Wow, what an amazing last week it has been here in Merritt Island, Florida!! And not just Florida, but it’s been my last week in America. I leave for India tomorrow morning and I’ve been feeling a lot of mixed emotions this last week. Out of all these emotions, I am mostly excited! I’ve been looking forward to this day since I opened my mission call 6 months ago on the night of general conference in April. Speaking of general conference, I feel so blessed to have been able to listen to the inspired word of God from His chosen prophets this last weekend. I was in the shower the other morning and it hit me really hard that I was actually leaving for India. I started feeling a lot of feelings of inadequacy and fear. I started fearing for a lot of different things that I might experience throughout the rest of my mission in India. I pondered every morning during my personal study how I might be protected throughout my mission. I decided to write this question down and a few other questions I also wrote down at this time. I brought these questions with me to conference and before the first session on Saturday morning, I knelt down and asked God the questions I had. I knew they would be answered during general conference. I was amazed to see how the Holy Ghost speaks specifically and personally to each and every one of us. During the Saturday morning session, Elder Rasband talked about fear. He talked about how fear is not new and we all fear something. He mentioned specifically how missionaries might fear some things. He then went on to say, “Fear not!! Be of good cheer for the Lord knows we feel fear but he is with us always. He blesses us in ways only he sees.” He quoted the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 which says, “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” The spirit hit me so strongly during this moment and so many other moments during general conference! I received a lot of personal revelation throughout this conference and I promise all of you can as well. I strongly encourage and invite you to go back and listen or read the talks given to us and recognize the personal revelation specifically for you. I am so grateful for modern day prophets. We are blessed with a loving Heavenly Father who gives us a prophet on the world today to act as His mouthpiece. I know that President Russell M. Nelson is the prophet of God on earth today. I am very grateful to be able to listen and follow his invitations as he has promised blessings like we have never before seen.
I had the amazing opportunity this week also to attend the baptism of Shawn!! Shawn is a man I taught once while on exchanges with some elders in Rockledge. He has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and that is ultimately what converted him. He has been studying all sorts of religion for a couple of years now and recently started meeting with the missionaries. He shared his personal conversion story after being baptized. He studied the Bible a lot and went to many different churches before meeting with the missionaries. While reading the Bible and visiting other churches, he still often felt confused. Once he got the Book of Mormon from the missionaries, he started reading and read all about Nephi and absolutely loved it. As he continued to read and meet with the missionaries he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. He also realized that the Book of Mormon supports the Bible! I love the fact that what differentiates the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fact that we believe the Bible was written in the eastern hemisphere and the Book of Mormon was written in the Western Hemisphere both by Prophets during similar times. Shawn was able to watch general conference with us and he knows that God loves us and that we are the only religion that has living prophets called of God today. I am so thankful for the Bible supporting the Book of Mormon and the Book of Mormon supporting the Bible! They are both ancient scripture and contain the total and complete word of God. I again am also grateful for a living prophet and 12 apostles set up by Jesus Christ in the same way His church was set up in ancient times. I know, just as Shawn does, that this is the true restored church of Jesus Christ! There was this awesome and really funny moment during his baptism. After he came up out of the water, he asked if he could stay in and swim! Hahah so he kind of rubbed the water on himself and said, “it feels so good!” It was really funny!
I had the amazing opportunity this week also to attend the baptism of Shawn!! Shawn is a man I taught once while on exchanges with some elders in Rockledge. He has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and that is ultimately what converted him. He has been studying all sorts of religion for a couple of years now and recently started meeting with the missionaries. He shared his personal conversion story after being baptized. He studied the Bible a lot and went to many different churches before meeting with the missionaries. While reading the Bible and visiting other churches, he still often felt confused. Once he got the Book of Mormon from the missionaries, he started reading and read all about Nephi and absolutely loved it. As he continued to read and meet with the missionaries he knew that the Book of Mormon was true. He also realized that the Book of Mormon supports the Bible! I love the fact that what differentiates the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fact that we believe the Bible was written in the eastern hemisphere and the Book of Mormon was written in the Western Hemisphere both by Prophets during similar times. Shawn was able to watch general conference with us and he knows that God loves us and that we are the only religion that has living prophets called of God today. I am so thankful for the Bible supporting the Book of Mormon and the Book of Mormon supporting the Bible! They are both ancient scripture and contain the total and complete word of God. I again am also grateful for a living prophet and 12 apostles set up by Jesus Christ in the same way His church was set up in ancient times. I know, just as Shawn does, that this is the true restored church of Jesus Christ! There was this awesome and really funny moment during his baptism. After he came up out of the water, he asked if he could stay in and swim! Hahah so he kind of rubbed the water on himself and said, “it feels so good!” It was really funny!
I’m very grateful for my short time here in Florida. I have loved the opportunity to continue the work here in Merritt Island and keep it going. I had the awesome privilege of inviting two people to be baptized this week and set a day for them to be baptized soon. I wish I was here to keep teaching these awesome people and be there when they are baptized but I know that it is time for me to go to India. I trust completely in God’s perfect plan and I know that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be right now. I’m grateful to have been able to serve in the Florida Orlando mission for one transfer but tomorrow starts a completely new chapter in my life. I love you all! Wish me luck on this super long day of travel. I’ll be traveling for about 26 hours straight, let’s go!! I hope everyone has a great week!
Love, Elder Baker
Got a sweet new name tag in Hindi!! Can’t even read it yet but I’m pretty sure I know what it says.
I saw this huge turtle at a park!
This is the Peck family and they are literally awesome!! They would feed us every week and they helped teach Nick Ammons who was baptized. I love this family and will miss them!
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