Wherein Sadie Gave a Talk about Broken Hearts

 April 29, 2024

Hola hola!! This week was nice and cold and rainy!! Its Fall!! We had a fun adventure to Montevideo and stayed with the swans(  a couple serving here) we had some great charlas and found some great new people!! Seriously elegidos!  We've been working quite a bit with families which is such a cool thing! The charlas are awesome! We had 8 friends come to church on Sunday which was so special. We were showing up late because we had to go pick up some friends( yknow in our rav4 aka our 4 legs jaja) and I was so impatient I was just praying we'd get there by at least during the first song but then I just kept being nervous and impatient trying to get there instead of trusting that God would answer that prayer. We showed up to 4 friends awaiting us and the meeting was starting late so we made it in time! Then more friends came! God blew us away with miracles and I was humbled and reminded to trust more in Him! I gave a talk and yes I still just read it lol. I talked about sacrifices and that what He asks is that we offer Him a broken heart and a contrite spirit! I'd love to hear what you all think "a broken heart and contrite spirit" means. We are seeing the hand of the Lord here in Rocha!!

Please pray for las flia de Alexis y Nicole, Romina, Micaela, Rosario, y Belen y Maximiliano! 

"Now, some of you may be shy by nature or consider yourselves inadequate to respond affirmatively to a calling. Remember that this work is not yours and mine alone. It is the Lord’s work, and when we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help. Remember that whom the Lord calls, the Lord qualifies."  (President Monson)

If you are overwhelmed or stressed out by a calling or responsibility you have, just remember that it is just an opportunity to find joy in serving others and grow closer to your Savior Jesus Christ. It's an opportunity to work alongside Him for a while in the way He has called you. Show Him your love. No tenga estrés. 

Com muito amor,

Hermana Bailey 

Spider count: the cockroaches have reached the stairway on the 8th floor but not the 9t

Wherein Sadie Has Her Very Last Transfer!

 April 22, 2024

       Hola todos, this week turned down a road I wasn't expecting! We started out strong helping our friends Maria del Carmen and Lucas prepare for their baptismal interviews. They were rocking it. Then on Wednesday, we received noticia de cambios...and I found out I was leaving Chuy. que triste. Thursday I packed and we had the interviews for our friends...they bailed on us. so sad. But a miracle is that Gilberto, a recent convert, showed up again and we also had some great lessons with Marissa who will be baptized soon! We also had yummy acai while walking the muddy streets of chuí and our friend Sahara who got baptized wrote the cutest note about being a missionary one day and I left a nametag with my lil friend Denis who also wants to be baptized and be a missionary one day. I am so grateful for my short time in Chuy and the people i met there. Eu falo portugese haha. Then we went to Montevideo on Friday and had cambios. Every cambios we have had for the last 17 months, I have worn the same dress without fail. So, of course, I went in the dress, but in the bus, my water spilled on my seat and when I sat down it soaked into my dress, but it soaked in....brown because the seat was so filthy!! Me mato. So when we got to the bus terminal I switched dresses while I tried washing my other one but in the end I just ended up with a soaking wet still kinda stained dress. so i took the L and for the first time and for my last cambios in the mission, wore a different dress. Thanks for the dress, Hna Richards!

      So I am now in Rocha with Hna Rastoldo from Brazil! She's so great! We also had a meeting with elder Craig C Christensen after cambios which was awesome. His wife talked about joy and how joy is help from God which comes through the Holy Ghost. And he talked about what motivates us as missionaries. And President y Hna Orgill talked about being consagrados. Then we left for our area on a bus at 11pm and we had seats but the bus was full so thinking it wasn't far until the next stop when seats opened up, I offered my seat to a lady who was standing. I was wrong and ended up standing in the bus for a couple hours while everyone slept and man, that was a special experience. I don't regret it though, that lady needed to sit. Whenever you may be struggling, just serve somebody. It brings peace and joy!! and sometimes tired legs. The branch here in Rocha is small and the city is basically a ghost town, there's hardly anyone in the streets but we are going to have a transfer full of hard work and miracles. I'm in the same zone I started the mission in for my last transfer and I am gonna give it all I got. I don't want any regrets. If yall have any advice for the last transfer of the mission, let me know!

       This week has left me reflecting a lot on what it means to trust in and accept God's will and let go of unnecessary expectations jaja. Nothing went the way I wanted. I never ended up getting to train in the mission, I'm no longer STL, I left behind special connections in Chuy, didn't get to say bye to some converts and friends, and I never got to serve near Montevideo, but I know God has a plan. I am grateful for the places and things I have had the opportunity to do and I am excited to see what my time here in Rocha brings! It's pretty easy to trust in God when things are going how you'd like them to and have imagined but with patience and faith and humility I am starting to learn to trust in God's will SIEMPRE. Vamo Arriba!!

      Like the Bishop in Chuy always reminds us: True happiness is NOT found outside the gospel of Jesus Christ and also.....come what may and love it!

Yo se que vive mi Señor.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Bailey 

spider count: we live in a massive 4 bed 2 bath apartment on the 9th floor of a building and I'm hoping this means we won't have spiders...vamos a ver.

photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/T4ZxJD5usftYQ5po8

My people in chuy♡

Rocha y hna rastoldo ♡♡

The last night in chuy we were walking home and i had realized i wasnt able to say bye to our recent convert jose then suddenly he happened to pass by on his bike! God is so good.

Wherein Sadie Reminds Us to Trust in God's Plans

April 15, 2024

 Hola!! Last monday we had intercambios in 33 and I was with the hna judson!! We also visited that night, Ramon in the hospital! He and his wife took good care of me when i was super sick in 33 like a year ago! Special people! 

Then we had a pretty normal week of missionary work here in Chuy but always a good party with hna Richards! We had interviews, walked in the wind and rain, worked on Friday en la barra(the town on the beach) for a few hours, and we also put 4 people on date and now will help them prepare for it! Please pray for Maria del carmen, nahuel, lucas, y andrea!! We had 0 asistencia de amigos on Sunday cuz if its raining, uruguayos cancel all plans, but we live and learn and progress! Vamo arriba! 

Its getting nice and chilly here 

Living 4 hermanas in the same house means that we accidentally stayed up till Medianoche planning for our summer of 2025 haha oops

Part of a verse that caught my attention this week: is Alma 40:5 "For God knoweth all these things; and it sufficeth me to know that this is the case"

I know God has a perfect plan. And that brings me peace. That should be enough for me. Trust in Him and His plan.

I also loved the introduction of this last weeks come follow me!! Go study it if you haven't already! This is a great work!

"God knows and loves His children, and He will prepare a way for each of them to hear His gospel, even those who have rejected Him in the past"

"And sometimes the first person we help gather is ourselves." ♡♡♡

Con amor,

Hermana Bailey

Spider count: we walked into a house and there was a massive tarantula like spider that caught my eye so i pointed it out to them and the daughter was gonna kill it but the mom super calmly said to just leave it. Huh? So they left it and it got lost in the mess of their house and i was left in shock and we just quickly invited them to church and set up another appointment and i left so grossed out for days.

Wherein Sadie Watches General Conference with Friends

 April 8, 2024

Buenas!!

This week we had a leadership council in Montevideo. We learned that i have a pet peeve of being late as we showed up 40 min into it. There's not much you can do when you're on a 6hr bus ride and it goes really slow. But the meeting was great and we learned a lot! One of the things we talked about is from a meeting with Elder Holland where he asked missionaries what they want their friends to do as a result of our lessons? And the answer is that they have Faith in Jesus Christ and repent. 

Wednesday we had a zone conference in 33 and after we did exchanges in my old area plaza!! Unfortunately me and my comp for the day were assigned 4 hrs of contacts instead of the lessons. And also, unfortunately, it was pouring rain and we were not prepared for that. We. Got. Soaked. Like could not be any wetter. Just had to totally own it. I had forgotten what it felt like to be cold. We brought out the sweaters again this weekend! 

On Thursday we had a 5am bus to go back to our area and that afternoon during studies we were both so tired and falling asleep like y'know when you literally can't keep your eyes open and you read the same verse like 20 times. So we shut our eyes for 3 min and we woke up an hour and a half later confused out of our minds. It just happens sometimes.

Conference was so amazing!! We got to watch almost all of it! We missed one session because we had to have friends (investigators) with us to watch it and one session they all bailed so we went out to the plaza and invited everyone! 2 girls came with us but left after 10min so we took the L and went out to work! I hope you all were able to watch Conference and can continue studying the talks! One of my favorites was from Elder Dushku! Write me and let me know what you liked from conference!!

Con amor,

Hermana Bailey 

Spider count: found a big ol guy when our garage flooded again this week. Luckily was already dead.

Wherein Sadie Enjoys Easter in Uruguay!

 April 1, 2024

Hola!! Well after 16 months in the mission i just felt done. 

I couldnt really keep up with everything anymore so i decided to call it. Im coming home.

 If you would like to hear about my time in Uruguay ill be...here in Uruguay still because that was just a big joke!

April Fools!  

I absolutely love the mission and the only stress to put up with is a stress I would choose over college and real-life 

stress any day! The joy that comes from being a missionary is priceless! Ill gladly be here in Uruguay for a few 

more months!

      Anyways, this week was a week!

On tuesday we put our friend Jose on date for saturday and Lane Got His Mission Call to Peru!!! 

On wednesday we were supposed to go to 33 and have exchanges and return a key we had accidently stolen from the missionaries there but my comp woke up sick and part of the highway was also closed because of flooding so we rescheduled to go the next day. 

       Thursday my comp was even more sick and the road supposedly still flooded so we didnt go.

Friday. My comp was still sick but we had to make it to 33. We got our bus tickets for 8.30, a bus showed up, and we got on and felt relieved we were finally making it. The bus takes off down the highway, the guy comes to take our ticket, and lets us know WE ARE ON THE WRONG BUS!!! That bus came to a hault and they dumped us on the side of the highway. It was like a movie scene where the bus stops then its just someone and their luggage in the middle of no where jaja. We walked for an hour back home down the highway. The next bus wasnt till 3.30 so we got to work and at lunch time we needed to go to another town to eat but then we found out that since it was a holiday weekend, the schedule was different and we had already missed the only bus. We were so done with life at that point. But all is well we tried to move forward with animo. I said, hey this weeks been pretty crappy but atleast we have a baptism this weekend! Then we got a message from our friend jose saying "hey i dont wanna pay tithing and for some personal reasons ive decided to not get baptised. Sorry" 

That one got us- we sat down on the side of the road for a sec. Our sweet lil friend lucas happened to walk by and was like what are you guys doing?? We put on some happy smiles for him even though we were kinda dying inside. 

        At the beginning of my mission the temple president here told me one time to just never get discouraged. I always try to remember that advice. But this day was different, man, everything was going wrong. We kept saying man this could not get any worse. Crap has hit the fan. And then another thing happened. And another. We made it to lunch and while we were there we got a message saying that my release date got pushed back a little. Haha. So funny. That was a nice cherry on top to the fantastic day we were having. Dont worry- ill come home eventually! Anyways we decided there was no way we'd be taking the 3.30 bus to 33 cuz we had to figure out how to help jose. So we sent the key in the bus and luckily had taken it through customs just incase we had to do that because we happened to pass by the customs place on our long walk home on the highway and the spirit told us to do it!! Then we had a nice long charla with Jose and in the end we had canceled the baptism but it was a beautiful lesson. I could see how powerful the Atonement of Jesus Christ is and felt the love God has for him and the potential he has!! 

       We went to bed that night pretty wrecked but honestly i could just feel throughout the whole day, Gods presence and it was like Christ was there with us every step. I recognized that in the mission ive learned to turn to Him more quickly. I found myself not just laughing off the fact we got on the wrong bus and were in the middle of nowhere and everything kept going wrong, but also that i quickly prayed for help and strength. I prayed God would make some miracle out of our mistake and in the end it was a miracle we were here to help jose. Saturday at 4 pm we had another charla with Jose. We talked about the Holy Ghost and then invited him to be baptised that night at 8. He said yes! We filled the font, ran to our other lessons, and had his baptism! When we went home to get the baptismal clothes we found our garage FLOODED!! there happened to be an open extension chord on the ground that was just like sizzling in the water...and my comp was standing in.the.water. God saved her and nothing happened we dont know how! 

      The baptism was really cool because his friend who got baptised like a month ago was able to baptise him!! Sunday was Easter and we had a visit from elder lattaro, the area seventy, and a beautiful program. The missionaries here all did a musical number and it was a beautiful, rainy, Easter Sunday!! That night we ran into a distressed homeless mom and her 2 kids. We gave them hugs, testified of Jesus Christ, and left them with some chocolates. 

This week was crazy. It was stressful! But Christ lead us through it all. And thats whats beautiful about the gospel, about this covenant that we can make with God. That He will walk through it all with us. We take His yoke upon us and He carries it all with us. But we gotta keep walking.

I love this Easter video! We had a charla this week with a new friend and we werent sure what to share. I felt like we should share this but i didnt really want to because i wasnt really sure where to go with it, but we decided to listen to the Spirit and shared it. The woman broke into tears and said that she had been carrying and burying in her heart a lot of resentment towards her father for over 70yrs. She was ready to get rid of it. As she was talking to us i was so unsure of what to respond. I had nothing. I prayed so hard asking God to help me know what to say. Im not sure what i said, but apparently we said what she needed. She came to church on Sunday even though she was scared because for years every time she entered a catholic church it made her cry, but on Sunday she felt peace. Christ is peace. This is His church. 

Forgiving Others: An Easter Message from President Russell M. Nelson

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/video/easter-videos/2023-03-0050-forgiving-others-an-easter-message-from-president-russell-m-nelson-eng?lang=eng

Con muchisimo amor,

Hermana Bailey 

Happy 3rd birthday Leo!! 

Spider count: a big fat black one entered our kitchen and that was its last decision!