Dearest Grant,

    Anita, Erin and I were able to find the best 3 day tropical getaway!  It was so fun. Lori Talbot was able to find us an amazing deal on 3 tickets that flew from St. George to Florida from their we were able to fly to a remote island in the Caribbean! So amazing! It was a quick trip but worth it!

Love you Grant!

     We are getting ready for Grandma and Grandpa Barlow's farewell. They are speaking twice, once at 9:00am in their old  24th ward and again at 1:00 in their new" Dry Creek ward". We are going to the 9:00am because I need to take dad to the shuttle Leaving from Salt Lake at 12:15. We drove up to Kaysville Friday together and he has to be back to work Monday. He is coming up to Preston Wednesday night and we are going to the Rodeo on Thursday. Kelly, and family are also coming up to the Rodeo on Thursday so that will be a lot of fun. Erin and I are staying at Angie's until Tuesday and then we are heading up to Preston that night and staying with Jody.

    We had the annual water slide yesterday and Grandpa Barlow's church hill. It was a lot of fun with the exception of dad, on his first run down the hill he was trying to break the record of who could slide the furthest, was challenged and slid down on his stomach, hit a bump in the right place and hurt his rib!!!! So he has been miserable since. Cole and i just dropped dad off at the Harts gas station and was able to send him home in the front seat, hopefully that will help. He will have to go and take a picture to make sure it wasn't cracked--in order to ensure the that the lung wasn't damaged. One more accident insurance claim :) we have accumulated a lot this year!

    Grandma and grandpa had great talks and spoke from the heart about spiritual self reliance and the power of the priesthood and being humble. He used a quote from Gordon B. Hinkley couldn't find the exact quote but here are two similar quotes"Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves.” 

“It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. I say that to myself every morning. It all works out in the end. Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future. The Lord will not forsake us. He will not forsake us. If we will put our trust in Him, if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings, He will hear our prayers.” 

       Love you Elder Grant!

P.S. How are your feet?

      And Erin, Anita and I really went to "little Jamaica by Mesquite off of the interstate---45 min. away

mom

Grant Baldwin	Jul 29 (2 days ago)
to me, grant.just, Daxton

its so good to hear from all of you! I'm glad to hear that all of you
are keeping things exciting back in Utah! This week has gone by so
fast its hard to believe that I'm back in this little lab struggling
with the computers all over again! I love it though. Last Tuesday
evening we had the opportunity to have a devotional with elder Ochoa(
Idon't know how to spell his name) of the seventy. our devotionals are
great because the ccm is so small that we all get to participate. He
talked to us about the importance of Faith in the lord Jesus Christ.
We talk about this principle everyday in the ccm but I don't think i
could ever hear enough about faith. He bore testimony to us and the
spirit was Incredible!! After Tuesday our days consisted of more
teaching our ccm investigators and learning. We get to sit down and
learn for like 12 hours everyday, but the good news is I Have never
slept this good in my entire life! on Saturday my companion and I were
teaching lessons for most of the day. It was a lot of fun! Sunday was
awesome this week. Pretty much all of our meetings are in Spanish now.
A group of missionaries that are leaving next week sang a hymn in
English during sacrament meeting. It was so good to hear English music
and the feeling that it brought to room was powerful. Yesterday
evening Elder Felebella from the first quorum of the 70 came and spoke
to us. His message to us was about teaching with power. Our testimony
and experience of living according to principles gives us the power to
share them with others! It was another amazing devotional! we were
given headsets for translation but i feel like i could understand it
more clearly in Spanish.My Spanish has so far to improve but it gave
me a little comfort to realize that i could understand much of what he
was saying! today we went to the temple again! I appreciate the
experience of attending the temple more each time I go. I am so blessed
to be able to go each week while i am in the ccm! Mom my feet are
doing just dandy! they have been healed for a few weeks. I have
everything I need but I did forget that Spanish verb book on my
nightstand. I would give anything for that book right now! I'm doing
great and Loving the Opportunity i have to be Here! I know that this
is the true church of Jesus Christ. I know that God lives and that he
loves us. I Love all of you and keep all of you in my prayers! -elder

angmartinez@comcast.net	Jul 30 (1 day ago)
to me

Yea !! His feet are good. That's so nice to hear right ? And .... I remember Jackie writing the exact same thing in the very beginning. Something along the lines of being so tired that he was a sleep before his head hit the pillow. 

Think about it tho- they are emotionally - mentally and spiritually exhausted! 

He sounds super happy tho- you can't ask for more. 

Ang

Sent from my iPhone

angmartinez@comcast.net	11:21 PM (8 hours ago)
to me

Wow !!!!!

He sounds so great !!!! I loved his testimony at the end . The language is hard but his doing sooooo awesome .

You got up feel good about this email - he sounded reaaaaaaaly good!!

from Anige

July 21 2015 Week 2

Whole-ah Granty. Got your letter last week. sounds like you are gonna be a porker for a while. Glad to hear all is going well. I guess by now you are understanding a lot more. have you got to leave the confines yet? How are your feet? Hopefully they are healed up good. How many hours a day are you sudying the language vs studying the gospel? Do you have everything you need? Just bear down and study and it will begin clicking before long and you'll start understanding some of the side chatter. Once that happens, you'll know you are on your way.

I was thinking about when Cole went out and how I was  in the middle of finishing the house, working, working on my masters degree, and getting ready to move. I had so much going on that I did not take the time to write quite as often as I wanted. It is nice to be able to right now as things are a little calmer.

Bishop assigned me to be over reactivating members. We are in the middle of putting together an army of ward missionaries. So far it's Hukill, Eardly, and Brazeal. This is gonna get pretty intense. Gonna be fun.

I went to CalRanch and scored 1500 rounds of 22s this past weekend. 3 boxes of 500. Shane is a cool guy. 

We spake to Cole and Emily and they have started a little online company that will give them a little income. They are doing well and will be coming back soon. Bret and I have 7 tags between us:) eight if I buy erin a spike tag. They changed the rule this year so we can shoot a cow during the spike season. Bret can during deer season too since he drew out for a buck there. Although I will likely wait for cold weather.

Don't want to distract you but thought you would like to hear of the fortune brought about by your service. Things are well here. The dog had a name change. Since it is cute and stupid I call it Cupid. 

Well, Hang in there. Pray for help. You are entitled to inspiration in all you do. Remember the Lord has a plan and you are his hands. be worthy for guidance and practice acting on the promptings you get. Some people get confused between their own thoughts and promptings of the Hooly Ghost. As you practice acting upon the promptings, you'll find that they are one in the same. When you get a thought to act, it is a prompting. 

Hukill says to say hi. He sure loves you and misses you. All is well here. We love you son. Do good stuff. Love Dad.

Hello family! The week has been amazing! Things are busy in the CCM
and they its just starting to heat up! tomorrow we are supposed to get
a whole load of new norte  elders as well as a ton of latino elders!
It will double the number of missionaries in the ccm i think. It
should be amazing! I love guatemala! we had to opportunity to to walk
down the road to a small tienda this week and shop around for things.
Everybody we meet is super friendly and it is humbling talking to
them. We do our best to share messages but im not entirely sure they
understand what we say. Its good though! It really makes me appreciate
the latinos and maestros here in the ccm because they pronounce every
word slowly and precisely. Mom dont worry about the food situation. we
just eat what we want and then give the rest to somebody that will eat
the leftovers! some of the latino elders have competions of who can
eat the most so it works out great. My district has 8 elders and 2
hermanas. We all do great togather and love our teachers. One of my
maestros, hermano maquin, just told me a few minutes ago that we will
be getting new teachers after tomorrow. Sundays are by far my favorite
days here! The spirit is so strong throughtout the entire day. We all
prepare lessons and teach each other in the morning and prepare
talks(in spanish) for sacrament just in case we are called to speak.
Most of the meeting for the nortes are still given in english for us
on sundays as well so it is nice to be able to understand and
participate on a deeper level.We usually have 3 devotionals on sunday
in the evening and one in the evening on PDAY. We have had the
opportunity to go to the temple twice now. It is amazing! another
highlight of the week. The temple is right next to the ccm but it is
tiny! It is probably about the size of the dammeron valley ward
building, Maybe smaller. It is very beatiful though. It rains here all
the time! i love it. The rainstorms are insane! I have never seen it
rain so hard in my life! the weather is very nice though. Humid but
cool!my companion and i have been teaching three investigators! they
have all commited to baptisms and out lessons are improving as our
spanish improves! We probably study for around 12 hours a day. right
now all of our daily lesson are in spanish and by next week sundays
and devotionals will be given to us in spanish as well.The language
has been hard to try to learn but I am really trying to push myself.
It seems as if i still havent even started but as i look back to the
day that i arrived here i realize that i have learned a lot. It would
not be possible for me without the lords help. This is truly his
work.. It has been a very humbling expience.  I wish i could share
with you the spirit that is felt here. I am so grateful for this
opportunity to serve a mission! I know that this is the true church. I
know that Christ lives. I know God loves more than we can comprehend
and that he will help us if we turn to him in our moment of need. Love
you all!    Elder Baldwin.

From Erin 7.21, 2015

hey bud. im thinking norte means north. just a guess. missionaries from up here. the u.s. i have mcconel for math and myers for spanish 2. their cool right?

Week 2

Grant Baldwin	Jul 15 (4 days ago)
to me   July 15 2015

Hey family! First off i just want to apoligize for my typing. the
computers here are kind of mixed and matched and everything is in
spanish. (the enter key and several others do not work). This week has
been such an awesome experience!  A group of about 30 missionaries
going to the ccm met up in LA. We left guatemala around 12 am. I sat
next to jace johnson and a little guatemala guy on the flight. We told
him that we are missionaries. He was awesome. He told us that he sees
missionaries walking for Jesus all the time in Guatemala. Jace gave
him a book of mormon and he accepted it with a smile! We landed and
got out of security around 6. 2 old buses and a hermano from the ccm
picked us up and we took a short bus ride to the CCM. they did take
our cameras when we got here. There has been some speculation as to
why but I really dont know the true reason. So I will not be able to
send any pictures for a while. We then were assigned cmpanions. My
companions name is Elder Stephan from nampa idaho. He is a good guy
and we get along great. He is very down to earth We are in the Mateo
district. After that we were given a little instruction and had time
to put our things in our rooms. The ccm is very small! our room
overlooks what we call the great and spacious building. Its some kind
of restaurant or bar that occasionally blast out music all the night
long. We then went straight to learning.Our district has 2 maestros.
Their names are hermano guzman and hermano maquin. I love both of
them. All of our lessons are in spanish! It was a little overwhelming
at first. Luckily now i understand a lot more but It is still
difficult.The food here is pretty good but they serve huge portions.
We are not allowed to throw food away so that can sometimes be a
challange. Actually eating too much seems to be the thing that makes
most people sick! Almost every meal inludes Plantanoes, frijoles, or
eggs. at meal we are not supposed to speak english so we have a good
time trying to communicate with the latinos. Sundays here are amazing!
We all prepare talks in spanish and then during the meeting the branch
president calls people up at random. Also I got to go to the temple
today it was awesome! I am out of time. I Love you all so much.
Elder Baldwin.

From: <BaldwinSD@ldschurch.org> Date: July 7, 2015 at 10:53:39 PM MDT To: "grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net" <grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net> Subject: Father's letter Grant, I wanted badly to get this letter in your bag so you could read it while on the plane. I want you to know that you are a blessing to our family. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching you grow into an incredible young man. We have created a lot of memories together. I am so proud of the way you fulfill responsibilities, especially your church callings. Many people have commented on your work ethic and your demeanor. People love to be around you. Your hard work has paid off over the years. I am so proud of the way you take initiative to help out around the house and help others. Right now Mom , Erin and I are quite distressed as we came home and saw your empty room. It's been a very emotional evening, lots of crying. I am really missing you. For the past 3 years we have done lots of things together. I know you have been ready to get out there and get on with things and I am happy to see you on your way in this exciting time. From a selfish standpoint, it is tough on me. I walked in to the mancave and just broke down. All of the things you really enjoy are sitting in that room. I am so proud that you have the right frame of mind that you could leave those things and serve the Lord. That is a sign of a true disciple of Christ. I want to thank you for your example to Erin. She loves you and looks up to you. I don't know if that would have happened if we would have stayed in Preston. I hope you can forgive me for moving you away from your friends. I was following very strong promptings. As I look back, as difficult as some of the past 3 years have been, I believe much of the reason the Lord wanted us here is for you and your development. You have truly turned into a great and noble man. My patriarchal blessing states that my children will be noble and great. While it will be a struggle for you to be away for the next 2 years...for me... and sometimes for you, you will never regret the decision to serve a mission. Thank you for doing so. There will be people who accept the gospel just because you brought it to them. Be mindful that Heavenly Father is busy preparing them for you. Live your life so that you learn to recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost, for he will guide you to them and he will testify of the things you say to their hearts. Be obedient, but have fun. This is a once in a lifetime experience! Grant, I love you and am so proud of you. I have always been proud of you. Fact is you deserve a lot better father than me. I'm learning as I go. Represent our family name well. As you do, the Lord will bless you. Exciting times!  Love, Dad.

From: Grant Baldwin <grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net> Date: July 15, 2015 at 12:00:48 PM MDT To: Stephen Baldwin <BaldwinSD@ldschurch.org> Subject: Re: Father's letter Dad, thank you so much for the fathers letter you sent me. I am so grateful for you. You are an amazing example. Your faith has inspired me and played a major role in my decision to serve a mission. I am so blessed to have you and mom as parents. This past week I have been wondering the reason why I have been blessed so much and I still dont have an answer.Also I want you to know that I feel that moving to utah was for me. At least in part.  I personally feel  like the lord wanted me to change and although I am still working on it, moving to DV initiated that change. I Love you and I couldnt ask for a better father. angmartinez@comcast.net Jul 16 (3 days ago) to me He sounds really good !!! I'm so proud of him. Super positive. I'm so glad he has a nice companion.  I'm sad about the pressure to eat so much food. That sounds so awful .  He's awesome ! Love ya  Ang  Sent from my iPhone You sound wonderful! You are probably more adjusted to life in the Spanish MTC now that is has been almost 2 weeks! Can't believe it!     You mentioned food portions and you should not be required to eat all of it, that is ridiculous, you should be able to say how much you want and not have to stretch your stomach and waist size! Seriously????? So glad your companion is from Idaho and not from California! Whew! He sounds cool. How is your district--how many missionaries in your district? So great that you were able to go to the temple so soon, do you get to go every week? Life here is going along. You missed Caleb's birthday at Duana's so exciting, he turned 4. Shasta also had a birthday the same day, Erin and I went over after Caleb's. Shasta is 6 .We are going to ask Mike if we can take her to church with us.  Rabbits are eating the garden and Indi is no help we think she is sleeping with them. Dad bought 2 traps, he just needs to go shoot them. If we were in Idaho we would, maybe we should use a pellet gun? Answer questions 1 and 2 when you reply-first thing you do: Questions; 1)What is is your AP Id number I pulled out your white binder and It doesn't contain a username or id number and password for the exam just an exam number= 62320700. When I tried to recover the password, It said they did not have your grant_drive@yahool.com on file.                   2) Where are the bungy cords that you placed somewhere in the garage? xoxoxoxox Mom

Hey elder Baldwin -
We got your sweet card today. Thanks so much for writing us. You are so thoughtful.

I'm so anxious to hear how the mtc is. How is your companion ? How's the food ? Was it hard to sleep the first few days or are you just so mentally exhausted that you are sleeping great ? How's the language? I'm sure you are doing great. You are a hard worker and determined at whatever you set your mind on so I'm sure you are being blessed.

I can't wait to hear from you- don't write us. We will just wait to read your email that your mom will forward us ok?!

I love this gospel. Everything good in my life comes from being obedient. We are promised that if we try - do our best that our best will be good enough though our Savior Jesus Christ. This gospel is true- the Gospel is amazing and brings true happiness . Keep praying grant - stay obedient - keep the rules and your mission will be so fulfilling. You have 2 years- might as well make it the best 2 years. Right ?

We love you- we are praying for you. Hang in there.

Love
Auntie Angie

When Elder Baldwin received his call-ending with his Departure Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Guatamela Gutemala City South Mission

July 2015-2017

Grant's Graduation May 22 from Dixie State University -Graduated with High honors, Sterling

Scholar

 Grant's Farewell talk

Good afternoon brothers and sisters. My name is Grant Baldwin and I have been called to serve as a missionary in the Guatemala, Guatemala City South mission. When I first received my call and read that I was going to Guatemala I didn’t know much about It which I’m sure is common thing for missionaries when they first receive there call, but I knew that it is in Central America and that they speak Spanish there. Since then I have had some time to talk with others who have been there and find out some things about where I will be living for the next two years.

            So few things that I have found about my mission:

            The official language is Spanish as I said, but there are still many Mayan dialects that are still spoken especially in the more rural areas. The climate is pretty mild for the most part but I have heard that it rains there a lot. It is very green there it is known as the land of the eternal spring.  I have heard that many of the people there are amazing and that they are very humble and giving. A lot of the people live in some pretty extreme poverty. Seeing how little they have really makes me realize how much we have and how much we are blessed.  I report to the Guatemala training center on July 8. So I still have about a week and a half until I leave but I am very excited for the opportunity to be able to serve the lord and to share the Gospel with the people of Guatemala.

            Today I was asked to speak on the restoration and receiving a testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. So why is it important for us to have a testimony of the restoration? In answer to this I have a quote by Elder Charles Didier. He said “the message of the restoration is an invitation to know why the gospel of Jesus Christ and his true church have been restored by a prophet in modern times”. The reason is to realize that through this true church we can come unto Christ and receive the saving ordinances that allow us to return to the presence of our heavenly father and to work towards obtaining eternal life.

            Once we understand why we should gain a testimony of the restoration we must understand how we can obtain that testimony. Elder Robert D Hales once said,” Gaining a testimony and becoming converted begins with study and prayer, then living the gospel with patience and persistence and inviting and waiting upon the spirit…steps that lead to testimony are desiring to know truth, pondering in our hearts, then feeling and obediently following the promptings of the Holy Ghost”.             From this we learn that not only must we have a desire gain light and knowledge, but we must also act in faith and prayerfully study the scriptures. The scripture that we should be studying is the Book of Mormon because that is the book through which the fullness of the gospel was restored to the earth. As we do this we can then follow the advice and instruction given in Moroni’s promise in Moroni 10:3-5.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

Brothers and sisters this is such a powerful promise and I testify to each of you that it is true.

An excellent example that illustrates the pattern of this teaching, which is to study and ponder with a sincere heart and then to pray to our Heavenly Father to know that the doctrine is true is the life of Joseph Smith and the story of the restoration. It is a story that many of us are familiar with.

Joseph Smith grew up in the eastern United States during the early 1800’s. He was born into a family that prayed and studied the bible. In his youth Joseph became interested in religion. It was a time of great religious excitement. There were many churches that claimed to be true. Although Joseph attended many different congregations in search for truth he remained confused about which church he should join, if any at all.

            With this question weighing heavily on his mind Joseph read James 1:5 in the bible. It says “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

Joseph followed this direction and acted in faith. He went to a grove of trees to inquire of the lord what he should do. This is his account of what happened as he called upon God.” I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me…When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!  

God the Father and his son Jesus Christ appeared unto Joseph. They conversed with him and answered his prayer. He was instructed to join none of the churches.

            At the age of 17, Joseph knelt again in prayer with a desire to know what his standing was before God. As he prayed a heavenly messenger appeared unto him and identified himself as Moroni. He said that God had a work for Joseph to do and told him of a record written on plates of gold that contained an account of the ancient inhabitants of this continent. Also inscribed on the plates was the fullness of the gospel as taught by Jesus Christ to Moroni’s ancestors. He was directed to obtain these. The next day the Joseph found the plates buried in a nearby hill where Moroni had described they would be. When Joseph found the plates he was instructed by Moroni that the time had not yet arrived for him to bring them forth. He was told to return on that same day every year to meet with Moroni. Joseph obeyed this direction and each year he met with Moroni and was instructed on the restoration of Christ’s Church.

             Joseph received the plates and an ancient translating instrument that was buried with them called the Urim and Thummin On September 22, 1827. He started to translate the plates later that year. In time he was joined by a man named Oliver Cowdery, Who acted as his scribe.

            When Joseph was 23 he and Oliver came upon a passage that was about baptism. The men wanted to know more about baptism so they went into the solitude of the woods to inquire of the lord. As they prayed John the Baptist appeared unto them in a “cloud of light”. John conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon them. After receiving it Joseph and Oliver were baptized. They then possessed the authority to baptize and confer that priesthood on others.

            Shortly after that the melchezidek priesthood was conferred on Joseph by the apostles Peter, James, and John and the translation of the plates was completed. It was published less that a year later as the book of Mormon.

On April 6, 1830 the Church was formally established.

            As the restoration of the Church continued the members of the Church were instructed to build a temple.  They obeyed and the Kirkland Ohio temple was dedicated on March 27, 1836. One week later, in a meeting, following a solemn prayer Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph and Oliver in the temple. Moses, Elias, and Elijah also appeared there and committed the keys of the kingdom to Joseph.

             In General a Conference talk Elder Hales once said” like Joseph many of us find ourselves seeking the light of truth. Just as the world was prepared for the restoration, each of us is prepared to receive the light of the gospel in our own lives.” In order to receive Light and confirmation of truth we must act. We cannot do nothing and show no interest toward gaining truth and then expect it to be given to us. Ed J Pinegar once said, “We need to study and qualify ourselves to know that church is true and then the lord will tell us its true.” By doing this we enable ourselves to feel the spirit. For many, this means overcoming feelings of doubt and worthiness, being humble and learning to exercise faith.

            Brothers and sisters every major event in the restoration was preceded by a desire to know truth and a sincere prayer. I testify that even though we may not get the opportunity to see Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ while we are on this earth if we pray and study with a desire to know that the restored gospel is true the holy ghost will testify unto us of its truthfulness.

         

Text from the glass wall right before Grant's plane took off we were texting messages to him before take off.....

\

Grant and Dad St. George Temple

Grant's 1st Email: Wed. July 8th, 8:15am

Grant Baldwin <grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net>	Jul 8 (4 days ago)
to me

hey family this is just a quick message to let you know that i am alive and well at the CCM. Its Awesome here! the people ive met are amazing. Im supposed to tell you to write letters to me on sundays. my p day changes often in the ccm but i will have the opportunity to write you for an hour each week. Love you guys!

Replies:

angmartinez@comcast.net	11:44 PM (19 hours ago)
to me

Awesome !! This is good. He sounds happy. Busy.. And happy.

Love u

Angie

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello Son, I do not think I have ever called you "son"

I am so RELEIEVD you are alive! and the people are amazing---you have almost been out a wee

Today in Sacrament meeting I became teary eyed---you were not in your usual spot at the sacarament table, but time marches on, now a potential Elder , Elder Mason blessed the sacrament for the first time; which was a monumental day for his family.

I made it through camp! It was fun and the girls had no drama.The stake did a great job at keeping all of the activities centered on Christ.

This week I have repair surgery on my nose, which will be minor on Wednesday at 10:00, should only be 30 min.---it is follow up surgery, but pray for me still, your prayers are powerful!

I have attached a picture of your plaque and a video

Love and I do pray for you every day throughout the day, it is so great that we have the same time zone, often I look at the time and think "I wonder what Grant is doing......"

    XOXOXXOX

Mom

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From: <BaldwinSD@ldschurch.org> Date: July 7, 2015 at 10:53:39 PM MDT To: "grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net" <grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net> Subject: Father's letter Grant, I wanted badly to get this letter in your bag so you could read it while on the plane. I want you to know that you are a blessing to our family. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching you grow into an incredible young man. We have created a lot of memories together. I am so proud of the way you fulfill responsibilities, especially your church callings. Many people have commented on your work ethic and your demeanor. People love to be around you. Your hard work has paid off over the years. I am so proud of the way you take initiative to help out around the house and help others. Right now Mom , Erin and I are quite distressed as we came home and saw your empty room. It's been a very emotional evening, lots of crying. I am really missing you. For the past 3 years we have done lots of things together. I know you have been ready to get out there and get on with things and I am happy to see you on your way in this exciting time. From a selfish standpoint, it is tough on me. I walked in to the mancave and just broke down. All of the things you really enjoy are sitting in that room. I am so proud that you have the right frame of mind that you could leave those things and serve the Lord. That is a sign of a true disciple of Christ. I want to thank you for your example to Erin. She loves you and looks up to you. I don't know if that would have happened if we would have stayed in Preston. I hope you can forgive me for moving you away from your friends. I was following very strong promptings. As I look back, as difficult as some of the past 3 years have been, I believe much of the reason the Lord wanted us here is for you and your development. You have truly turned into a great and noble man. My patriarchal blessing states that my children will be noble and great. While it will be a struggle for you to be away for the next 2 years...for me... and sometimes for you, you will never regret the decision to serve a mission. Thank you for doing so. There will be people who accept the gospel just because you brought it to them. Be mindful that Heavenly Father is busy preparing them for you. Live your life so that you learn to recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost, for he will guide you to them and he will testify of the things you say to their hearts. Be obedient, but have fun. This is a once in a lifetime experience! Grant, I love you and am so proud of you. I have always been proud of you. Fact is you deserve a lot better father than me. I'm learning as I go. Represent our family name well. As you do, the Lord will bless you. Exciting times!  Love, Dad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: eberinyellow@gmail.com Date: July 12, 2015 at 8:52:44 PM MDT To: "grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net" <grant.baldwin@myldsmail.net> Subject: Hey bud Mom wants to know how your feet are ? Mom and Dad at St. George temple --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mom, Dad, Erin, Emily, Cole and Grant----Snow Canyon June 28th, 2015