Wherein Seth Writes his Last Email for 2019!

Saturday December 28, 2019

So the fact of the matter is that I already wrote this week on Monday and talked to y'all on Wednesday so I don't have a ton to write about. But this week was filled with magic. 

So we started doing this thing where for an entire day we let the missionaries that we're training be in charge and have them take all the initiative and make all the decisions. This is so that we can learn which aspects of missionary life they lack a little in and better teach them. 

     One of these days was Tuesday, Christmas Eve.  And we spent the entire day baking cookies. Kinda a rough day cause sitting in a bakery with a blazing oven while it's already real hot outside ain't too comfortable. but it was all worth it cause now all the members that we gave cookies to like and respect us a little more and our investigators think we can bake. 

     Our guy Macario over here I don't think has ever had a homemade cookie before cause he thought they were heaven sent. 
  

But yeah, That happened along with some delicious food from all the members. 

We also taught some good lessons. Macario doesn't want to get baptized cause he already got baptized before on a whim. So that's awesome. 

     I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and will have the happiest of new years. There is so much ahead that is wonderful...along with a ton of challenges... but if you just remember that God gives us trials to help us grow and learn then all will be alright.

With Love,

--

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Calls Home for Christmas!

Monday December 23, 2019

     So this week was full of Christmas Cheer. Thursday we had a conference as a mission and had a talent show. In it, I and like my entire district sang Burrito Sabanero. We used some homemade instruments and not gonna lie, it was really bad. Like awful. But then that night, we also had the posada for the Barrio Pedregal and we sang the Karaoke version of Burrito Sabanero and now the entire ward loves us cause we killed it. 

On a teaching note, like three weeks ago we taught a lesson to this guy named Noe. he lives in Col. Milagro and for some reason or another, our appointments with him never worked out, then this week we finally caught him at work and talked with him for a bit and turns out he's been reading an entire page of the Book of Mormon since we gave him one and had marked the verses that he liked on like every page and was just so excited to share all that he had learned with us and in all the excitement he decided to make us a pizza. (he works at a pizza shop) and it was really yummy. So that's a little story for y'alls.

Anyway, hope that everyone has the merriest of Christmases and can find some time in their lives to go and make someone's day a little bit brighter. 

Love you all,

Elder Bailey

And on December 25th (Wednesday morning) at 10 am, Seth Skyped is from Mexico... it was so awesome to hear his voice and see his smile. It did me so much good! Best Christmas present ever.

Wherein Seth Wears A Santa Hat and Hands out Books

December 16, 2019

     So this week we met a guy named Macario. I could talk for hours about him (mostly cause he talks for hours and tells us his life story any time we visit him so I have a lot of material) but he's awesome. After we taught him the restoration he took the Book of Mormon that we left him and  it. The next day he told us he had made it to chapter 11 and compared it to the Bible and that he knew it was true. So that was a pleasant surprise. It is truly incredible the power that the Book of Mormon has. Also the other night we had an awesome zone activity where we put up a stand outside of Walmart, put on Santa hats, sang Christmas hymns and gave away a ton of Book of Mormons wrapped up like presents.It was super fun and the Christmas spirit was abounding. 

     But yeah, this week was awesome and I'm way excited for Christmas. Also I want to challenge all of you to think of a friend of yours that hasn't experienced the joy in reading this book, and give them one as a gift with a little testimony of yours. 

Love you all and hope that y'all have the best week ever. 

Elder Bailey

P.S. if you don't have a Book of Mormon to give away, just call up the missionaries. they have some extras, I promise. 

(To mom:)

Mom, my week was awesome. yeah, in the beginning I was told I was gonna be there for the 12 week training program so I started that then it just got comical to say 16/12. It's really good being a trainer. full of adventures. yesterday a family from Utah who was on vacation wanted to donate some food and money to some families in need and came to Pedregal which is the poorest of the wards in Cancun so I got to take them around to a couple families who could use the money. They were really chill. They said they were from Bountiful, both of the parents graduated there. His name was Mike, (I forgot their last name. It started with an S and was relatively short. Stout maybe?) ...don't know but he said he has an older sister named Amy and something and lives close to your parents house but doesn't know them. Anyway that was fun. They sure had their eyes opened when we started driving in the colonies.

Wish Lane a happy belated birthday ...and I'll see you on Christmas. 

Love 

Seth

Wherein Seth Skyped Us For Maelynn’s Wedding

December 9th, 2019

So good to see you all at the wedding. I look forward to calling you again on Christmas. 
      My companion is 20, a goofball, really good at talking to people, and just cool. He knows a ton about the gospel so teaching is real easy and yeah. 
     We walk a lot in our area so that has kinda killed my comp physically a little but that's alright. We take breaks whenever needed. What temple did they get married in? and my favorite food here is definitely the street tacos that we get from fam. Mo.
      We get fed every day by the members and it's usually a freak ton so I stuff myself every meal. I have thinned out a little bit though. Lost like I think 7 pounds just from all the walking. 

have a wonderful week

Seth

     So not a lot actually happened this week. We're teaching a lot of people but the problem is that none of them want to go to church. But that's okay, because I love them anyway and will do my best to serve them. We also taught some new people this week named Jose and his wife. (I forgot the wife's name) Their really cool and accepted a baptismal date and just about everything else. The problem is that I think he's also taking lessons from Jehova's Witnesses. Life is good though, I got another brother. 

     Sorry I don't have a ton to say this week. 

Love you all so much and hope that you have the best week ever cause it's Christmas season and there is an awesome spirit in the air.

--

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Recognizes the "Ugh"s of Free-Agency!

Dec. 2, 2019

(To Greg):
   yep yep yep. all is well down here. Hope that this hunting trip will relieve some of the stress. Also don't shed too many tears when you have to hand over your first-born to another man. also we should plan a hunting trip for when I get back in like two years. 

Love you a million, Dad.

(To Viki):

   howdy mom! Don't worry about the package, thanks for all the love and care. My week was good. We've been working really hard and been seeing lots of miracles. As with all missionaries, the biggest problem we're having is that the investigators don't keep their commitments. But we just have to keep inviting. This wouldn't be the true church of God if it was forced on people. That's called Satan's plan. 

    My comp is great and I love him and I feel so blessed because he helps me with where I lack (Spanish) and I can help him in situations that he don't know. We kinda got a nice symbiotic relationship going. I asked the mission president about calling y'all on Saturday but he didn't respond so I'll probably call him up sometime to ask for sure. I think I'll try to call at like 5:00ish (about 7 my time) - we'll see though. My thanksgiving kinda didn't exist but it was alright. Yes, I can see all the pics and I appreciate them a ton. 

Love you lots, mom. I pray for you each day. 

Seth

Wherein Seth Travels to Mexico City

November 25, 2019


    So what a wild week it was. First off, The baptism that was supposed to happen last week didn't. We went to Sandi's house to pick her up and her sister came out to tell us that Sandi, in fact, was in the hospital cause she was in pain.     So that was no bueno. 

   Then Monday I said goodbye to my papa, Elder Limachi, and got my new companion. His name is Elder Pineda. He's from Cuautla, Morelos. Really awesome. 

    Tuesday night I got a call from the Assistants telling me that Wednesday I was going to Mexico City with twelve other Americans to figure out some visa issues and that I was gonna be the group leader. So we flew there Wednesday. Sat in migration all of Thursday, and headed back to the airport that night. My group was the last to get to the airport so we missed the flight and I stayed the night in Mexico city again with 4 of the 12 elders I was in charge of. We spent literally the entire day Friday in the airport as our flight got delayed like 4 times and Finally made it back to Cancun at like ten, Friday night. So that was fun. Saturday and Sunday I got to work again and it was just amazing. We found some true miracles while contacting on the street and got stopped by some drunk dudes and really we just are having the best time and a ton of success. I think that about sums it up. 

     I love you all and wish you the best. 

Love,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Hangs Up his Christmas Lights!

November 16,  2019

     So not a ton happened this week. Really just tried my best to motivate my companion to work. He's been real excited to get out of this place for some reason. Couldn't imagine why. We received our transfers last night and I'm gonna stay here with my “kid” which I'll get on Monday and Elder Cherrington and his “son”. When this 12 week training ends, that'll be like 7 months straight of living with Elder Cherrington - so that's pretty cool. We have a baptism tonight which I'm way excited for and so I'll send some pics of that and then I'm also playing the piano for the Primary program on Sunday so that's about the most stressful thing in the world. But yeah, life is awesome. 

     I hope that this week goes really well for all of you and that you all remember that God loves you and that Christ knows what you're feeling. I love you all. 

Also it's Christmas time so this is what my desk looks like and it makes me happy. :)

-- 

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Chills at the Hospital All Week!

November 11, 2019

    So good news! My comp is all good. It only took ten days in the hospital for him to be well enough to leave. And now he has to rest for a week in house. Essentially a ton of crazy stuff went down, he almost died and whatnot but I'll spare you all the details. 
     So I chilled in the hospital Monday, Tuesday, and half of Wednesday, stayed with the zone leaders Wednesday  night and helped put together a bomb zone meeting Thursday morning, then was back in the hospital Thursday night. By Friday  afternoon we left and finally and I got to work in my area with the district leaders for a couple of hours. Then Saturday did a little more teaching with some other elders while my comp stayed at home in bed and then church on Sunday. 
     So not a ton happened this week but it was incredible at the same time. The entire ward got real worried and they are all really nice to us and I definitely got called up by the APs on Saturday and got told to prepare well cause I'm gonna be a dad (trainer) in a week! I have a training thing tomorrow so that'll be fun and then I get my “son“ on Monday,  so how loco! Like fur reals!  That's about it. I'll attach a bunch of pics that I took when I was bored out of my mind in the hospital. 

Love you all, 

Elder Bailey

PS: This is the pizza we bought to celebrate the three

of us being papás (trainers) next transfer. Also, I definitely taught the Little Caesars here what Crazy Crust is.  

(also my p-day will be on Saturday and not Monday). 

Wherein Seth’s Companion is in the ICU with that dang Dengue fever!

So this week was friggin crazy. I left off last week that my comp was real sick and we took him to the hospital so they could test him for dengue. We got the results back last monday and he was negative for dengue but still sick as heck. Tuesday he got worse and ended up testing positive for “dengue inmorajico” and getting admitted to the hospital which is where I spent a good chunk of this last week. The Zone leaders and I took turns being in the hospital and chilling with my comp which was nice cause we got to watch like church movies and take hot showers, and the Pres. wife paid for our food and it was just a real chill time watching my comp slowly dying. Then Saturday comes around and turns out he's bleeding internally so he gets launched up to the ICU and we can no longer stay in the same room with him, so I end up in a trio with the other companionship in Pedregal and all is left up to prayers at this point. All goes well with church on Sunday, we got two investigators there, Sandi and Selene, which are going to get baptized on the 16th. whoohoo. but the most incredible part of my week was seeing the deep concern and love that our ward here has for all the missionaries. I received countless calls from members asking about my companion, the young women bought us some mosquito repellent, investigators and members are giving us all sorts of alternative medicines that they swear on to help with dengue and some are even trying to find us a new house. Now some of these are kind of ridiculous, like our house is fine, and we can't just be smuggling alternative medicines into the ICU, but the amount of care that everyone had and the amount of sacrifice they were willing to offer to help some teenage boys that they hardly knew was really incredible. One more thing. I went on exchanges with the Zone leaders a lot this week, and when their investigators heard about my comp, they too were concerned. When we got to the end of the lesson and asked them to pray, these people, some of which had never prayed before in their life, prayed for the well-being of my companion, who they have never met. 

I'd like to add my testimony to that of James' that "the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."  There is an incredible power in prayer. I thank you all for the wonderful prayers that you all have offered in my behalf and for all the other missionaries in the world. If ever you feel the need to help in the work of the Lord and don't know how, Kneel down and pray. That helps so much more that you might know. 

On a completely different note, it is now hard into the rain season down in Cancún so we get some pretty torrential rain storms and then it just gets insanely hot right after cause it is that much more humid. My comp and I won a competition in the zone the other week so the zone leaders bought me a dairy queen blizzard which was bomb. 

I love you all so much and hope that this week is the most incredible week ever. 

Love,

Elder Bailey

Pics: 

Dairy Queen They had a special "Abuelita chocolate (like that hot cocoa chocolate that you just melt in hot milk) and cheesecake" one which was awesome. 10/10. would recommend. 

Squished into the back of the taxi.

My favorite flower down here. Couldn't tell you what it's called but I really like it. 

Wherein Seth Makes Bread!

October 28, 2019

     
So this week was wild as all get out. First of all, my comp is dying. He got real sick on saturday and I gave him a blessing and all and cooked him food and fed him drugs and  cleaned his puke bowl and did his laundry and really just served him all day. Sunday he was just wasted. Couldn't go to church or anything so the zone leaders came over and one stayed with him and the other went to church with me. Good ol time. Then Sunday night the mission president's wife sent a doctor to our house. He showed up, checked him out and said he either has Dengue, Zika, or Chikungunya. Then this morning we went to the hospital so they could do some testing to figure out what his problem was for sure. I'll let you know next week cause we haven't gotten the results back yet. He was told to be under house lock for three days though so we'll see how that goes. 

But, on a brighter note, I also learned how to make bread this week. We have this real chill member in our ward who owns a little bakery and we learned how to make bread with him one morning. Lots of fun. 

With the investigators, nobody showed up to church. The three kids, Jorge, Maite, and Jose Luis, we have to leave cause they're not progressing. Also Hna Paola. and Roy Salinas. Also Fam. Salguero. Essentially we got the hardest case of espuma ever and we just need to start over. We were blessed with some other investigators though, namely Sandi, Selene, and Irvin. All real interested and want to get baptized. So that's my little update for the week and hope all y'all are doing just superb up in Idaho or wherever you might be. Remember that God is good and He loves you so much. 

With love,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Receives A Blessing

October 21, 2019

So turns out I learned quite a bit from both my medical parents. This week like everything went wrong with my poor little cuerpo but luckily enough, I've pretty much already graduated pre-med. I'll make a list for y'alls real quick. 

Ingrown Toenail

Ear infection

Splitting headache

Sore Throat

Raspy cough

Sore back shoulders and neck

Muscle cramps

All sorts of digestive problems

Strange eczema in elbow pits

Also the mosquito and spider bites

Essentially I got destroyed this week and ended up fixing myself. Cool story though, I had been suffering with these things for a little while and life kinda sucked and my companion and I hadn't been getting along super well and then I asked my companion for a blessing. It was real spiritual, real neat and kinda just the best. By the next day, the majority of my problems had been taken care of and my relationship with my companion was much better. I had energy, I was super happy, and life just felt good. This whole experience was a real testimony builder on the power of the priesthood. Without that blessing, I'm sure I wouldn't be doing as well as I am now. Also word of advice, in James 5:14 he tells us that when we are sick to call the elders up and ask for a blessing. do that. They don't mind and literally only good can come from it. 

This week we worked with a lot of people who are progressing towards baptism. We got the signatures from the dad of Jorge, Maite, and Jose Luis so they can get baptized in November if they go to church these next two weeks. Also we had Hna Paola and her son Angel come to church with us yesterday. It was really cool because they've been inactive for like three or four years and finally went to church; also the records of Hna Paola got lost in headquarters somewhere so she needs to be baptized again to make it official and we're planning on Angel hopefully being able to baptize his mom. We'll have to work with them a bunch and stuff but that'd be real neat. Thirdly, we started teaching Cesar and Vanesa and their daughter Elizabeth this week. Side story, they live in the middle of nowhere back in the depths of Colonia Pedregal and to get to their house we need to take a moto taxi which is just a motorcycle pulling a cart and on the way to their house earlier this week our taxi driver straight up crashed into a brick wall so that was an experience. He's fine. I'm fine. The wall isn't. But yeah, bien potente this family. They aren't married but they are a religious people and they know that they're sinning so they want to get married. Also they are really receptive to the lessons and everything and they're fun to teach. 

So yeah, wild week. Also I don't have any pictures cause we're not allowed to carry it around proselytizing cause we'll get mugged or something. not sure. But yeah, so sorry I don't got pics. 

I hope y'all have had a great week and remember that God loves you. 

Love, 

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth’s Gold Turns to Silver!

Monday, October 14, 2019

     So conference was definitelly a highlight. I learned so much and it is so strange how much faster conference goes by out in the mission field. like 8 hours dissapeared in like twenty seconds. We're kinda just crunchin' hard down here working in the colonies. Lots of fun. 

So a little more in depth. Conference...

    I and all the other American missionaries watched in English in the mission office which was the best. A common theme that I noticed from almost all the talks was that of true discipleship. When we follow the commandments of God, love everyone, and share His gospel, we are being true disciples of Jesus Christ and we experience True Joy. Joy that can't be found in this world and is worth so much that the Lord created this world and everything else with that Joy in mind. "Men are that they might have Joy" 2 Nephi 2:25. Hope that all of you also were able to watch general conference and that you might go back and rewatch/listen to the talks that were given in preparation for next conference. 

Funny story, Today we like deep cleaned the house for the first time since the creation and it was kinda magical to see the change. One of the other Elders bought a bottle of Muriatic acid from the gas station and we kinda just destroyed the bathroom with that. It was like one of those Mr. Clean commercials where one swipe and it's a completely different color, but like every where. Our Golden fixtures, faucets and drains are really shiny now. also turns out that they weren't golden, rather silver. Our sink and toilet are also bearable to look at now so life is gonna be a lot better in my 700 sq ft home. 

Update on the work, We taught some lessons this week and Jorge, Maite, and Jose Luis didn't go to church which was a bummer but Johan did so that was good. I had him write his testimony down during sacrament meeting and hopefully he shares that with his family at home. I also got to teach him a little piano after church so he enjoyed that thoroughly. 

Hope all is going well at home. 

Love all y'all lots,

Elder Bailey

...so these are pics from a service project we had on saturday. we're helping a family build a house cause their last one burned down. real fun.

Wherein Seth Carves A Tooth.

October 4, 2019

     So we all got our transfers this week and, guess what? I'm staying here to complete my 12 week training program. Who'da thought? Lot's of change though. Sanchez is going home. I carved him a tooth keychain. 

The zone leaders got launched out of here and one of the APs is gonna be our new zone leader with Elder Hernandez, Elder Cherrington's trainer.(Those two share a house with me and my companion just to clarify.) Hernandez straight up fast tracked it out here. He went from a new missionary straight to district leader and trainer for one transfer then directly to zone leader without finishing training his comp. Kinda loco but not super important. 

     Everyone here is excited for General Conference because it is a wonderful opportunity to hear the words of a modern day prophet and learn a little more about our church and the gospel. We've invited everyone we teach and more to come and watch it and I'd encourage you all to do the same. Invite a friend over to your house to watch a session or two and answer their questions/ bear your testimony to them. I promise it'll be a wonderful experience for you and for them. 

Have a wonderful week all y'alls

Love,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Finally Gets a Camera!

September 30, 2019

      So this week was great. I bought a camera so there'll be some pics attached from now on. We're kinda just groovin' now and nothing over-the-top exciting happened but it was still an awesome week. 

     Wednesday was definitely a highlight of the week. We had our 'reunion' of our "Generation" where everyone that got to the field the same day as I did,  got together to critique their trainers. It was awesome seeing all my bros from the CCM but the actual meeting was real weird.
      Pretty much I've been taught all my life that if someone hurts your feelings that ain't nobody's business except between you and them; and that tattle-telling is about the most annoying thing that you can do about that...much like the quote by someone famous that says, "Reprove thy friend privately, commend him publicly".   But we were asked to reprove him publicly. So everyone went around and said everything wrong with their trainer and, not gonna lie, some of them had some pretty awful trainers. Then when it got to me I couldn't bash on him and kinda just said he can be weird sometimes and we've had a couple disagreements but I love him anyway. It was a fun meeting. 

     Also this week we found a family with three young kids (Jorge, Maite, and Jose Luis) and they are about as receptive as can be.  My companion and I taught them the plan of salvation in our first visit and in the second we taught them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't remember what my companion's reasoning was for skipping the lesson on the restoration, but that came back to bite us when they popped out all the questions that lesson 1 answers during our lesson on the gospel of Jesus Christ and we pretty much ended up teaching the restoration too.
     Also crazy story, the dad came out at the end of the lesson cause we wanted to get his permission for the kids to go to church on Sunday and he asked some questions and we gave him a book of Mormon and that night he actually read it! Like, quite a bit!  And Sunday when we showed up to see if the kids were going to church, the dad started asking a ton of questions and we were able to answer them and then the kids went to church and loved it and they should be getting baptized on the twelfth. (that's a funky word - six consonants and one vowel:/)   

     Well hope everything is going well at home. I pray for y'all every night. 

Love ya lots, 

Elder Bailey

Proudly showing off his Mexican pride!

Seth's companion. 

Seth and his three flat-mates all sitting in his hammock!

PS: Also my p-day is going to be on Friday this week and I'm not gonna have one next week. JSYK

Wherein Seth Actually Had a Clean Room! (This mom is impressed).

September 23, 2019


This week was crazy and full of fun experiences. Bought a suit, walked a lot, cleaned the house, listened to some talks and taught some lessons. Real good time. 

Last Monday I went and bought a suit for the conference on Wednesday. I found one that kinda fit, took it to the register to buy it and said a little prayer that my card would work. A little miracle happened and the card went through so that was awesome!

    The next day we went on exchanges in Huayacan again and I got to chill with my bro Elder Sanchez all day. He's going home in two weeks and is real cool. We walked at least twenty miles that day and all the appointments he had canceled on us - so yeah. 

     Wednesday we had a conference with Elder Pingree (Area pres. 70).  He talked and taught a lot and I learned a lot and actually didn't fall asleep in the five hours I was sitting down for that. That night, after comida, we got a call from the assistants to the president and they said that Elder Pingree and Pres. Marin were gonna work with us in like an hour.                 Everyone kinda made a mad dash to the house, cleaned up their stuff, tore the girlfriend pics off the wall, frantically called investigators to set up an appointment and kinda just panicked. Luckily all my stuff was in order and clean so I didn't have to do any of that and I just helped clean some of the others' dirty dishes and watched it all go down - (Much like the scene from "The Best Two Years"). 

         We then launched ourselves down to Valle Verde to meet up with them and waited for like an hour in an area we're not supposed to be in after seven.  At like 8:30 the APs called again and said that they weren't gonna make it so we went home and went to bed. 

      Thursday and Friday we worked in our area and on Friday I invited Hna Guadalupe and Hno Antonio to be baptized and they said they needed more time. Saturday my comp went to work with the hermanas in huayacan and I was left with one of the zone leaders in Kukulkan which was fun but also kinda boring cause they too don't really have anyone to teach. Some random guy screeched to a stop next to us while we were walking and gave us a hundred pesos then took off without even saying anything - so that was awesome and kinda weird. Sunday we had Stake Conference and our mission presidents and the Merida temple presidents talked. 

Good week. 

Love ya lots,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Got Lost.

September 16, 2019

     This week was great. Got lost, sang some songs, and it's independence day. My 2nd one in three months...couldn't be more free!

      We're teaching this teen named Luis and he's awesome, when we teach him the Spirit is always present, the lessons go really well and smooth, and its just awesome. Like he knows all the lessons by heart and wants to get baptized and go to church and change his life but his mom has some rules and he can't do anything without her permission so that's real sad. 
      On the other hand, we have a family in Col. Valle Verde that we've been teaching and those lessons, for me, are really clunky and don't make any sense. I don't know how, but as always, God is incredible and even through the weakness of His servants testifies of truth and goodness to the investigators and touches their life with the Holy Spirit. For the past two Sundays, this family (Hermana Guadalupe and Hermano Antonio and their son and nieces) has showed up to church, wants to go to stake conference next week, and still wants us to come and teach them. 

     Funny story, on Saturday my companion and I needed to go to the bank to get some money for groceries so we called our zone leaders to get permission and asked which combie (bus) to take and then went on our way. We didn't know this part of town nor where to get off cause we're both new here and ended up just getting off when we felt it'd been too long. Turns out we ended up near Isla Mujeres which is not anywhere close to the bank and so we just took a taxi. Good fun. 
      Also last night is kinda when Mexicans celebrate independence day and I guess it's peligroso (dangerous) or something so we were told to be back in our houses by seven. But then we had the Face to Face event with Elder Soares (it was awesome btw, you should watch it) at the stake center with all the other missionaries and on the way home I ended up sitting in the middle of a group of hammered Mexicans that I guess thanks be to God they were taking public transport and not driving themselves. One of them talked to me but once I mentioned Christ he didn't talk to me for the rest of the ride. :) Life has been good. 

Love you all a ton,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Has His First Baptism.

 September 9, 2019

  I had my first baptism this week. I went on exchanges with the Zone leaders and some others in my district. Good Week

So my compañion is freaking awesome. His home life is pretty rough, He doesn't have a father and his only sister got married and moved away a while ago. His mom is really sick and he had been taking care of her before his mission so it was really hard to leave her and come serve. He's a more recent convert so he doesn't have a really deep knowledge of the gospel but his testimony is incredibly strong. I love him a lot and he's taught me a ton. 

The past couple weeks we've been teaching a little old hermana Raquel. She's in her 80s and I had the amazing opportunity to baptize her this saturday. I can't really take the credit for it though, cause I did hardly any of the teaching but my comp wanted me to have the experience and it was awesome. Also kinda difficult. She can hardly walk with her walker and can't bend her knees so the whole baptism by immersion was quite the experience.

     We're also teaching this kid, Johan, and he's a stud and wants to get baptized but we need his mom's permission cause he's only ten so hopefully we can get that all worked out this week. Another of our investigators is Hermana Guadalupe. She came to church on Sunday and hopefully we will ask her to be baptized this week.

I went on some exchanges this week while my comp was in some training thing so I got to see a lot more of Cancun which was nice. The zone leaders are real cool and a little confidence goes a long way turns out. I can't even speak Spanish but they're saying I'm gonna be the next AP so that's pretty funny. But yeah, life is good, still hot as heck down here. The food is strange. We're not allowed to eat street tacos so that's just the worst. Hopefully all is well at home. Love you all lots. 

Love,

Elder Bailey

Wherein Seth Meets True Poverty.

September 2, 2019

     Holy Frijoles. This week. I cant really describe it. 

  We all left the CCM (MTC) at 2 in the morning on Monday at got to Cancun at around 9, had some breakfast and a little welcome thing and then had interviews with Pres. Marin and then got our trainers and a goodie-bag which included a hammock and a mattress pad - kinda strange but I'll explain later. 
    We got to our little home which is about 600 sq ft total and made it our home.  There are hooks in the wall for the hammocks and some mattresses too. I chose a mattress but I didn't have any pillows or blankets so I slept for the last week just flat on the mattress, Also we have a little ac thing that cools our room down at night. The first night it was really nice, but after a day of acclimating to the climate, it turns out to be freezing! It's only like 70 - but freezing. 

    Anyway, my day goes something like this:

* Wake up at 6:30 and try to find the will to exercise
* Iron my clothes take a cold shower
* Get dressed and study for a couple hours
* Plan for the day and eat whatever we throw together for breakfast, like rice and mayo
* Head out to the appointments we have...
       (I then sit there and try to understand the Spanish, share a scripture or give a testimony or prayer, and move on)
* We have comida (food) around 2-3 and then back to appointments.
* It's sweltering hot here but I have a little sombrero so it's good. (On Thursday I committed a sweet old lady to baptism - so that's gonna happen on Saturday)
* After whatever we have planned for the rest of the day, I return home at 8 or 9
* Study some more before bed
* Bed at 10:30 in which I put on my sweater and jeans and pray for a good night's rest.

          Life here is crazy. I've never lived in a poorer environment. The people in the colonies (slums) that I proselyte in live in wood huts with dirt floors and burn their trash.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of stray dogs - all over the streets. And it smells, (which is kinda a blessing too cause I smell but you can't even tell).  There are ants and cockroaches and insects of every kind in our apartment.  To wash our clothes we put them in a bucket with some soap and scrub it with half a coke bottle on a stick.  So strange. (Speaking of coke, after all that hype about Mexicoke and I get here and we're not allowed to drink caffeine in this mission.)

     My comp is awesome. His name is Elder Limachi and he's from Bolivia. He doesn't speak a lick of English, but that's alright. In my house also dwells Elder Hernandez and the missionary he's training, Elder Cherrington - who was my last comp. What are the chances?

       I don't think life has ever been so hard, but I also know that I haven't ever been so happy or felt so blessed before in my life. I love you all so much and I love this gospel. I'll try to have better grammar next week, so sorry mom.

Love you,

Elder Bailey

life is awesome here. I slept in a hammock one night but it was really cold. didnt enjoy that. btw, my area is cancun, pedregal. its awesome but we got all the colonies which is the outskirts of town where all the people that can't afford a house live. about as legit as it gets. people are supper receptive to the gospel and its pretty much the best. I would like a sandwhich too, they aren't super common here. 

love,

ya bro

Wherein Seth Arrives in the Field!

August 26, 2019

I can't say much but I made it to the field. It is beautiful here. I don't know who my trainer is or the area I'll be serving in but I'm super excited. I'm doing well. Anyway, I'm safe and doing well and I love you all very much. I'll email you sometime soon. Not sure when my p-day actually is. prolly lunes. 

love ya,

Elder Bailey

(From the mission president)...

     August 26, 2019

Congratulation your son is in the mission!!!!!

Dear family of Elder Bailey we announce you that your son has arrived safely to the best mission in the world, the México Cancún Mission, and we are really happy for having your son in this wonderful work, we express you our sincere love for the great job you had made as parents of this noble missionary.

Your son is going to start his mission in the Pedregal Area and his trainer is going to be Elder Limachi

PD: We attach a photo of your son with President Marin and lots of our sincere love.

- Mexico Cancun Mission