Week 40--Holladay, UT

I got both of these pictures below texted/emailed to me this week from members who were feeding them dinner.:) It was a lucky week. 

Life is good! I love being a missionary! We have a baptism this weekend. His name is Ki. His family is inactive but he likes church! I had a thought come to me about him. Some people are unsure about younger baptisms. I got the impression that with Ki we would be saving generations. It came to me with power and with the Spirit. Ki is really smart and picks up on things very quickly. He has more knowledge and retains more than most of the adults we teach! There was a lot that happened this week but it is very time consuming to explain all the situations. I'm going to talk into my Ipad and see if that speeds up the process.

Thank you for the pictures. I'm excited to move to South Carolina. South Carolina looks like a very nice place. We have had an exciting week. We've been able to teach a lot of people this week. We have a lot of investigators who will hopefully be baptized in the upcoming weeks.

I love the opportunity to train. I am learning so much so fast. Elder Baldry is adjusting fast. We went on splits yesterday for the first time with a couple of priests from the ward. It was the first time that Elder Baldry was by himself as a missionary. He said he had an experience where there was a man trash talking the church and accusing them of crazy things. Haha! I sent him to the drug dealer and I went to a few lesbians. Our visit actually turned out really well. We had to walk in front of their window to get to the door. It was the kitchen window and there were about six people that were in the kitchen. We just kept our head down and walked past. We knocked on the door and they answered. We asked if we could share a message and they said that would be good. We asked if we could share a message right then and there. They said that would be fine too. We sat down on their porch and started to answer some of their questions. Originally it was just two people we were talking to. Eventually everyone who had been in the kitchen came out and started talking to us. We asked them what their beliefs were.One of them was an atheist, another was a Jew, another was a ex Mormon, and the last one was a witch. It was an interesting conversation. They tried to question us about our beliefs, but I sensed that they were sincere to some degree. We talked about a lot of things. And we told them that our job as missionaries was to give people opportunities. We told them that this is something that we've tried and has made huge difference in our life and has made us
happy. We said that if they try, they can experience joy and feel the same way that we feel. We set up a time to teach the first discussion and we will be having dinner with them Thursday. The priest had an exciting experience which he probably won't forget. I couldn't believe that she was actually a practicing witch.

We came into our apartment last night and it smelled like gas. We tried to trace the source of the gas and we found that it was the stove. We called the zone leaders and we left that night and stayed the night at their house. The stove has been around for a long time. The
house is really old. I hope we can still live there.

It is very stressful training someone new. I always forget that he doesn't know about missionary work and how to be a missionary. Sometimes it tests my patience, which is good. I have learned and grown so much in the time that I've spent in Valley View. Sundays are always the most stressful days. We go to many hours of church, but in a way, it is relaxing. One of the principles we teach our investigators is that they can receive revelation through attending church. I have come to know that this principle is true. I know that the sacrament is a saving ordinance and is necessary to our salvation.God talks to me a lot on Sundays. Church is one of the ways that God speaks to us.

Something I was thinking about the other day was about fear. Fear is a feeling that comes when your mind makes assumptions of possible, negative, future consequences from a situation that you are currently in or in which you are reflecting.

 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."         - 2 Timothy 1:7

When you have trust in God you aren't afraid of what happens because if you do your part you know that it's part of his plan and because of God's love you will be taken care of. It doesn't matter what happens because "all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7) and "all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." (2 Nephi 2:24)

These are some of the things that have happened in the past 24 hours.Sorry if some of the language is sloppy. This whole thing was dictated.I love you and I greatly appreciate your support.

--Elder Bass

Later Notes:
I remember when we got iPads. It really was a good thing the mormon messages that we could share were an amazing resource to the people that we taught. There were some negatives. I feel i didnt know and use the scriptures as much as i should have. It was less convenient to use the scriptures. Overall, i appreciated the experience.

Week 39--Holladay, UT

We got Ipads like Tuesday or something. They are pretty cool! Training is fun. My companion is from Brisbane, Australia. He has a thick accent and hard core slang. Apparently in Australia, they don't have swear words or maybe they're just very different. He is super funny and we get along really well. He is very humble and very willing to learn which is honestly all I could of asked for. The district switched up a little bit. We will see how everyone connects. Some of my buddies from WY got sent to our zone which is exciting and Elder Thompson is now in Rock Springs! He's not in my previous area which is too bad.

Training is fun. It is hard though. I went from teaching 50 /50 and doing 50% of the talking to now teaching 99% and doing pretty much all the talking. It was a wake up call when I would pass it off to him and he wouldn't say anything or he'd skip to later points or other lessons. I'm sure I was probably the same. A member invited a friend to be taught in their home. Those lessons always turn out really well. Her name is Lauren. It was a good lesson. She prayed at the end and a lot of us were crying. We have a few baptisms coming up. Hopefully this transfer we will be able to baptize weekly! It's an amazing area. Every house we go to they send us home with food, clothes, accessories, or anything that's cool that you can think of! We are beloved and are really like celebrities. People will take bullets for us, people want pictures with us, and people give us anything that we could want. I am thoroughly convinced that there is no better mission on the planet. We teach, we baptize, and in many ways we live a life of a celebrity. :) I was so naive before I left; this is truly the mission call I desire. I
see serving here as a wonderful tender mercy from God. One thing that I have gained from my mission that I will hold close forever is a relationship with my Heavenly Father. I can't describe in words how grateful I am for the trust and experiences he has given me.

Love you all

Elder Bass

Later notes: 
I remember when the call came in for me to train. We were over at Andy's house. Andy was one of the struggles that Elder Thomson and i had in the companionship. He thought that we should spend more time helping and teaching LAs. I thought LAs were only for instrumental use to find converts. Looking back, I wish that i would have put more time and energy into teaching LAs. There were a few families i really could have helped.

We taught a man named Brett who was a ski-bum from park city. He was the definition of a bro. I remember him crying in that first lesson after he prayed when the spirit touched his heart. It was one of the many miracles that i saw on my mission. It was kinda of funny because we were using the iPads for our presentation and it was really rough. We didnt know how to use them. God magnified our efforts and really helped us.

Week 38-Holladay, UT

Elder Bass and Elder Martineau (Alex shared an apartment with his companionship in Rock Springs, WY)

The elders and sisters at a baptism last week

I don't really know what to say. The week's been good. Transfers are tomorrow. I will be staying in this area and will be training a new missionary. I'm still a district leader amongst missionaries who struggle. You need to prepare for missions. Before I came on my mission I thought that preparation was optional, but it is definitely very necessary. Make sure you know why and have a conviction of why you are serving. Try to go out with the missionaries. Obtain a sure testimony of the Book of Mormon. It makes life a lot easier and more beneficial to your spiritual growth. A mission helps you grow spiritually and if you are still having issues with the basics, it kind of puts a road block on what you can accomplish both in your area and spiritually with yourself. If you come prepared, you will be blessed to be more of an instrument in the Lord's hand and see and experience greater spiritual vistas in a higher magnitude and frequency. Don't wing it. This is your life and your future; don't mess with your salvation and the salvation of others who you could have positively affected or completely changed if only you would have been prepared.

I have had a good week. Mom wants details and I really don't know what details to include. We met an Iraqi family. 2 parents and 6 kids. He moved from Iraq to America 7 months ago. He has a super thick accent and so does the rest of his family. He helped the US build tank facilities and was part of the police force. The terrorist were hunting him down and wanted to kill him so they sent him to America as part of some sort of contract. It is pretty crazy. Elder Thompson is leaving. I'll miss him; he is a good friend. I am excited to stay in the area. I love it. It is an awesome area.
-Elder Bass

Later Notes:
Before i left i kind of ended on a bad note with Elder Thompson. We had a mission training with Elder Clark talking about iPads. At the end, he told everyone to not say anything and get in the car instead of waiting around and socializing and losing the spirit. Elder Thomson and the Elders we were riding with did that. I had to grab my PMG from some of the Elders in WY. I got it and said goodbye and came over. He chastised me in front of the elders in the car. When they left, I got upset with him and said it wasn't fair to do that in front of the Elders. We were kind of upset with each other the rest of the time together. After we got different companions, we continued to be good friends.

When Elder Thomson and I were sitting the mission meeting, Elder Thomson said that i was going to get the anti-social looking missionary. I ended up getting the awesome good-looking Australian companion. He was a little bitter.

At tranfers, Alex is hugging his new companion that he will be training

Only 5 new missionaries this transfer! Alex will be training Elder Baldry (Front with yellow tie)

Week 37-Holladay, UT

At training this week, I got to be reunited with my good buddy, Elder Kirsi

It's been a good week. We had a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Brandon who we met like 25 days ago, completely changed his life around and was baptized on Saturday. Quit drugs, smoking, and replaced those things with wholesome activities. It was cool to see the transformation of his character in such a short period of time. He is a very smart guy. He will catch on to everything quickly. I could see him being a bishop in 5 years.

Nathan was an autistic child we have been working with. His parents decided he was over the age of 8 mentally. So we taught him and he was baptized yesterday. It was a very special and spiritual baptism. I could feel God loved him so much. Nathan has a really cool story that I'll share. His parents dropped him off at Young Men one night and apparently he didn't find the room they were in or something. The church is 7 or 8 blocks away. When his parents came to pick him up he was gone. They couldn't find him and the Young Men President said he hadn't seen him. They looked everywhere and still nothing. They went back to their house and started to pray. Nathan walked in the door. He can walk but he is pretty severely autistic. He can only say like three word sentences. Anyways they asked him how he did it. He said that Peter showed him the way. Peter was his Young Men president he was close with a few years earlier who had passed away suddenly.

We had a lesson at temple square with Carson this week. It was my first lesson at temple square and it was pretty amazing! We saw the Christus and saw the temple model and went into a series of movies titled "The gospel blesses families". I cried during the movie and afterwards I got up and testified to Carson that the gospel's purpose is to bring families closer together and closer to God. We had him pray on the spot and he wants to be baptized. It was an amazing lesson. During the videos, I had a profound witness of God's love for me. I felt it so powerfully. I undeniably came to the knowledge that it was not by chance or random that our family was put together. Each person in my family was part of God's design to help me grow and become. I felt like I have had and continue to have a close and intimate relationship with each one of them that began long before earth. These thoughts were so overwhelming to me.

Riquelle who was supposed to be baptized will have to wait til summer. Her mom is, according to her, not emotionally prepared to see her ex-husband. Carson's parents won't let him be baptized until he is 18. Mark came to the last lesson wasted and will not be baptized this coming weekend. Lost some potential investigators; gained some.

It's crazy there is no snow here and everyone is freaking out! It's the best winter ever here! Haha! I am excited to see you guys again. I had a little bit of extra time one night, so instead of going to bed early, I pulled out all the Christmas notes and pictures from the calendar and looked over them. I think it might have been the first time I felt a little homesick. I love you guys so much! 

One of our wards we are super close with and they love us to death. For dinners in that ward, there seem to be a lot of girls from 12-16 that happen to be 'visiting' the night we have dinner with their families... It's weird because they all literally look 18. It's super hard to be a missionary in Salt Lake. There are attractive girls literally everywhere. Its really helping me learn to be strictly virtuous!

We get Ipads tomorrow. Super stoked. Should boost the work and the productivity. Transfers are next Tuesday; I'm anxious to see what will happen.

We also got in an accident and were on bike for a few days while they fixed our car. My legs are flippin' sore.

Love everyone have a great week!

-Elder Bass

Later Notes: Elder Thompson and I taught a family that we called the Bartons. We sat in his front room and he drank his beer. They were very respectful. We invited him to take the lessons and he said that he was good. I look back at the tense moments of my mission where i fulfilled my purpose and i am proud of them.

Week 36-Holladay, UT

Holladay District C

I really don't have too much to report on. It was a good week. We worked. We taught. We had fun. I am beginning to understand the power of the atonement. One of my favorite scriptures is found in the Doctrine and Covenants. It reads:"He that ascends upon high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehendeth all things that he might be in all and through all things; the light of truth". I have truly come to feel and understand that He has indeed descended below all things. The gospel is true and real. It has the power to lift us higher when nothing else can. He understands all that we are faced with and simultaneously how to come on top of that which we are faced. I can help none of these people by myself. All of my experiences don't really compare to the deep and sensitive problems these people come to us with. We direct them to Jesus Christ. We teach them how to pray. We teach them the doctrine of Christ and try our best to help them accept it and stay with it. And if they do, their bitterness hate and confusion are replaced with peace, joy, and lasting and consistently renewed and gradually brighter light and happiness. God blesses us so abundantly with the condescension of his Son. I don't have time to say anything else. I figured that was the thing I could say of most importance. 

We should have 3 or so baptisms this weekend. We will see how it turns out. I am having issues with my district. There is a lot of trouble missionaries in my district. Many of which have been out quite a bit longer than me and are unwilling to listen to me or do anything I invite them to. I have to tread cautiously but still be firm in not allowing disobedience and defiance against the commandments we are to strictly abide by as missionaries. Thank you all. I love you!!

-Elder Bass

Later Notes: We went bowling because we hit our goal many times in a row as a zone. I think that we hit it 4 consecutive months. Many of the people seen in the pictures made up the mission leadership 6 months in the future from this time.

I had problems one night with Sister Carlson. I told the zone leaders that i had a problem with a gesture they were doing in the district that signified popping a butthole. The zone leaders said they would talk to them about it. Sister Carlson was really upset that i didnt tell her and told me off over the phone. I dont remember what i said to her but i remember the feeling of failure. I later learned how to handle things so that people would be more responsive. The zone leaders gave me good advice saying that it doesnt matter. I need to represent President to the people and not the people to the president. And of course the word president can be replaced with Jesus Christ.

A little bowling fun

Week 35-Holladay, UT

I really don't have too much to talk about this week. Most of our investigators are progressing; life is good. It seems like a pretty cliche thing to say but one of the biggest things I've learned on my mission so far is how to rely and work with the Lord. He gives you responsibilities that you can't really do by yourself and be successful or effective. Its only by relying on him that everything falls into place whether by a round-about way or just the way you thought.

Elder Thompson and I get along well. We teach well. We both strive to be better missionaries and to be obedient. So again life really is good. I love the work I am engaged in and frankly honored to be in Salt Lake. Its the best of both worlds. Temporally its simple. We get food from members every corner we turn. We get 5 course dinners every night pretty much and we have plenty of money to spend on groceries and get whatever we need, want, and crave. As far as the work goes there are so many members they are frequently giving us referrals and we teach a lot. It's a challenge with many, because they are very caught up in their ways and against conforming to the culture that's here. We just have to explain that you don't have to be a Utah Mormon to be a Mormon. Once we explain what it truly is and stuff, people aren't as opposed.

We taught the Cronks this week. They have a 16 year old son named Carson. He is a stud. He's one of the nicest kids you'll ever meet. His parents are pretty against the church and everything. We had a lesson with the dad who is against it. We brought Carson's friends. I learned the power and importance of members in teaching. They both testified and the spirit was super strong. Everyone kind of started to cry and tear up. It's crazy to see the spirit soften hearts and change lives. Our stake conference was also this week. One of Carson's friends was asked to share his testimony. He went up and told the story about Carson and how we had no idea if Carson was truly interested or not but during the first lesson he broke down and opened up and we discovered he was super prepared by God. We will just never truly know if they are ready until they have a chance to hear the message. He said that he was so glad he referred him to the missionaries. He said that he loves us and considers us some of his good friends. It's crazy. Members just love us and pamper us all the more now.

We found a man who lost his records and was a convert baptism not too long ago. He will count as a convert baptism. It is another tender mercy from God. God hands us so many people.

Like I said, life is good! I love it. I love the work. I love my God. I with Nephi "glory in plainness (and) glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus for he hath redeemed my soul from hell". Take care everyone!

-Elder Bass

Week 34-Holladay, UT

Esther's baptism

My week has been great! We were able to see Esther get baptized! She is pretty amazing. She has seen so much in her life. The refugees have really rough lives. We had a really amazing sacrament meeting in our favorite ward. Two of our recent converts got up and bore their testimonies, one of them being Esther the day she was confirmed! She talked about how her family had been killed and how she was so happy to have a ward family. She said so many amazing things and she started to cry. It was really touching. She wanted to go home after sacrament meeting because she felt embarrassed that she cried. We explained that she was feeling the spirit and everyone understood. It was a good experience and amazing to see some of the fruit of my labor. I love my mission. The members here would literally take bullets for us. They love us and we love them.

We also had the AP come down and we went on exchanges with him for a few days. It was a good experience. He is a great missionary but he taught me it doesn't matter what kind of person you are or what you can accomplish. All that matters is if you do your part and rely on the Lord for the rest. You will accomplish what the Lord wants you to in your area. Also I think the same principle can apply to us reaching our full potential.

We had a lesson yesterday with a member who brought a guy into his house. We taught him the first discussion. He felt it was true and wants to change his life. He is planning to get baptized on the 21st! There are so many amazing things happening. I can't possibly contain them in an email. I also don't have a lot of time. I love you all and am grateful for your support

-Elder Bass

Later Notes: Elder Connell, the traveling assistant, came down. It was awesome. I was with Elder Thompson and Elder Connell. I felt on top of the world being in the presence of two straight studs. He told me some stories and some experiences that really gave me a vision of faith and seeing what God accomplish in my area. I remember that he chastized me and was upset about a visit that we had to a bishop. We didnt have any work with his ward and reported such. He was upset that i didnt have someone to work with and why the report sucked. I really liked that because it gave me the realization or the beginning of the realization that i had no idea what accountability was and i needed to learn what it was because it is an eternal principle.