India bound

What up what up! I got some big news this week. On Wednesday I got a phone call from my mission president telling me that I got my Visa. It’s official this time, I got my visa so yeah I get to go to India now. I have been looking forward to going to India for a long time now and it’s so cool that I’m going there in two weeks! I will be flying out of the Orlando airport on October 9th and due to the travel time being around 24 hours and the crazy time difference, I will land in Bengaluru, India on October 11th. It is going to be such LONG flights but I can’t wait to get there and be a missionary in India! 

Well, I feel like time is flying out here in the mission field. It’s crazy how fast weeks seem to go by. Someone told me that during your mission the days will feel like weeks and the weeks are like days. This sounds so weird but it’s SO true. Some days can feel so long after biking 20 miles, sweating, teaching a lot of different lessons, knocking doors and what not but then all of the sudden it’s P-day again! It’s crazy! I guess it’s true, time flies when you’re having fun. I can definitely say that I am having a ton of fun. Being a missionary is absolutely the best. There is nothing like being a missionary. I’ve realized that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity no matter where it is I’m serving so I try to not take any day for granted. 

There were so many amazing experiences this week but I want to tell you about Pamela and Jenna. Pamela is an awesome lady that we are teaching. She just moved here to Merritt Island and lives here with her sister Laura. Laura is a member but hasn’t been to church in over 30 years. Laura and Pamela started coming to church and pretty much tracked us missionaries down which was awesome! On Tuesday night, I was teaching Pamela and Laura and it went perfect. The spirit was so strong during the lesson and she was just soaking everything in. She has read the whole Book of Mormon and knows that it is true! Anyway, I got the opportunity to invite her to be baptized on October 20th and she accepted. Pamela was hesitant to commit to getting baptized because she said she felt inadequate. I immediately felt the prompting to give her a blessing. So, I explained to her what a priesthood blessing was and then had the opportunity to give my first blessing while on the mish. The spirit was so strong and I don’t remember everything that was said but I remember Heavenly Father told Pamela that He knows her and loves her specifically and preparing to be baptized was the right decision. It was a really cool night with Pamela and I can’t wait to see her baptized!

We ran into Jenna one day while we were knocking doors at an apartment complex. She is a a single mom and has a eight year old boy named Dom. We’ve been teaching her for a few weeks now and she absolutely loves having us over to teach her lessons and talk. I remember the first time we met, she told us that she is not a “church goer” at all and never has been and probably would never be someone who goes to church but we can still come by and talk. So, we kept going back to teach her. This week, we came right as she was vacuuming and trying to clean her house before she had to pick up her son from school. So, we saw she was stressed because now she didn’t have time before her son got home and all this stuff. Anyway, she let us in and we started talking for about 5 minutes before she had to go. She kind of just gets up and she said she would be right back and then she just left lol. We were in her apartment alone which was kind of awkward so instead of just sitting on the couch, I got up and finished vacuuming for her. My companions did the dishes in the sink and cleaned up some legos which were on the floor. When Jenna came back with her son, her kitchen was clean as well as her carpet vacuumed and I’ll just say the carpet lines were looking fresh.(mom, you would’ve been proud) She was blown away that we did that for her and couldn’t understand why we would want to clean her house for her but she loved it. Anyway, earlier we had prayed and felt that we needed to teach her the plan of salvation. So we taught her all about the plan of salvation and she loved it. Even her son was so interested. At first, she sent him to the kitchen table to do his homework but I looked over at him during our lesson and his pencil was down and he was turned listening to us.(he eventually just came and sat down with us) Jenna opened up to us and said that she lost someone who was really close to her about 5 years ago and hasn’t been the same since and this message was exactly what she needed to hear. She also thanked us for giving her knowledge and something that she can teach her son. I’m excited to see how she progresses and how the Book of Mormon can change her life.

My testimony has grown so much since I’ve been on my mission. Even during this short amount of time, my testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown a lot! It is amazing the blessings I’ve seen so far out here on the mission and also back home with my family. I know that just by doing the small and simple things that great things will be brought to pass. I’ve already noticed that by praying and reading the Book of Mormon daily, miracles are happening. I am seeing prayers being answered every day and it is amazing. I love you all and hope everyone is doing great!! 

Love, Elder Baker

                 This is Harmony, we’ve been teaching her and her siblings and she’s so cute!

                        This is Shadaire, you’ve met her and already know she’s crazy! Hahahah

There is this super cute baby girl that was holding my finger in church and I love when babies do this so I took a pic!

        After a super long day of biking, we got home and just schlonked ourselves down into bed. 

“If Jesus were here right now, He’d say to drive electric cars!!”

Hello family and friends!! It has been such an awesome week, I can’t wait to tell you all about it! So, this week I experienced a lot. I’ll just start by saying I had some of the best experiences so far and definitely the weirdest experience so far on my mission this past week. It’s been everything from getting bashed to my first baptism. All in all, I have felt the spirit really strongly this week and my testimony has grown so much just in the past week. 

I will start by telling you about the electric car bash. I was biking all day putting in work and it was really hot. We all decided we would head home to get some food before our next appointment later that night. On our way, we see a U-haul truck and decided to stop and see if we could help move or anything! It just so happened that right as we lay our bikes down, a man opens the door and excitedly says, “Hey I know you guys!” 

“Really? That’s so cool, what do you know?”

“Well, I see you riding around all day in this heat and it’s really inspiring. My dad was part of your church and I know quite a bit. I was actually praying one morning about what I should be doing in life and then later that day I was stopped at a red light and I saw you guys!! So I’m glad you all came by.”

Wow, at this moment you can just imagine my companions and I looking at each other and thinking how inspired this stop was. We got to know him a little bit and next thing we know is he is talking about direct current and alternate current. How this conversation got to electricity we don’t know. Anyway, we bring it back to the gospel and about him and I ask him what he believes in. I asked if he believed in God and Jesus Christ. He answers like this, “Yeah I think I believe, I mean I really believe in one thing and I’ve believed it for the last 35 years and that is electric cars.”

We were pretty speechless and all I said was, “electric cars?” Because I wasn’t sure I heard him right! HAHAH this man named George Jumper then went on for 40 minutes on a rant about electric cars. This man bashed us about electric cars and how gasoline is literally evil. I have never met anyone this adamant about anything, let alone electric cars! HAHAH I was speechless, I didn’t know what to say! We would kind of agree and get back to the gospel or the Book of Mormon and he would change the subject so fast back to yelling at us about electric cars! This man was on the verge of tears as he told us countless facts and stuff about electric cars. We didn’t even ask! HAHA Finally, we cut him off long enough to tell him that we were grateful that he shared to us what he was so adamant about and asked if we could now share what we loved. We all bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy and set a return appointment so who knows how that will go. Hopefully good! 

I am grateful for the Holy Ghost and the promptings I receive while out doing missionary work. I was with Elder Brady and Elder James on exchanges this last Wednesday and it was awesome! We were talking to a man named Deon. Deon is in a wheelchair and has no movement in his left leg and hasn’t for 23 years because of an accident. We talked with him a lot and the missionaries have been working with him for awhile now. He loves the church and loves the missionaries but won’t stop smoking and a few other things. Pretty much, he is all talk and no game. Anyway, we talked with him a lot and the spirit was present. We read part of the Book of Mormon with him and invited him to quit smoking for good. As we were inviting him, I had the feeling to tell him that if he does, then he can walk. Then I was like wooaahhhhhh okay Braden that’s pretty bold. I felt it again specifically. ‘Tell him he can walk, tell him he can walk.’ Wow okay. As I’m getting this feeling over and over, Elder Brady says, “Deon, I’m about to say something pretty bold so listen up.” He then goes on to tell him that one day he can walk if he quits smoking and shows faith in Christ. I then, as directed by the spirit, said “Deon, we promise you, as representatives of Jesus Christ, that if you quit smoking, pray every day and show your faith in Christ then you will start to see movement in your toes, then your foot, then your whole leg and you will stand up and walk.” The spirit was really strong and I’m grateful that we acted upon it. I know that this is a really bold thing to do and say but that is exactly what Jesus Christ did when he was on the Earth. As we left, all 3 of us companions were confident and mentioned how we all felt the exact same thing and all felt strongly to tell him he can walk. I’m grateful that we were listening to the spirit and we’re all on the same page. I hope that Deon acts on this promise!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday were really awesome days as well! On Friday, we had the amazing opportunity to go to the Orlando temple. It was so beautiful and the spirit was so strong. My testimony of eternal families grew a lot. I LOVE my family so much and love that I can live with them forever. I also love that I know that one day I can be married and sealed in the temple with my wife. The temple was so so cool and I loved it. 

My companions and I were all looking forward to Saturday, the 15th because it was Nick’s baptism! As I talked about in my last email, this day had been pretty special to us missionaries and inspired for Nick to be baptized on. The baptismal service was so good and there was a lot of support from the members of the ward. Nick’s wife and two kids are members and they we’re so happy for him. I absolutely loved being a part of this baptism. It brought me so much joy to see this family be together and support Nick as he enters the waters of Baptism. Another very cool thing we also learned about the special day of September 15th is that it was Nick and his wife’s wedding anniversary! What a cool experience for them that he was baptized on their anniversary and after one year, they will be able to be sealed in the temple together as well. I know this day was made special to us missionaries two months ago for a reason and that is because it is a special day in Nick Ammons life. I know that God’s hand is in everything and his plan is perfect. The next day, on Sunday, Nick was able to be confirmed a member of the church, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, be ordained to the office of a priest in the Aaronic priesthood, and receive his temple recommend. Bam, bam, bam. Nick didn’t waste any time and he didn’t need to. He has been being prepared by the Lord for so long that since he met with us, it just clicked and he was ready.

I sure love what I am doing every day as a missionary! I’m grateful for all of you in my life and all that you have done for me! Like I’ve said before, I know that this is exactly where I’m supposed to be and I’m doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. I love being a missionary so far and I look forward to continuing this work in India. I am sooo excited to go to India and become friends with the people there. I don’t know, maybe next week I can say that I got my visa. For now, I will continue to go to work here in the Merritt Island area in Florida! I love you all❤️❤️❤️

Love, Elder Baker

              Nick is the guy with the beard and he had his friend Brother Peck baptize him!

                                                  Orlando temple in the morning.

                                               The temple again because it’s so pretty.

                                                 My studly trainer Elder Sharp and I

      Elder Brady, who is also waiting for his visa to India with me! We were in the same district at               the MTC as well.

This is the worlds largest McDonald’s that we went to. It was crazy! It had three stories. It had a full arcade, an aquarium, a HUGE play place. It was just crazy.

                                             This is the view from a member’s balcony.

Email from the Orlando Mission President's Secretary!

Dear Brother and Sister Baker,

We are excited to have Elder Baker serve with us in the Florida Orlando Mission.  Attached is a picture with his first companion and with President and Sister Clark, who have great love for the Missionaries.

Thank you for your sacrifice and support in hastening the work.

"September 15'"

It has been such a great week family and friends!! So many good things happened this week and I am just grateful to be a missionary. I am loving the opportunity I have everyday to talk to so many different people. I love that all I have to worry about is helping other people any way I can. I’ve met some amazing people this week and can’t wait to talk more with them and help them become more like Christ.

The first thing I want to tell you is that September 15th is going to be a good day! So, rewind 8 weeks ago when it was my two companions together in this area before I got here. The area I’m serving in is fairly new and there has been no baptisms at all. There hasn’t been much success or anything. So, my companions sat down 8 weeks ago together and wanted to make a goal of when they will baptize by. They prayed and pondered and both came together to decide on September 15th. They made a goal and wrote it down on our withe board saying, “Merritt Island area will baptize by September 15th” and let me just tell you that the Lord does provide when you do your part. So, 6 weeks go by and my companions have been working hard and trying their best to prepare people for baptism but no one seemed to be willing. They kept working hard and moving forward in faith and nothing. I got here two weeks ago and since I’ve gotten here, we’ve been working hard. Last Sunday, we get a phone call saying that there is a new family, the Ammons, in the ward but the husband is not a member. His name is Nick and he said he wants to talk with the missionaries! So, we set a time on Wednesday to meet with Nick Ammons and we were way excited! He called us the next day and said, “I’m going out of town Wednesday-Saturday and I am too anxious to wait until I get back to meet with you Elders. Can we please meet on Tuesday?” YES, uhhh yes of course hahah. Before me met with him on Tuesday, we were talking to his neighbors who are members. His neighbors tell us how awesome Nick is and how ready he is to become a member. She says, “I was just talking to him and he was telling me that he feels that he wants to be baptized on September 15th.” Boom, we were blown away. I do believe that it was a coincidence that Nick randomly thought of that day as well as my companions. The Lord has been preparing Nick long before we even got to this area. We are teaching him and his baptism is on September 15th!!! We are all way excited for him and his decision. This is my first baptism on the mish so I’m pretty excited as well!

Another person we have been teaching is Godfrey. My companions were teaching him long before I came and the missionaries before my companions were also teaching him. So when I started teaching him, I was definitely not the first missionary he has heard from. Godfrey has been invited to be baptized many times in the past but has turned it down and said he is not ready and he doesn’t want to leave his choir that he is a part of at a different church. My companions told me this and I knew that he has been asked before to be baptized but hasn’t showed much interest. As we were teaching Godfrey on Saturday, we were reading 2 Nephi 31 which is where Nephi talks about Jesus Christ being baptized. As we read this together, I could feel the spirit really strongly. I could also tell that Godfrey was feeling the spirit as well. After we had a great discussion about Jesus Christ, Godfrey expressed that he wants to become more like Him. I read verse 12 to Godfrey where Christ says, “...follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.” I then had a super strong feeling to invite Godfrey to be baptized even though I’ve been told that he doesn’t really want to. So, I followed the prompting and asked, “Godfrey, will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God?” As I asked this, Godfrey stopped and thought for a little while and says yes and accepted my invitation to be baptized. We are working with him this week to prepare him for baptism! I don’t know what I did differently in inviting him to be baptized than missionaries in the past but I am so glad that I followed the prompting from the Holy Ghost. I know that Heavenly Father has been preparing Godfrey long before I got here to Florida. I also know and have a strong testimony that I am exactly where I need to be. I am in this area for a reason while I wait for my Visa. I am SUPER excited to get my visa and get to India, but for now I know I’m in the right spot.

On Friday, I met the Ross family and they are totally awesome. The mom, April, had requested a Book of Mormon from us so we get to go deliver it! We dropped off the Book of Mormon and the kids came to the door so we gave it to them because their mom was sick in bed. There was a little 8 year old girl, a 11 year old boy, and then an older sister that was probably 17 ish. I gave the 11 year old boy the Book of Mormon and asked if we could come back another time to talk to them about this book. He went and asked his mom and she said we could come back the next day at 2. We came back Saturday at 2 to talk to them about the Book of Mormon and the little boy just opened the door and goes “OH! you guys again! Let me go get the book.” So we’re outside the front door all excited that he wants to get the BOM. When he comes back, he cracks the door open and sticks the BOM out and says, “my mom said she wants the real bible, thanks though.” Hahahaha DANG. Well we told this little guy that this is a really really great book and that he can keep it. We said we can get a bible for them and bring it back though! He said were welcome to come back with a bible at 5 that night. Now listen, we are on bikes and we don’t have a bible on us, nor do we have a phone on us and we just committed to get this family a bible and bring it back in 2 hours. SO, we raced to a nearby Burger King just to cop their free WiFi so we could Facebook message some elders that had a car and could bring us a Bible. Luckily, they got the message and got us a bible just in time for us to go back. We biked back to the Ross family to give them a bible. We talked to the kids and also met the stepdad. We learned a lot about this family and the kids LOVE ME. We had a really really good talk about the Book of Mormon and we read a few scriptures to them. We planned a day to come back and teach them more. After we talked to them, the little boy went and got his Book of Mormon that we gave him and asks us, “Is it okay if I keep this book? I want to read it and learn more about Jesus Christ?” Obviously we said yes, of course!! But isn’t that awesome!!! The family is struggling and the kids are usually home bored so they lovvvvve when we come over. The little 12 year old boy loves me and this little 8 year old girl is crazzyyyyyy and pretty whack, it’s so funny but she absolutely lovesssss me hahahaha. She told me she wanted me to make her my wallpaper on my iPad so she had me take some pics of her which you’ll see at the bottom of this email.

Anyway, I absolutely love what I am doing and I love talking to new people and meeting new people that I can help and bring joy into their life. It brings me so much joy as I follow promptings from the spirit and help other people. I have felt God’s hand in my life more than ever recently and I appreciate it a lot. I love all of you!! I love hearing from you as well so don’t be afraid to say hello! ❤️❤️ I hope everyone has a great week!

Love, Elder Baker 

I realized last week I never sent a pic of my other companion Elder Sharp. He is such a stud in the field. He’s also my district leader and I love him.

My companions and I in an apartment complex we call “prison” because it looks like it. But there was a random slide so we took a pic! Hahah

This is the cute little girl that we’re teaching! She loves us and she’s sooooo funny! We told her that we don’t have TV and she was blown away. She couldn’t believe it. 

                                                  I told you she was crazy, it’s hilarious.

I’ve been biking over 25 miles around town all day and then had to cross over the river and the bridge is soooooo long. So as you can see, it’s a bit humid here and I’m sweating SO MUCH

Baker's Fresh Cuts

Hey everyone!! So, it’s been a long time since my last P-day because I’m finally out in the field!! I left the MTC last Monday morning on my birthday! I’d say leaving the MTC and getting out in the field was a GREAT birthday present. Here is a quick rundown of why last Monday was a great day.

I woke up at 4 in the morning and headed to the airport with Elder Allred and Elder Brady. On the way to the airport, I ran into a good friend I made at the MTC! His name is Bogdan, from Russia, and he’s SO COOL. I actually taught Bogdan while at the MTC and we became pretty good friends so I was way excited to see him at the airport. He found out it was my birthday and went into a little gift shop and bought me a little army man and gave it to me because I am “part of the army of Christ.” He then was nice enough to let me use his phone and call my parents AND my girlfriend Ellie! It was such a great birthday present to hear their voice after a few weeks, they’re amazing. 

We landed in Orlando and we were waiting for our luggage at baggage claim. While we were waiting, there was a lady sitting on a bench in the airport and the ceiling legit broke through above her head and fell on her. She was okay!! She was pretty dang mad, but she was not hurt. There was a worker up there and his foot broke through the ceiling!!! The funniest part was you could see his foot dangling through and then he stuck his head out and yells, “hey, you okay?” HAHA it was so funny, you had to be there. 

Well, we met with the mission president and his wife and headed to the mission home for dinner. Sister Clark even had some cake and ice cream and everyone sang happy birthday to me! I’d say it was a really good birthday, I’m grateful for all the people in my life. I am blessed with amazing people and I love it. I love all of you!

The next day, I met my trainers and got right to work!!! My trainers are such studs, I love them so much already. I am in a trio with Elder Sharp and Elder Wallis. Elder Sharp is from Grants Pass, Oregon and Elder Wallis is from Longview, Washington. Elder Sharp has been out for 23 months and this is his last transfer! Elder Wallis has been out for 11 months and him and Elder Sharp were companions last transfer in this area that we are in now. So, our trio has one elder who is in his last month, one at about his halfway mark, and me who is in my first month! I got super lucky with my trainers, they’re awesome. One morning, Elder Sharp was making a protein shake and was debating whether or not he should put a raw egg in his shake. He’s sitting there for a minute and then asks Elder Wallis, “Hey, do you think I should put a raw egg in my protein shake?”

Elder Wallis says, “I mean... I’d say no, but my opinion is usually frowned upon among jacked people.” 

The area we are in is Merritt Island and let me just say it is so awesome. Our house is on an island off the coast of Florida and the people here are so cool, I love them already. The members are great! My first night in the field, we had dinner at a member’s house and he cooked us up some huge shrimp and gumbo and wow it was sooooo good. The people we are teaching are amazing. We are planning on putting at least one, hopefully more, on date for baptism this next week so stay tuned for those deets next week! 

There was a new member that just moved in the ward so we felt like we should bike over to her house and say hi! As we were looking for her house, we went up a few flights of stairs and ran into a girl smoking named Jenna. We started talking about who we are and what we do everyday for two years. We talked about her faith in Jesus Christ and she said she wants to learn more and talk with us again. It turns out we were totally in the wrong apartment building of the members house so it was totally the spirit placing us in Jenna’s path. I look forward to meeting with her again. Anyway, we finally found the members house and she said she was praying for help because there was a new couch downstairs and we showed up at the perfect time. Again, thank you Heavenly Father. So, we all carried a couch up three stories into her apartment! It was so funny, we felt like Ross from Friends... “PIVOT!! PIVOT!!”

The highlight of my week and reason for my subject line is because of Elder Wallis. Elder Wallis performed a baptism in a previous area on Saturday and President Clark himself drove him there to the baptism which is like 2 and a half hours away. On Friday night, Elder Wallis realizes he hasn’t cut his hair in a few months and it was sooo long. Like, long enough for him to pull back and put in a little man bun. He was scared because 1)he had a baptism the next day to perform and 2) he was going to see our mission president!! So, he goes, “Hey Elder Baker, want to cut my hair?” So jokingly I said, “I mean I’ve had plenty of haircuts, I know what they do!” But he was actually serious SO I JUST WENT FOR IT. Morgan, the girl that cuts my hair, would be so proud of me. We searched the house for scissors for a solid ten minutes because we didn’t have any buzzers or hair clippers or anything. Finally, we found a pair of red, Fiskars paper scissors. Elder Wallis said a prayer to bless my hands during the haircut and then I went to work. It definitely wasn’t perfect, but my first haircut I’ve ever given was a success. 

I love you all so much!

Love, Elder Baker

                                                       Birthday package from home!

                                                         Birthday Party at the MTC! 

                                          My birthday glasses on the day I left the MTC!

                                                           Bogdan, the guy I taught!

                                                          Happy birthday to me!  

                        You can’t completely tell how long his hair was, but this is before the cut 

                                                                          During!!   

                                   And the finished product! Let me know what you think

               Shout out to my home! This is a street where we were knocking doors one day.