​This was after Women's conference on Saturday. It was a great meeting!! Cara, Erin and I went to the stake Center, they had flowers after in arrangements and we could take the flowers home after. I really enjoyed the conference, it was great for Cara to hear also. Elder Ukdorff spoke on Faith and how sometimes we feel that our prayers are not being answered. He spoke what faith was and what it was not: that our heavenly father cannot do certain things. 1) Compel us to do things and  violate another's agency. 2) Force our will on God. To trust in God and that he sees what we do not. 

Also the young women's general president spoke on not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. What was amazing about her talk, to me, was that I was pondering about what would be discussed when I was working in the yard earlier, and the thought came to me what Paul said, "Not to be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ". And so when she started speaking about that and actually quoted Paul. I was so touched that Heavenly Father answered my prayer in such a personal way. Also I had specific impressions about what to do to help students in my class which I wrote down earlier Saturday morning. I am so grateful for the whisperings of the spirit.

Hola Como Esta?

We loved your voice mail.....such great things happening, so excited that Victor was baptized. Your 30 converts that you are working with and the Rescue plan involving their "Amulek's" is inspiring.

We need to make sure that Cara has her Amulek's. 

How did your meeting go on Wednesday?

And your baptism Saturday the 24th?

We need to make sure that Cara has her Amulek's. 

Love you XOXOXOXO

 Jerky making 9/24/2016---Steve proud Father

                                            Erin                9/24/2016                                               Cara

MOM

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

Dear Baldwin Family and Friends!

 This week has been awesome! We have see so many miracles! To start off the week we visited an Investigator named Adelina That had a Baptismal Fecha for the past Saturday. She is very shy and was passing through some tough situations. She told us during the lesson that she wasn't sure if the she could change her life and that she had decided that she couldn't be baptized this last week. Satan loaded up her plate with many trials and the world seemed to close in around her. On Wednesday we had an amazing conference with Elder Ochoa from the 70 and he taught us about the doctrine of Baptism and faith unto repentance. It was lifting and inspiring. We left the conference determined to help Adelina Receive the divine help that she needed through her faith and the blessings promised in the covenant of Baptism. We invited her to the church and had a lesson in front of the baptismal font with members and other missionaries. The spirit was so strong during the entire lesson as we taught what we had learned in the conference. When the lesson ended she Excited accepted the challenge to be baptized this coming Friday! 

 I am thankful for the doctrine of Jesus Christ. I know that if we live it we will experience the power of God in our lives and Be Lifted and inspired by His Grace. I love you all and hope that you have a great week!

Elder Baldwin.

ps Read mosiah CH 2 vs 9 and Prepare for General Conference!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Dear mom,

 This week has been really great! We have been so blessed as missionaries in our area. To start off the week we Had an awesome experience Monday with Victor. During the day on Monday we weren't able to solidify plans with him to meet at night because we couldn't get a hold of him. We made other plans for the evening that were more realistic. Victor lives far away in an Aldea where there are not buses after 7:00pm. Our worry was that we weren't going to be able to make it back to Jutiapa in the night time. I was studying before we left the house and I felt the impression that we should visit Victor. So we called and nobody answered. So we continued with our plans thinking that all was done. When we left we knelt at the door of our Upstairs apartment and Prayed that we would be able to contact Victor and that we would be led by the spirit to fulfill with our responsibility as missionaries. As we left and were walking down one of the cobble streets here in Jutiapa, I had the prompting to call Victor one more time. I obeyed and the call rang until His voicemail answered. Confused I put the phone down and then the thought came to me to call his member Girlfriend who's name is Ana. She called and excitedly told us that Victor was at his house and that we could visit and that they would give us a ride back to Jutiapa after the lesson. We literally ran to a Sardine-like packed bus and flew out to San Antonio. We arrived without breath and they welcomed us in! Our lesson was spiritual and Guided by the spirit. The Lord had prepared the heart of Victor and he accepted the challenge to be baptized Saturday! His baptism was spiritual and he was confirmed Sunday in our ward conference. 

In doctrine and covenants is says:​​  

 10 And now come, saith the Lord, by the Spirit, unto the elders of his church, and let us reason together, that ye may understand;

 11 Let us reason even as a man reasoneth one with another face to face.

 12 Now, when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man; even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may understand.

We are constantly invited to Pray and to speak honestly and openly with our Heavenly Father. I know that as we turn to him in fervent prayer he can "reason with us so that we can understand". He answered our prayer for victor and Guided us to know what we needed to do. I know that this church is true! Want to invite each of you to remember how great of an honor and privilege it is to speak with God, and that you may do it more this week. 

Love Elder Baldwin

                                                                              Victor- Baptized 9/17/16

Dear Grant,

I love hearing you and your voice, it is the next best thing to skyping:)thanks for your pictures!!!!

Great to hear about Aleena and her son. Looking forward to hearing her progress; still on the 24th?

Victor sounds good, was he baptized? _______ baptism for Sept. 30th.? Julie, Ronanda, and Jennifer? 

Did you buy a Sombria? 

How was your singing and talking at the Zone Conference.?

I am reviewing the 3 steps you sent:

1=do I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ? that he is the living son of the living God?

2= Do i believe that Joseph smith is a prophet of God?

3= Do I believe that the book of mormon is the word of God?- trying to incorporate them every day. We sang "praise to the Man" and I had a witness that Joseph Smith is a prophet. After I was one of the speakers, I had excerpts of your mission of your testimony, inviting people etc. Thank you so much for providing most of my talk. Afterwards people came up to me and thanked me for your words--see today you influenced so many people from near and far today:)

The missionaries taught Cara today- the 5th lesson instead of the -(her baptism is set for October 4th- so Erin can be there. It is a Tuesday night."commandments/chastity, they spoke on missionary work. I love having them in our home. I do not want it to end- this is the first time we have had missionaries regularly. I wish we could have had them over regularly when we were living in Preston.

Dad, Erin and I went to the Rodeo- the St. George Round up. It was pale compared to the Preston Rodeo. 

Love, 

We loved hearing from you! email and your voice, it helps so much to keep you close to our hearts to actually hear your voice! We are so blessed to have the technology where we can do  this so easily:).

Yesterday I went hiking at Karanaville Falls with a teacher at school and her two boys. 

It was a great hike, very crowded though. The last part of the hike there was a ladder you could had to climb up to access more hiking. The problem was that people were coming up and coming down and both groups had to access this ladder in doing so. So I noticed that people were coming up were not letting people come down, so I thought, "this will not do, we are going to be here for hours if someone doesn't direct these people to a more equitable day. So I yelled to the people at the bottom of the waterfall to stop, that 5 people were coming down and then 5 would go up. The people coming down who where waiting in a long line let out of big cheer for me. So then I was the director for about 20 minutes until it was my groups turn to go down. There needs to be 2 ladders-one for the group going up, and one for the group going down. That would be a great Eagle scout project.

I loved the story of the guy who helped you and give you a ride home, what a selfless man he is, I am so thankful to him. Your experiences strengthen us and help us remember the eternal perspective.XXXOOO MOM

This week has been awesome! we have been very blessed. The hand of the Lord truly is in every detail of our lives. We have been teaching a young woman named Adelina. She is a young single mom that we have been visiting and that has been taking leaps and bounds of progression! She's PILAS. She has sincerely been working hard to create a better life for her and her son that is one month old. She is Very shy and It is amazing to see the change that the atonement brings to our lives exemplified in her life. We have marveled to see the enabling power of Gods Grace lift Her above the trials in her life! She is living with a part member family and..pues... loves the Gospel! She is preparing to be baptized next week on the 24th of September! Will keep you posted on her.

We have started a rescue effort in our ward here in Jutiapa as missionaries with the goal Strengthen the recent converts and less active members. I have have come to know and love many broken families in my mission and as a result My testimony of the importance of families has grown. The family is the central to Gods Plan for each of Us and I know that a Family established the in way that the Lord has revealed is Essential to help us Obtain Happiness in this life. All of His work and His Purpose Is that we can be together in families for Eternity in His presence. He has prepared the way for each of us and If we do OUR part as individuals we will be blessed  I am thankful for my family. Take a minute this week and do something as a family! (family H. Evening?).I am doing great! I Love the Gospel and I know that this Church is True! I hope that you have a Great Week!

Elder Baldwin

       We were so happy to hear your voice again! You sound terrific and terrifically hot:)

      It is still hot here, 100 degrees in St. George, but it is cooler in the mornings and no humidity:)

     Today we had the 2nd lesson on the plan of salvation with Cara today and our home. Grandma and Grandpa         are here so they say in on the lesson and Grandma was able to add her testimony. She related the       experience Kye had with Faith. Faith came to Kye in a dream and rocked him and told him everything was going to be all right. 

Erin was asked to the Homecoming Dance....she is going to tell you about it.

Dad and I celebrated our 26th anniversary early. The actual date is on September 5th, we went to Bryce Canyon: spent the night at Bryce Canyon resort and and went horseback riding the next day, it was really fun and it was a beautiful ride. Funny too because the horse was trotting at first and I could not look like a smooth rider, I was laughing so hard, Steve kept saying"stand up, stand Up" I did, but my butt kept hitting the saddle. I was in my element when the horse was walking behind the other horse. Later, after looking at a picture of me on the horse, I decided to purchase some real cowgirl boots and look authentic. When we go to the Preston Rodeo and others I want to have boots and if  I ride a horse again.

__________________

Hey !

This week has been Great. I sent a voice recording to explain what we have been up to due to lack of time. but we are doing great! we have been super blessed! This past week we traveled a lot because of surprise changes that we had in our zone and also because of a mission council that we attended this past Friday! Elder Ochoa of the 70 was there and he taught of the importance of testimony. He asked us 3 questions that we can ask to help make important decisions in our life.

1=do I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ? that he is the living son of the living God?

2= Do i believe that Joseph smith is a prophet of God?

3= Do I believe that the book of mormon is the word of God?

if we have a testimony of these three things our actions should be based on them (which is conversion) and through the enabling power of the atonement we can be empowered to do the will of the Father. Every decision we make builds or destroys this testimony I am Grateful for This church. I know it is true! I know that God lives and that he loves us.

Love elder baldwin

Ps I love your letters thank you so much!

Elder Baldwin

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.

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

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