We loved listening to your voicemails....were you able to listen to ours?  You sound wonderful, love to hear your voice! We sent one to you....It wished you happy birthday in our unique family way. Were you able to listen?  We didn't type happy birthday last Monday, we sang it to you:) So now you are 20!!!!!! so big.  

You sound busy and that is good. Kevin is still on track and your sweet hermana no?

We have yet to have a second discussion with Cara, communication broke down last week, but the missionaries dropped by today, they did not have Cara's number, I gave it to them and they were able to contact her today and hopefully we will have a discussion this week.

Also Elder Nemrow spoke of how he struggled with serving when he returned from his mission. On his mission He was primarily used to thinking about others, praying for others, serving others, companions, members, nonmembers. When he came home he was praying for himself: to get good grades, to pass this test, etc. He was struggling with this and the spirit asked him why do you pray? to get good grades- to graduate from college, why do you want to graduate from college? To be able to provide for my family. So these things are good---He was serving in a different way his focus was  on himself so he could serve his family. Your focus is primarily on others right now, but it will change--time and season for everything.

We will take your advice and go to the temple as a family every month. We are able to take names from our tree:)

Dad and I are going once a week:)

This week I am at school only 2 days. Wednesday and Thursday I am at the district learning how to be a peer coach. It is where teachers learn observe and critique each other's teaching in order to improve their teaching. Friday dad and I are going to Bryce Canyon to celebrate our anniversary, on the 5th is our 26th. It is weird to think that we have been together longer than we were single. I love him now more than ever though.

Hopefully you received your birthday package from us. Angie is happy that you liked theirs.:)

Let us know if you need anything else----Christmas is coming up. I will be sending a package 1st of November. But if you need something before that let me know.

Love, 

mom   xxoxoxoxox

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Greetings Elder! Mom and I are sitting in stale conference with Elder Norman Nemrow. Josh France was announced as an elder who recently received the priesthood. A recent convert who moved his family to Utah in December 2013 was baptized in June. They moved to Brookside and were invited to "a barbecue" which turned out to be the high priest social in pine valley. They took the tour of the pine valley chapel.
The sister missionaries approached them and got to know them. They were able to show the plan of salvation. For him, who had not been religious, this was really the thing that impacted him.
Then they hit some difficult challenges in his life for 4-5 months and kind of stopped going. He questioned his faith. Then the elders came by and invited them to start coming to church again.
But he still struggled with the idea of baptism. He had based his life on logic all along, and had not had faith. Things got really bad with his job and he couldn't continue to work due to physical issues.  He finally just prayed and laid out things to Heavenly Father. Lots of good things began to happen after he applied his faith. He then decided to be baptized. One year from the day of the high priest social, he was baptized.
Now his family has been baptized.

Yesterday I played in a stake golf tournament. It was fun. First time in 6 years! I then spent most of the day clearing weeds in the back yard. Mom and I attended the adult session of conference last night.

We were not sure if you received our voice recording last week? How's it going in your new area? Chad Shepherd was telling me about Colt and he is doing well in his mission. He always asks about you.

Bret and I went up Hamblin Valley on Tuesday night and then drove his Rhino over to Indian peaks all day Wednesday. Not sure if I told you, but they are building a show nuff house size log cabin 2 story up there on his property. It's gonna be nice.

Well, I want you to know we pray for you daily. We talk about you often and think about you all the time. We look forward to your safe return when you have completed your service to the Guats. I know you have and will continue to learn a lot. You will return having come to know yourself, what you want in life, and what you are capable of. That is the beauty of the mission. Not only are you teaching, but you are learning.
Have a great week. I look forward to your email and hopefully hearing more about your new area. Love, Yo daddy.

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Hey! this week has been awesome! this week I arrived in my new area in Jutiapa! It is a beast.Its a little warmer here...Although I'm pretty sure it doesn't touch the heat of st George. We have a big area and a large ward as well. We get to visit a ton of Aldeas that A little ways out from town! our area is beautiful and relatively calm in comparison to life inside of the capital.The gangs from the cap are here but their influence is much less. Here there are a lot of family feuds. Basically it is just like the wild west. there are many mud and tin houses and the people outside of the capital are generally more accepting and kindly! My new companion is from Peru! he is 27 years old and we get along great! We have a lot of investigators and are optimistic for September! Its about time that Brett puts a mansion up in that haunted valley! I love my mission. It is that hardest thing that i have ever done but i am learning so much. I love the Savior and his sacred work!

Elder Baldwin

Dear Grant,

    We just made it threw our first week of school. Whew, the first week is the hardest week of the year, I feel, so everything else is downhill:). I am trying to do improve my teaching this year by conferencing every day with my students, that is one of my main goals: to conference with one student every period-spend 10 min one on one, going over their goals, classes, any issues. I am so excited to start. This week I am implementing this plan, I will report next Sunday on how it went.

Saturday one of my students called me to ask for help on a paper that is due Monday. I had asked his mom earlier in the week if he could come in early on Friday and stay after in order for him to have some one-on-one help. I after our phone call Saturday I realized he was the first student in all of my teaching who has called me for help in all of my 20 years teaching.

This Tuesday is back to school night. I hope parents come and we can have a face to face contact. I went to Erin's last Wednesday and there was a poor showing. 

Anita and Micha came Thursday and stayed until Saturday. We went hiking Saturday morning as you can see from the pictures. It was so good to see them. They went to "Peter Pan" Friday night at Tuachan. Unfortunately they did not like the play! They wasted 120.00. I liked it when Erin and I saw it, I thought they would. They should have seen "hunch Back" ins hind sight. oh well, at least it didn't rain on them.

I went to "Into the Woods" last night with Judy Phelps. One of the teachers at my school was in the play, Katherine Woods, she is the Theater teacher at SCMS. She is a great actress. She had had the bad stomach flu on Friday and was still sick on Saturday. At the end of the play, she was standing below me and I gave her a thumbs up and mouthed, "are you OK?" and she rubbed her stomach and shook her head "no" and smiled. I couldn't even tell she was sick, she did a great job of hiding it. It just goes to show you the power of the mind and a person's will.

Today in gospel principles the lesson was on charity, I handed out the purifying email Jody R sent me, the one you mentioned you had had and were following. I am still my 40 day fast. Trying to act on the thoughts that come to me. I did follow through on a prompting about Sister Briggs. She fell and had to have back surgery awhile ago. So I was praying on who to visit and I thought of Sister Briggs in the morning. On my way home from school I remembered I wanted to go and visit her and I thought, "no I am too tired", I have too much to do tonight. But I went anyway and had a good visit with her and felt the spirit in her home and radiate through her; so glad I went. I saw her and church today and there was an extra connection when I said 'hi" passing her in the halls.

We loved the pictures you send :)) Thank you!!!!!!

We listened to your voice message: So exciting about Kevin on Sept. 17th.  Also about the lesson last week about gratitude, it is so humbling to hear of the mom who gave thanks for finding sticks for her fire. We are so blessed and need to realize and give thanks for all of the many blessings !!!!

Kevin

Hey Family! this week has been awesome! We have seen miracles. This week we ended this transfer cycle and we decided to end it with a mad dash! We worked hard and were able to baptize 6 souls this weekend. It was crazy! we were running all over to different interviews and striving to be able to get everything done. All in all we were very blessed and we have seen the hand of the lord in our life. This is truly the lords work. We have been visiting Kevin this week and he is progressing very well. Yesterday we went to his house in the evening and found him very discouraged. We had passed by in the morning to invite him to church and he said "yeah ill see you there when it starts". We waited at church with him anxiously for a long time but he never came. In our visit he explained that his Sister had passed by with news that she has breast cancer. It was a blow for him. He has been receiving answers to his prayer and he asked us why the Lord permits suffering. We shared the plan of salvation with him and were able to testify of the Gods desire for us to feel joy and happiness in this life. For me it was very spiritual because I had studied that same topic in the morning. The Lord truly guides us and I know that he prepared the opportunity to share our testimonies with Kevin in that moment. 

This week we also were able to go to the temple as a zone! It was very spiritual. I love the temple and want to invite you to take advantage of every chance that you can to be able to attend! take a night off and Go as a family!

8/15/16Congrats on serving the missionaries!  Here is a voice recording! Love you guys

!President Uchtdorf, "Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality, the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.” Brethren, the exciting developments of today are part of that long-foretold period of preparation that will culminate in the glorious Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

When our time in mortality is complete, what experiences will we be able to share about our own contribution to this significant period of our lives and to the furthering of the Lord’s work? Will we be able to say that we rolled up our sleeves and labored with all our heart, might, mind, and strength? Or will we have to admit that our role was mostly that of an observer? There is too much at stake for us as individuals, as families, and as Christ’s Church to give only a halfhearted effort to this sacred work. #therestorationistoday!   ----Elder Baldwin

8/14/16

“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.” 

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed. Most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey–delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

― Gordon B. Hinckley

Some of my favorite quotes from President Hinkley, They are so true, I think of them daily, it helps me remember the eternal perspective. I was reading in 2 Nephi chapter 4, I love it, Nehpi's pslam, what a balm of Gilead for us! My scripture this week has been verse: 16 Behold, my soul delighted in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

The pictures are of dad and I, the Talbots, the Jones, and the Tilby's (new couple who moved in on Old Farms Road. We all went 4 wheeling up to Pine valley, had dinner at the Branding Iron, and came back. It was fun, very dusty but fun. On the ride up passing Baker's reservoir, we almost hit a guy crossing the road, I recognized him from the Tuachann play "Hunch Back of Notre Dam" he was the the hunch back. Erin and I went to the show Wednesday night, the night before school started. It was sketchy if we were going to be able to see it. It had been raining all day and we were waiting with the audience to see if the remaining storm was going to pass over. It was so cool to see the storm play out, lighting, pretty colors. 30 min later we were in our seats, great seats, 2nd row. The show was excellent, sad, but wonderful production. At dinner we learned more about each other:  I really like Jerome jones, he is so humble and down to earth. I learned some things about him, he grew up in Gunlock, he was the only boy his age in the ward with 10 girls. There were 100 members in his ward growing up and he was the onlyAaronic priesthood holder. He had 15 families he home taught and Gunlock was known for getting 100% home teaching. Sometimes the only way to reach his families in the winter was by horseback. At dinner we learned more about each other:  I really like Jerome jones, he is so humble and down to earth. I learned some things about him, he grew up in Gunlock, he was the only boy his age in the ward with 10 girls. There were 100 members in his ward growing up and he was the only Aaronic priesthood holder. He had 15 families he home taught and Gunlock was known for getting 100% home teaching. Sometimes the only way to reach his families in the winter was by horseback.

   Friday night day and I went to Gunlock to watch the Cornwall family in a horse sort, I have never heard of it before, have you? if not here are the rules:  2 man team sorting 10 cattle numbered 0-9 and 1 unnumbered cow for a total of 11 head. A producer has the option to add 1 more unnumbered cow. A run starts with team members on opposite side of start line from cattle. 3.2.3 The cattle must be sorted in number sequence. It was fun, even Garrett Cornwall-4 years old was able to round up 5 cows, his team mate was 82 years old.  A person can participate as much as different teams as they want. So Garrett was also on his dad's team. Libby--she just turned 8 yesterday rounded up all 10 cows! It was so fun to watch, the next sort is September 30 at Gunlock, it is also free which is a bonus.

   So yes, we made it through the first week of school! We started Thursday, August 11th, .I have great students, no big behaviors this year:) Erin is not thrilled about school, she is anxious about her classes. She some tough classes: honors math, honors chemistry, AP English, AP US history. The reason why she did this is largely so she won't waste her time and learn something. The behaviors will be better in these classes, and the students tend to be more on the ball so she will go farther.

    Tonight we met with the missionaries with an investigator in our ward . 

  The discussion with the missionaries went well. There are Elders here now, Elder Lee and Elder More. Elder Lee is new-his first week out, from North Carolina--great discussion, he was sure, and everything flowed well between the 2. I need to tell him how impressed I was next time I see him. We had a lesson on the restoration which had last time we had the missionaries remember?  I bore my testimony about Joseph Smith and dad bore his testimony about the Plan of Salvation and shared a little of his conversion. Erin expressed how the gospel helps her with her challenges at school and the direction it gives her. I also expressed how to keep the feelings of the holy ghost going through out the week--praying and reading the scriptures every day. The missionaries capitalized on that and asked if they could come by Wednesday for 5 min and read/share with them what they have been reading. We made an appointment for next Sunday at 7:00pm. 

As we were with the missionaries and today in relief society; I was/am so homesick for you! Just saying!!!!

     I am also teaching a lesson in gospel prinicpals on charity next Sunday, so any thoughts?

xxoxoxox, Love you 

MOM

Hey mom! this week I am doing great! My companion has been very sick this past week. I have been dropping him of in the house of members and have been hitting the street in divisions. We have been super blessed and are finding many new people in our area! we love our members and we love the investigators in our area. Thanks for all that you are doing for Kamila. Tell Erin to be careful and to that i love her! 

Check out my sweet crocs in this next picture!

August 1st

This week we baptised a young man named elder! His family are all active members and he was super excited to be able to follow their example this week and enter into the waters of baptism. He has a bright future and we are excited for all that He has been doing and for who he is becoming through the gospel. Tomorrow we are also planning for the baptism of armenia! I will write more about here and How things go this next week!

I know that the gospel that I have the opportunity is true and that it changes lives. I love you guys and I am so gratefull for all that you do for me and for one another. Here are few pics to show you how things have been going this past week! 

Love Elder Baldwin. Les Quiero!

Aug.1st, 2016

Dad and I came home from Preston last night. We drove up last Wednesday evening. Thursday dad and Jim went to the rodeo, I went with Jody to the carnival, just hanging around-the rides make me sick. Friday the Martinez family came up and they brought guests--Drew-Sunnie's boyfriend. Drew is going to leave on his mission in November. He is going to England. Jackson is seeing a new girl, Maddie, you can see her in the picture. So it was really fun. The rodeo conditions were perfect-no rain, or wind. The cowboys had good rides. Kelly wants to make this a yearly tradition so this is the 3rd year in a row now. Next year we were also discussing after the rodeo going on up to Cascade lake and renting a cabin there. Angie and Kelly have been looking into it and Cascade is so much less expensive than the cabins at McCall. I think that sounded like a great alternative and more affordable.

So Jim and dad went to the rodeo twice. Dad stayed at Jim's and I stayed at Jody's there is no room for me at Jim's and they snore something fierce. Erin did not come up because she was at EFY in cedar. She had a very spiritual time, learned a lot. We watched a presentation on architectual symbols of the temple one of her favorite presentations, it was very interesting and she just ate it up. 

 

Erin and I have one more week until school!!!!! Can't believe it, we start school on the 11th.

You are strong and I love your heart and desire to serve and help the people of Guatemala, Love you, have a great week!!!!xxoxoxoxoxoxo  

MOM