11/23/2015

Its been pouring here all week! there has been rain here almost every day and we have been showered with blessings constantly. Elder Mendoza and I are both really amazed at how much we have been blessed in every moment of everyday. I personally have learned so much this week and am so grateful for the blessings i have received and the love i have felt. I would just like to quickly share one experience that really impacted me this week that we had with an investigator of ours. This investigators Name Kenya and she is the wife of a leader of the church here in milagro. she has been receiving lessons from missionaries for years and had become what we call an "eternal" investigator. She is very receptive but she is definitely an independent person with a stronger attitude. We love her. This week  we were really focusing hard  and praying for direction on how we could help her progress toward an eternal familia. this week in a lesson we had the opportunity to have a lesson with her about faith that was very powerful. At the end of the lesson we had the opportunity to invite her to read doctrine and covenants 39 with her aloud. we asked her to put her name in place of James and think as if the lord was talking directly to you. The spirit that filled the room was powerful and undeniable. Hermana Kenya felt the spirit speak to her through scripture and is now progressing toward an eternal family. I know and can testify that the messages and lessons taught in the scriptures are real and personal. We can grow and learn when we heed the counsel of nefi and liken the words of the profetas unto ourselves. I am so thankful the scriptures and the personal counsel that we can receive. I know that this church is True! I love My Savior and his gospel. Thanks for your support and prayers. Happy thanksgiving!!

-Elder Baldwin

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11/22/2015

Looks like they are having fun....I am having regrets that I did not go with them.....but oh well. I know that yesterday, Saturday they were with Robert on this boat and there were 8 foot swells..and it was 39degrees....I am glad we were not there for that. But from the looks of Pat, it was good that I sent them. This is my Christmas present for Erin and Dad. I had a bonus from sped at the beginning of the school year, so that is how it was paid for, no credit card debt. I am taking Elder Durrant's talk seriously when he said save each week and ponder a scripture each week. So I have started a savings fund. This week my scripture was Ether 12:27....this week is yours Alma 34:31.

Last night I took Judy Phelps and Drea out to the Anasazi steak house. It is a fun place to go in the winter, but not in the summer because you cook your meat on hot stones. Judy is a widow so doesn't have much of a social life and Dough happened to be out of town. Before dinner, Judy and I went to a temple session together, she kept me awake:) sometimes it is too peaceful in the temple.

Cole and Emily are coming up today, Sunday, with Mac's truck. They are bringing one of their couches to store. Jim is going to bring it back to Preston next week when he heads back. We are going to haul another couch of theirs this Wednesday on our truck---Mac, Emily, Cole and I. They are wanting to leave Wednesday night after Cole gets off work at 7:00pm, but there is a storm coming in that day and I thinking we should leave early Thursday morning.

How is Elder Mendoza? how long has he been out?  Details we want details.

Were you able to obtain new living quarters, one without mold?

xoxoxoxxo

mom
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11/22/2105
Happy thanksgiving!!
I'm excited to have your mom come up for the holiday . She's always fun to have around .
Is it weird that Thursday will just be another ordinary day ?  Just think of this - for the first time in your whole life you won't eat turkey on thanksgiving.
That's kind of crazy .
So I decided to make a list of some of the things I'm grateful for ....( no particular order )
The gospel
Our family
My home
Jesus Christ
Traditions
Temples
Our health
My body
Prayer
Support
Food
Freedom

I'm sure this year you're even grateful than in years past for the modern day convinces. Right ? Family too right?? Time away from home makes you more thankful and helps you remember why your so blessed .

We are so excited for the great success and miracles that you are being a part of. I went to a women's conference yesterday and learned that Tender mercies are Christ's fingerprints. I loved that. There are so many tender Mercies everyday . I'm so grateful for this. .
I hope and pray you will continue to be safe and protected. Be happy. Stay obedient and be strong .

We love you.
Happy thanksgiving-
Aunt Ang

Hey family! BALDWIN FAMILY ONLY. gracias:) 11/16/2015

This week has been really amazing! I have been so blessed this week. This week i received a new Companion! his name is elder Mendoza. He is from panama. elder Mendoza is an awesome missionary. He has a strong desire to serve the lord and I'm very excited to be able to serve with him here in boulevard! Yesterday we had the opportunity to listen and participate in a multi stake conference that was broad casted to all of Guatemala from salt lake. It was amazing to hear revelation intended specifically for the people of Guatemala. Elder Bednar spoke to us about 3 things. Sacrifice, consecration, and Charity. I know that we cannot sacrifice anyhting for the lord, or be consecrated without having the true love of Christ  as motivation to drive our desires. When we act and obey as free agents with love and selfishness we can move forward in the plan that our loving Father in Heaven has prepared for each and every one of us. 

I am thankful for your prayers and your love. Have a great week. Love you guys! have fun and be safe in LA. tell jimbo that i love him and hope he is doing well. Tell cole and em happs! cant believe that it has been a year! mom- Also if there is anyway that you could find our what i got on my AP test in stats last year i would love to know. if all else fails talk with mcconnell at the high school. Have a great week!
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11/15/2015
Today is a great day! 

Today is the first day of tithing settlement----so you know how dad loves it..... fortunately he will be blessed with going on vacation to LA this Friday and will miss 2 Sundays. Jim comes in this Tuesday evening.

Church was good  today. I taught a beehive lesson on the importance of work. I am grateful for it because I always learn the most in preparing. I thought about you and the hard work you are performing; learning a new language, adapting to the culture and enviornm

ent. Thank you for your hard work and sacrifice you are making every moment while being in Guatemala!!! xoxoxoxoxo

We love your voice memo's it is so good to hear your voice. So you have a new companion and hopefully a dryer place to live?

This week I plan on going to Bio-life 2 times this week Tuesday and Thursday... yes I am going to the one in Sunset while Erin is at Swim. My first time was last Thursday. Everything went well except that I was SO cold. I am bring dad's winter parka next time. Also I had to urinate before I started drawing blood so when they started putting fluids back in me during the last part, I thought I was going to burst! I will make sure I empty my bladder right before I donate.

Dad, Erin and I celebrated Cole and Emily's anniversary last night. Yes it was there 1 year anniversary 11/14/2015 can you believe it?

Love you !!!!

mom

11/9/2015


Hey dad! im glad to here that you have been working hard to magnify your calling. I know and can testify that your works have significant influences on our family and the members of the ward. I really appreciate your letters. To be honest I have so much to improve here! These teachings are super applicable to me.At the moment we are working with a family towards baptism! they have to get married so that is our main goal this week. there are others and I will keep you updated this week. We have cambios manana and i am going to recieve and new companion!! Have a great week dad. Thanks for your prayers and support. thank you for making it possible for me to be here. I cannot descirbe how thankful i am for This opportunity.
Elder Grant.
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11/8/2015

The computer was being so unresponsive today. I was trying to attach Elder Christopherson'sinterview in word, and I gave up; so here it is down below. I am mailing it with a letter tomorrow. Does mail take around 2 weeks to arrive?

We loved your story on service! It is so true that when we serve, great things happen, things we do not expect. I remember back in Riverdale when they were asking for people to help old Fern move out of her house, I did not really feel like it, but went anyway. After serving she gave us her micro wave which worked for about 4 more years and some food storage.

Last night Erin and I went to David Artchelleta. It was a perfect night, not windy, cold but we were prepared, we had thermoses of hot chocolate, blankets, coats, and treats. We arrived on time with 15 min. to spare, we had great seats, center section. We went to take our seats and  there were people there. So we compared tickets and we had the same seat numbers. So we went to the box office to clear things up and come to find out I had tickets for the night before!!!!! Erin looked like she wanted to kill me. I said, "I could have sworn I had booked this for tonight.....for sure we can just stand in the back. But instead of doing that I found some seats on the second row, which worked for the opening act, then people came to claim their seats. So we moved up some more isles and found some more seats, then people came and we moved up again. This time to stay.... I was praying that no one one come and claim the seats....After David began his show, we were out of the woods and started to relax. I told Erin that from now on she was in charge of tickets, looking at them and verifying when the shows were. David's show was great., he spoke about his mission and what a great experience it was to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and how hard it was for him to come back. How he was thinking about changing his career path and take a different route other than singing. He spoke of the light of Christ and following the still small voice. I was so impressed on how humble and genuine he was. It was great to be at a concert where I felt it was like EFY and love it. He is great live, his voice is amazing. Erin is in love, she wants to marry him. I told him there are many guys out there like David; David just happens to sing for a living. I told her to read her patriarchal blessing and get excited about her own husband to be.

Friday and Saturday Erin also had a swim meet at Sand Hallow, Erin did well on the 50 back stroke/

On her 50 free stroke she had 32 sec. on her 100 free stroke, she felt like she was going to die. It was fun watching her swim, Cole came to watch on of the events. Then he had to go take a test. He is done with his generals after this quarter.

So relieved you received your package!!!! your Christmas one is on its way so no more requests. I sent it Thursday the 5th...I want it to for sure be there before Christmas, I included your hammock in there. 

Wondering how long you are going to have your companion/trainer....it has been 3 months now. How is that going?

Xxoxoxoxo 

MOM
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Que Hay? Well, today has been a spiritually enriching but exhausting day. I had a 6;30 am meeting and I set my alarm. I got up when it went off and showered and got dressed. Just as I was ready to leave I passed my bed and saw that the clock showed 5:08 am. I forgot to set my small alarm clock back an hour. Bad start to a long day. I finally got home at 5:30 this evening. But there is nothing better than making oneself available to the Lord to help get the work done. 

How was your week? Anyone close to baptism? Any new investigators? How long do you think you'll be with your companion? 

Tonight, I came home and took an hour nap and then got up to study and prepare for my staff meeting tomorrow morning. I am so blessed to have the career that I do. We have what is called the Leadership pattern. One aspect of it is recorded sessions of an hour and longer of many of the apostles fielding questions about leadership. Tonight I watched segments of Elder Bednar speaking. One of the things that touched me was when he said that, in order to progress past bad behavior or get through a tough time as a leader, is to ask the Holy Ghost to allow us to see us how we really are. He stated a warning not to do this light heartedly and to take it very seriously. The holy ghost will show us our hypocrisy and faults. Powerful stuff. As a leader, we constantly need to be asking, "What lack I yet?" Then we need to say, OK...therefore what should I do now to correct it. That is where the Lord, the Holy Ghost, and Heavenly Father are waiting to provide the help and guidance once we ask 

In the mission field it is easy to get sidetracked by other influences. It takes constant refocusing and recalibrating efforts. Always remember to have fun because we need that. But then spend the time doing the Right things right. 

Well, it's late and I get to doi it again early tomorrow. Have a great week. I love you and pray for you all the time. DAD.

11/2/2015
Hey Family! This week has been great here in Guate. clear skies and plenty of people to talk to in the street Which is a major blessing. Elder Antonio and i are fairing well this week without much sickness to speak of! This week were very blessed. I just want to share a quick experience that we had with service this week. Last Monday night we were searching for a part member family that we haven't been able to meet with for a while. There are 2 children that are members that are both young( 12 y 15ish) and their parents that aren't members. They are a nice family but they haven't had the desire to progress in the church for a long time.The mom is super nice but we were really having troubles meeting with the dad. we had heard that he did not like the missionaries much at all so we were on our toes about meeting him. So we stopped by their house Monday night and talked with the kids in the door but the parents weren't home. we told them that we would come back and left to search out another cita. Just after we were walking in the street back up toward a different part of our area. We saw a guy in the street caring a massive stove on his back. We couldn't see who it was but we offered to help this senor said accepted the help. We grabbed the stove off his back and started to talking to him and realized that it was the dad of this family just getting home. He was very grateful for the help. After helping him get his stove into his house they accepted a lesson. We had an amazing lesson and the mom and the dad both accepted a goal to be baptized the 28 of this month. The door was opened for this family through just a small act of service. I have a testimony of service. I know that if we follow the Lords Example we can be blessed and also be instruments to bless the lives of others.

I am so thankful for your prayers and I can feel the impact in my life every day. I pray for you every day! I hope that you all have a great week!

11/1/2015

Fall is finally here! The colors are changing. Erin and I actually found 2 trees that have red leaves! It is going to get get cold here this week...Wednesday will be 27 degrees below.

Halloween has come and gone. Earlier in the day I went to watch Jocelyn Cornwall ride in barrell races at the Washington fair grounds. I have been wanting to support her in watching her ride and I finally took advantage of it. It was so fun, the weather was perfect 78 degrees, little wind and Jocelyn did great. I was able to watch her ride 2 events. She is amazing because only 3 weeks ago she had foot surgery and removed bunions on her feet. In order to spur her horse around the barrels, she needs to kick right where her surgery was.....so yeah she is tough. 

  That night there was the annual trunk or treat at the mail boxes with a chilli cook off, this brought a lot of people out with some good mingling going on. I even entered some chilli---it was a joke really the beans were not fully cooked even after cooking them for 5 days. I have learned my lesson on beans--I will only use canned from now on not raW, packaged beans.

   Later that night I dropped Erin off at Raelies for a party and I went to the temple. Dad was working late; I didnt want to go home and then come back for Erin. The session was really small---understandably. I was able to spend a long time in the celestial room--pondered and thought about you and what you were doing right then, put your name in the temple. Then I sat in the lobby a long time reading the scriptures until the temple closed. It was great and peaceful, to not to be rushed and just enjoy the temple.

Dear elder Baldwin

It's a couple days before Halloween and I just sent off your Christmas package today. As I walked out of the building I said a few prayers… I'm hoping it gets in your hands safe and sound. I told heavenly father "he sacrificing so much and working so hard for you please let him get his Christmas package from the Martinez family"

I believe in prayer. And I believe in tender mercies. I am confident you are going to get your package. If you happen to get it in the near future make sure you save it and hold onto it. Don't open it till Christmas day. I want you to have a little something to look forward to Christmas morning. We love you Elder Baldwin! Keep hanging in there! Stay strong :-)

Xoxo

Angie