Monday, May 28, 2012

Part 2 of My LA Mission!!!! New address too

 President Baker and Sister Baker
My trainer/companion Sister Cole


Hi everyone!

I was so excited to see her new picture! The first two were from last Wednesday when she arrived. The last two are the new ones, President Baker and Sister Baker, Hermana Baeza with her new trainer and companion Sister Cole!! 
Please note her new address:  Hermana Olivia Lucresia Baeza
1591 East Temple Way
California Los Angeles Mission Los Angeles, Ca 90024-5801
She has also requested that you continue to write letters. She misses everyone and looks forward to hearing from everyone. Please send pictures too of your kiddies :D As far as packages, she is requesting stamps. She loves to write back :D Thank you!!!


From: "Olivia Baeza" <olivia.baeza@myldsmail.net>
To: thebaezafamily@comcast.net
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 9:54:47 AM
Subject: Part 2 of my missions has OFFICIALLY begun!

Hey family and friends!
Okay, there is SO much to write about but hopefully I can get it all in here. My last week at the MTC was great! VC training was pretty cool but, lets be honest, I was extremely anxious to get out into the field! We went to SLC to do some tours with another SLC VC sister and that was cool! I felt really prompted to talk to this man who was sitting alone and watching some Special Witnesses messages and turns out he has been inactive for 30 years and is trying to come back and when we said a prayer for him (well, I said it lol) I randomly mentioned how he should read his patriarchal blessing if he has one and afterward he told me he didn't have one but has been wanting to get his and thanked me for reminding him! The church is true. Other then that my last week was great! I was so thankful for Hermano Stoddard to come in during my personal study time to study Spanish even though I felt like being around English speaking sisters for a week straight made me forget everything I was ever taught. Welp, life goes on!

Random shout outs: Sister Crossley! Thank you for your letter, I loved it! MADZ AND ELDER VANCE....I KNOW ELDER GILL! I know, crazy! I'll explain it in my next letters to you both. Mom....Truman Welch? Haha SO RANDOM! Who would of thought he would even remember me after 4 years haha that is so awesome. Small world.

Quick story: I TALKED TO SOMEONE ON THE PLANE! It was so cool! His name is Joe and he was from the south. I'm going to guess he was in his 40's but he was so nice! We talked a little bit before the plane left but I decided to wait til we were in the air and the seat belt alarm thingy went off to officially start my conversation (yes, I had this all prepared). He asked us where we were going and why and we explained that we were missionaries! Eventually, the other Elder just stopped talking with us so it was just Joe and I. I wanted to bring up the Gospel but then he fell asleep HAHA bummer right? Wrong! I decided that I would read my scriptures and HOPE that he would wake up and wonder what I was reading...and that is exactly what happened! I peaked over to him and saw him starring at my book and he turned away (haha I'm literally smiling while writing this story because it was so funny how he tried to be all smooth and look the other way). I then said, "Joe, do you want to know what I'm reading?" and he told me he would. PERFECT! So I shared to him what The Book of Mormon was and asked if he would want a copy. He was super polite and told me he wasn't interested but...that didn't stop me. I then continued to get to know him (yes, all that time in the MTC paid off!) and he sounded like he loved his family so much... :) So, I told him how we believe our families can be together forever because of the restored priesthood on the Earth today. Again, he didn't seem that interested so I stopped and brought up the last comment he had said and then we continued to have this awesome conversation on how he hunts alligators and stuff. So cool! Well, when we got to the end of our flight I decided to give him a Mormon.org pass along card and explained what it was. I also gave him the link to my blog (HI Joe!! Hopefully you are reading this!). It was really cool to share the Gospel to him and I hope I was able to make a good impression on him. I will never forget my first conversation as a missionary with Joe!

Well, LA is wonderful like I thought it would be! It's been kind of chilly but I guess Santa Monica is always known for the little breeze. So, because of that, I have been saying my typical spanish phrase that Elder Reid loves SO much, "hace frio" :) My companion is great! Her name is Hermana Cole. The VC (VC = Visitors center) is beautiful! The sisters here are really nice.

One thing that's been a struggle is the VC hours here. If you work in the mornings...you can always bet that you won't get any personal or language study in because there is no other time for it. We have to do our two hour companionship study no matter what (it's part of the 12 week program, normally it's only an hour) but the other two studies are just sacrificed for your service in the VC. Which is great!...but, I am struggling with Spanish. Even though I had my teacher come in a few days during my VC training week at the MTC...I really haven't had language study (like, a legitimate language study) for what, 2 weeks? NOT GOOD! It's stressing me out. But, luckily we work night shifts 3 times this week so I can get my study time in. FINALLY! I know the mission isn't suppose to be about me but I NEED to study the language in order to teach people and I need that personal study time to really prepare what it is I need to teach my investigator and to just read out the scriptures. I haven't read out of my scriptures for more then 5 minutes since being here and it's been bringing me down. Last night we had 10 extra minutes of Daily Planning and I was telling my companion how I've been struggling so we decided to just read from the Book of Mormon. I think this week will be better because we won't have any training meetings to go to and it'll be somewhat normal but, yeah, it's kind of hard being in the VC right now. Sometimes I wish I could be knocking doors all day because then I know I'll be able to have all of my study time every day but, I have seen so many miracles here at the VC that I know I'm suppose to be here!

There was a man that came into the VC by the name of Michael. He was sitting by himself near the Christus so I told Hermana Cole that we should talk to him. Apparently just a few weeks ago he decided that the church wasn't true anymore. There were some things that came up and he didn't agree with them so he just stopped going. He has two children and is married in the temple and so those are the only two reasons why he is trying to figure out what happened and how to have the desire to come back. It was in that moment were I heard myself saying things to him (in English..) that I couldn't even believe I was saying! It was an inner-outer body experience that I can't really explain. After we finished talking to him, he said that he knew he was suppose to come here today and that he thanked us for doing our work and being the missionaries we are meant to be. That's our purpose! To bring others unto Christ and I FELT that happen with Michael. I really hope he comes back. We gave him a talk to read online and I hope he does. This work truly does bring miracles for nonmembers AND members! When we were out knocking doors we found a family and we're teaching them this week! I hope they can open their hearts to our message! They are just the cutest family.

I know my email was a little down and I explained my struggles but I can assure to you that it's so worth it. To know that I can help others brings joy to my soul, it really does! The gospel is SO simple and can help the needs of any person. All we need to do is open our mouths. All we need to do is trust in the Lord. All we need to do is believe that we are children of God. All we need to do is listen to the promptings of the Spirit in every situation. Real quick, we get to do call center and one guy came in and gave us a referral. I called the referral yesterday and he is a less active. When I called, he was so caught off guard because he has been thinking about coming back to church. Again, I felt the hands of the Lord in my life at that moment and I felt that everything I was saying was so specific to him. He took the invitation to have missionaries come over. I then called his friend who referred him right after and told him how the conversation went (which I promise to do for everyone who gives me a referral, to call them and give them an update) and he said that his friend sent him a text right before he answered the phone and said, "thanks bro". People are waiting for this message and I know that there are people waiting to hear this message again. AH! I just love this work! It really is worth all the tears that have been shed this week because Heavenly Father trusts ME with this wonderful work. I just hope that I can do all that he asks me to do and more. I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week! Write me! I can only open mail on P-days (......) so write me some, I'll need the encouragement! Love you all!

Love,
Hermana Baeza


Hermana Baeza
1591 E. Temple Way
Los Angeles, Ca 90024-5801






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