us!

December 17, 2018

     Haha, yeah, cockfighting, good stuff! Puerto Rico would be destroyed worse than before if they banned that stuff. I can't even tell you how many fights I've seen and cock-fighting training yards. People here will literally breed those things to be the most aggressive. Then they'll tie little razor blades onto their legs and send them into the ring to fight to the death. It's crazy stuff, prolly should be illegal, but its such a big part of the culture that it would def still continue on even if they banned it. 

     Yeah we heard about the church announcement! Thats super exciting! That should mean Lane will be ordained a teacher like next month then, right?? Crazy to think that he was barely baptized when I left and now he'll be a teacher.  And both Miles and Emerson will be baptized too! January will be an exiting month for the Family! Btw, tell Lane happy birthday for me! I know I'm late, but its better than nothing! 

     Things in Dominica have been pretty chill. We had some super great lessons thins week. One with a Family named the Sanford Family. They have been studying with us for a while now and have been coming to church a bunch. They are indigenous descendants to the island and are a really tight family. Well anyways, this week they were taught and accepted the Word of Wisdom.  The father has struggled with some issues with that law in the past, so it was good that he was willing to accept the challenge to live it. Pray for them - they are a great family!

    We also had a visit this week from the Caribbean facilities manager (from Puerto Rico). his name is Bro. Nieves. He works for the church managing all of the chapels on the islands, and he came to renew the contract in the Chapel in Roseau. Since we are the only reliable members with a car on the island, we had to pick him up and hang out with him all day! I learned a lot about the facilities management part of the church which was very interesting. He also came out to teach with us, so it was super fun. He also gossiped a little with us about the new temple in Puerto Rico (because of his position he knows basically everything about it) and while he wasn't allowed to give us any specific details, he did tell us some stuff, and it looks like the groundbreaking for the temple will happen before I finish my mission! Then, because of how small it is, it will prolly take less than 2 years to finish building and dedicate!  He didn't give any set dates but predicted a dedication before the end of 2020. so that is going to be super exciting and a lot sooner than most people expected it. 

      That's about it going on here. I will try to let you know around what time we will be Skyping home so that you guys will know. Other than that, I love you all! have a great week and a very Merry Christmas!!!!

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen Shares his Awesome Christmas Spirit!

December 10, 2018 

     That's exciting for Emerson! Baptism is something super exciting! I gave a talk about baptism and the priesthood this last Sunday, and learned a lot (I hope those who heard the talk learned a lot as well).  But that's a real special moment for him, I'm excited!  Will Maelynn be home in time for the baptism? How long is she planning on staying in Mexico?

     Yes, we will be able to Skype home, basically at what ever time of day works best for you guys. It's just us two on the island - so there is no need to fight over the computer for a time, and even so the other one of us can just use our smartphone for the call, so its super chill. We Skype into our district meetings every week, so we know it works and there will be no problem. I did not get the package though, or any mail from anyone if anything was sent. the next visit we will have from the mission presidency isn't until the 29th, and I don't know if they'll be checking a bag so might not have room for any packages, but if anything I'll get it in April when I go back to Puerto Rico. So no rush, all chill.

     This week was very interesting for Dominica. Nothing amazing to see in all of the numbers or in the progress of the area, but I personally was able to grow and progress spiritually a lot. Especially in my studies. I have been studying a lot out of the Book of Mormon and Preach my Gospel. This week I was able to read through the Book of Helaman and through the majority of PMG Chapter six (Christ like attributes). It was touching to be able to read about the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite of Christs' birth. 

     One of the most difficult things that we ran into this week were all of the bah-humbugs towards the Christmas Spirit. We went around to all of the members this week and even to quite a few non-members sharing the Christmas #lighttheworld videos and pass along cards and just lighting the world everywhere we went in general. And the majority of people gave us a lot of rejection and contention- making claims that Christmas was a pagan Holiday and that true Christians wouldn't celebrate it. They said a lot more than that but that's the basic gist of it and I can't even tell you how many people we heard that from.  I started to get concerned every time we pulled out the phone to show the video cause it could potentially start into something every time we did. So it helped a lot personally to be able to read through Samuel's prophecy, that the night before Christs' birth, the sky would be lit up and many marvelous wonders would occur that would cause the people to be amazed, confirming to me in my mind that Christmas is a time to celebrate. 

    Samuel told us, even the Heavens put up lights and new stars to celebrate that wonderful Birth. The Scriptures, both the Book of Mormon and the Bible would not make such an emphasis on His birth if it wasn't so important!  Adam, Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Nephi, Jacob, Samuel, and many other prophets saw and gave account of that birth, as well as many more in the New testament. It wouldn't be such a big part of all christian doctrine if Christians weren't meant to celebrate it. We are supposed to celebrate!  And as the Hymn says: Rejoice! the Lord is Come! Yes, its true, he wasn't actually born in December, and yes, it has become a very commercialized event that people abuse, But that does not mean we should stop celebrating it! If anything it means even more that we need to celebrate Christmas and rejoice for what it truly means, because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. He was the Gift of Light that God gave to the world and by celebrating that gift and that birth we can show our gratitude to our creator for offering us an opportunity of salvation. Boycotting Christmas will not stop the commercialism, it will only stop the blessing. It is not a pagan Holiday, it is a holiday to celebrate the One true God of Israel. That is why Me and My companion are going to Light up this Island with the Christmas spirit this Season. Because I Believe, and I am grateful for that gift given long ago. So I will express that by helping others to feel the same light that has shone upon my soul from Him.

    Sorry, that was a bit of a ramble, but that is how I feel and that is my testimony. 

I do love the Christmas season, and I do love the Lord. I hope everyone back home is as excited as I am for this Christmas, its gonna be great! I love all of you guys as well, Please do all you can to 'Light your Community' this week, and shine forth the light of Christ to everyone in Idaho!

Love, Elder Bailey 


('tis is a lot, but we went to: Emerald lake, Jakos steps, and Scotts head (where the Atlantic meets the Caribean) we did that last hike already dressed in pros and our car got stuck halfway up, thus the pictures! 

Wherein Landen Learns a Little Creole.

December 3, 2018

    Sounds Like a fun week, dad! I remember back forever and a half ago when me and you went out to South Dakota too to go antelope hunting with your brothers and dad. On the way back you let me tryout driving the old civic stick shift. I hope Marks driving through the Wyoming roads this trip was a lot better than mine so many years back. If there is one thing that I have learned how to do on my mission is is to be a better driver (and lots of other things too, but that is one of them). So far I've driven everything from a Corolla to a Rav4 to a Tacoma, thousands of miles, through trafficked highways in California and San Juan to country back roads in Puerto Rico and Dominica - with the steering wheel on both sides of the car and driving on both sides of the road - through some pretty crazy conditions. 

    This week on the Dominica roads, we trusted a map that we shouldn't have which took us down a road that still has not been completely reconstructed since the hurricane, and there were parts where the road was just wide enough to squeeze our Rav 4 by with a cliff going straight down on our left and another going straight up on our right!  Some crazy stuff... but sometimes when I'm thinking about all of the crazy situations I've learned to drive in and to handle, I think back to that SD trip when I was a little lad in appreciation of all that I've learned since then, both in driving a car and in all other things. 

    We saw some amazing blessings this week as well as some big disappointments. One experience for example: Last Sunday 2 of the Haitian children that have been coming to our English class Showed up at church with out us even inviting them, and they seemed to enjoy it a lot. The following day, The older one of the 2 brothers (Esaie- 17y.o. and Ezekiel 12y.o.) came up to me at the end of English class and told me "I want you, Mwen Vle Baptize" which I didn't completely understand, but then he typed it into his google translate and repeated it back to me in Enlgish: "I want to be Baptized, I want you." So then I tried to respond to him, but I don't speak Creole, so I typed back into his google translate: "we can help you with that". We then proceeded to set up an appointment, get his address and phone number and everything. 

     The next day we went over for the appointment and taught him and his brother, the best we could with our limited Creole, but helped them set a baptismal date with a simple as it can get invitation: "Ou vle baptize?" "You want baptize?" and they accepted and we showed them a calendar to decide on the date.           Then we invited them to play soccer with us on Wednesday and we had a great fellow-shipping game of soccer with them and a bunch of other children!  By the end of the game we had set 2 appointments with different youth from around Portsmouth to visit and teach them and their families.  (Come to find out that these youths' parents don't speak English either and we had a lot of Creole learning this week). Thursday tho we taught these 2 brothers again and used a Creole gospel principles book to help them to understand the apostasy, restoration and book of Mormon - and it worked great! They were super excited for their baptism. Then on Friday, they texted us and told us they are moving a half-hour car ride away from the church, and don't have money for a bus in to town. 

   So like I said: Huge Miracle, and little disappointments -which we will conquer and move on from!  

     All around tho, things are going well. Exciting to hear about Jakobs' mission call! When does he leave? I'm Glad to hear everything is going well back home, I hope that by now mom has already put up all of the Christmas decorations and that she is only allowing Christmas music to be played around the house, and that you guys are enjoying everyday new treats coming in from neighbor gifts!

    Lots of Love from Dominica!

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen Hikes to a Waterfall.

November 26, 2018

Wow, that is lots of patients, glad they keep you busy there! Hope you still have enough time to enjoy the holiday season too! 

I saw the thanksgiving pics, looks like lots of fun. and a full house!  My comp was mindblown by how big the table was. Our thanksgiving here was good. They don't celebrate it here so I cooked all of our Thanksgiving dinner and me and my comp just kinda celebrated by ourselves in our apartment after we got in at 8 for dinner. Definitely not the most glamorous Thanksgiving, but lots of thanks was still given, so its purpose was fulfilled. 

Things are pretty chill here, nothing really crazy happening. The work is going good.  We have found a lot of new people to teach, so that was a huge blessing.  And yeah, that's really it. I've gotten way good at driving on the left side of the road, but I still mess up a lot and accidentally turn on the window wipers when I need to turn! ;) But I'm getting there - that is the purpose of this life, to work toward perfection, and I'm still in that progress with the blinker! 

 Otherwise life is really chill here, we are excited for the upcoming month and Christmas season. We have a lot of "Light the World" plans for the Island which should be good. 

We also went to  a waterfall today, which was super duper cool. I'll try to send pictures.

Love you all tho!!!!

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen Meets An Apostle!

November 19, 2018

  Mom - I'm super sorry. It sounds like your guy's week has been pretty crappy. Okay, from what you have told me, super crappy. With so many problems happening it may seem even difficult to get into the Thanksgiving spirit, but I hope everyone can still recognize all of the blessings that you all have still.
    If I might help you all to count some: 
1. Nobody got hurt seriously with two separate car accidents happening at the same time. 
2. Those 2 cars that you were driving were still brand new to my perspective (since I still have never even seen them), so new cars even if they are crashed is a huge blessing. 
3. You live in a country where they celebrate Thanksgiving - so you get lots of food and turkey decorations. 
4. (This one is more for mom)- you got blessed with a friend to share with you more than 40 + years of life. 
5. You have an eternal companion and children to share life with you for eternity as well. 
6. There is always hope in Christ, this life is not the end of the plan of redemption. 
7. You have a super-cool son that got to spend a fun weekend in Puerto Rico with an apostle! 
...... and many many many more as well. 

     If I can add on to that as well some counsel that Elder Christofferson gave to us about overcoming our trials with our faith: If you are going through hard times, Keep going. ("you might make it out before the devil even knows your thereeeeee"). He taught us that frequently in our trials, God teaches us even more. Not because he brings us miracles and glorious wonders to remove us from out of the middle of hard times. Nor does He give us great amounts of courage and energy to push through at a sprint. But most of the time, God will give us just barely enough support for us to make it throughout that very day.        He did not give the Israelites monthly or even weekly 'support bread'. He gave to them and He gives to us support every day in our Daily Bread. Our faith isn't to pull us out of hard times and into glorious ones, rather our faith is to trust in God and depend on Him DAILY, as we fight sometimes just to get to the bread at the end of each day. (Elder Christofferson also shared a super cool story to go along with that). 

     I am thankful as well for many things in life: 

1) Even after our flight got canceled to Puerto Rico and we waited 8 hours in an airport, we still got to safely fly from Dominica to Puerto Rico and enjoy an amazing weekend with an apostle!

2) We learned many wonderful things that are now going to help us complete the will of the Father on this Island. 
3) We made it back safely (with the wonderful package you all sent, thanks all!) to Dominica on Sunday afternoon (after a flight delay in Puerto Rico as well).

     At the point I am at in the mission - and also very prompted by some thoughts that Elder Christofferson shared, I have thought a lot recently about how short life and this mission really are. 
     This life truly is too short, and the mission I serve too fast, for me or any of us to waste time away from the Spirit, or away from the service of God. I, and all of us, are Humans. We are imperfect. And as we serve we are often times unable to contribute all that we might hope to contribute to the building of the Kingdom of God. But as we serve with all our might, even in "our own weak way" (as the patriarch called it in Grandpa Ivan's blessing), we can make a difference, and we can contribute a lot. 

     I know by personal testimony but also because I recently heard it out of the mouth of an apostle, that I have been given authority from Christ to declare His word. To act as He would, and to teach as He did.  With this authority, despite my in-capabilities and the "weakness" of my way of serving, I will be, and am, able to help the Kingdom of God progress on this Island nation to which I am assigned.  That is my hope and Faith, and the promise I give to Him to use all of the time I have let here on this mission - and for the rest of my short life, to serve Him, to Follow Him,  and to help all others around me to do the same. 

I hope all goes better for you all this week, Happy thanksgiving to everyone!!!

I Love you all,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen Listens to the Spirit.

November 12, 2018

Wow, that is sad about Jim passing. I hope Lynn could feel the love of the whole family, and that all goes well for her from here forward. Thanks for sharing.  They have been really special friends for our family for, well, I cant even remember how long. But I hold in high gratitude all of the special memories we have with them, from Thanksgiving dinners, to backpacking advice and counseling, to supporting us at our scouting courts of honor. They are some real cool people. 

Life on Dominica continues forward. We had a rather successful week this week, found a lot of cool new people to teach and had some bomb lessons with some of our progressing investigators. We had some super cool experiences as well in following the spirit this week. I will share 2 with you, one big one, and one small one.  First the small one. We went one day to teach a lesson to a person that we had an appointment with and we called and called, and the person never came out. We were bummed, because we had been having a really bad day and had already had like 4 appointments before that fall through.  So it was rough and we were pretty disappointed, but we turned around and started talking to their neighbors.  After a minute of talking to them I opened my mouth to, as I call it "navigate the conversation toward the gospel", and when I opened my mouth the only words that came out were "Thank you, have a great afternoon". ..and the convo was over and we started to walk away.  But it was kinda a weird experience, cause it wasn't what I had planned on saying, but its just what came out.  Right when our convo with the neighbors ended though and we started walking away, was right when the person we had an appointment with came out of her house and yelled us back and told us she had been asleep! We had an awesome lesson with her that we wouldn't have had if we had walked away too fast or gotten tied down in a conversation with her neighbors.  Like I said - something small, but a fulfillment for me of the D&C scripture that says: "the spirit will put the words in your mouth in the very moment". So it was pretty cool.

 The other experience was on Thursday in the morning.  We were making plans for our day, and we had been planing for like the entire previous week that that day we were going to go to the indigenous territory to preach the gospel to the natives of the island for the whole day. We set up the plans, we had everything ready to go, then when we preyed over our plans at the end of the planning session we both felt that something was wrong with the plans.  So we went back over them and revised them a bit, but still, we felt something was wrong.  Eventually we were guided to not to go to the territory that day, even though that is what we had been planning on for forever. And instead we went around and visited with people in the city where we live (Portsmouth).  So we had to start from scratch and change our whole day around and make whole new plans, but at the end of it, we were able to pray over the plans again and get a spiritual confirmation that that was what God wanted us to do! We aren't really sure why we weren't suppose to go to the territory that day, but for what ever reason it was, God didn't want us there. 

The spirit is kinda funny sometimes in the way it works, and the way it speaks to each individual.  But we have been promised many times in the scriptures that no matter how big or small the issue, the Spirit can and will guide us in "all things" as we rely on prayer and the study of the scriptures (2 Nephi 32:3, 8-9). I am super grateful for the Spirit to guide me in my missionary labors, and for all of the plans that God has for me to fulfill, as I try every day to be an obedient instrument in his hands.

I love you all and hope you all the best of best in this upcoming week!

Elder Bailey

From a letter to Maelynn: (About the upcoming trip he will be making to the main island of PR this week):

"We never go back to Puerto Rico. That's why this trip is so special. Literally the only time we get to go back is if we get transferred back and someone comes and replaces us, or if the mission gets a visitor from the quorum of the 12 or above (so the last time it happened was when the prophet came). Other than that, we never go to zone conferences, we just don't have them. We do google hangouts video call for district meetings. We cant even call our mission president because international minutes are crazy expensive, so we just 'whats app' the President and the APs for important stuff.  The closest missionaries are about 100 miles away on an island called St. Kitts, and they are a senior couple in our district.  The closest young missionaries are on St. Thomas (about 200 miles away) (also in our district). So it will be super cool to go actually meet all of the missionaries in our district, having never met them in person before, but we'll see them in PR. 

Wherein Landen Explores the Rain-forest!

November 5, 2018

      Saw all of the pictures, they all look great! I'll be uploading a few of my own as well here soon, we went on another Hike today - the Syndicate Nature trail, home of the Sisserou Parrot (and only place in the world where that type of parrot can be found). So it was pretty cool, but we didn't actually get to see any parrots (cause they're green and we were in a rain forest so they're super hard to see). But we did get to hear them all around us and we got some cool pics of us, and rain forest stuff and even a video of the parrot sounds so it was a fun trip. 

      We also had a great week this week. We found a cool new investigator named Obenson. He came to an English class that we teach with one of his friends. He is from Haiti and only speaks French and Haitian Creole, so being in Dominica he has to learn English. After the class we found out that he lives next to where we live, so we walked home with him, and then he asked for our number and literally texted us asking when we could teach him so we set up a time to go and teach him. We tried to teach him about just simple things like faith and prayer, but couldn't get very far because he literally speaks zero English, and we both speak fluent Spanish, but zero French. So it was rough, but then.... he came to church on Sunday!!! And none of our members speak any French either, so another person we are teaching had to translate for him. So he is showing a ton of interest and is a super cool guy, but without google translate we can't communicate with him at all.  It's a struggle, but its in process now. Keep him (and us) in your prayers please, so that we can communicate with him, otherwise idk what we are gonna do...

      So, a cool side note, we are going back to Puerto Rico in 2 weeks for a fun weekend vacation!  Just kidding, we are going to participate in a devotional that Elder Christopherson is going to give! They decided it was important enough to fly us in to see it! So they are spending money on plane tickets for me and Elder Mancilla to spend a weekend in Puerto Rico! We are going to be there for 2 days for just a 2 hour devotional, so I'm not sure what else we are going to do, but it should be fun. I mention it tho, because it will be like my only chance to get any supplies from you guys! Please send a package to Puerto Rico before I get there on November 16th.  I would love you all super Much!

    In other news I hit my 18 month mark in the mission. Crazy to think it was so long ago that I started. And that so soon I will be going home. Seeing all of these friends going home and hearing about all of their homecomings is crazy and its making me really want to make the most of the time I have left. So I took some time this last week, and to celebrate my 18 month mark in the mission, I set for myself 18 goals that I want to achieve before I go home. I tried my best to follow the outline that mom and dad always gave us to set goals (Educational, Physical, Spiritual, Social, and Financial is what I think they were, if I got them wrong correct me ;))

      In the mission I have come to appreciate the concept and setting and achieving goals, something I was very familiar with before the mission, but something I've now come to recognize as essential in all aspects of life. Even Mom in her work at J4K has a goal for the number of patients to see every day. I'm sure dad does similar things in his work as well.  And we have a sure example of that in God's work for us: "Behold this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal Life of Man". Something that he did not just say and not act on, but something that he gave payment for and made an organized plan and a gospel to achieve. "Such as he is, even so should we be" which is why God has also commanded us, from the beginning, to be an organized people saying "Organize yourselves, and prepare every needful thing." His prophets and leaders have taught us continually that setting and achieving goals is the Lord's way of organizing and accomplishing our work. I know all of you have big visions for the future, you all know that I have a big vision for the future, and I would hope that we can all achieve what God desires of us as we work and even sacrifice to accomplish what we plan to. 

I truly love this work that I am in, and I receive from it blessings every single day. I love all of you as well, and wish the best for you all in this upcoming week of adventures! 

Elder Bailey

Wherein Landen Hikes to Lake Boeri.

October 29, 2018

Haha, no. they do not celebrate Halloween here, but they have been celebrating this last week pretty hard.  This last week was the Creole festival for the Island so all of the famous Caribbean singers came and did a huge music festival and all of the popular restaurants and everyone set up so it was a huge 3 day festival with lots of Creole music and Creole food (Creole is just the word to describe the culture of the Caribbean, more or less, its kinda complicated what it is and honestly I'm not 100% sure)!  I just know everyone was eating Creole food and wearing Creole clothes and going to Creole parties and the Creole music festival. 

So the festival started and around 9 on Friday and Saturday and went until 6 in the morning on both days. Then on Sunday it started around 5 and went until midnight and ended with a dope firework show. We don't know this because we went, just because we live maybe 1/4 mile from the stadium where they did the festival and all the music and fireworks kept us up at night. 

Then this next week (on Sadie's birthday) is their Independence day, so that is bound to be a huge party too, but, we don't get to celebrate at all. 'Cause we can't go to parties. Sucks, but ya know, its for a reason.

Other than that, life is good here.  Elder Bradford left on Saturday, so its just me and Elder Mancilla now. I've been the driver for about a week now and driving on the wrong side of the road is getting more natural and smooth. Our teaching pool is doing well. We have a couple of families that we are teaching that are super cool, they are indigenous families, like straight up Lamanite descendants out here. There is a reservation on the island for all of the indigenous people who live here. So they are pretty cool families, plus they are progressing well and showing lots of interest in the Gospel.  Otherwise we spend our time working hard to find new people to teach! Lots of walking and lots of talking to everyone. 

Fun highlights of this week: I taught a lesson in Chinese to a less active member here (she speaks English, just not a lot, so we had to do some translating). But I totally used the stuff that Lane taught me in Chinese forever and ever ago, haha, thanks Lane!

 We found some really cool new investigators and had some fun lessons.  Teaching in English is a fun change that has been working really well (its almost as if I'm already fluent in this language or something).  And well like everything else is blanking out right now, I cant remember anything else significant that I haven't already mentioned. Oh, we played soccer with some investigators and I got totally slaughtered! Oh yeah, and we had a ward party to say goodbye to Elder Bradford and we made chili dogs for everyone and they all freaked out cause they had never seen them before and didn't know how to eat them, but then ended up loving them!  It was pretty cool. Good week!

Thanks for all of the love and prayers and emails, I love you all super super much!

Elder Bailey

"BTW, these are from a lake that we hiked to today that is over 3000 feet above sea level. The Island is 7 miles wide and 13 miles tall and its highest point is 4700 feet above sea level. That is like close to the size and elevation of Idaho Falls, but just ocean on all sides around it...just a tall pointy rock in the middle of the ocean. The lake we hiked to is called Boeri Lake!"

Wherein Landen Arrives in Dominica!

October 22, 2018

(Landen Basically responded to each of us from our family letter we wrote to him the night before, so I will include our questions in red, and his answers in black, so it makes more sense!)

.
Hey there son, how was your flight or boat trip to the island? Did you get there by boat or by plane? Sadie is wondering if you rowed the whole way. Tell us all about the island and how you find things there. Do you have running water? Do you have a fridge? Are there enough members to feed you or do you make your own food? Do you have a computer to write emails or do you travel somewhere for that? Going forward, can you receive packages? And if so, give us your address.
Love, mom 
So yeah it was a flight, a couple of flights! It is too far for a boat ride, unless you're on a cruise. Like the flight is 1:45, so a boat would prolly take like 20 hours. It's actually like 100's of miles away from Puerto Rico, but its still part of the mission and its just me and my comp on the whole Island (well, were in a trio right now until the guy I am replacing goes back to Puerto Rico on Saturday).  Its like a really poor Island. There are only like 75,000 people who live on the whole Island. It is a super 3rd world country, (yes - it is its own country). There is just 1 branch on the whole Island (divided into 2 congregations) and about 30 out of the 140 members are active, but we are working on that! 

I'm with an Elder named Elder Mancilla. I lived in the same house with him my first two transfers of the mission forever ago, so we are already pretty tight. I do like the Island a lot though, its really cool and they talk pretty cool here. Its mostly English, but its got a really thick accent and they mix in some other languages and or dialects sometimes. Yes we have running water, but we have to filter it, and yes we have a fridge, about 50% of the time, so we're good. LOL about the food thing mom, I've been making my own food since I got back to Puerto Rico, but now instead of averaging 2-3 meals a week, we only ever get 1 a week.  There is a computer in the church that we are using, and no, I cannot get any packages or letters here, but I did sent you guys a package and letter this last week!  The letter you can open and read when it gets there. But the package you can just leave closed, its just some stuff that I've accumulated throughout my mission that I didn't want to throw away, but also didn't have any use for, so you can just throw it in the basement until I get home or something. 

     We are going to visit Puerto Rico for a conference on the 16th of November though, so if you want to send anything, I would be able to get it then. The conference is with Elder Christofferson, so I'll get to hang out with Brenda's father in law for a day or so prolly! ;)

This is from Sadie:
I had my City-county meet at Freeman. I got 30:03.
Then I had districts at Freeman. And I got 29:56.

Thats super dope  Sades, way proud of ya'... that's like super duper cool!

This is from Seth: 
I ran a 6:39 mile the other day, so that was pretty chill.
 School is pretty easy, calculus is fun.
Oh my friends are trying to get me to go to the haunted attractions and junk - it’s pretty terrible. 

Seth, don't go. It's not worth it. I repeat, it's not worth it!

This is from Lane: 
I would just like to say
I had a disc golf tournament and I got second place and i won 13 bucks.
I had a swim meet, and I did pretty good. I am not sure my exact placing because I didn’t go to the awards meeting. 
Do you like your new island?

Lane, the new Island is super cool! Every day here is super hot, probably unlike there right now. Thats really cool though about your disc Golf tournament! Way to go!

This is from Miles:
Tomorrow we are going to carve pumpkins with the Olson’s. I got first at my swim meet.
And if you didn’t know this, I have like six Nerf guns! I hope you like your new island.

miles your gonna have to share some of those Nerf guns with me later on and we can have a war with them, that'd be cool.

This is from Emerson:
Hey Landen! How are you doing? My pumpkin carving is going to be a pumpkin with a tiger face. If you like your new island, tell us! 

Emerson, that sounds super cool, tigers are awesome. I do like the new island!

This is from dad: 
I won seven dollars at the frisbee golf tournament in Blackfoot yesterday with Lane. I threw my first ace! Everyone was jumping up and down and giving me man hugs, just like on the hunting videos that we used to watch.

Dad, haha, Lane won more than you, jk, But like f'reals too. That ace sounds super awesome, did you par the rest and slay everyone else, or how strong was the competition?

Everything is cool here, Hope you all have a great week next week!

Love y'all,

Elder Bailey

The package he sent to himself which will remain unopened for 6 months or so! LOL
It actually arrived the same day as the email did!