Week 46--Holladay, UT

Life is good like always. hmm...stories. We started this two week program with one of our investigators named Carson. We made a calendar for him. Each day it has a read and pray box and a church box on Sunday. We started it Wednesday and we will be finishing it this Wednesday. He will either choose to set a date for baptism or stop meeting with us for a little bit. It was cool because Saturday night part of the two week plan we created included fasting. Saturday night we taught him about fasting. The room that we were in was fairly dimly lit. We were around his fire place. The spirit was strong. Us and three of his friends were there. We knelt in prayer with Carson and he said the prayer to start the fast for him, us, and his friends. The bishop got the word out across the ward and many fasted for him this weekend too. I really hope Carson gets baptized. I cannot tell you how many prayers i have said on his behalf. 

We taught another family called the Zombranos. They are from Mexico and are originally Catholic. I have been working with them since I came here. We taught them the law of chastity this week. They aren't married and we were very unsure on how they would take it.They said they wanted to. They also said they wanted to be Mormon which is very ground-breaking with them. They are a family of 7. I have come to absolutely love this family as well. It would mean everything to me to see them experience the joy of entering the waters of baptism and seeing them come that much closer their Father in Heaven.

There were two people who were baptized this weekend. Desari Marshall and Jessica Langley. They are nice and excited to get started in the gospel. They each had complexities but they were eventually resolved. The Book of Mormon resolves most things. If the Book of Mormon is true. Joseph Smith was a prophet and the gospel has been restored and is true. A lot of what we do is help people understand that their real concern is whether the Book of Mormon is true. We help them live by its teachings and help them see how it improves the quality of their life. Anyways, I love the mission field. I love my Redeemer. My heart is full of gratitude to have the opportunity to use and to be aware of the condition of repentance. It fills my soul with joy to know I can experience change, lasting change, change with God. Change that replaces feelings of regret, emptiness, distance from God, hate, and hurt with hope and a feeling of greater reconciliation with God. The great plan of redemption is my life and my passion. It is my drive and I intend that everyone has the best opportunity to receive it.

-Elder Bass

Your Good Boys

We had your sons over for dinner this afternoon, and enjoyed getting to know them a little bit. They seem like a really good companionship. They both have good senses of humor. They had come from a baptism this afternoon of two young women. That is pretty exciting.

We have a missionary serving in Chile right now. I love having the blessings of missionary work in our home. I hope the same is true for you.

Warmly,
Laurel Alder

Week 45--Holladay, UT

It's been a good week. We found a few new investigators. It has been a very tiring week. It's been fun. Elder Baldry is a riot. Somehow the young women in the stake found out about his Instagram from home and now we are pretty famous among that crowd. We are starting to teach a few 14-18 year old girls. We joked about it and said it was kinda like advertising. haha!

Dusty was supposed to get baptized yesterday but we lost contact with him. Jessica was as well but she relapsed on word of wisdom stuff. We have seen a lot of success and good things happen here.  People tell us they are looking for housing in our stake. Our area will most likely be split this next transfer or in July. It is amazing to see the transformation of one of the elders in the district. He used to be so depressed. His countenance seems to shine now. All because he gets up on time now and he's working. We like have races to see how many lessons we can get in a day. Whoever loses has to buy everyone else slushies. We have a lot of fun with the district. During lunch we have nerf wars and juggle the soccer ball. One of our investigators got out of jail and another back from rehab! We can teach more now!

-Elder Bass

Later Notes:
This week was wonderful. I had the experience of connecting with a missionary that i had been afraid of and hesitant towards for a long time. Elder Smith. His motto was "Life sucks, take a nap." We went on exchanges and played scenarios the entire time it was a lot of fun. He gave me this easter egg with food that i still have kept as a token of the friendship that we had. I had always doubted my abilities to really connect with people on a personal level but i was showed that i could do it with Elder Smith.

Doing Service

Week 44--Holladay, UT

Thanks for the package. My comp really appreciated it too.

Transfers came around again and I'm staying in mill-creek with Elder Baldry! I am happy to stay with him. I told God that I would love to stay and I'm glad he granted my wish! I will be ready to leave after this transfer. I love my wards here and my companion is pretty awesome. We get along great; the district is great. Everyone's getting up on time now! We decided that we are going to the track every morning. It's fun to hang out with the elders in the morning and play soccer and stuff. 

We had a baptism this week. Bro Ramos was an hour late. It is cool; I have been working with him since I came here so it was cool to see him baptized. Bro Ramos said he didn't care who baptized him so I thought it would be cool if Elder Baldry did it. I was able to do his confirmation.We will see what unfolds this coming transfer.  I love missionary work; life is good!

-Elder Bass


I also received this email and picture yesterday from a lady in his area:

Dear Sister Bass,

My name is Kristine Eccles.    I live in Salt Lake City where your son is currently serving in our stake.   My husband is the bishop of the Valley View 6th ward, and we have had the pleasure of getting to know your son over the past several months.    I just wanted to let you know that Elder Bass is an amazing missionary!   He is so dedicated and works very hard!    He is not timid about sharing his testimony with all those around him and cares deeply about the people in our area.     We feel so blessed every time he visits and brings his sweet spirit into our home, often leaving us with a wonderful spiritual message.   What a great example he is for my children!   He stood up today and bore his testimony in church with such confidence and love, and I know many were touched.  Thank you for all you have done to raise and prepare such a wonderful young man for this missionary work.  

Here is a photo of Elder Baldry and Elder Bass (sorry it's a blurry photo).     They are a great team and sure work hard!   

Sincerely,
Kristine Eccles

(She also sent me this additional picture of Elder Bass and his previous companion, Elder Thompson, on Elder Thompson's birthday.)

Week 43--Holladay, UT

Having some food at zone conference

Sorry mom, it's going to be short this week. I loved conference! I don't remember any talks I didn't enjoy! It was sweet. I am super excited to read them! I got to go to the conference center for the last session of conference. It was fun! It was Elder Baldry's first time. He is a goofy kid. He reminds me of Jared. 

This past week was spring break for the kids here. Everyone vacations here so it was a little rough this week. We did manage to find a few new investigators. One is named Kari. We asked her where she lived and she said her car. It was pretty sad. She said she prayed but didn't know who she prayed to. She has had a very rough life. We are excited to teach her. 

We have a few baptisms planned for this weekend. One is a guy named Mike Ramos. He has come a long ways. He used to drink a 24 pack during the week and a thirty pack for the the weekend. He said he used to go to the clubs and he knew when everyone worked there and all the names of the girls that worked there. And they all knew him and his buddies. He said he used to have to hide to go out with girls, now he hides to read the Book of Mormon! haha. (His wife isnt very supportive). Anyways life is good in Valley View! I've learned a lot of patience lately. haha!

-Elder Bass