A new companion!! Hermana Sanchez

Here is the big news you have all been on pins and needles!!!! Well... Drum roll please... I am in the same area! If you were all wondering! And so ya know.... I have a Super amazing cute companion Se llama Hermana Sanchez! She is super cute fun and pretty outgoing she is awesome! I was so scared to see who she was going to be! This is how it went down, yeah we were in Carlota's house.. (our little grandma) I was playing my violin... We received a call! We went sprinting outside Hermana Sumsion, you are going to Las Puentes! and you are going to be a sister training leader! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH we screamed! and then after we could breather again hey told her her comp was Hermana Alcocer! Then they said Hermana Bauer you are staying in your area, you will be senior companion and will be with Hermana Sanchez! Oh Man!!!! We ran to Carlos and Ivons house to tell them, they gave us a ride home and we packed, and packed and packed some more ... the clock struck 2 we couldn't handle anymore! 90 degrees in our house we sat outside for a sec and drank some water talked tried to realize this was happening... then went to bed! After our prayers of course! A few hours of sleep we woke up and we finished packing her stuff,. Sitting on suit cases praying they would zip literally!!!!! We then were trying to catch a taxi! Lucky us we got in a nice taxi..... NOT this man was a great liar... he told us he knew where he was going... he did... He drove us in circles for an hour and a half... we were two hours late to transfers and we finally asked him to let us out who knows where! Got in with a new taxista! He was super sweet! Got us there in like ten min! Paid him and finally made our transfers and got back to work! Man it was crazy and we paid some major cash for that! Oh can you say SELF CONTROL!!!!!! goodness gracious! Anywho! We now are back where we belong! and happy as ever! I am so happy with my new comp she is so happy and we talk about everything! I was so scared I was going to be lonely nope! She studied to teach preschoolers! She is in love with Bridger! and wants to go study more at BYU She is 22 She is just awesome and I am going to learn so much for her she is an amazing teacher! My spanish is already getting better but I am so much more tired at night from it! Here comes the head aches! hahahahah 

This week we had some awesome miracles! Yolanda came to church! She told us she was going to say a pray as she entered the building to see if this was the church for her! going to invite her to baptism this week! We have been teaching her and her family for over 4 months!Then this family that we have had as like oh sometimes we pass by... yeah well this Hermano Juan! Read the whole book of Mormon and has no questions his wife loves everything he says about it and is starting it herself they came to church and we met with him at 9 today at the church and were there for 2 hours helping him with the service missionaries to look for a job! Because he doesn't have one! He is a philosopher! So he sometimes has some crazy ideas but really wants to know how he can develop faith! So here we are to help him develop his faith in God!!!! He has a really interesting strong testimony and says he is going to be going to church every week he loved it! Yeah so we are moving a lot and this is a good change because we have had no one in church for like 3 weeks! 

Oh and HERMANA SUMS IS OUR LEADER AND TRAINER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! she is amazing I had an elder assistant to the pres come up to me and ask if I was proud of her I said yes I couldn't believe she was already a leader and trainer with only 6 months in the mish! He said keep working hard because you are going to follow in her foot steps! Wow! The Lord pushes us in crazy ways!  We have people put in our lives for reasons! Our parents family and friends! Look up to all of your examples! Walk in their footsteps and love them with all your heart! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!!!!!!! Keep your family close and the Lord closer! Thanks for all your prayers and support I feel them every step of the way! 

Transfers are coming!!

This week has been amazing! and these two transfers, WOOOOO!!! I feel like we have been up down and all around, but really learned so much! We did not go a day without learning something more! It paid off in the end! Two baptisms! Two great new members that are going strong, Carlos and Alejandro! Then there are the several menos activas that we have become reactive! We have worked really hard with the menos activas and I know that the animo is what was lacking in a lot of thier lives! They needed a smile and a little love! Some good visits and to feel the arms of the Lord in their lives again! Then there is this amazing story of my good old man Bill back at home who was baptized! How I wish I could Have seen that!!!!! I am so thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord and that even though I was not there I could take a little part in your baptism Bill and have a little taste of your joy being out here in the work!!!! I sure love you guys and am so happy for you both! As I see the faces of our recent converts and these people that are returning to church in the ward each Sunday it warms my heart! To feel the spirit change in their house, to have them make sure we know why they won't be at church if that happens, and for them to explain the difference they feel when they have this gospel in their lives again! I have a new testimony of when the gospel is brought into one new life it is transfered into others! This testimony started wth my dad having such a strong testimony!!!! As we all were in the temple together before I left I knew He would catch fire and have to share the new joy he had for his now rapidly growing testimony!!! Then after Bills baptism, one of his great friends!!!! BOOM!!!!!! TESIMONY! plus all of the mission experiences! We have the Hermano Terres who has been in active since he was baptized, Ivone  ( Carlos Llorentes wife), and Carlota our little grandma!!, who all want to go to the temple to be sealed to their spouses for time and all eternity and then do more work for their families! To see this desire grow, the joy that it brings to Hermana Torres who has been firm in the church for 20 years, Carlota to know she can be with her sweet husband who passed away recently, and Ivone and Carlos to know they will have a family forever! Their families and posterity will forever be blessed for their choices! Then there is Alejandro and Miseal who want to serve mission! They want to go out and do this amazing work! Help others find this amazing gospel and return or take upon themselves these covenants for the first time! This work is an amazing thing! I know that Hermana Sumsion and I have been called here by revelation and reached many who have never had the ability to be reached before! Those who have been prepared for us specifically! I know I knew many of these people before this life and I will be forever grateful for the time I have had with them!

Through all of this work I have grown quite a bit myself! I fit into my mission shoes just a bit more snug! I am feeling a lot more comfortable with all of the lessons! Obedience is my policy! Oh do I have a testimony of that! How else do you think two white girls with little time on their mission came to speak spanish!!!! The Lord knows how to make things happen! He blessed us so much! I know that my spanish is going to grow a lot this next transfer, but it grew a ton this transfer as well and grows more each day! People comment on the differences each day! Diligence has been a huge thing for us! Just pushing forward with an attitude to learn and apply those things we learn through our study's and our leaders! I have came to love preach my gospel, I love to study from preach my gospel and through that amazing book I have such a stronger testimony of this gospel and my scriptures! I am so thankful for my training and the trainer I recieved! I will never be done learning! We will never know all, but I feel like I have got my feet on the ground intead of the water here in the mission right now! ready to keep stepping forward learning more each and every day!!! 

I want you all to know how much I love you!!!! I was able to see and talk to my famiy yesterday! They are amazing and I miss them a lot,but know that I have been called to do the work of the Lord! Being here seeing them it felt like a dream! Knowing and seeing how great you all are doing seeing the effect these blessing are having on you all! I love each and every one of you! I have a challenge for you all this week! I want you to remember to have annimation in each commandment you are following! Now I have a very LOUD! annimated family! you know that very well! but be excited about living this gosple and be excited about living this gospel together with your family! This is the only way you will feel the blessing you are recieving see them and actually recieve them! If you are not smiling and loving it you are not living the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! So get out there WORK HARD and PLAY HARD!!!!! and remember I am on your shoulder cheering you on!!!! Love you all! 

Hermana Bauer

Primary Activity with the missionaries

Zone Conference

Zone Conference

Four months and loving it!

Wow!!!!! This week flew by and this transfer as well!!! Welcome to the fourth month of my mission! Is that crazy to anyone else or just me!!!! anyways! We have transfers at the end of this week and I am getting super nervous for them! I love my companion! She is pretty much the best and we have the greatest little life here in mexico!

This week we learned a ton! We have been slacking a little on inviting people to be baptized because we have this internal fear of losing the relationships that we have with them... but this week we got over it! We were inviting the people we loved with more love than I have ever felt in my life! We had a cute 73 year old, catholic all her life lady, accept this invitation saying clearly I want to be baptized! Then we had Yolanda who we have been working with for over three months.... yeah I know a long time and she doesn't have a date! Say she was going to walk through the church doors praying to know if she would be baptized or not, if this was the true church. Well you will never guess what happened Sunday!!!!!!! This wonderful thing called AGENCY kicked in! Our cute little Maria Elena chose to leave town for who knows how long, sometimes up to a month... Yolanda... well she didn't come... it was so hard for me to watch these people choose to do something different than, what even they knew was right! We did all we could passed by multiple times! Sent messages! made calls! brought members! members passed by! waited outside for them! the whole nine yeards! and agency!!!! Got to love it. Well this whole bottle of frustration I had inside exploded and as I was cleaning it up, I remembered a scripture I had read earlier Sunday morning! Isaiah 55: 8- 9 here it talks about how the Lords thoughts are not ours and his path is not ours either.. this is because we are not perfect! I know that the Lord teaches us through small and simple things and He has more patience than anyone in the world! I cannot imagine being Him watching this world, working through imperfect missionaries, trying to save more of his imperfect people, that He suffered for. My testimony grew of His atonement His love for us! His willingness to sacrifice Himself and suffer for people who were going to continually choose the wrong when they knew the right! I encourage you all to think about your savior, your reedemer each time you make a choice this week! What ever it is! Going to class on time, who you go to lunch with! What you drinking with your breakfast, the type of words you use, how you present yourself! We know our Savior, we need to do the best to represent Him in everything we do! We are not perfect, but He trust us to be His best, because we are what He has to help those who don't have Him! I love you all and hope you can let your lights shine this week! you are all amazing and such examples to me!!!!! Make it a great week! 

Con much amor

Hermana Bauer

Sushi!!

Our favorite meal to eat with investigators and members.

April 28, 2014

Well this week has been the fastest week of my life. I cannot believe that it is Monday again!!! 

we had a few funny experiences this week I would love to share with you all! First of all the little kids here are just the cutest! Many of them are quite chubby... me and Hermana Sumsion decided that we are going to begin to call them our lil chunks of love!  They are just adorable, also they are a lot of help when we cannot find a house because there is no common sense in the way the streets and houses are laid out and numbered here! I promise its not the girl with the map its how its done!  Okay number two we were going to be home late and we don't like to do that, first off disobedient second its a little sketch... so we caught ourselves a taxi with our new leader misional and were on our way! As I slid my way into the taxi I couldn't help but gag as my foot ran through a nice chunky pile of throw up on the floor! WINDOWS DOWN and foot in UP CHUCK away we went! thank goodness it was only like a 5 to 10 min ride!  Those are just a few of our laughs of the week I though I would share! Now to the important stuff!

We taught the palabra de sabadaria to the familia Castellanos! The familia that our leader and trainer invited to baptism when she should not have! The spirit was really strong! the hermano, who is menos activa, drinks coffee wants to stops! He was very interested to try out the ideas we came up with and his wife was all for this commandment! She loved the whole lesson! When it came to drinking the hermano was nodding towards his 19 yr old daughter so we lingered on that and talked about temptations as kids and teenagers with all of the things we should not do! They were all very receptive and all very interested!! We are going to pass by a few times before our next cita with them and see how they are doing with their compromiso to try going without these things for this whole week and even longer!  We will see how they are feeling! They are still struggling with comming to church, as is this whole city.... 

I believe it is culture here to say YES! but no... really it is no... that does not mean we can just not believe them and not return, because then we will miss the one that was really telling the truth... But to be honest this is somtething that has been hard for me to get used to! It isn't showing up to empty houses, walking back and fourth, or being rejected by any means... that's part of being a missionary. It is that these wonderful people commit more than once and never come! I am learning a lot about trust and love and how they do not go completely hand in hand! Because I love each and every one of them, but I cannot trust each and every one of them.. and this is something that is hard on me... because those who I love, I trust... but I am learning! This week we did have a great experience with a menos activa we have been regularly visiting since I got here! Hermano Torres° His wife is active and great! He is just as amazing, but Hermana Sumsion nor I have ever see him in the chapel! We have filtered and filtered, never finding out why! Finally we were teaching actually about prayer! The question came up what else can we do to show our love for our Heavenly Father? attending church came up! The spirit took off!!!!! We became very direct! Hermana Sumsion saying hermano we do not know why you are not at church but we want you to know the importance of it! We talked about the reasons we attend how its not for others and the true meanings of assisting the church! Then we bore our testimonies of our families and the unity and blessing that come from attending church together! He reacted well! His wife participated with her testimony! He didn't commit to coming, he said he would think about it, maybe! We expressed our love for him, and when we saw his face in church I cannot express the joy I felt! I wanted to cry! He said poco a poco! only sacrament today! But we will see! I wanted to cry for joy it was amazing! One of the greatest feeling I have felt in a few weeks! This is when this work begins to pay off! I know that this work is hard and we work a lot, but the spirit does the job and the spirit really is what touches these peoples hearts! This week has been great and Hermana Sumsion are doing great! We work so hard and work so well together, this is something I love the most about our companionship we have unity in our desire to work... and everything else! I feeling like I am growing in everything more each and every day, I have a feeling that never stops! That's because we never can know it all! That's something I love!

This week I have learned a lot as usual I hope you are all pushing forward and studying along with me! Love you all! Get on that preach my gospel! You are all supposed to have one in your house by now! nos vemos! loves and hugs! mmmuah! 

con mucho amor 

Hermana Bauer

April 21, 2014

This week was amazing! I loved every second of working as hard as we possibly could and feeling the adrenaline of the spirit pushing us forward when physically we were beyond worn out! Those days our eyes were glued shut at 6:15 when the alarm went off and we pulled ourselves out of bed and jump roped to our primary music turned out to be the best! 

This week we had a goal to reach all the goals of the mission! We concentrated each day on each goal we made that night, to make sure they were in line with what we needed and in line with what our investigators needed as well! As we planned we planned around our goals! We usually do this, but this week we were more focused in it! We had much more effective planning and our days were so effective we went from house to house! It was the week of vacations so many people were not home! We had our back ups ready knowing where we must go next before the person didn't come to the door! Only because of this determination and planning and letting the spirit guide us as we planned each night, we were able to have about 50 lessons this week! We are really struggling with not having anyone that is truly progressing right now going to church each week! Having a desire to work more! We are fighting to keep every investigator we have.. and to keep them moving forward just a tiny bit every time we see them! 

This week we were blessed with a wonderful study personal and companion..  Literally I walked into our study room and My preach my gospel that we are in chapter two! ( I know because, I was reading it during breakfast!) was opened to page 169 como hablar con todos!!!!! we studied, talk with everyone! along with Elder Delgados book he wrote for the mission on how to contact effectively! ! This changed our diligence and desire to contact! We upped our contacts to 114 people this week and walked away with 9 new appointments! and have been blessed with nine new people to visit and teach this week! We are very excited for each of these appointments and know that several of them are very humbled and this is the time for the Gospel in their lives! We are ready to keep the great habits that we have made this week and invite each of these people to come unto Christ!

We might have a baptism of this cute lady we call our abolita little grandma Carlota! she is like 8'0 and we thought forever she was a member because she said yes 40 years ago I was baptized and well... her family said they believed her, she lives with her grand-kids that are our age and yeah so.... we found out no one can find her in the system! The offices are going to look this week and we are going to start re teaching her the real lessons! I love her so much she is really like our little grandma we go clean while she yells at us! its great! 

So all in all this has been a great week and I have learned something for you all! KEEP WORKING! when you feel like nothing is coming out of it.. keep working! you will come to the end of it the test whatever it is, and you will come out on top physically and spiritually you will be blessed! PROMISE! I love you all! WORK HARD PLAY HARD! always! have a great week! 

Lost Sheep

Hola Yall! 

I am going to start with an experience today! We had a district activity and went on a hike to go find some waterfalls with some members in the middle of nowhere! Well we walked through this little ranch and then kept on! We found two lost sheep... well really goats along the way! They were just little babies! We called them down, carried them for a while and then put them down! We came to find that they followed us! All the way to the cascades and back! We later found their home, the ranch that we had passed through and passed them off to the cute little farmer, who had a good 200 goats. this was a great experience. We literally acted as the shepards! We were able to call them in... Having the patience to wait for them and see if they would truly come unto us! As they did we showed them our love and lifted them up! carried them a ways! When we put them down they followed! It was not easy for these cute little guys to follow up and down these cliffs... they struggles at times, but had our support because they always stayed close by! Because they chose to act in this way we were able to return them to their rightful home. Apply this to our lives... Christ is always always calling us in! We have His atonement and this is how we come unto Him! If we stay close after we will feel this support and help that we always have, we truly are His sheep and He is our shepard! He is here to guide us back to our Father in Heaven and let us into the celestial kingdom! So keep pushing forward and never give up! you have a shepard and when you are lost, you know he is looking! 

For the rest of my week... 

 These past few days have been really good! We are pushing forward and working as hard as ever! We have been working a lot in the upper part of the area now that our area has been divided, This is a lot of work, but we are seeing blessing of the change. People are changing that we have never expected to, they want us to come back they are stating to actually listen and take in the message we bring. I feel like they are starting to accept a little bit more each visit... I know that this division of the area was inspiried as as we work with more focus we will be able to continue to see these changes that we are beginning to see. These changes may be small, like a small smile, a warm welcome, an invite back, or questions! But there is a beginning to everything after exito this week and the spirit they will be in sacrament meeting feeling what it is they really need in their lives! 

I feel like the more time I am here the more this ward just keeps progressing. This is the time for this ward! The Lord has His time for everything and He is ready for this ward to work! We now have three different DOMs within our one. We have Juan Sanchez to work with! Our first meeting with him was great! he is 26, has tons of animation, and is ready to get this ward working! This is exactly what we need to help our investigators and those people in the ward themselvels. Those menos activas and the mas o menos activas as well! I am very excited to see this ward get down to business and for us to be having noche de hogars every week with families who need it and investigators who can learn as well! 

Obra misional Sunday went really well! I gave my first talk! I was really nervous, but the spirit took over and it just flowed out of my mouth! Thats how things work here! Well I know and knew that it was OBRA MISIONAL but I felt very strongly that I needed to talk directly to the members about living their covenants and the importances and blessings that this can bring to their families within the Obra misional... I refered to Henry B eyrings talk and used a scripture that talked about our work here, I explained our work is to share this gospel, but in order to do it we must be living it. Through this we can be examples and share it and we can also share it in many other ways as we do as missionaries... and so on... well I have overheard that the first counciler dislikes when people dont speak on the OBRA MISIONAL and that is all... when they are missionaries... so yeah... little nervous about that, becuase he already doesnt like us! But I guess you can't please everyone and I I prayed about it and had the spirit when I was speaking so I hope he can warm up to me over time...

I loved the activity this week with the primaria teaching them about the obra just made me feel so blessed to actually be in it and be a part of it! To see all of their faces and hear all of their testimonies strengthened mine and reminded me why we are all really here! I know this church is true! We have all prepared for a long time to be where we are and are still learning and growing every day! We will never be perfect and I am so thankful for the example of Christ that we have in our lives! We are stiving to be exactly obidient and working our hardest here in Hacienda mitras following in his footsteps, because He has truly shown us the way! 

 I love you all at home and hope all is well! Keep pressing forward and share the gospel with all you know! Everyone needs a chance to hear it! So live it and share it! Love you!

Hermana Bauer

General Conference in ENGLISH!!

Well everyone! General Conference is here and gone!! CRAZY!!!!! I have never loved something so much! Oh and received a huge blessing... got to listen to it in ENGLISH!!!!!!! don't get me wrong I could have understood it in Spanish, but there is something about the Prophets voice! and the Apostles! It is just something else! and the talk 4 Minutes.. the Spanish translator translated it into 3 minutes so everyone here talks about the three minutes in this earth that we have! oh man its kinda funny! anyways! so many answers were received and the best one was that our investigators... the familia Castillano came to one session!!!!! I know that this one session they attended is going to make all the difference for them! The mom is reading the Book of Mormon right now all her kids were so attentive! The dad is a member... he has been inactive for 20 YEARS! last time we passed by their house we talked to the mom. she was explaining to us how hard it is for her to understand the names of the people in Nephi and how she is a bit confused! We explained a bit of the story the people and everything else, then she thanked us and said this! Thank you it is just hard for me because I DID believe in the Catholic Church for so long. Yupp... DID!!!!!!!! She has a desire to change! The husbands fear is their biggest challenge. He kinda likes his work rut... and that's about it! But he wants the gospel back because he is the one who asked us to teach his wife! So there you have it! a family of five! Four non members, and a soon to be eternal family, 

We had our first cambios! I am still in the same place same comp Hermana Sumsion and Same ward!!!!!! Thank goodness! This is all because I have this one last cambio of training and then.... ya. hahaha there will be some changes I am sure! I am so thankful for our ward and everyone in it! We received two new misioneras! Sisters! and we have two elders in our ward as well! We are doing good and the Bishop is loving my violin! I am speaking and playing on Sunday! WAHOO!!!!! so yeah... here is this week! Kinda crazy! just working hard! sweating a lot! and playing hard as usual! Loving every second of it and growing closer to the savior with every step we take!

I challenge you all to take the advice from Conference and get a Preach My Gospel for each person in your house! Start studying now! it doesn't matter your age, knowledge, interest, study it cover to cover! I testify to you that if each and every one of you will study and learn more about this Gospel and how to share it, and then apply it in your lives you will feel the presence of the Lord so much stronger in your life each and every day!! You will never ever regret sharing the Gospel, but you can look back and regret not sharing it! So act now, study and share! You have the gospel, you have this gift, you have this light! Others are missing it, they need it, want it, and you are their only answer! I love you all and hope that you all have a fantastic week!!!!! Thanks for all the prayers and love I send mine your way each and every day!